Hello beautiful people!
Let’s make it real.
Most of all, the issue was money and access to resources. When we loaded in at their schools each visit, we’d come carting in huge plastic bins of supplies fit for kings and queens of the theatre. But because we’d visit different schools each time out and nothing would sit waiting for us were we to leave it behind, the bins came back to the volunteer offices with us. I can’t begin to tell you the torture that was taking away these bins filled with joy after having used their contents to lift the creative spirits of these young people every visit.
So that’s why I made it my business to always teach something that could be done without us, without the bins. I’d suggest some “explore your craft” business that didn’t cost anything. We’d weave in habits from our very first visit that might leave these kids jamming with each other or just themselves between our visits. Gee… not too shocking that I’d continue a lifetime of providing ridiculous amounts of “you can do it without me” goodness to those I encounter, huh? I’ve been doing this since I was a teenager! #SoOnBrand
Today’s work: Grab a magazine or newspaper. If you don’t subscribe to pulp anymore, borrow one from someone who does, use a wordy sale circular from the freebie snail mail junk pile, buy a rag from the stand, hit the library and photocopy a random few pages of one of these things. Quickly look over a couple of lines of the text but don’t read the whole thing before you make a decision: GET IN CHARACTER. And then read aloud.
Yep. I want you to use non-script copy and perform a little show as you read the majority of the words in the article for the first time. Bonus points for shooting yourself doing this using your awesome self-tape studio (Day 27) and sharing the vid! Find the story arc in this article. There is one. Create a moment before for your character. Discover the inciting incident as you are reading. Look for the point of no return. Find the “all is lost” moment and then build your energy as you take us to the closing credits. Aloud. In character. The character you chose when you just read a few lines to determine, “Yes, this. This is the piece.”
Whatever you do, do not overthink this. This task is meant to be simple, straightforward, easy to start, and shockingly impact-filled.
Here’s what I know for sure: If hundreds of never-trained-in-acting kids in two major cities across the country from one another could find brilliant, touching, even hilarious storytelling through this tactic EVERY time I challenged them to do it, so can you.
Cheapest — most dynamic — acting class you’ve ever had. Boom. (Tweet it.) You’re welcome.
By the way, this is a workout you can do every single day, challenging yourself to make it feel indie, do it Disney style, turn it into a musical, tie it into our Day 24 work with on-brand material flipped to fit you beautifully, you name it! Heck, you could come up with an all-new monologue for your arsenal or perhaps even develop a whole webseries out of this work. Let your creativity surprise and delight you! And your audience of raving fans. 😉
’til tomorrow… stay ninja!
