7 years working with Bill Berry, by Noah Royak:

When I met Bill Berry, I had already been street performing for a while, doing small local shows, stilt walking, balloon twisting, mime, human statue, fire performing, you name it, I’d do it. That’s how you make it in the local market, do everything. Whenever the phone rings, the only answer is, “Yes, I can!” But my real dream was to work on cruise ships. Bill started explaining the different markets and the many, many, MANY different strategies out there to get wherever it is you’re trying to go (for me, that was cruise ships).

I’ve always been an okay juggler, but Bill helped me strengthen my skills, and more importantly, he helped me grow into a great entertainer. Marketing, costuming, inventing new routines, refining comedy, pitching bigger and bigger events, college gigs, TV shows, high-end corporate events, it’s been incredible having a friend and mentor who’s already been there and done it. He helped me navigate the minefield that all of the above is, because lemme tell ya, honey, it’s a minefield, and your metal detector batteries aren’t charged for this!

Our first “costuming lesson” happened at a gothic clothing shop, where I tried on a black-and-red striped shirt with platform shoes that elevated me from “Nerdy Noah” to instant rock star. The outfit was tight-fitting and totally out of my comfort zone, if I walked down the street in it, I knew everyone was going to look at me. But Bill was so jazzed to see the radical transformation, and I couldn’t believe it was me in the mirror. I ended up buying the outfit, and my only regret is not getting more than one, because now, I’ve totally grown into it.

He also helped me invent entirely new routines, wild variety tricks that Bill could see so clearly in his head, and I was like, “That’s freaking impossible!” Fast forward three years, and now I’m squeezing through tennis rackets while spinning hula hoops on their ends, standing on a balance board, juggling knives and a taser. And it’s a pivotal part in every show I do.

We were once on a college tour in New York when Bill started browsing Guinness World Records and came across one for “most clicks of a ballpoint pen in 60 seconds.” We immediately started LOLing. But fast forward a few years, and the Pen Clicker 1000 routine has become one of the strongest acts in my show. Don’t get me wrong—turning that silly idea we laughed at into something so strong wasn’t easy. It took many, many shows of bombing and it just sucking. But I stuck with it, knowing there was light at the end of the tunnel. Bill has never steered me wrong, and I’d trust him with my life…

Well, OK… I am starting to get nervous when he uses the blowgun to shoot balloons off of me in our duo shows. Not because I doubt his skills, it's just that he's starting to get old, and he says, “I see three Noahs and just aim for the middle one.” But he hasn't hit me yet, so…

Writing comedy has never really been my strong suit, but Bill helped me get to where I needed to be. He even made me do a stand-up comedy boot camp, an experience so stressful, I signed up three more times. Now, when I’m alone in the sauna on cruise ships, I use that time to rehearse material. No pain, no gain, right? Forty-five minutes of sweat and laughter… like being outside on a lovely, balmy 105-degree day back home in beautiful Florida.

Here are a few guest comments from my most recent cruise ship contract:

“You know, when we met you before the show you were calm, and then onstage you transformed into a comedy monster.”

“You are really funny. We read your bio and couldn’t figure out exactly what your show was going to be. I mean, how on earth do you describe something like that?! In a good way—it was fantastic.”

“How long does it take you to come up with that stuff?! It was a fantastic show—unlike anything we’ve seen on a cruise ship!”

“We loved your show! The women are all laughing so hard, I’m surprised there aren’t wet spots on the seats when they leave!’

“Oh my God, you were the show last night. Never in my life have I seen anything like that. It was fantastic, I really loved it.”

In the seven years I’ve been working with Bill, I’ve gone from pitching local events where the budgets tap out around $850, if you’re lucky, to pitching corporate gigs where I confidently throw out numbers like $4,500. For a 45-minute show!

Which is a lovely segue into my next point: actually having that much material. These days, cruise ships want two different 45-minute shows. That’s a lot of material to come up with.

I spent a decade writing my first 45-minute show. Then I got a call from a cruise ship agent saying I needed a second 45 in order to land my next contract. The problem was… I only had one.

Bill happened to be standing right next to me while I was on the phone. He typed something into his phone and held it up for me to read:

“Ask her how long until the contract.”

So I asked. She said I had 13 weeks. Bill typed again. I looked down and just read it out loud without thinking:

“Sounds good. I’ll be ready.”

Of course, I was soiling my pants. How the hell were we going to come up with an entirely new 45-minute show in just 13 weeks?! It felt impossible. I thought I was about to go out there with B-level material and stink up the whole ocean.

But I took the leap. I said yes. And then for the next 13 weeks, we cranked. We built brand-new, original props. We wrote completely unique ideas, stuff that’s never been done before. We created a truly one-of-a-kind second show.

And you know what? It’s not B-material at all. One of the other acts on the ship even said:

“Your second show could be your first, that was so great!”

So yeah. It’s definitely not B-material, and now I have a 90 minute show.

Another time, we had some downtime before a gig, so we stopped into an antiquities shop. There was a table laid out with all kinds of old swords. Bill picked up this long dagger, looked at me, and said, “Your first sword-swallowing sword?” I laughed, thinking he was joking, but then I realized he wasn’t. He was dead serious. So I bought it. That was the very first step in what turned into a five-year journey to becoming a sword swallower. As part of the training, Bill taught me to quiet my mind, develop a yoga practice, and face fear head-on. That practice became such a deep part of my path that I signed up for and completed a 200-hour yoga instructor program. And to top it off, I’m now a Guinness World Record-holding sword swallower.

After that, America’s Got Talent showed interest in having me on the show, so Bill helped me put together a bit where I lit myself on fire. Because of course he did. That’s just another day in the office with Bill Berry. And I got to go on the show and perform for one of my childhood idols, Howie Mandell.

These years of training with Bill Berry completely changed my life.

I’ve taken a fair amount of other trainings in performing, acting, clowning, etc. All of them have been fantastic, emotionally moving, eye-opening experiences that gave me glimpses into different performance styles.

But the training you get with Bill Berry… it’s not what you’ll find anywhere else.

His training isn’t just, “Here’s how to do better shows.” It’s more like, “Here’s how to mature in every aspect of life, no matter how painful each step might be.”

From the little things, like: “You’ll be interacting with upper-echelon people, it may be worth investigating braces.” Thanks, Bill. The next day I had an appointment for Invisalign.

To the big things: unlearning deep-seated, unhealthy patterns you didn’t even know were there, just subconscious stuff that’s always been there, quietly living in the background.

Again: Thank you, Bill.

So I guess it’s fair to say this style of training is more like life coaching… or mentorship. And I’ve loved the journey. I really look forward to what the future has in store.

The best advice I can give? Take all of Bill’s advice. Listen. Listen again. And then execute it all, at warp speed, so you can level up on every level possible. Because that’s what it takes to become a full-time performer on the larger scale of things.

You will not believe how successful you can become if you actually put his advice into action.

Which, by NO means, will be easy. In fact, it will probably be the most painfully grueling, uncomfortable thing you ever do in your life.

But it is so, so, so worth it.

~ “Nerdy” Noah