My first performance was at my dad's wedding

He asked me to say grace before dinner at the reception. Being five years old, I didn't exactly have something of this sort stored away somewhere in my mind to summon out on cue. Improv was not my strongest skills at this point either. Maybe naming days of the week or something would have been, but definitely not impromptu speeches.

With this sprung upon me thirty seconds before I was expected to do something, I quickly thought about the kinds of things we'd say at school before going to lunch. Again, being five years old, short songs were not uncommon throughout the school day. So I suggested a quaint little hymn that we would sing every so often in assembly.

I'm not sure where I got the confidence from to stand up in front of what appeared to be then hundreds of people. However, this first moment on stage seemed to give me the reputation as the resident singing child. Every gathering going forwards seemed to have a performance from me of some kind. But then even as I got older, I never stopped.