BIO

Art Nefsky is a special talent.  Though he boasts an impressive 35 year resume as a singer, writer, actor, comedian and mime, it's his excellence in performance instruction that has earned him international acclaim.  He is known for having the ability to turn shy, withering wallflowers into confident and even extroverted performers.

In 1973, Nefsky's flare for improvisation and fearless command of the stage earned him one of just twenty-seven coveted places in the celebrated Ryerson Theater School in Toronto, beating out thousands of applicants.  Within just three years, studying along side fellow artists and classmates such as Sonja Smits, Debra McGrath and Mary Walsh, he hit television and nightclub stages as a regular actor, co-host and comedian.

Nefsky first shared his comedic and improv skills on television as “Igor” an affable monster who sang love songs and acted as co-host with Gene Taylor on “Monsters We Know And Love”, a weekly CITY-TV program in 1975.  Within the year, Nefsky took his popular Igor character to the nightclub stage, at first, as an opening act for Douglas Roy's "Elvis Tribute"., and then backed by his own show band.  He was also one of Yuk Yuk’s original performers when the comedy club began in the basement of a downtown community centre.

As a recognized actor/comedian/singer in the Toronto arts scene, Nefsky performed throughout the 1980s and 1990s with some of Toronto's top improv artists in dinner theatre murder mysteries, cabaret and corporate events across North America.  Participating in a broad spectrum of performance settings, from live theatre to television to other recording arts, he discovered a real need among performers of all types:  Their lack of confidence was stunting their personal and professional growth.  If they could learn to get out of their own way, they would experience a new level of freedom and joy in their performances, and their audiences would be rewarded by the change.

Nefsky launched Showoffs Studio for Performers in 1987 to help others release performance anxiety using singing as the means.  With group performance classes and private vocal coaching, Nefsky addresses each students' unique difficulties, helping them break through insecurity, nervousness, stage fright, perfectionism, and a myriad of other obstacles.  “This isn't the 10 or 12 steps of how to overcome shyness or how not to be nervous,” says Nefsky.  “I just chip away at all the excuses that have made you nervous until you have no other reason to be nervous.” Nefsky gives a variety of exercises to bring out his students’ personalities.  He has them sing in front of the class.  Then he concentrates on vocal technique and custom designed performance exercises.  The result?  Confident speakers, comfortable singers, dramatic actors, comedic characters, thrilled audiences, and relieved performers.  His joyful, supportive and humorous approach sets his students glowing with pride and delight.  Even a short time at Showoffs can transform even the most introverted and fearful person into a self-assured entertainer.

“I was so nervous at first,” says Fenulla Jiwani, a 22-year-old York University student.  “But all of a sudden I was engaging each person and after the show people came up to me and said that was truly amazing.”

“I could never do that before on stage and now I can sing in front of strangers instead of only friends and family,” says one student after only five classes.

Nefsky continues to work with performers and non-performers of all levels, as Director of Showoffs Studio for Performers.  Leading weekly classes in the Toronto studio and intensive weekend workshops across North America, Nefsky provides private and group instruction to a wide variety of clients, from beginner singers, to corporate speakers, to theatrical professionals, and even non-performers preparing for a one-time spotlight event.  The Showoffs website features many of his written works on overcoming shyness, building confidence and improving public performance, and many patrons address their performance issues with Nefsky's personal online coaching and correspondence.

Internationally, Nefsky's work has been featured in numerous magazine and newspaper articles, books and television programs, attesting that he is a world-renowned expert in eliminating stage fright and anxiety in public speakers and entertainers of all levels.  His own book, “Scaring Away Stage Fright” is requested around the world, and leverages his remarkable ability to pinpoint the very thing that holds one back from achieving complete comfort on stage.  Nefsky takes the fear out of the spotlight, and puts a glow into the performer.

Nefsky's current endeavors include academic programming for developing musical and theatrical performers and he continues to act and sing for his own professional development and personal satisfaction.