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Audience



 
 
An audience is a group of people
Person

The term person in common usage means an individual human being. In the fields of law, philosophy, medicine, and others, the term also has specialised context-specific meanings....
 who participate in a show
Show

Show can refer to:* A television program* A theatre production* A concert* A radio program* A donkey show* Show , a live album by British band The Cure...
 or encounter a work of art
Work of art

A work of art is a creation, such as an art object, design, architecture piece, musical work, literary composition, performance, film, conceptual art piece, or even computer program that is made and or valued primarily for an "artistic" rather than practical function....
, literature
Literature

Literature is the art of written works. Literally translated, the word means "acquaintance with letters" . In Western culture the most basic written literary types include fiction and non-fiction....
 (in which they are called the "reader"), theatre
Theatre

Theatre is the branch of the performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one or more actor, isolated in time and/or Theater , present themselves to Audience." By this broad definition, theatre has existed since the dawn of man, as a result of human tendency for story telling....
, music
Music

Music is an art form whose media is sound organized in time. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics , and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture ....
 or academics in any medium
Media (arts)

In the arts, media are the materials and techniques used by an artist to produce a work....
. Audience members participate in different ways in different kinds of art; some events invite overt audience participation
Participation

Participation, in addition to its dictionary definition, has specific meanings in certain areas.*Participation , the process of involving young people in projects, policy reviews or ideas to encourage decision-making and empowerment, ownership of opinion and influence in youth services and issues that affect them and promote inclusion ...
 and others allowing only modest clapping
Clapping

A clap is the sound made by striking together two flat surfaces, as in the body parts of humans or animals. Humans clap with the palms of their hands, often in a constant drone to express appreciation or approval , but also in rhythm to match sounds in music and dance....
 and criticism and reception
Reception

Reception is a noun form of receiving, or to receive something, such as information, art, experience, or people. It is often used in the following contexts:...
.

Media audiences are studied by academics in media audience studies
Audience theory

Audience theory is an element of thinking that developed within academic literary theory and cultural studies.With a specific focus on rhetoric, some, such as Walter Ong, have suggested that the audience is a construct made up by the rhetoric and the rhetorical situation the text is addressing....
. Audience theory
Audience theory

Audience theory is an element of thinking that developed within academic literary theory and cultural studies.With a specific focus on rhetoric, some, such as Walter Ong, have suggested that the audience is a construct made up by the rhetoric and the rhetorical situation the text is addressing....
 also offers scholarly insight into audiences in general.






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Encyclopedia


An audience is a group of people
Person

The term person in common usage means an individual human being. In the fields of law, philosophy, medicine, and others, the term also has specialised context-specific meanings....
 who participate in a show
Show

Show can refer to:* A television program* A theatre production* A concert* A radio program* A donkey show* Show , a live album by British band The Cure...
 or encounter a work of art
Work of art

A work of art is a creation, such as an art object, design, architecture piece, musical work, literary composition, performance, film, conceptual art piece, or even computer program that is made and or valued primarily for an "artistic" rather than practical function....
, literature
Literature

Literature is the art of written works. Literally translated, the word means "acquaintance with letters" . In Western culture the most basic written literary types include fiction and non-fiction....
 (in which they are called the "reader"), theatre
Theatre

Theatre is the branch of the performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one or more actor, isolated in time and/or Theater , present themselves to Audience." By this broad definition, theatre has existed since the dawn of man, as a result of human tendency for story telling....
, music
Music

Music is an art form whose media is sound organized in time. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics , and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture ....
 or academics in any medium
Media (arts)

In the arts, media are the materials and techniques used by an artist to produce a work....
. Audience members participate in different ways in different kinds of art; some events invite overt audience participation
Participation

Participation, in addition to its dictionary definition, has specific meanings in certain areas.*Participation , the process of involving young people in projects, policy reviews or ideas to encourage decision-making and empowerment, ownership of opinion and influence in youth services and issues that affect them and promote inclusion ...
 and others allowing only modest clapping
Clapping

A clap is the sound made by striking together two flat surfaces, as in the body parts of humans or animals. Humans clap with the palms of their hands, often in a constant drone to express appreciation or approval , but also in rhythm to match sounds in music and dance....
 and criticism and reception
Reception

Reception is a noun form of receiving, or to receive something, such as information, art, experience, or people. It is often used in the following contexts:...
.

