The best
actors also are teachers, which makes sense. effective acting means learning
how to observe people and understand how they express their emotions, and
mastering that talent means you can show those skills to others. At Nekocon,
actor Deb Rabbai took fans through the paces of improvisational acting.
"At 16 I went to an improvisational workshop. They seemed so clever and
funny and smart, and I thought, "I want to be all of these things,' so
I ended up turning it into a career." East Coast anime fans are familiar
with the "whose line is it" improv shows that fill time during costume
contests, and that explains why so many fans attended Rabbai's demonstration.
Most people
don't see a link between improvisational acting and basketball, but Rabbai
thinks they're different examples of the same kind of skill. Basketball
plays are rehearsed, but when a play breaks down the players have to make
up a play. Improvisational skills also can be rehearsed, and Rabbai took
her fans through a group of drills. One of those drills looked very much
like a basketball drill, and it even featured an invisible "ball." Rabbai
told the fans to pretend passing the ball, with the provision that they
had to make a noise when they threw or caught the ball. After a few minutes,
the air was full of non-existent balls and the fans were making lots of
silly noises. It was fun, but it also showed an important part of the skills
that make improv possible: it's a matter of cooperation, where the actors
must help each other create a story on stage. "My job isn't finished until
my partner gets it," said Rabbai. "I'm not trying to fake my partner out."
Another
exercise in a circle was called the "vogue game," where "you don't have
to really vogue - you're going to strike a pose. "The next person's job
is to physically add to what the first person is doing. You don't want
to make them look bad - you want to make them look good. You don't want
to engage your mind, you want to see the person and make a gut reaction."
That emphasized another point Rabbai made about improv; it calls for more
reaction than thinking. Spend time thinking about your next move and the
moment is lost, she said. When Rabbai led the fans in the "pop quiz" exercise,
where she played a teacher who asks questions and any answer counted, no
matter how silly, the fans said it was hard to not be witty and to talk
about what popped into their heads. "You've got to go with the first idea
and you can't go to much with your imagination," she said.
The best
actors also are teachers, which makes sense. effective acting means learning
how to observe people and understand how they express their emotions, and
mastering that talent means you can show those skills to others. At Nekocon,
actor Deb Rabbai took fans through the paces of improvisational acting.
"At 16 I went to an improvisational workshop. They seemed so clever and
funny and smart, and I thought, "I want to be all of these things,' so
I ended up turning it into a career." East Coast anime fans are familiar
with the "whose line is it" improv shows that fill time during costume
contests, and that explains why so many fans attended Rabbai's demonstration.
Most people
don't see a link between improvisational acting and basketball, but Rabbai
thinks they're different examples of the same kind of skill. Basketball
plays are rehearsed, but when a play breaks down the players have to make
up a play. Improvisational skills also can be rehearsed, and Rabbai took
her fans through a group of drills. One of those drills looked very much
like a basketball drill, and it even featured an invisible "ball." Rabbai
told the fans to pretend passing the ball, with the provision that they
had to make a noise when they threw or caught the ball. After a few minutes,
the air was full of non-existent balls and the fans were making lots of
silly noises. It was fun, but it also showed an important part of the skills
that make improv possible: it's a matter of cooperation, where the actors
must help each other create a story on stage. "My job isn't finished until
my partner gets it," said Rabbai. "I'm not trying to fake my partner out."
Another
exercise in a circle was called the "vogue game," where "you don't have
to really vogue - you're going to strike a pose. "The next person's job
is to physically add to what the first person is doing. You don't want
to make them look bad - you want to make them look good. You don't want
to engage your mind, you want to see the person and make a gut reaction."
That emphasized another point Rabbai made about improv; it calls for more
reaction than thinking. Spend time thinking about your next move and the
moment is lost, she said. When Rabbai led the fans in the "pop quiz" exercise,
where she played a teacher who asks questions and any answer counted, no
matter how silly, the fans said it was hard to not be witty and to talk
about what popped into their heads. "You've got to go with the first idea
and you can't go to much with your imagination," she said.
