Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada

I was in Victoria on a port day while sailing aboard the Serenade of the Seas this past week and hooked up with a friend who’s a former stock broker. He picked me up in dirty jeans and a t-shirt and we stopped off at the grocery store, grabbed some sushi and went back to his float home and sat on the roof-top deck and enjoyed a remarkably pleasant lunch and some fabulous conversation…

At one point he started talking about how his job as a stock broker demanded a certain uniform. That there was an expectation that he’d be in a well made business suit and that the Rolex on his wrist wasn’t for vanity’s sake, it was expected. He commented that the day he was able to take the watch off his wrist when he gave up being a broker was one of the happiest days of his life… He was very happy to give up ‘The Uniform’ he was expected to wear.

It got me thinking about the Uniform or Uniforms that I’ve chosen for myself… Early on the checkerboard motif started appearing in my costume and became so identifiable that people gave me the monicker “The Checkerboard Guy” because it was an easy way to refer to me. Because the “Uniform” became so ubiquitous with my show and my performance identity, it soon became an excellent hook to use in marketing. People recognized the pattern and associated it with me – the name followed, the marketing after that. It’s been a successful formula that’s served me well for well over two decades now.

What ever the uniform is that you choose to adorn yourself with when you perform, realized that it serves a multitude of functions not the least of which is how you choose to market yourself. Being conscious of this as you go in may help you make the best possible wardrobe choices that will serve you and your persona both on and off stage.

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