Choking

Choking or, for actors, drying. Matthew Syad for The Times wrote an article today about this dreadful thing that haoppens to all sorts of people at moments of seeming triumph: Greg Norman in the 1996 Masters set out certain to win the last round and blew it disastrously; David Davies in 2005, certain to become the new leader of the Conservative Party blew it disastrously with a speech that was so inept that, instead of him getting the position, he was humiliatingly pitied. Who may choke when the TV debates go ahead this week? he wonders.
I used to write pantos for the college Christmas party. On one occasion I not only wrote the script but produced it too. Curtain up and I took my place in the audience, front seat. Jack, of Jack and the Beanstalk fame, was there beans in hand when his mother came on to confront him. She stood there, her index finger pointing at him - but no words came out of her mouth. She had completely forgottten her lines, the first lines of the panto. I shot from my seat, picked up a script and whispered to her the necessary words. It did the trick.
I used to run lunch-time debates at the same college. A student opposing the motion - whatever it was - stood up, faced the audience and just didn't speak. Half a minute passed which seemed like an hour then someone in authority said "OK Jean, you can sit down now."
Ian Holm, I have heard, gave up stage acting because of his fear of drying. Olivier gave up for a while because of his fear of giggling. I gave up after my first performance as a soldier in Richard the Third. I had one line. I forgot it. Never been on stage since. Greasepaint? I'll tell you what you can with the greasepaint, you can...... never mind.