Final Performances

Nice work, everyone! Have a wonderful summer. ~Prof. Jenn

WORKOUT

SOOOOOO I have not remembered to blog every time I have worked out, however, in the last 2 months I have been putting my gym membership to use, going at least 3 times a week (sometimes more) with Scott (Marklin).

Having a workout buddy really helps. We switch each day between legs & abs, chest & shoulders and arms & back. Today was arms and back, and I am going to be sore tomorrow! I always do at least 20 mins of cardio running or biking before lifting weights or doing toning exercises. We usually always spend at least an hour to an 1h30 at the gym each time. It's been a lot of fun and I'm starting to see (and feel) a bit of improvement! Once summer is here I plan to hit it a bit harder because the weather will be nice and I won't have to study any more, yay!

Although the blog has been inconsistent (sorry) please take note that the exercising has NOT been inconsistent :-)

Happy Summer

Seuss Rehearsal Gallery

Rough Clips from Today

WORK OUT!

I have completely forgotten to keep up with a log, but I have been going to the gym every week (trying to get there at least 3 times which is pathetic but its all I've been able to do lately) and I usually hit the bike for 20-30 mins of cardio (woot! sweaty!) and then I usually alternate upper-body work-out one day with lower-body so that each time I go its different. I just got a gym membership so I'm trying to get into the swing of things.

Clown-lympics!

BLACK SWAN

I thought this idea was very fun and I absolutely LOVED watching it. The performance was well-executed and went very well with the music, I didn't know it was supposed to be figure skating so I thought it was a "ballet". I thought the feathers were really cute and I was reminded of the fantasia scene with the ballet animals. I do think, however, that it could have been possible for stronger clown personalities to show through with actual clown-hats, then we would have known "oh hey, those clowns are trying to do Black Swan!" I was, however, incredibly amused and I liked this performance better than the movie. I also really appreciated Matt's squawking . . . that added a lot of vocal humor with a really simple sound, and it was awesome.

TIGHT ROPE

I thought this presentation was the best in terms of clown personalities, tricks, facials, falling, etc. It looked SO professional, I was really impressed. Every clown had a DISTINCT physicality and personality and the hats really did shine through the entire character. Each character was very different and stuck to their role throughout the entire tightrope walk. I like how Christae had a fuzzy, bear-like hat so she made her character the scaredy/schlumpy type which completely worked, and Jen's hat was floppy so she had a physicality to match and so on, everyone did a great job matching their hat. Also, the clown tricks were very clear which I think the other pieces lacked a little bit of the clown-trick precision that was so clear and well-executed in this piece.

PUSH IT TO THE LIMIT

This being my group, I will say that I thought the idea for speed-walking was super. However, I think if all of us had been there every week it would have been more polished, so we had some extra challenges with catching people up. I felt especially like I could have contributed more had I not missed the class in which we learned to fall, so I decided to make my character "the tortoise" of the race. I thought everybody really put a lot of effort into their costume and character, we were going for a more slapstick effect and I think with more rehearsal that would have been a little tighter.

I think the biggest challenge for us was the music. I had a hell of a time finding the Push It to the Limit song (the right version) on Itunes, so Rachel ended up playing it on her iphone and I played chariots of fire on my laptop, neither of which were really loud enough. Also, at the very end slo-mo fall I had trouble getting the music to play, so its always an adventure with a live performance. But overall I thought we had some really unique ideas and character choices and I enjoyed the schticks that the clowns played on one another in order to get ahead, that seemed very Looney Tunes to me.

Like Roberto, I also feel like I want to keep clowning around all over the place. It's a fun break from reality and an art that requires a lot of skill that I want to keep learning. Jen should teach a class all about clowning . . . please?

Amy Sedaris

First of all, I would like to say that this came out to 2 pages on my word processing program . . . .

