Turner's Tension Transporters

A woman brings her husband to the doctors, explaining he just keeps saying the same things over and over. Sure enough, the husband sits in the doctor's office just repeating, "I am a teepee, I am a wigwam, I am a teepee, I am a wigwam..". The woman asks the doctor what the problem is. The doctor says, "He's two tents". (Say it out loud, it helps.Maybe :))

Too tense? Well we all are. If you have followed my blog posts about breathing, you know that it is a great way to relieve tension, especially pre-show and pre-audition. But for some people, being nervous and anxious manifests itself in a few noticable ways. You will recall that when stressed, our adrenaline pumps into our system. This adrenaline needs a place to go, so for some people when they are nervous they show it outwardly. Some people hyperventilate, (breathing slowly and well helps that, see my last 2 blogs), for others, it is shaky hands, or trembling legs, or hunched shoulders. All of those things are distracting, and will have a negative impact on an audition, preformance or speech. So what to do about these nervous physical reactions to a case of nerves? Transport them using Turner's Tension Transporters!

Ok even though I call the method I teach Turner'ss Tension Transporters, they are just good sound physical assists for your tremors.Atheletes know to stretch and work muscles before use, that idea can help us a bit. Simply put, what ever trembles or is tense for you, hands, shoulders, legs, can be helped by adding more tension to it. ( I know, that makes no sense. More tension? that's silly! But as with much of life, this contrary idea works).Let's use hands as an example. I have seen actors hand me an audition sheet with  hands shaking so badly they can barely get the paper in my hand. I have seen actors reading a scene with tremors in their hands so pronounced that the paper literally rattles during the reading. My solution: tense and release.

Do you watch Dr. Who? If not you should, it is an awesome series and david Tennant does a great job as The Doctor. in the series, The Doctor goes into a time machine called a Tardis, (see photo in this blog),cleverly disguised as a London Police Box, and is transported to a new place. That's what we want to do with your excess energy, transport it to another place.

If your hands are trembling, tense them. Squeeze the hands into fists for a slow count of 8, then release. Repeat two more times, You will find that the trembles are gone. Shaking legs? Tense and release 3 times at an 8 count. Shakes are gone. Hunched shoulders? Lift them up toward your ears, hold for 8, and drop them back. you will find them more relaxed.

Using this simple tense/release method, you can channel off much of the excess energy you have that may get in the way of your performing at your best.