Welcome!

This blog serves to give acting ideas and advice to actors of all ages, especially young ones. This blogs author is J.T. Turner, actor, director, teacher and member of AEA, SAG and AFTRA. I hope you find the posts useful, and please pass along the blog address to anyone you think might benefit from it!

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

"When the student is ready.........."


  • Yoda himself


OK, I try to give out great advice here. And will try to continue to do that, but I am freely admitting that this particular post is self serving. Truth be told, it’s little more than a commercial for you and I to do some business together. But it is not just a pursuit of dollars that leads me to this blog entry, it is a genuine desire for mutual benefit. For perhaps you need a mentor, and I love having students. So, lets chat.

Most actors and performers hate auditions. They are nerve wracking, and can be just terrifying. In this blog I have often given advice on how to deal with nerves, and with strategies to use to make the audition experience better. And, pardon my blushes, but I give awesome advice. But for many people, a further step is usually a good one; taking on a coach.

A good acting coach has a tremendous advantage over simple blog entry's and books. They can see you! And I mean that literally and figuratively. I write great advice for many, many people, almost universal in nature. But you are you, (and ain’t that cool?). Unique, special, quirky, individual, you. Which means while my general advice is good for you, individual advice is even more powerful. I can see that you do that funny thing with your hands, that you tend to crack your ankle when you start the audition piece, that the audition piece itself is wrong for you.

And you get feedback. You may think a piece you are doing is ideal, but it may be off, you may actually be presenting something that you are not meaning to present. And perhaps a few simple ideas, tweaks if you will, can make all the difference.
And after all, you cannot get outside yourself to judge how you are doing.

Even watching yourself on a video of your audition is often biased for good or bad, as it is you looking at you. Allowing a coach to work with you gives you the opportunity to get feedback of how your actual audition will look to another person.

So, here is what I offer:

1) Audition prep- Getting you comfortable with the audition process, how to work past nerves, tricks to transport tension. Also the preparation of audition pieces that will work for you.
2) Emergency Audition prep - You have an upcoming audition, and want to find the perfect piece for it, and prep it to give you a comfort level going in.
3) Acting Coaching - Do you have a role that is giving you trouble? Looking for some extra work outside of the all too rushed rehearsal process? Without interfering with your directors vision, I can work with you to develop options for your character. (Also, I specialize in Shakespeare and accents in this
arena).
4) Public Speaking - I can help with not only structure to make an interesting piece, but work with you to help you find your own voice in the speech. Also, great tips on how to handle nervousness and the best ways to practice.
5) Sermon coaching - No matter if you are a seasoned minister, or have just been asked to give your first sermon at church, I have had great success coaching people to be dynamic in the pulpit.
6) The Actors Memory- A great seminar or webinar to help actors memorize pieces and roles better, and faster.



Yes, you will have to pay me to help you, but in return you will get some great mentoring. As you may have noticed, I am sometimes called The Actors Sensei, and while it is a fun title, I do take it to heart. I try not just to throw information at you, I try to be a teacher who genuinely is trying to have a impact on your life. We can work in person, or via Skype. Or, if you have a theater group you work with, we can arrange some seminars or webinars.

So, that's my poorly disguised commercial. I hope we can work together, I would love to help you.

Contact: jtactor@aol.com

Hope to see you soon.





J.T. Turner
The Actors Sensei
jtactor@aol.com