Day 75 - Friday 29th May 2020

Location: London, UK

COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak

Lockdown

And, improvise! Words that many actors dread to hear.

A couple of years ago I decided to do some training in improvisation. We studied it at drama school, but that was quite a while ago and I decided I needed and wanted to hone my craft.

I had done a couple of sessions at The Actors Centre with Paul Foxcroft, so I sought him out and ended up studying three levels of improvisation with him, Ben Fogg and Richard Soames at Monkey Toast Improvisation. And I loved it!

My initial reason for signing up was to get more confident in this discipline and because it frequently arose during castings, commercials in particular, but I'd had to improvise in auditions for all kinds of things including film and theatre. I was slightly surprised at how much I enjoyed it - the scope for creativity and the infinite possibilities the empty stage, a small suggestion and the collective brains of a group of people can generate is intoxicating. Don't get me wrong, it's also terrifying but kind of like going on a rollercoaster terrifying.

After completing training, a group of us formed The Trophy Room and have been gigging (until about March when something stopped all live performances, can't think what it was...). I really look forward to getting back in the room with them to play sometime soon.

If you want to watch some excellent improv, check out Middleditch and Schwartz on Netflix.

Lunch Break: Listen. Commit. Act. Using Improv to Succeed in ...

Comments

Day 150 - Wednesday 12th August 20200

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Certain people have always been a bit disgusting in the way in which they treat their surrounding. The number of surgical masks I see lying on the street every day is quite revolting. Not only is it an act of pure sloth to just throw it on the floor without a care in the world for your environment, but surely in times when we are being asked repeatedly to wash our hands and use hand sanitiser it's an almost an act of aggression to disgard something potentially infectious in such a disdainful way? A plea therefore - please throw your salived filled masks in the bin, not on the floor. Astonishing to have to ask really!

1st November 2020

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak World Vegan Day 🌍🍃🐄🐔🐖 The 1st November is World Vegan Day. I have two thoughts on that - firstly, that every day seems to be National or World something day and secondly that for me, every day is VEGAN DAY 😁 As I have alluded to my veganism in this blog, I thought I'd let you know what lead me to this point. At the age of 8, I connected the dots that the meat on my plate and the animal in the field were very much connected and I couldn't bear the idea of an animal dying just so I could eat it. Although I now have many more reasons which support my choices, animals dying was and still is my primary motivator for being vegetarian/vegan. I used to eat fish for a long time, but I could never eat a fish if it still looked like one and gradually I found I couldn't face the idea any longer. In 2014 I decided that for Lent that year it would be a good challenge to go vegan - I loved and ate dairy on a dai...

Day 90 - Saturday 13th June 2020

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown On this date last year I was at Wembley Stadium seeing The Spice Girls. And it was genuinely one of the best nights of my life. I didn't get to see them when I was younger as a five-some but seeing Baby, Scary, Ginger and Sporty live on stage was fantastic. It's hard to explain why exactly but essentially The Spice Girls were an integral soundtrack to my formative teenage years. I love a good bit of pop music and the queens of GIRL POWER had hit after hit after hit. And the thing is, they are great songs! I promise you - request Wannabe at a wedding or somewhere where they play live music (I requested it at Piano Works Bar to actual cheers I tell you) and it will go down a storm. # V i v a F o r e v e r

The Extreme Staycation

Search This Blog