How to get the most out of your acting class

By Tom Vest

Acting/Improv teacher

Show up on time
Don’t let the start of a class become your arrival time. Arriving 5 or 10 minutes late can throw you out of sync with the rest of the class, as warm ups are designed to lead into planned exercises. Yes, sometimes we run into traffic jams or are held up, but don’t let it become a habit. Aim to arrive before the start of class and avoid the dreaded Walk of Shame as everyone stops to watch you arrive in the middle of all the fun!

Participate!
I think it comes as a surprise to some people that they have to get up and actually participate. Others spend a lot of energy making sure the class knows how tired they are or how nervous they are. All I can say about that is – please don’t be that person. We’re all tired. Too often it becomes an excuse to participate at 50% effort. You only succeed in drawing attention to yourself, and not in a good way.

No texting
Over the years, texting during class has increasingly become an issue. Even though I make a point to mention texting is not allowed, students sometimes “forget” and try to check their messages or quickly reply to an email. The reasoning is usually along the lines of — “if they are quiet and not disrupting the class, what’s the problem?”
Students benefit greatly from watching others work, not to mention a sense of community and recognition of shared experiences. We are all in this together, aren’t we? The people on stage want to be seen, and so should you. That’s how we know we are getting better, by our partnership in this room. If we are to better ourselves in this art, students must take responsibility to listen to each other and use the time to learn from each other.

Don’t be defensive
Unfortunately, a defensive student doesn’t see them self as defensive. Students progress very little when they are more interested in defending their actions than taking any suggestions the instructor may have. Try to keep an open mind and remember things always look different to the people in a scene than to those who are outside of it.

Get Curious
Engaging in the world around you is a good way to take your mind off any worries or fears you may have. Developing our ability to pay attention and concentrate is a key skill all actors need to work on, so put away that iphone and watch the scene in front of you!

Should I brand myself?

You are one of a kind and I believe that you should celebrate that in your life and in your career! Over the past few years people have been talking about the need for actors to “brand” themselves. This can be stressful to figure out and, I think, really boring as an artist. As an actor/artist you never want to place yourself in a box and branding does just that. Know what your strengths are and absolutely play to them but never be branded… Unless you’re a moose or a shoe, then just be that.

May you all have a wonderful, creatively fulfilling and prosperous 2014!

Monica Mustelier

Actress | Acting Coach | Writer

www.monicamustelier.com

Conflict. Some improvisers love it. Others run from it.

By Tom Vest

Improviser | Acting Teacher

In most performers’ minds, the word “conflict” suggests that characters should disagree or fight.

Most discussions about conflict tend to generate their own conflict: Is it necessary? How does it get started? How do you avoid it? Should it be based on what the story needs or what the characters want?

In order to get a better understanding of conflict, let’s begin with the “Today is The Day” scenario that’s often taught.

Often teachers will frame scene work with the view that “Today is the day things change for your character…a scene should be about a life-altering experience.” Scenes that follow will be inherently interesting because we see the character in a new light.

After all, how exciting can it be to watch a character do the same thing they always do?
We want to see a character finally stand up to his boss, declare his love, get a divorce, get a job, get fired…anything to break the routine.

And I don’t necessarily disagree with this so much as I disagree with how it is handled.
For one thing, anytime you use the word “should” in an improv context, you (inadvertently) set up expectations. (A scene should be about…)

In the rush to get to a life-altering experience, performers get so caught up in the theory that something needs to happen, that they miss out on what already is happening.
Before we focus on “Why is this day different than all the others?” what if we asked “Why is this day the same?”
Life-altering often seem less life-altering when we haven’t even established the life that is getting altered.

When we place more importance on what needs to happen than on appreciating what is happening, we lose touch with an awareness of ourselves in our experience.
And when we lose touch with how we feel about what’s going on, we start to guess. Or calculate what “should” happen. Rather than be ourselves and play from a truthful place, we make choices based on our opinion of what’s best for the scene.

In order for a scene to be interesting, it really helps for the improviser to be interested in what they are doing or what is going on. If they aren’t, then why would the audience be? When an improviser believes in the moment, they open themselves up to transformation, revelation, movement, resolution, agreement, and breaking of a routine.
These events are sometimes referred to as “tilts.”

A tilt can change someone’s status or even change the balance in a scene without conflict.
As long as you are invested in the moment, there isn’t any need to introduce or create conflict.
The pressure you place on yourself to find the conflict will remove you from your scene.
As a result, you are no longer inside the scene, but outside of it.

If you construct conflict in order to create a scene, then you are constructing rather than behaving.

Just be.

If that’s not enough, be more.

When in doubt, raise the level of need for your character. If you get lost in the scene, it’s because you’re not in character. Dig deeper into how you feel about what you are doing, or how you feel about what is going on and allow it to inform you.

You don’t need to CREATE conflict; your character needs to need. Other characters have their own needs, therefore conflict will ensue whether you want it or not.

Tom began improvating in 1997 and has studied at the Impatient Theatre Co., Second City Conservatory, ImprovOlympic and Bad Dog Theatre. While at ITC he has performed with Pantry of Creams and Standards and Practices. He has also coached Leroy, Death Valley Driver and The Markov Variation. He currently performs with an independent ensemble, The Seedlings. In addition to working with various youth groups across the city, he has also taught at the Impatient Theatre Company, Rosedale Heights School of the Arts, Randolph Academy and York University. Tom also helped produce the Fringe venue for the Toronto Improv Festival, and is the creator and producer of the ultra-smash hit shows “Dude, Whats a Harold?” and Beyond the Stars! He has also performed at Improv Festivals in Chicago, New York and Toronto.