Some may find it hard to believe that performing as six different characters is actually easy for me.

(Well technically it's seven; I did a virtual event as a certain Snow Princess who will make her debut once her dress has been altered! But you can see all the characters I perform as here: "Book a Princess")

And even though this may sound like a very overwhelming task, it's not.

This is why.

When I perform as a princess, I'm not acting so much as becoming. WM - DSC_9460-Edit

Here's the difference: when you're on stage with a set of lines, you're acting as that character. When you're at a party and 98% of your lines are improvised, answering unexpected questions and coming up with fun stories, you've become that character.

Which makes knowing and understanding each princess incredibly crucial.

Studying these characters is something I started to do when I was three (Is this what they mean by method acting? Asking for a friend.).

But when I started my own business, I knew how important it was to not only know their stories, but to know how they grew up, what their relationships were like with the other characters, and what their emotions were regarding certain plot points.

Are they more timid or adventurous? Are they confident in themselves always or only when they're around certain people? Do they talk a lot or more often choose to listen?

Knowing not just who a character is but what made them this way is what makes the improvisational part of this job so much easier.

So when little ones ask a question that comes out of nowhere, you're no longer answering as you think the character would - the character just speaks.

And this level of knowledge and becoming one with the character is even more important when families come to meet the same performer but as another princess.

I'll tell you all about those experiences next week!

(Sorry about the missing blog post last week. It was my birthday and I was also crazy busy!)