How do you stop nervous laughter onstage? My daughter needs to know!?

Answer 1

The best way to get rid of onstage jitters is to get as much experience as possible with people. If you can, try setting up a mock performance at home, and maybe invite a few people over (so she can get the feel of an audience), and run the lines over a few times. if she does this with people she is comfortable with, she will eventually be able to do the same onstage. If all else fails, just tell her to pretend that she really is the character, and her character would not laugh in a situation like that. If she thinks of it more as playing pretend and not a scary performance, she wont be as nervous.

Answer 2

What I do is close my mouth (okay, that's silly but it really helps), focus on something across the room and think of something gross, like hemmorrhoids or something embarrassing like . . . well, anything embarrassing. Letting the other person talk for awhile and listening attentively helps, too. It focuses your attention away from yourself and has the added benefit of making the person you like, like you because you're such a good listener. Deep breaths can help to calm you--take a few deep breaths before you meet the person, and concentrate on your breathing while you're talking to them. Laughing or giggling actually deprives you of oxygen and induces tension. Also, use good posture for the same reasons, and don't move your body around a lot--make calm, more reserved gestures and if you're nervous wiggle your toes--that will give an outlet for the nervous energy that you're burning by laughing without making you seem nervous to the other person. If it's a certain subject or a joke that made you lose control, change the subject or try to concentrate on something else for awhile. It also helps to leave the room for a few moments if you can, but that's not always possible. But be sure you keep smiling and make eye contact with the other person. That will help you focus on him/her and also keep you from worrying so much about laughing that you start laughing.

Answer 3

The truth is that she is spending to much time thinking about herself. She needs to focus on the rest of the cast and on the action of the play. It is not easy for young people to do. I find that those kids that do well at it tend to have a higher level of maturity than average. Being on the stage is good for her at any age. Talented of not her self confidence and speaking skills will flourish. If she's working strictly with other children then she's probably not the only one having the problem. In that case so what she should have a good time. That's what she's there for.
If she is working with adults then she needs to forget about being a child and just be an actress.
Consider finding her an acting coach. Stage work is like any other skill. It takes practice. You wouldn't send her out on stage with a guitar in her hand if she didn't know how to play. With knowledge will come confidence. Confidence will solve the problem and make the experience a lot more fun.

Answer 4

I'm not sure how old your daughter is, so if you like the answer you may have to adapt it a little. Nervous laughter comes from thinking that being on stage is about "you", when your primary objective is for everybody to see how "good" you are. In my opinion, theatre is about the audience. If you have something to say which is sufficiently important that you need to convey to an audience, it will take you out of your head immediately. Focus on what you must communicate to an audience, even if you're not speaking; let the audience know what it's like to be there in that situation and not being able to speak. When you don't have any lines, think of all the things you'd like to say, and then don't say them. It keeps you in the play and out of your head (where all the problems are).

Answer 5

One possible way to do that is to practice speaking slowly, more slowly than seems normal for regular conversation. That includes saying each word clearly and allowing a slightly longer pause between phrases and sentences than seems "right." Use the pause to look up and make eye contact with the audience, before moving on to the next phrase. This sort of forces your mind to stay centered and work at an even pace while you are speaking, rather than running ahead and finding yourself at an awkward pause where you giggle to fill in the space. Pacing yourself to talk slower also will help ensure the audience catches what is being said.

Answer 6

Take a picture that is big enough to see from the stage and tape it to the back wall at about eye level. Tell her to concentrate on the picture whenever she is feeling nervous. This will make it seem that there is a friendly face or item around to protect her. After a short time she won't need the picture anymore.

Answer 7

More than likely she is very nervous and that is why she is laughing. She just needs to practice, practice, practice. The more confident she is with her part in the play or whatever, the less she will laugh onstage.

Answer 8

I always have this problem when I don't care about what I Am doing. when I am seriously involved in what's going on on the stage I won't laugh.

but if it is a comedy play, everything gets harder, so I think she must get her guts together and with all the answers above do her best to pass the first few days, later on the problem will be solved by itself.

Answer 9

What has always helped me is find a focal point. Meaning find something in the back of the crowd and just focus on that instead of the audience. It helped through numerous monologues and other stage frights.

~El-Matto

Answer 10

Imagine the audience in their pajamas or underwear sitting out there blank faced, drooling, going: Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Howzat?