Variety Show Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

A youth stage category for a mixed-act entertainment piece such as sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling or ventriloquism, performed by one to nine participants in up to six minutes.

Variety Show is the catch-all stage category of a youth talent showcase: an act made up of a variety of entertainment elements such as sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling and ventriloquism, or any other act that does not fit the showcase’s six other categories. It is the home for the talent that is not purely a song, a dance, an instrument, a poem or a skit, which is why one entry can be a magician with a patter routine and the next a pair of jugglers telling a story.

The showcase this page is written from treats it as an acting category, so the performer is expected to entertain the audience as well as show a skill. Music, vocal selections and choreographed routines may be woven in, but together they may not be more than half of the performance; an act that is mostly singing or mostly dancing belongs in Vocal or Choreographed Routines instead, and entering the wrong category can lead to disqualification. Creativity is encouraged, but the act may not degrade any individual or organisation.

Acts must not use material or a theme about the youth organisation that runs the showcase; an act built around it would be classed as a skit and entered in that category. In the district rules the entry is one to nine participants in one district and an individual or a team of two to nine in another, with teams drawn from the same age division (Junior, Intermediate or Senior). Each act has up to six minutes of performance and four more minutes for set-up and break-down, ten minutes in all.

The stage is a practical one. Contests are held in a ballroom-style room with a carpeted floor and space for props is limited, so a magic table, juggling equipment or a ventriloquist’s figure has to be planned to fit through a doorway 6 feet wide and 7 feet tall, and one district limits the props to a space of 3 by 8 feet. No accompanist is allowed, so any music must be recorded or played by the contestants themselves. Adult coaches may only give music cues and help with costume or prop changes backstage.

Organisers run a category like this because it gives the performer who does something unusual a fair place to compete. It also rewards the planning behind a good act: a clear idea, a beginning, a build and an ending, and a performer who can hold an audience for six minutes without relying on a single trick.

Where Variety Show is run

In eTalenter’s data the title Variety Show is carried by one competition, a youth talent showcase run through county, district and state contests in the United States, where it is the second of seven stage categories and the one that takes any act the other six do not. This page describes the category only as that showcase runs it and does not claim it is run anywhere else under this name. Other competitions use a plain Variety item, mostly in dance, where it means a theatrical dance piece, which is a different thing and is judged separately.

• United States

Key facts

• Acting category for mixed acts: sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, ventriloquism and similar acts that do not fit the other six categories of the showcase.
• Individual or team: one district accepts 1 to 9 participants in an act; another accepts an individual entry and a team of 2 to 9 members drawn from one age division.
• Age divisions are Junior, Intermediate and Senior. The rules name the divisions but do not print the ages, so the organiser sets them.
• Time: up to 6 minutes of performance plus 4 minutes for set-up and break-down, 10 minutes in all. A penalty of 5 points for each minute, or part of a minute, over the limit is taken from the total score.
• Music, vocal selections and choreographed routines may be used, but together they may be no more than half of the performance. Material about the organising youth body is not allowed.
• Judging areas as printed: material chosen, talent, creativity, showmanship, and costumes and props. Marks for each area are not printed, so none are asserted here; the item is marked out of 100.
• Ideas, not rules: a magic act told as a detective story; a juggling act that keeps its own running score and ends on a fixed finale; a ventriloquist act in which the figure interviews a team member; a comic news bulletin with a surprise ending; a team acrobatics routine linked by a simple spoken storyline.

On eTalenter, Variety Show is filed under On Stage and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, Variety Show is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to around 6 minutes where a limit is set.

