Emcees or Live Event Hosts (whatever you want to call us) don’t have the right to be divas! Three things that drive me nuts in my professional career; bosses that don’t know what they’re talking about, unprofessional actors & emcees that act like divas. Fortunately, I only have the patience to write about one of those today so I’m going to focus on diva emcees.
I’ve been a professional emcee for eighteen years and in those eighteen years I’ve never, EVER understood why an emcee would imagine they qualify for diva status. Now, I don’t believe anyone should ever act like a diva but I get it, some people have earned that “diva” status. Not that they have to use it but they’ve earned it. To me, the greatest people on Earth are the those who’ve earned diva status but choose not to use it.
Couple quick examples…
Years ago I was working background on the NBC show “The Office”. And who comes up to me at crafty? None other than the star of the show, Steve Carell aka Michael Scott! He joined me in grabbing a mid day snack and a quick chat. He could not have been a nicer guy. He’s a freaking A Lister and he’s just hanging with this peasant in the vomitorium! Now that’s how you act people! He’s earned the right to be snobby and feel above everyone, but he didn’t, he chose to be a human being!
Another example…
For the past two years I’ve worked directly with Honda during the Verizon IndyCar Series. Every race weekend, Mario Andretti, arguably the greatest driver in the history of racing would comes to the Honda Fan Zone. We’d conduct a Q&A and he’d hang out in the heat signing autographs for hundreds of fans for an hour, sometimes more, FOR FREE. This man, could be the biggest jerk on the planet with all that he’s accomplished! Whether you know racing or not you know the name Mario Andretti. But Mario is the sweetest, most down to Earth gentleman I’ve ever met along with my gramps. How refreshing.
So when it comes to emcees being divas, I just don’t get it. I know I’ll get some cracks about me being a diva from co-workers, I expect nothing less but deep down they all know I’m far from it. There’s no reason an emcee should be a diva. I know, I know, we’re the face of the brand! We’re the excitement! Without us, the event is lame! We’re the blah, blah, blah, BLAH! A great emcee knows the event is not about them, it’s about the audience, the crowd. There’s no A List Emcees, there’s no Academy Award winning Emcees, no Grammy award winning emcees, none of it! At the end of the day, we’re the person moving the train along and creating excitement. That’s it! Yes, it’s hard work. Yes, it takes years to perfect your craft. Yes, we’re always learning and yes if you hire a shitty emcee, good luck, you get what you pay for. But, no emcee should EVER BE A DIVA! Sadly, off the top of my head I could probably count about ten I know personally, ridiculous.
Oh Trevor, you’re just bitter and have never worked those amazing gigs in front of thousands of people or worked with A List celebs and athletes! Negative, my resume speaks for itself, feel free to take a looksy on this here website. Honestly, the bigger the gig, the more humble I become because I feel it’s a privilege to be a part of the grandness, not that the event is privileged to have me.
To all my emcees who do act like divas I want you to remember one very simple thing; you’re job will always come down to interviewing the star… not the star interviewing you.
Stay humble my friends!
Trevor Anthony 