Sunday. Yes, I'm aware that today is Monday but I didn't feel like writing this yesterday. Anyway,it's the day of rest. But then again, I have no job so I'm pretty well rested. Maybe I should observe the sabbath! Pfft! Yea right! I'll observe from as far as possible thank you. So without a job and a God to fear thiyou would think that this day would just blend in with the others and wither away into nothingness, taking me along with it. Well, when you assume you make an ass out of you..Yea! just you!
Unlike any other day, today was "Introduction to Acting"!
My friend, David, and I are both movie buffs who fancy ourselves as actors. Kind of like how everyone who watches sports suddenly thinks they can do a better job at coaching than the incumbent coach when their team starts faltering. Idiots. Anyway, what you need to know is that David and I joined an acting class at City Lit to dip our toes into the actor's psyche...yea, that's an image you didn't want in your head.
We decided to meet at 9.30 AM GMT and have a little refreshment before heading out to class. I had to leave extra early because the stupid London Marathon was running (hahahaha) right by my house. In fact, my house was the half way point. Imagine my surprise when I stepped out and had news crews, bbqs, cheering people and idiots galore on my front porch. The one day when everyone stops to look at the people running. I'm told it's rivetting stuff. But then again I'm also told that kittens die when you masturbate.
But I digress. With coffees in hand we made our way to class. >>fast forward>> Things got going pretty quickly. Our tutor, Jane, was a professional actor turned teacher. She seemed fun and a clealy enjoyed the work she did, which filled us with confidence. She immediately sat everyone, about 18-20 people-no hotties, down in a circle and asked us to introduce ourselves. We obliged but I was filled with disquietude by the possible cougar who had set her eyes on me. RRRROWR!
Jane started us off with essential exercises to help us break our personal space. If you know me then you know my personal space conssists of 2 minefields, pools of radioactive goo, missile defense systems, machine gunners, nukes, lasers, The Justice League, watchdogs, and if all else fails-my trusty middle finger! These games were designed to be fun but I was skeptical. The first one was based around hugging the nearest person, on cue, as if your life depended on it. Not a problem because when strangers hug me I feel like my life is teetering on a precipice. In actuality, I found it to be incredibly fun and I was impressed by how effective it was. Hell, I even won the knockout hug challenge! We played some more similar games and I enjoyed them all, especially the Wink Murder one. But I thought the exercise where we had o talk gibberish to each other was a waste and slightly difficult. In retrospect, it probably helped to free us from overthinking things and just go with the flow.
>>fast forward>> After lunch we reconvened for a more improv based session. This was exactly what I had been relishing. A chance to rip loose with a given scene. Everyone volunteered depending on how comfortable they were. I even got to play a substitute teacher trying to get an unruly class in order. The tutor was clearly impressed but I waivered in my attempt to present a "high status" figure correctly. I did manage to get some cred back when I was asked to play a disorderly troublemaking student, which I think I did expertly. The piece de resistance, however, was the finale.
We were seperated into smaller groups and given the freedom to create a scene. I took command and my group came up with a bank robbery scene. It was violent, action packed, and Jane was clearly hit by a freight train carrying a load of awesome sauce. She was awe-struck and I was feeling a little egotistical-does that make me an actor?? Once the other groups finished Jane applauded all of us for a work well done and offered words of encouragement to us budding thespians.
The whole day was a fabulous experience and I felt I got my money's worth. I think David would concur. It definitely makes me look at the profession from a different perspective. My only regret is not getting that short film directors number. But I still managed to get some good leads. What did leave a mark on my mind was Jane's goodbye. As I was leaving she looked me square in the eye and gave me a heavy nod, which to me looked like a sign of acceptance or great approval. It was probably nothing but a boy can dream. By the way, anyone know how much a dreamer's ticket to Hollywood is?
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