TREVOR Position Paper
or
What's In A Name?
My name is TREVOR "The Games Man". I've entertained over 1.7 million people at over 6,600 events since 1972. I work primarily throughout New England and am well-known in the Connecticut River valley from Brattleboro VT to Hartford County CT. I was voted "The Best Children's Entertainer" in the Valley Advocate readers' poll. My adult and teen shows get rave reviews throughout New England, too.
FACT #1: As an entertainer, and especially as a professional stiltwalker, my picture gets in the media, both print and online, a lot; often 2 or 3 times a month. Add in my shows, staff trainings and workshops, residencies, and other things in my repertoire and I've often consistently gotten weekly coverage somewhere.
FACT #2: Because it's standard practice in the industry to refer to everyone by their last name, reporters routinely ask me, "What's your last name?" and then won't believe that I don't use one. I don't. My birth surname was constantly misspelled in the media in my early years so much that I had to give it up. If I get media coverage, I want potential clients to be able to find me with an easy search. If my name is spelled wrong, most readers won't be able to find me... especially with the outrageous misspellings I was getting. It got so frustrating that I completely gave up my old last name for professional reasons in 1991. I just plain don't use it any more: not on paperwork, not on my checks, not even with friends. My phone and website arei under my business name so nobody would be able find my phone number or website under my old surname at all. It also doesn't appear anywhere on my website, promotional literature, or anywhere else under my control.
FACT #3: I'm not alone in the entertainment world in using a single name: Beck, Beyoncé, Björk, Bluebeard, Bono, Bozo, Cantinflas, Charo, Chayanne, Christo, Chyna, Ciara, Coolio, Divine, Donfeld, Donovan, Eminem, Enya, Fabian, Fabio, Falco, Flea, Hildegarde, Iman, Jan & Dean, Jewel, Kreskin, Lassie, Lelaine, Liberace, Lulu, Madonna, Mario, Melanie, Midori, Mo'Nique, Mr. T, Nas, Pigpen, Prince, Raffi, Raven, Romina, RuPaul, Sade, Seal, Shakira, Sinbad, Slaine, Teller, Tiffany, Topol, Trey, Twiggy, Usher, Vangelis, Xzibit, Yanni, Zendaya.... The list goes on and on.
FACT #4: Most sports fans wouldn't recognize the name Edson Arantes do Nascimento. (Pele) Nor would most music fans know who Cherilyn Sarkisian is. (Cher) And the same goes for Gorden Matthew Sumner, Hector Hugh Munro, and Giovanni Battista Montini. (Sting, Saki, Pope Paul VII) Do sports reporters ever refer to "Nascimento" scoring an amazing goal? No. Do music reporters refer to "Sarkisian" or "Sumner" having a new cd? No. Do religion reporters ever refer to "Montini" having led Mass somewhere? No. And the reason is because nobody would know who they are talking about. So, despite the media standard, effective communicators actually use the person's known name, be it a stage name or the original birth name.
FACT#5: I'm known as TREVOR or TREVOR "The Games Man". Please.
Thank you.