Hold the whine!

Hello readers! I was thinking recently, as I make the rounds of auditions, that it might be worth while to revisit a key point for all of you also making auditions rounds.

Hold the whine.

There is always a reason not to audition. I am a strong believer in preaching my great mantra, "Life is about showing up". Showing up at an audition makes the chances of you being cast so much better than the odds of you being cast by not showing up, So showing up is terrific and I commend you on it.

Now, shut up.

No, bot fully, I want you to do your audition piece and be brilliant. I want you to introduce yourself, make good eye contact, be polite and professional. But I want you to shut up,,,,,,,shut up all your excuses. All your aches, pains, challenges, crippling issues and just do the audition.

You will be asked by the people you are auditioning for, "How are you today?" or some similar nicety. This is not an invitation for you to trot out all your fears, ills and excuses.'

"I am so sorry, I have a sore throat today...."
"I am really fighting allergies today..."
"I haven't totally memorized this piece..."
"This is the only key I could find this song in...."
" I am really nervous...."
"I didn't have a chance to practice this very much,,,"
"My dog ate my audition copy...."
"I was up late chain watching episodes of Daredevil..."

Shut. Up.  I know the temptation to give out a qualifier is tremendous, but don't do it. Just present your work as strongly as you can and move on. Listen, we all have imperfect auditions, this blog entry was inspired by a recent audition I had where I caught myself explaining I was using a different key for some music and it was throwing me off. I stopped, and just sang it. It was not perfect, but the audition as a whole was much stronger when I dropped the excuse making.

If you truly feel something was a major wipe out, simply ask if you could start over or do it again. Most times you will be allowed to, but if it is a no, be gracious, thank them and leave.

Just dropping the excuses will improve your mainframe, and help you come across as a professional.

J.T. Turner, The Actors Sensei

Available for monologue coaching in person or via Skype

jtactor@aol.com