Danielle Hawkins

Clown Research Project

 Amy Sedaris

The author, comedian, business-owner and baker, Amy Sedaris, is probably best known for her slew of crazy characters and antics that she has come up with over the years and is one of the few modern examples of a female physical comedian. In his book of essays Me Talk Pretty One Day, Amy’s brother, David Sedaris, describes her penchant for dressing up in strange costumes, assuming a completely different character, and pulling pranks on a routine basis, “Her fondness for transformation began at an early age . . . for Christmases and birthdays she requested wigs and makeup, hospital gowns and uniforms.” (134,135) 

It was David who encouraged Amy to go to Chicago where she joined the comedy troupe Second City. There she met Stephen Colbert and Paul Dinello, with whom she went on to create Strangers With Candy, a television show on Comedy Central starring Amy as Jerri Blank, a 46 year old drop-out/drug addict who is trying to get her life together by starting over as a high-school freshman. The show is a great example of how Amy uses costumes and physical comedy to create character. From her success on Strangers With Candy, Amy has continued to appear in film and television doing quirky skits and dressing up as strange characters.

Although an attractive woman, part of Amy’s physical comedy is dressing “down”, “I like playing ugly people that think they’re attractive,” (tv interview, George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight). In response to her father’s concern for his daughter’s appearance and weight, Amy chose to wear a fat suit to Christmas and have herself made up to look like she had been beaten in a fight for a magazine photo shoot, “When it was her turn at the styling table, Amy said ‘I want to look like someone has beaten the shit out of me”. ( David Sedaris, 140)

“I tend to live my life like a deaf person. I communicate with my actions: the way I dress, the way my home is decorated, and the gifts I give all speak for me.” (Amy Sedaris, 5) In recent years, Amy has turned her comedic gifts toward her fondness for baking, crafts and entertaining. She brings her bizarre characters and ideas to the pages of her books I Like You, and Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People in which she not-so-seriously provides 
recipes, craft-tips and advice. She is certainly not your average “Susie home-maker”. Amy frequently appears on talk shows such as the David Letterman show and Chelsea Lately, where she promotes her books by showing the host some of her recent crafts, like a lamp shade with tassels made of hair swatches or a marshmallow stuck full of sparkly toothpicks, (Wendy Williams Show).

Bibliography

Amy Sedaris: International Movie Data Base. 2011. 1 April. 2011. 

Sedaris, David. Me Talk Pretty One Day. New York, Hachette, 2000.

Sedaris, Amy. Interview. George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight. CBC. Toronto. 6

          Dec. 2010.

Sedaris, Amy. Interview. The Wendy Williams Show. BET. New York. 3 Nov. 2010

Sedaris, Amy. I Like You. New York: Hachette, 2006.

this is a link to a funny tooth fairy thing Amy did:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCUfM0Z0mxU


here's another one:

Clownin' around!

I found it interesting in the readings to find "the value of clown work for the contemporary actor." Well I think if anything, clowning is an inherent way of expressing oneself. If I could mesh all the readings together and say I had one thought in particular, I would say that clowning is a physical caricature that everyone can identify with; making fun of human predicaments and problems in an exaggerated manner is something to be enjoyed by all. Because I missed class last week, I found the videos to be helpful in preparing me for understanding the different types of clowning. I thought the video with Rowan Atkinson was awesome, and I kept thinking how effortlessly he made what must have been very difficult miming seem. Also, the difference in style between Atkinson and Marcel Marceau was outstanding. Marcel seemed sad almost, but it was hard to get an overall sense of emotion from him when he started mixing his emotions with his "masks." I thought the very end of his performance must have been incredibly difficult because he kept his face in a smiling "mask" while the rest of his body was struggling and panicking while trying to take the mask off his face. The Bill Irwin video make me think of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin tricks, he was definitely the most physical with his comedy and very flawless at that. I can't imaging how long it took him to get those hat tricks down so effortlessly. It seems to me that clowning requires great skill and coordination to effortlessly seem bumbling. It is a very impressive art indeed.

workout log

I went to the gym, biked for a couple of miles and then used the machines and worked legs, abs, some back and shoulders. Also, I've been spending a good amount of time at a new job in a restaurant where my job is to run food, and it is quite a workout at my size carrying heavy loads of plates back and forth all day.

The Rivals Review

I very much enjoyed my experience rehearsing my scene for The Rivals with Jen and Nicole and it was great to see the movement that everybody came up with for their scenes.

