In one of my favorite books "True and False," David Mamet titles a chapter- THE GENERATION THAT WOULD LIKE TO STAY IN SCHOOL. He disparages acting school, calling it a disillusioned safety haven, divided from the real world of acting. I have to admit some "safety" guilt.
When it's slow and you're not going out much- no agent, no manager- it's tempting to walk into a classroom, pay money for school and seek approval from teachers and classmates because you can't get it anywhere else. You're unable to test your entertainment value in front of REAL audiences and when you do, it's mostly in front of "middle management" casting directors and agents, who see people ALL DAY and often look tired and bored. We're disconnected from showing our stuff to the majority- the non-Hollywood-stained crowd, wandering out on a Friday or Saturday night, ready to have a freakin' good time, that is, ready to see A GOOD STORY WELL TOLD. Yes, it's THAT simple and I sometimes feel intricate classes over-complicate that objective.
I'm in hypocritical limbo right now- at a great school that teaches basics of good acting, which is a joy to get back to, AND I'm doing an ultra-famous Hollywood class that gears it's students to auditions and "the industry." Yup, I'm DOUBLE "classing" and reading T&F again reminded me that in NO WAY can all that stuff substitute for the real deal. Sure, it might prep you, it'll make you feel good some days, test you other days, but it can not, not, NOT replace earning an income from a ticket-buying member of society that expects you to...well...be there...and be interesting. To THEM.
So I've made a promise to myself, after my class immersion ends, I'll risk school-nakedness in the great wide open. Hours of study will be replaced by writing self-made material, doing every comedy show I can, going to every audition I can, paid or unpaid, and kicking ass!!
Mamet, thanks for the reminder. Let the audiences of the real world be my judge.
where the audience is your final judge. I felt I had to dip back into this great piece of literature ass-kicking because I've been heavily in school environments.
