I did it!

[kargo]

I made it through my practice session with M! (If you don;t know what I'm talking about, read here. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=353381&p=2) I enjoyed it a lot. I think I've really found something I love as much as writing. Maybe more. It was great fun. I was pretty nervous- you can tell by looking at all the skits. You can see where I was holding them tightly. I think I loosened up a bit after a while, though. We practiced cold reading, acting, eye contact, hand gestures, and projecting. My choir teacher helped us out by printing out 4 skits and a monologue for us to practice. Cold reading? Psh. M wasn't fazed. She did it just as well as she would have with all the lines memorized. She was very sweet and did her best to give me pointers. She didn't give many, though, because she's just natural at acting. She says she finds it rather hard to explain it to people.

 

[Tala]

Well that's good. Congrats

If you have found something that you love - that's awesome!

 

[kargo]

M really surprised me. I didn't realise she'd be just as good at cold reading as she is with all the lines memorized. I mean, I"m aware she's been doing this for uh...12 years, but wow! She just blew me away. I couldn't get over how she read with soooo much expression! It's really hard to explain. She's really....professional, basically. She's just that good at it.

We had 4 skits and a monologue. The monologue is called, "The Problem With Friends", and it came from this book of skits for youth groups. It goes like this, "Hey. My name's Joel. I'd say I'm a pretty good friend---- but not with just anybody. In fact, I have very few friends... (on second thought, defensively) but it's not because I'm a jerk.

I'm just picky.

Now take Bill. I've known Bill since we were in third grade. We used to do everything together. Once we had a bottle-rocket fight in my garage, and my parents never found out. Well, one time Bill was supposed to met me at the mall, and we were supposed to hang out for the day and then his mom was supposed to give us a ride home. Well, Bill never shows, and I get stuck at the mall and my parents are all mad because they have to come pick me up. Bill said he forgot, but I said, "Forgot? Friends don't treat each other like that. You're a jerk, Bill."

I never spoke to him again.

Then there was Eric. We were pretty good friends and we hung around with the same crowd at school. One day Eric told me his dad lost his job adn they were on food stam[s now. It was okay for a while, but pretty soon Eric couldn't afford to go to the movies with us, and his clothes started to look pretty dorky. His family moved out of their house--probably because they couldn't may payments on it anymore. I think they moved into the low-income housing. I don't really talk to him anymore, but i see him in the hall once ina while at school.

Now Terri and I were good friends... for a while. The problem was, she started calling me every day. I just didn't have that kind of time to spend on the phone. She got mad because I didn't call her back for four days in a row. We don't hang out together anymore.

And Karen was pretty cool----- until she started having all these problems at home. Then she started to ask if she could talk to me. What she really wanted to do was to dump all her problems on me. I thought, "No way!", but what I told her was (with a fascade of kindness) "Why don't you get back to me after you get your life together?" I mean, the least thing I need is someone who's just gonna bring me down."

Anyway...like I said, I'm pretty picky about my friends... (an awkward pause) Actually, I guess I don't have friends...(stubbornly confident again) I figure that friendship is a big gift I don't want to give to just anyone who comes along. I mean, you know how it is?"

Yeah, it was pretty interesting to try to transform into that character...*shudder* I sure hope I'm not like that. But it was pretty good practice for expression. I read it first, then M did it. I did it again later, too. We ended up using all the material several times. We tried it switching up characters, with different emotions, practicing projecting, practicing eye contact, practicing body language...

She did her best to help with giving tips and encouragement. She had trouble explaining stuff, though. She's just natural at it. She says it's hard to explain it. Once when I was reading the monologue, after we had been going for a while, she whispers, "Louder." lol She gave a few poinbters. "Be louder, try this emotion here, relax a little..." Just general stuff. I think the practice gave me most of the other tips I needed. I could sort of gauge my own level with someone else to work with me. Plus, hearing the way she did things, then when we swtiched and did the part I had just done, gave me more insight into things I could work on. Haha, speaking of nervous. Geez. I was so nervous at first... I can still see the spots on the skits I used where I made impressions on them from holding them so tightly. I was shaking like a leaf, too. I wasn't perfect by the end, but I had definitely gotten more comfortable. M said she saw progress in that time. We started over one time 'cause I complretely flubeed this onn part. lol The script said, "Ham: (groans) Ohhhhhh......" I go, "Ohhhhhh!' You know, like I just figured something out. I felt like a pretty big idiot, but it wasn't a big deal, I guess. We started over since it was the first line, and she wanted to hear me do it right.