Professional crowd igniter and public speaker Cameron Hughes is dead set on achieving one mission in life: exciting others to JUST GET UP and live every experience to the fullest.
His unorthodox method of connecting and inspiring crowds has been put into action everywhere from the world’s largest sporting events, to TV and radio programs, to corporate events of some of the world’s most renowned companies.
Cameron will spark you to feel alive.
Gameops.com: What is your performance really about, what are you trying to accomplish with the fans?
Cameron Hughes: I am trying to create an energy and excitement and a sense of spontaneity where fans connect with something they rarely experience. At games we know you have the mascot, the dancers and the video board. I’m the guy in the crowd who is trying to get you to feel something and experience and share something different.
Gameops.com: I’ve seen you for 20 years and you keep growing as a performer. Now you are branching out in a lot of different ways. Evolving into public speaking and motivational speaking. As you grow do you think you always be there working a Canadian Junior Hockey game or do you think this eventually goes a different direction for you?
Cameron Hughes: I started in the NHL, did some NBA, then went to the minors and juniors. It all evolves. Lately I have been doing more NHL and NBA, but I still get calls from junior teams and minor league teams. If they call and I still try to make it work. I just love working in the smaller barns. There is a sense of community. Time outs are longer, the building are more open, more empty seats so you can do more. At the end of the day you need to evolve, I’m not doing as many sporting events because I am evolving, but I will always love it.
Gameops.com: You do some really high end events now: US Open, NBA Finals, NHL Stanley Cup….is there an event, city or venue you still want to do.
Cameron Hughes: That’s an easy one, there are two. Number one, I want to perform at you next birthday (laughs). Number two, the Super Bowl would be the big one. I have done the Grey Cup in Canada with 65,000 people. Sometimes people ask if my show works with the bigger crowds. I think it works better! Imagine a time out at the Super Bowl and they pan the crowd and they find me in my seat and I jump up and start going crazy. That would be amazing. I still love doing international gigs. I did a 30,000 seat venue in the Philippines last year…those are so fun too.
Gameops.com: I saw something on Instagram with you in a t-shirt, tell us about that.
Cameron Hughes: Or right, they had me in a shirt that said “RANDOM WHITE GUY”, the shirt pre-dated me it’s a famous shirt in Singapore so fans got a huge laugh from that.
Gameops.com: There are entertainment shows that can wear out their welcome the more you see them. I’ve see you do playoff runs with the same team for 3, 5 or a dozen games. But it still works. I feel like that is counter-intuitive. Why does that work?
Cameron Hughes: Sometimes a team will give me a run with a bunch of shows and I start to wonder if the fans will just get sick of me. But it has been just the opposite. Its a bit of twist of human psychology. You come to expect it. There becomes an expectation that you will see something crazy. People say “theres our buddy!” There is familiarity and look forward to sharing the moment again.
Look Red Panda does the exact same thing every show, Amazing Sladek, who is 60 now, does the same thing and its amazing even when you know what’s coming. So maybe I start to become like that where people know what to expect, but they want to experience it again or share it with others who haven’t.
Gameops.com: When you do a series of shows like that is that fun for you or does it make it more difficult?
Cameron Hughes: I worry fans have seen me and I fear they’ll be done with me…then you show up, go back and they are excited. They see me, hi-five me, tell me they follow me on twitter and I get even more excited. then I realize it is great to be back and play that city again….so I do really love it.
- www.cameronhughes.tv
- CameronCheers on Twitter
- CameronCheers on Instagram
- Email: Bookings@CameronHughes.tv
- Cameron Hughes is also a frequent guest on the Gameops.com Podcast giving great insight about game operations and entertainment. Click here to find his appearances.