Media audiences are studied by academics in media audience studies
Audience theory

Audience theory is an element of thinking that developed within academic literary theory and cultural studies.With a specific focus on rhetoric, some, such as Walter Ong, have suggested that the audience is a construct made up by the rhetoric and the rhetorical situation the text is addressing....
. Audience theory
Audience theory

Audience theory is an element of thinking that developed within academic literary theory and cultural studies.With a specific focus on rhetoric, some, such as Walter Ong, have suggested that the audience is a construct made up by the rhetoric and the rhetorical situation the text is addressing....
 also offers scholarly insight into audiences in general. These insights shape our knowledge of just how audiences affect and are affected by different forms of art.

Audience participation


Some more advanced audience participation is most commonly found in performances which break the fourth wall
Fourth wall

The fourth wall is an element of fiction. Originally, the term referred to the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a proscenium theater, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the Play ....
. Examples include the traditional British pantomime
Pantomime

Pantomime is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in Great Britain, Canada, Jamaica, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Republic of Ireland, Gibraltar and Republic of Malta, and is usually performed during the Christmas and New Year season....
s, stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy

Stand-up comedy is a style of comedy where the performer speaks directly to the audience, with the absence of the theatrical "fourth wall". A person who performs stand-up comedy is known as a stand-up comic, stand-up comedian or more informally stand up....
, and creative stage shows such as Blue Man Group
Blue Man Group

'Blue Man Group' is a creative organization founded by Phil Stanton, Chris Wink and Matt Goldman. The organization produces theatrical shows and concerts featuring music, comedy and multimedia; recorded music and scores for film and television; television appearances for shows such as The Tonight Show, Scrubs , and Arrested Developme...


One of the most well-known examples of popular audience participation is the motion picture The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a 1975 in film Cinema of the United Kingdom-Cinema of the United States musical film comedy film that parodies science fiction and horror films....
 and its earlier stage incarnation The Rocky Horror Show
The Rocky Horror Show

The Rocky Horror Show is a long-running United Kingdom musical theater, opening in London on 19 June 1973. It was written by Richard O'Brien, and developed by O'Brien in collaboration with Australian theater director Jim Sharman....
. The audience participation elements are often seen as the most important part of the picture, to the extent that the audio options on the DVD version include the option. In the audience participation for the Rocky Horror Picture Show, the audience make "call backs", and yell at the screen at certain parts of the movie. Also, a number of props are thrown during certain parts of the film. These props include:
  • Rice- for the wedding scene
  • Water Pistols- to simulate the rain that Brad and Janet are walking in
  • Toilet paper- when Dr. Scott enters the lab and Brad cries out "Great Scott!"
  • Noisemakers- used at the beginning of the creation scene
  • Confetti- used at the end of "I can make you a Man"
  • Toast- used at the dinner scene
  • Party Hats- used at the dinner scene
  • Playing Cards- used in "I'm going home"


Examples of Audience Participation


Another murder mystery is "The Mystery of Edwin Drood
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (musical)

Drood is a musical theatre based on the unfinished Charles Dickens novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood. It is one of the few modern examples of a Broadway theatre musical with book, lyrics, music, and orchestrations all by the same creator , and the first Broadway musical with multiple endings ....
", a Broadway musical. In it, the audience must vote for who they think the murderer is, as well as the real identity of the detective and the couple who end up together.

Tony and Tina's Wedding is an example of a form of audience participation that engages the entire audience at once, staging a narrative set during a wedding in which the audience performs the role of "guests."

The British panel game
Panel game

A panel game is a game show, particularly popular in the United Kingdom, in which a panel of celebrities compete ? either in teams or individually....
 QI
Qi

In traditional Chinese culture, qi is an active principle forming part of any living thing.It is frequently translated as "energy flow," and is often compared to Western notions of energeia or ?lan vital as well as the Yoga Pranayama of prana....
 often allows the audience to try and answer questions. Currently, the audience have won one show, and have come last in another.

Magic shows often rely on some audience participation. Psychological illusionist Derren Brown
Derren Brown

Derren Victor Brown is an England Magic , mentalist, Painting and self-professed sceptic regarding paranormal phenomenon. He was born in Croydon, South London, educated at Whitgift School, where his father Bob was head of swimming, and studied Law and German language at the University of Bristol....
 relies heavily on audience participation in his live shows.