KCRF Apprentice Class Week 5 Three Steps That Will See You Through Anything:
This will be one of the soapbox part of my classes
BE COMMITED TO SHOW UP & PREPARED TO WORK
~75% of accomplishing anything (homework, volunteering, etc) is to show up, roll up your shirtsleeves and work at it.
~You cannot expect the world to come to you and give you things….only parents and friends do that.
~Be prepared to fail or be rejected- then decide through your past experience if you should continue, leave or switch gears and take another path.
ATTITUDE & RESPECT
~People who think themselves better than someone else for a few moments is okay (it’s fine to say I feel I did better than them-it’s human). But let it go after that because it’ll destroy your attitude.
~People who snub, put down or chastise others for pure enjoyment will kill any teamwork, friendship and trust so fast it isn’t funny…and it hurts people.
~If people are pushed too hard, alliances form and destroys the fruit from the inside. That and if you push too hard, they’ll resist – or worse yet, fight or rebel.
~And those who only play with friends or favorites, usually end up with a mediocre result.
FOLLOW THROUGH
~This step gets you not only feedback but kudos as well.
~Ask your fellow performers if the scene dragged, something to change.
~It shows responsibility for your actions and you can learn some things you never thought of.
~When you put more knowledge to practice and follow the steps, you will gain respect.
~The more experience you gather, the more people will look up to you and set you as their example. We are all role models for a variety of people and we must not forget that.
After follow through it turns back to showing up and being committed.
It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action, and discipline that enabled us to follow through." Zig Ziglar
Our festival attracts all sorts of performers and stage acts. But we all have one essential goal: To Entertain and Educate but, most importantly, to host and see well to our patrons or guests.
If you don’t take care of the paying customer, they’ll disappear.
Just as in our Noble class as in the 16th Century: It’s our obligation and reputation to take care and be generous to our patrons.
Team Approach
All of us are important to this festival. Each of us has a role to play and will be needed so much in the lanes.
o From talking to patrons to assisting vendors to talking with foreigners to addressing a large crowd in a stage show…what you do is vital!
You are important and doing something to help others makes you feel good and confident in your abilities for the future.
We can learn from one another.
o You have to want and be willing to learn.
o You have to put aside differences sometimes to learn (examples: age, friendship, if the person has more friends than you do, etc.)
o You have to know yourselves (when to push, when to walk away)
All of us have to be focused on the same goal. We may get there using various measures, but our end goal must be the one and the same and we must respect one another’s visions as well.
OUR GOAL: Put on a great show and give the patrons a great day by giving our generosity & enthusiasm to them.
Do we let the patron abuse us by speaking down to us, verbally assaulting us or making fun of us? NO
Do we let the patron man handle us? NO
Do we react if a patron touches us inappropriately…YES, but in character..shout for help, run, make privy, scream if you have to…but in character.
** I’m not telling you this to scare you or frighten you….just to put respect in your mind at the variety of patrons that we get at our festival every year. A great many number of our patrons are pleasant, sweet, fun people who honestly want to partake or at least observe the entertainment around them. On that same note there are a few who are strange, obsessive, rude, snotty, and crazy stalker in nature. I want to build us more as a team to overcome that very small percentage of abusing patrons. Personally, I want you all to have a great year with memories of face-aching laughter and fantastic knowledge of what you are capable of. The way to do that is to know one another, build a foundation of support, be attentive and observant to what is going on around us and know your character.**
Acting in Performance Art/ Street Events:
Our day at faire is like the movie: Groundhog Day. Everyday we are excited that their Majesties (and foreign Royalties) visit Canterbury. Everyday, we look forward to the Harvest Festival-which is the one day of fall that we Harvest our bounty and feast with our Superiors. Everyday we watch their Majesties wed and have a dance to celebrate. That is our Groundhog Day movie script.
What makes it different is the different crowd that arrives at the gates.
What makes it different is you’ll try different schticks or discover a little performance that can happen with other performers.
What really makes the difference? YOUR ENERGY AND HOW YOU PROCESS OTHER PEOPLES ENERGY.
What makes a good, solid performer (even if they are in a rut)?
They are well bonded to their character both physically and psychologically.
They live in the moment of what is going on with them or around them in the scene.
They are able to give their character emotions with their own past emotional experiences.
They can imagine why a character is the way they are because of the character’s history.
If you have noticed, we have started you to work towards your character being very believable with past history and emotional experiences.
What can help you keep "in character" for a solid 9 hours?
Character Surveys build that history and gives you many storylines that you can pull material from when speaking to patrons.
Your costume can kick start your energy.
Accents or dialect is "on", even on a break.
Vocabulary
Posture – we’ll be working on this later.
(Examples: Dustpin and Toy)
A lot of things can help you keep in character so just remember to use a trick to help you maintain it.
And you don’t have to be the best at it either! We are all on different levels at different times of the day. So don’t try so hard that you squash other great schticks or traits of your character.
Have fun, involve patrons to "teach" them your character traits.
Quotes About Acting
The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves." Swiss Psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung
Life's like a play; it's not the length but the excellence of the acting that matters" Seneca (1st Century Roman philosopher)
"I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being." Oscar Wilde
"Acting is half shame, half glory. Shame at exhibiting yourself, glory when you can forget yourself." John Gielqud