I was at a Chris Smither show a couple of years ago. Chris plays as many dates as just about anyone...zigzagging the US, canada, europe. Anyway, during the opening act, I caught sight of him in the wings....pacing....rolling his head around in circles....etc. Yes, he looked nervous!   It is all part of performing.

There is a small book by Steve Rapson called Art of the Solo Performer (yep, www.soloperformer.com ). I read and re-read this book on a regular basis...the paragraph-long sections make it easy to pick up with a few spare seconds or minutes, so keep it handy. It may not be a panacea, but I cannot count how many times I see performers do the very things Rapson warns about. My interpretation of the book is that performance is about the audience...not the performer. Putting together a show that adheres to that is evidently not as easy as it sounds.

And remember this...the audience really wants you to do well...they are pulling for you.

dw