For Christae and Sophia's scene, I really enjoyed Christae's physicality for Lydia and how she kept looking away longingly while fanning her face. I also enjoyed how Sophia responded to her with general disinterested confusion because Lydia's world is so ridiculous. It was also helpful to see a different take on the same scene I was doing and how they chose to set up the room and their use of props.

I thought Zack and Mallory's scene was the best for movement. They really embodied the physicality of their characters and used a lot of physical comedy. I thought the bit with the flower was classic and really added to the fun and frivolity of the scene. There were some times when they spoke really quickly and I couldn't quite catch what they were saying, but I could understand anyway based on the movement, which I think is really important when using period language.

Matt and Roberto's scene was hilarious but I think it could have been even funnier with some more movement. I thought the rhythm and expression in the speech, however, was flawless and I understood everything they said, as well as their characters' emotions and intent. I especially enjoyed Roberto's "sword-thrusting" I thought that was awesome, and Matt really did a great job of retaining the "man stance" that we were taught at the very beginning of this unit.

I really enjoyed Rachel and Taylor's take on the Lydia/Julia scene, because I was doing the same scene and they went about it very differently. I thought their physicality was great and the "languishing" and sighing and exclaiming was hilarious and completely made sense for the characters (I wish I had thought of it myself). I thought perhaps they showed a little too much "appetite" at times instead of maintaining the mask of "everything is alright even though it's not" facade but I quite liked it anyway, and I think that for the stage the "tension between mask and appetite" can be difficult to convey especially depending on the size of the house.

For my own scene, I felt like I almost forgot how to carry myself physically because, due to lack of corsets, I only wore one for half a class period and that was the first time I had ever wore one anyway and I sort of forgot the way it was supposed to affect my posture. I tried to keep my middle stiff and my arms "floaty" because Lydia was most likely wearing a frivolous gown that wouldn't allow her to put her  arms at her side. I sat the whole time and used a lot of "languishing" gestures but I think I definitely could have stood up and done something more with the physicality.

I thought that Jen and Nicole used their physicality a bit more than me because Jen (Lucie) was standing and curtsying the entire time and Nicole (Julia) entered, exited and sat, using the full range of her motion.  Also they seemed to have the corset business down. All of us had some trouble with the language at one line or another, or we had to figure out what our lines meant. We dove a little bit deeper into our scene when Jen (teacher Jen) told us that the line "press a few blonds" meant that Lucie was just pressing handkerchiefs in the book "The Whole Duty Of Man" so that Lydia shouldn't worry about that book, implying that Lydia was stupid and would only read romance novels. Even deciphering that one little joke helped us (or at least me) with character development.

  

long awaited work-out log

I also just got a gym membership, hurray! So hopefully I can transform these lunch-lady arms I have so graciously developed over the holiday season and never got rid of.

Yesterday I ran around a lake, well attempted to run, jogged really.

Stillness n' stuff

I found the reading interesting because I do find that it is more difficult for an actor to remain still and yet active and alive in their body onstage. Actors are much more accustomed to movement than to stillness and I do believe it requires another skill entirely to be effectively still. I think that the times I have had to be still in shows (in tableaux or what have you) were the most difficult, because I had to maintain the "idea" of movement and activity, frozen in an awkward physical stance for who knows how long while still being "present" in the scene and paying attention to the action. In Evita I was a "vanity" as in a piece of furniture with a mirror on it, during one of Evita's songs, a couple other girls and I were playing her furniture, and I had to be completely still, holding a mirror up over my head for a good few minutes . . . that was a lot harder than it looked I'm sure.

ANYWHO, I also was reminded of the Ziegfield Follies and their large Tableaux Vivants of girls surrounded by beautiful splendor, wearing lovely costumes, but not really doing anything but sitting there and looking good. Also I thought about a live nativity scene, when I was in France at Christmas time the Catholic churches there were pretty big on having a live nativity. There is definitely a lot of power in stillness in theatre, I think it can be incredibly important for staging, establishing mood and developing a story.

Get out of my Sphere!

