Well, Liz, if a comedian, or any other entertainer for that matter, can make reading out of a book an essential part of his or her schtick, that's fine. But that's something different. After all, Victor Borgé's famous routine where he reads out of a book—and puts in his "phonetic punctuation"—is hilarious! But methinks if a comedian had to read out of a notebook because he couldn't remember his routine, that's a jackass of a whole different hue.

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I agree with Howard Jones about memorization being a skill that has to be learned. And I use essentially the same routine that he outline at 09 Feb 10 - 06:46 a.m.

I find that I'm in the habit of running the words of songs I've learned, both recently and long ago (even songs I've sung a thousand times) through my mind at otherwise unoccupied times such as when waiting for a bus or just before I fall asleep. This little habit keeps songs I may not have sung recently fresh and ready to go at any time. Going over the words of songs you're in the process of learning just before you go to sleep is particularly good. Put the old subconscious to work.

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And speaking of "memory traps:"   one evening, Walt Robertson was singing "The Fox," a song he could have done in his sleep. That was the problem. He sorta dozed off.

One verse starts, "He ran 'til he came to a great big pen," and further on in the song, "He ran 'til he came to his cozy den." Walt started the song, then went to sleep, putting the song on automatic. Then, when he arrived at "He ran 'til he came to—," suddenly he woke up, and didn't know where he was in the song! "Pen?" "Den?"

He confessed to the audience, "I'm lost, folks! Where the heck am I?" Someone who knew the song fed him the appropriate word or two, and he went ahead with the song.

At the end, he shook his head with a chuckle and said, "And there I was, with the words all dangling down-o!"

Big laugh! And another round of applause!

So screwing up is not a total disaster. It depends on how you handle it.

Like I say:   take a chance! Try working without a net. Life should be an adventure!

Don Firth