mental downloadables

the newsletter for to git gud in acting 'n stuff

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The Main Event

"He's talented ... but he doesn't know his lines!"

My eyes still burn with tears when I think about that statement.

That's what a professor said about me when I was in college studying theatre at the University of Michigan. It was the reason I was standing in the wings while all my classmates were having fun on stage.

...

it sucked

How One Line Nearly Ended Theatre

1999

A former mess hall in a derelict military base.

I was a new recruit.

Not in the military, but Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit.

We rehearsed on an old fort donated to us by the city.

This run down building was a dream come true.

I had seen Mosaic perform in my middle school two years earlier.

Now here I was rehearsing with the people I wanted to be like.

The director gave me my shot.

One line.

I had one line.

My time came to show the others.

My cue.

My body stood up.

My mind sat back down.

One line.

I couldn't remember it.

The pressure of the opportunity was too much.

Water can burn, you know. I got the tears to prove it.

One line.

I couldn't remember it.

I went home devastated. I told my mom I was quitting. Thank heaven she reminded me of how bad I wanted this opportunity. How I wished and prayed for it.

I collected myself and with Brute Force, I went from being the fourth understudy, to a lead role a few months later.

But ... it was painfully difficult.

Go Blue(s)

2001

The cork board outside the theatre office at the University of Michigan.

Cast list.

Me? Background player. No name for my character.

Lines ... again.

No lines. No part.

Brute Force.

I found an empty classroom at night. I pushed all the desks to the side and made my self a mock audition room. Every night leading up to the next audition I drilled my monologues in the middle of that classroom from 9pm - Midnight.

Brute Force.

Hunger.

Pain.

Fast forward a few months, I went from "Spearholder No. 2" to my dream role, Mercutio in Romeo & Juliet.

But it was painfully difficult

Dream Role. Nightmare Scenario

2010

Fall.

A diner in Midtown Detroit, Michigan.

Lavinia Hart (Professor at Wayne State) sat across from me.

"The staff is concerned that you won't be able to finish the program."

I had a bad reputation for not finishing what I started.

Lines ... again!

Overwhelm.

Brute Force wasn't working in my professional career.

Full time jobs. Adulting. It was too much.

With tears in my eyes I promised Lavinia that if she let me in she wouldn't regret.

I would be the hardest working actor in the program!

Thank you so much Lavinia! You are my angel.

...

My first audition in the program?

Lead role: Richard III, right out the gate.

Oh wow!

...

oh crap

...

that's a lot of lines

...

Richard III is one of the biggest roles in the English speaking theatre. It's behind Hamlet & Iago as far as Shakespeare is concerned.

1,124 lines

lines

lines

that's a lot of lines to memorize

oh crap

to make matters more challenging

I still had to keep up with my grades and support my new wife and children, plus a new baby on the way

oh crap

Nerd Mode Activate

When I got the part of Richard III in graduate school I decided I would approach this role like an engineer ...

... I went to the library ...

I studied neuroscience

I studied skill development

I studied how elite athletes prepared

No more Brute Force.

Time for a system.

The "Off-Booked" Method is Born

Long story short, I got nominated for best actor for my role as Richard III and I had an amazing career at the Hilberry Theatre playing some of the most iconic roles.

What I teach in this newsletter and with my books is the result of all the work I put in during my first year of graduate school to try tackle the problem of learning lines once and for all.

I learned about:

The 80/20 Principle

Deliberate Practice

Myelin and its role in "muscle memory"

...

30 years of pain and struggle

wrapped up in a neat little package

just

for

YOU

...

That's my "super hero" origin story.

...

Thanks for reading!

...

See you next week!