Improvising and Improving

This week, my to-do list consisted of: Finding a Comedic and a Dramatic Monologue for myself, Starting Improv Class, Reading “The Audition” by Michael Shurtleff, and like always, Posting Here!

I started looking for the monologues, and have found quite a few, so I am trying to narrow them down, and see which ones work for me.

This week, I not only went to my first Improv class on Monday, I also went to their free workshop on Sunday. This may seem like a no-brainer, getting for free something we are willing to pay for, but a month ago, I probably wouldn’t have gone. I am a master at excuses, so I would have considered the gas to get to Montreal, the trouble I might have parking, the fact that I would miss out on the boat…I would have seen this and decided not to go. I also wouldn’t have signed up for the improv class, because I originally worked every Monday, from 8 in the morning until 9 at night. When I got back to Europe, as I’ve shared, I decided to put acting first, which terrifies me, but also makes me feel like I might actually make it some day. I switched my shifts, sometimes forcing my manager to work for me when I couldn’t find a replacement, and made the conscious decision to go to the free workshop, even though it kind of scared me.

I loved the workshop, and the class. The workshop was given by Marc, who covered the basics of improvisation, but I think I most enjoyed breaking out of my shell and meeting new people. I had already learnt some of the concepts in High School, which gave me confidence, and I have a good memory for names, which helped a lot in some of the ice breaker games. My actual class has Brent as a teacher, and I absolutely love everything about it. He stresses the fact that there’s no failing in improv, we succeed as a group, or fail as one, and even when he tells us the worst that can happen is that we fail, it doesn’t seem that scary. I can’t wait to go back next Monday!

I had already read Audition months ago, the last time I was going to do the Tom Todoroff intensive, but I read it again, and still find it so interesting to hear all the stories about some great actors who failed at auditions, or beat the odds to get the roles…it’s exciting and encouraging, telling me not to give up. And speaking of the TT intensive, I now have a scene partner, a girl who is pretty much my age, and we are both looking for scenes that we could do in September. (but that’s on my next week’s to do list 🙂

I still haven’t heard back from the audition I did last week, but as luck would have it, I have another one next week. I’m really seeing that it pays to be nice to everyone, that even if you don’t get the role, you can still make great connections. My friends thought I was crazy for waking up extremely early to spend the day as an extra without pay, but one of the guys on set wrote the script for my last audition, and another one sent me a casting call for his film that will be shooting in September. I might not get any of these parts, and I’m not even in the age range for some of them, but I still think it’s pretty cool that I didn’t have to scour casting sites for this audition (well, casting call) it sort of just found me.

I also found time this week to kind of plan what I want to achieve in the next few years as far as the acting goes. I’ve made lists of what I want to accomplish every time I go to LA, as well as what needs to be done from here in Montreal. I know things might not go as planned, but just imagining how it could turn out is extremely exciting, and I can’t wait to start making my dreams come true!