Sounds like you should fine tune your playing by doing a solo or duo act. It really reveals any weaknesses you have in your playing so you can work on it. After all, all you need is you and your instrument. Your problem of not having people at your acts, for me I always let my friends, neighbors, wife, family, etc and have them all bring a friend. The more the merrier. After all, if you're embarassed to have have people who know you there, you're probably not either playing the "right" music or in the right crowd.