Go Beyond the Gimmicks
I recently had the chance to do a special tea time with Richard Blais at his restaurant, California English.
We had a brief but lovely chat about his approach to feedback as a frequent judge on cooking competitions.
I also got to learn that he has never seen the Spanish movie, The Platform, a film many suspect inspired his competition show, Next Level Chef. He notes he’s interested but hasn't had a chance to watch. I think he’ll be in for a surprise to see the common threads between his light hearted cooking competition and a rather dark and morbid piece on social commentary.
Anyways, it was a fun afternoon. Blais has been in the public spotlight for some time, has a good amount of media training, and one thing became really clear. He’s a public figure who has not lost the art of respecting his audience.
Respecting the Audience
Getting past the gimmick
JAN 27
Notes from tea with a celebrity chef
I recently had the chance to do a special tea time with Richard Blais at his restaurant, California English.
We had a brief but lovely chat about his approach to feedback as a frequent judge on cooking competitions.
I also got to learn that he has never seen the Spanish movie, The Platform, a film many suspect inspired his competition show, Next Level Chef. He notes he’s interested but hasn't had a chance to watch. I think he’ll be in for a surprise to see the common threads between his light hearted cooking competition and a rather dark and morbid piece on social commentary.
Anyways, it was a fun afternoon. Blais has been in the public spotlight for some time, has a good amount of media training, and one thing became really clear. He’s a public figure who has not lost the art of respecting his audience.
It reminded me of some words I heard from Koy Suntichotinun, a sign painter known for a few viral TikTok videos and what he said about respecting the intelligence of his audience when creating short-form videos.
Creators who respect their audience are doing something really right, and the inverse of that is true as well. There are few things more memorable in a bad way than a creator who seems dismissive of the people who show up to watch them do their thing.
So, how do you build the deliberate act of respecting your audience into your workflow? I have a few ideas…
Play to your highest intelligence
That’s an improv adage that gets used a lot that basically means, try not to cheapen your humor or go for all the easy laughs with an endless string of penis jokes.
Of course, penis jokes come up quite a bit in improv. But there’s a difference between going there all the time as a crutch or because it’s the easy route, and earning it.
I live with a four year old, so I can definitely tell the difference when toilet humor is unearned.
That’s an improv adage that gets used a lot that basically means, try not to cheapen your humor or go for all the easy laughs with an endless string of penis jokes.
On the other hand, I used to worry that constantly playing to my more niche sense of humor would alienate most people. Instead it can be a great way to connect with the audience members who really share your flavor of weird.
No misleading hooks
This runs counter to a lot of popular advice of 22 hooks guaranteed to capture your audience and bring views. So many of these recommended hooks are actually pieces of bait intended to trick your audience into watching… not meaningful pathways for connection.
Back to Koysun.
Koy is a local creator, who I got to hear speak about a month ago, and in his talk he noted how he opens a lot of his videos plainly stating what he’s about to do.
I’m making window art!
I’m learning about my parents.
And he said when he does this, he’s treating his audience with respect. Like they’re CEOs and he’s about to present what he worked on. That’s why I noted, you wouldn’t bring your gimmicky hooks to a job interview. There’s a level of respect that’s merited.
Manage expectations
I was recently comparing the two shows Lost and Manifest and wondered… was Manifest actually the better show?
Maybe it isn’t. It doesn’t feel that way.
It definitely didn’t have as big of a cultural footprint. A show from 2021 really won’t have as big of a cultural footprint as one from 2004 would, when we all tuned in to the same stuff.
But we should still consider it.
Lost ended on an unsatisfying, ambiguous note that did not meet audience expectations. It also made the audience feel like their time invested in the show was wasted. And much of this was due to the creators “feeling it out” rather than starting the show with a concrete end in mind.
Manifest on the other hand was canceled, but had so much fan demand to keep going that Netflix picked up the series. It’s dialogue was occasionally painfully awkward, but it at least gave a plot that had direction, and it ended in a way that brought closure. Something the fans of Lost never got.
All that to say, I think the Manifest audience got more respect from the show creator, if not the more enjoyable show. So much of that respect was delivered simply by setting and meeting expectations.
Don't live in this binary of what I want vs. What the audience wants. Explore together
Many creatives don’t want to feel like they’ve landed in a trap of pandering to an audience, only trying to meet the demands of an insatiable crowd. Artists like to envision that they’ve retained some autonomy and originality and haven’t just succumbed to being a vending machine through which the audience’s wishes are fulfilled.
At the same time, artists who are totally ignorant of their audience’s interests and wishes also seem to miss the mark. Just imagine a belligerent rocker tearing apart their own audience saying they “just don’t understand.” Not a good look.
The best thing I can say to this weird dichotomy is that you’re best trying to avoid living in a binary situation between either extreme. It’s a bit of both and embracing that tension is the best way to keep evolving.