I found the notion of structural spheres a little difficult to grasp at first, but as I continued to read I began to apply the sphere-idea to everyday life and realized it does make a difference. It says in the reading that if a room is too small for your structural sphere, you may find it difficult to work in that space. I find that is true in the case of my bedroom; because I'm a busy person I tend to leave my room in various stages of neglect and untidiness. I get stressed out by the clutter in there, and even though the room is a relatively decent size and I have an area where I can study, I tend to feel imposed upon and prefer to do my homework on the couch in the more sparse living-room. Also, the question of inter-personal and emotional effects on the sphere is interesting to me. I am not surprised that confidence and happiness would make someone's sphere more extended and sadness and stress would cause people to shrink into themselves and therefore their sphere would shrink as well.

I also question the relationship between someone's culture and their projected sphere. I found, when living in France (and in Europe in general) people's "personal bubbles" appeared to be much smaller than my own, and they had no problem at all getting "all up on me" when I was in a public place (like a museum or restaurant) I felt slightly imposed upon, (even though I was aware that it was a cultural thing) yet they clearly did not feel as though they were imposing. So, I ask myself how cultural differences such as comfortable physical proximity between strangers effects someone's sphere.

I found experimenting with the auditory space sphere to be calming and interesting. I suddenly became aware of all the ticking clocks in my house and other sounds I would otherwise have ignored like the humming of the refrigerator or computer modem. After the experiment I  was able to "reel in my sphere" and go back to concentrating on other things. I've never actually tried to meditate before but the auditory sphere experiment felt to me like a meditative activity.

Stage Movement Gallery

I thought you guys might like to see a so-far-in-class picture gallery, so here 'tis.   ~Prof. Jenn

Workout log

I did work out at the gym last Saturday after class (whoo hoo big dreams!) And I did an hour long yogalates/cardio workout the day before yesterday. It has come to my attention that I desperately need more exercise.

The Price is Right is Creepy

I watched some of the classic 1980's Price is Right and those models scare me in all their plasticness. I was very quickly reminded of Barbie and Miss America. Is it just an American thing to be a stiff no-brained, big-haired beauty or is that something the rest of the world does too? Actually the Price is Right models may be scholars for all I know but I kept feeling like the point is for them to look cheap and easy, like dolls. When Bob Barker was "interviewing" them in one video, he didn't even stop to hear their response. The models in Deal or No Deal do the same thing too. I think the art of "blending in" but "standing out" is combined in the way the models act. They are not supposed to draw too much attention to themselves because they are presenting a product but at the same time they need to be nice to look at, for me this produces a sort of femmebot creepiness.

Anywho!

I decided to do Experiment 1 on the crowded lightrail. Most people keep to themselves but the person that stood out to me at first was a man on his cell phone who was announcing his side of the conversation loud and clear so everyone would know what he would be having for dinner that night and why his daughter didn't want to go to volleyball practice. I was beginning to fear that he may have had a prostate exam (or something else personal that everyone on the train didn't want to know about) to announce loudly. Clearly this man stood out because he was loud and obnoxious.
The second time around I noticed a younger guy, most likely an Auraria student who was keeping to himself and listening to headphones, but I could hear the music coming from his headphones which was a little distracting. It was nothing, however, compared to the man on his cellphone so that is probably why I overlooked him the first time. The person I noticed the least was a woman who was very quietly reading, she wasn't doing anything even remotely distracting and was sitting crammed next to a window so she wasn't directly near me either. She seemed a little mousy like she wanted to blend in or like she may have been shy, the guy with the headphones didn't appear shy and he also did not appear to care that his music was really loud. I don't even know about the guy on the cellphone. I don't think he realized he was shouting his business out to everyone.

For exercise 2 I was at Sam's Club where some lady had a popular BBQ sample stand where there were a few shoppers and she was explaining whatever the BBQ sauce and cooking method was to them. I felt kind of stupid "commanding her attention with my gaze" because she kept looking at me like I was perhaps just TOO interested in the BBQ. She stopped what she was saying to give me a sample. She probably just thought I was a creepy, hungry person. After I had my sample I sunk back into the small group of customers. I didn't exactly remain "willfully unknown and unseen" because it wasn't the ideal situation to do the experiment, but I got the gist of it.