What judges look at in Variety Show

What a Variety Show panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• Material chosen: the act should suit the age and ability of the performers and be something they can carry off for the full time. A simple trick done cleanly scores better than a hard one that fails, and the material must be suitable for a family audience.
• Talent: the skill at the heart of the act, whether the sleight of hand, the catch, the balance or the voice work. Judges notice a trick that is visible, a dropped prop that is not recovered smoothly and a team whose skills are very uneven.
• Creativity: the idea behind the act. A fresh premise, a story or a surprise will stand out from a standard routine, but the act must not degrade any person or organisation and must not borrow its theme from the organising youth body.
• Showmanship: eye contact, pace, patter and reaction to the audience. Variety is an entertainment category, so a performer who sells the act with timing and personality will beat a more skilled one who works in silence with a flat face.
• Costumes and props: outfits and equipment that suit the idea, are safe and can be set up inside the four minutes allowed. Prohibited items such as glitter, confetti, water and flour will cost more than they add, and so will props that do not fit the space or the doorway.
• Category fit and time discipline: if more than half the act is music, singing or dance the judges can decide it belongs elsewhere, which may mean disqualification. Going over the six minutes costs 5 points a minute or part of a minute. These points are general advice on what a variety panel weighs; the organiser’s own score card sets the exact weights.

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Variety Show under Scoring Setup, or start from the full drama & skit judging criteria guide.

How to prepare for Variety Show

How entrants and their teachers usually get Variety Show right on the day:

• Choose the one skill the act is built on, then write the six minutes around it. A single strong centre with a clear opening and a closing moment is easier to rehearse and to judge than a collection of unrelated tricks.
• Check the category before you start. If most of the act would be singing, dancing or reciting, move it to Vocal, Choreographed Routines or Poetry/Prose; if its theme is the youth organisation, enter it as a skit.
• Time every section with a stopwatch and aim for five minutes thirty, so a slow laugh or a re-do cannot push you over six. Remember that an introduction you speak yourself counts as part of the performance time.
• Plan the four-minute set-up and break-down as a drill. Write a prop list, pack props in the order they are used, and rehearse carrying them in, placing them and clearing the floor with a timer. Only adult coaches and agents may help backstage.
• Build a six-week plan: weeks one and two for the idea and the skill, weeks three and four to join the sections and write the patter, week five for costume and props in a full run, week six for two timed performances in front of strangers.
• Prepare for a small carpeted floor. Mark a rectangle of about 20 by 30 feet in the practice space, keep props within the 3 by 8 foot allowance, and test every trick on carpet, not on a smooth gym floor.
• Have a recovery plan for each risky moment: the line you will say if a prop falls, the second prop, the way to move on. Judges reward a performer who handles a slip with humour more than one who stops.
• Keep the material the same all the way to state level. After each critique, tighten the timing and polish the weak moments, but do not replace the act, which is not allowed.

Frequently asked questions

Is Variety Show judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Team entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

What counts as a variety show act?

Entertainment made up of a variety of acts, such as sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling and ventriloquism, and other acts that do not fit the other six categories of the showcase. It is judged as an acting category.

Can I use music or dance in a variety show act?

Yes, music, vocal selections and choreographed routines may be part of it, but they may be no more than half of the performance. An act that is mostly a song or a dance belongs in the vocal or dance category, and entering the wrong category may lead to disqualification.

Is a variety show the same as a skit?

No. A skit is a short play, and the showcase’s skit category is for acts that use material or a theme about the organising youth body. Variety acts must not use that theme, otherwise they would be classed as a skit.

Can I enter as a solo performer?

Yes. One district accepts 1 to 9 participants in an act, so a solo is allowed. The other accepts an individual entry and, separately, a team of 2 to 9 members from the same age division.

How long can the act be?

Up to six minutes of performance. Each act also has four minutes for set-up and break-down, ten minutes in total. Going over the limit loses 5 points for each minute, or part of a minute, from the total score.

What are the marking criteria?

The rules name the judging areas, namely material chosen, talent, creativity, showmanship, and costumes and props, but do not print marks for them. No marks are listed here, and the advice on this page is general guidance on what a variety panel weighs.

Want the full judging picture? Read the full drama & skit judging criteria guide, or browse every on stage competition item.