Improv Notebook » acting

KJ7 – Enjoy the silence

Richard Cox — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:25:23 +0000

[INTERIOR: WAITING ROOM] – Lights UP!

A man is sitting reading a magazine slowly turning the pages. The sound of each one is all you can hear until the rustle of his pants as he crosses his legs. A woman enters the room and sits right next to him, uncomfortably close. He looks up and back at his magazine trying to ease away from her slightly without being obvious. She exhales with a snort of indignation and stares at him, her face getting closer and closer to his and she says in a low voice….

This summer working with Keith Johnstone we did scenes starting with 20 seconds of silence followed by one character saying something to change the other. Those first 20 seconds were riveting to watch “nothing” happen. However, there was so much that was in that “nothing”. Watching as an audience member I created stories about each character and small traits and gestures took on great meaning – it was engrossing.

The audience is not passive, they are searching for the “reason”

- Keith Johnstone Aug 2009

For the players, these scenes with silence gave time to relax and have “nothing” happen. It was 20 seconds just listen for the offers that were there – a shift in position, crossing legs, a slight glance of eye contact. Then a small bit of dialog (5 seconds) and another 20 seconds of silence.

Nothing, nothing, nothing, something!

- Keith Johnstone Aug 2009

This was a shift for me to think about breaking scenes down to smaller slices of very present, in-the-moment focus. For those short periods, listening, connecting, acting, and focusing on what was already there was easier because it wasn’t for a whole scene – just this short part of one.

It’s so easy to rely on being wordy, but so rewarding to let go, slow down, and enjoy the silence.

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KJ Series – Notes from Keith Johnstone work in August 2009

Richard Cox — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:40:54 +0000

Photo by Rich Ross

William and I had the opportunity to work with Keith Johnstone and many wonderful improvisers in August 2009. We captures lots of notes, ideas and inspirations from all of this work and are sharing these ideas in a series of posts.

Each post is labeled KJ for Keith Johnstone because that was the inspiration for the work. We did our best to capture what we could and any quotations, misquotes, or variation is certainly our understanding from the work and done with the intention to be accurate and convey the meaning.

Here are the ones we have up already:

Look for more posts coming in the days and weeks ahead.

We would also love to talk to you more about all of this work. Please post a comment below, or say hi on twitter!

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KJ5 – Quiet mind or LOUD mind

Richard Cox — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:52:05 +0000

Notes from Keith Johnstone retreat, August 11, 2009

Can you to stop your thoughts for 1 minute? Try it now – just sit, breathe and don’t think. I’ll wait… How did it go? Unless you have a daily meditation practice, it can be very hard to quiet your mind. That’s normal for most of us.

Now try the opposite. Pick a nursery rhyme or line from a song you know well – something like “Bah Bah Black Sheep”. Repeat it and raise the volume of your thoughts until you are screaming those words over and over in your head for 1 minute (don’t say the words out loud).

Both of these exercises are the same in one simple way. It changes the way we look at the world.

“If we stop the verbal thinking, it’s the same world but it’s a much more interesting world.” -Keith Johnstone

When you begin Zen meditation practice you count your breaths. The counting gives you a focus so you notice when other thoughts have come in to distract you. Eventually you leave the counting and focus only on the breath. With some practice you can quiet your mind and become more aware of the world, notice things your brain normally blocks out.

By mentally screaming “Bah Bah Black Sheep” you can disrupt your typical verbal thinking. If you can do this loud enough you can drown out your other thoughts and even make it difficult for you to speak. Try to say your name out loud but never stop the mental phrase. Don’t pause to quickly say the words out loud, say them at the same time. It may take a few days of trying.

By now, you might be thinking “I thought this blog was about improv…” Here’s where that comes in. The technique of mantras used by meditation experts and can be used by actors.

Mantras

“It is abstract, not your objective. It’s just used to change the flesh” -Keith Johnstone

Try playing a scene by mentally repeating “I love you” or “I hate you” as a mantra. It will change what you look like, and how you deliver your lines. Just because you are screaming “I love you. I love you. I love you” in your mind, that doesn’t meant you should be in love with the other character. In fact often the opposite is true. Try thinking “I love you” but to keep away from your partner. Or, use “I hate you” and want to make them yours. This is similar to playing “covered” emotions like anger covering up the lust in a Jane Austin play.

The point is to distract ourselves from our thoughts, not give time for fear to enter our minds, and give our brain a break. It is similar to being hypnotized or entering a trance state. Athletes call it being “in the zone“, psychologists and business people might call it “flow“, you might have experienced it when “time just flew by” while focused on a project. This can happen for an actor in being deeply in a character or when a performance feels effortless.

“Once you distract your mind, automatic systems start taking over.” – Keith Johnstone

Try walking down the hall without thinking about how you walk. Most likely you will no longer be doing “your” walk, but some other self-aware walk. Mantras can help you act in a calm way out of instict and not analytical thought. This will produce characters that move naturally and in a human way.

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