We cleaned the fish pond today and yesterday. I'm pretty sure it's the most disgusting thing I've ever done in my whole life. I had my heavy rubber cleaning gloves on, but I'd have been much happier in a full suit. Maybe even with one of those wrestler masks.
I was never the sort of kid to enjoy the squishiness of mud; then again, I was able to accept getting dirty if the occasion called for it. Did the whole Girl Scout camp thing, and got in a river or two. I think I'm getting OCD about it as I age, though. Twice this evening while bailing sludge (the same kind of sludge that's in the Death Star garbage-crushing room) out of a three-foot-deep PVC pit, I nearly burst into tears from the ickiness of it all. I just do not like the feeling of anything gooey and drippy on my skin... never mind thoughts on the material composition of said sludge!
Sneaky seems to be adjusting to the cleaner water (after a horrible day in a little plastic tank), but we didn't get the pond back together in time to save his two small compatriots, added only recently. Poor things. I think Sneaky enjoyed having them around:he swam a lot more. We'll get him a friend again soon.
It's midnight. Only twenty-one hours until my first time doing improv in front of an audience. Here are the things I have to remember:
Project my voice.
Stay out of my head.
Listen.
Follow my fear.
Don't close my eyes when we're doing sweep edits.
Rather than saying "We have a problem," say "The problem is..." and keep going.
Let my scene partner affect my character emotionally.
Scene-paint from downstage so the players know I'm there.
If I've wrapped my hand around the handle of an improv bullwhip, leave space for it in my hand, rather than clenching my fist.
The audience is downstage. Remember good blocking. Don't fall off the stage.
Rule 98.
Make discoveries.
Have a history.
Know my surroundings.
Use tools like tension, status, physicality. Don't be the same me-character every time. But still be a little bit me.
Be the bad guy now and then.
Want something.
Fall, and figure out what to do on the way down.
Have a secret.
Hold a strong belief.
Start with a strong emotion.
Edit on the high note.
In Which I Write My Long and Convoluted Story
About Me
- Inky Neverwhere
- Stage manager, fledgling director, maker of stuff, tattoo canvas, adventuress.
3 comments:
You forgot the most important thing to remember.
Have fun!
Sometimes we get so wrapped up in trying to do all the things that make a good performance that we forget the "have fun" rule and it affects the performance.
So, have fun, kick ass, and take names.
Pete is right.
If fun doesn't feel like enough, do this one, and everything else will follow:
Start with a strong emotion.
Oh, and don't forget to buckle your seatbelt. Otherwise I might just injure you on my way to injure myself because that's what I do.
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