Mascots can be used for anything from a sporting event to a child’s party. They can do everything from exciting a crowd to building awareness for a brand. As a mascot you will have to wear many hats (literally), you will need to be an athlete, a clown and a mime. You will need to develop and hone these skills if you are to be successful in your career as a mascot.
1. The golden rule
Don’t let anyone see you change into your costume. No one should see you until your costume is completely on, or completely off. It ruins the illusion. We’re not just talking about children either, never let anyone see any part of you uncovered. This includes the hands, feet and head. If you are to be performing at an event, then you need to makes sure that they have an area that you can change without any prying eyes. Remember to watch out for anyone with a smartphone trying to peek behind the curtain.
2. Don’t be subtle
Remember that you are wearing a bulky mascot costume. Small movements and body language will not be conveyed to anyone else. For this reason, you will need to make every motion that you do much larger and obvious. When waving, do it with your entire arm for example.
3. Remember, no one can see your face
You won’t be able to communicate through facial expressions either, keep this in mind if you are trying to convey any emotions. You will be able to add some moves into your repertoire over time to help convey the emotions that you want to. For example, if you’re happy, you can skip or dance. If you are angry, then the classic hands on hips does the trick. If you really want to up your game, try to get someone to video your performance so that you get an idea of what your motions actually look like on the outside of the suit.
4. Take your time, conserve your energy
The last thing that you want to do is to be the best mascot ever for only 30 seconds. Being a mascot takes a lot of energy out of you. This is especially true if you are new to the game. Rookie mascots are always shocked at how quickly their energy reserves are depleted inside of the hot suit. There are some tricks to keeping your energy levels in check. The best piece of advice is to just stay calm and not overdo it too early in your performance.
5. Never break character
This goes beyond simply keeping your costume on at all times. You will need to make sure that you do everything that you can to keep the illusion alive. No matter how tired you get, try to keep your movements jolly and never just stroll around with your usual gait. This will permanently ruin your credibility with an audience. Even children are very adept at picking up on subtle changes in your movements, even though the bulky mascot suit.
6. Respect everyone’s personal space
Some people are going to be willing to play along and have a great time. Others will be more truculent, this can be very true if a child is shy. Don’t take this personally, you need to know when to engage and when to back off if you want to make it as a mascot. Even though you are in a mascot costume, you don’t get to do whatever you want. There will be consequences to each an every action you make.
