Best Acting Classes in Austin?

[Deano]

I took classes at the State Theater with Babs George and Gabriel Folse. Great stuff. Babs especially, with the cold readings, was HUGE for me.

[Jon Bolden]

I was specifically looking at the Comedic Acting class

Not to disparage anyone, but I just don't get the concept of a Comedic Acting class. You act the character you're given and it just depends on the playwright or director whether it's a 'Comedy' or 'Tragedy.' It's not the character's choice which one they're in, so frankly it's the actor's job to play every character 100% real.

I personally find Chekov hilarious and Neil Simon distressing.
The acting's the same.

I dunno. When I took "Comedy Workshop" in college we spent a lot of time on how to get the most out of the comedic roles you're portraying. I agree that it's your job to play the character as best to the playwright's intent, but for me (at least) it was valuable to concentrate on comedic timing, punchlines, and recognize WHAT was funny in a role or scene.

[Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell]

I personally find Chekov hilarious and Neil Simon distressing.
The acting's the same.

to be entirely fair, Chekov is pretty damn hilarious. but very few modern actors/directors approach him as such. i mean, dysfunctional families with wacky neighbors, struggling with sex, love and money whose circumstances never change? that's like the pitch for 90% of the sitcoms over the past 30 years!

i'd love to see Neil Simon directed as tragedy. Oscar and Felix as two broken men whose sole remaining bond is each other, a bond that is tested...and somewhat ruined...by their own conflicting neuroses and intractable patterns of behavior.

[arthursimone]

I dunno. When I took "Comedy Workshop" in college we spent a lot of time on how to get the most out of the comedic roles you're portraying. I agree that it's your job to play the character as best to the playwright's intent, but for me (at least) it was valuable to concentrate on comedic timing, punchlines, and recognize WHAT was funny in a role or scene.

WHAT is funny in a role or scene is a realistic character and their recognizably absurd patterns of emotion and behavior. I think it's the essence of what's comedic in modern and contemporary live theater.

Anything else, well, it's shtick. You don't need a class for shtick.

[Jon Bolden]

WHAT is funny in a role or scene is a realistic character and their recognizably absurd patterns of emotion and behavior. I think it's the essence of what's comedic in modern and contemporary live theater.

Anything else, well, it's shtick. You don't need a class for shtick.

It was simply a class where you study acting but only do scenes from comedies. It involved no shtick.

I'm sure something out there exists.

[acrouch]

Not to disparage anyone, but I just don't get the concept of a Comedic Acting class. You act the character you're given and it just depends on the playwright or director whether it's a 'Comedy' or 'Tragedy.' It's not the character's choice which one they're in, so frankly it's the actor's job to play every character 100% real.

Tell that to Eric Stoltz.

[arthursimone]

Tell that to Eric Stoltz.

Michael J Fox was simply a better casting choice. His 'real' was excitable and lighter and more true to the character than Stoltz's 'real.' At least in Hollywood or on Broadway, there are some intangibles you simply can't teach, direct, or coach.

My point stands.

[Jeff]

I think I'm in agreement with Arthur here. I've always kinda cringed when I've heard people say, "Oh, comedy acting is harder," and a little less often I've heard people say, "Dramatic acting is harder."

I've always been like, "What? Acting is acting. You play the part. If you have more trouble being funny than being dramatic, then that's your thing. Embrace it, but don't make excuses by claiming that there are fundamentally harder styles of acting than others." Of course, some of the people over the years whom I've heard say comic acting is harder are people who are really good at comic acting, and they wanted people to know they're good at something that's hard to do. And, you know, fuck them especially.

Most importantly, though, I think it's great there's a thread here about local acting classes. I encourage anyone else with useful info on that to speak up about it here.

[Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell]

i don't think "comedy acting" is harder, but i do think it's harder to act in a comedy. the fault comes in believing it's harder to be funny and get people to laugh. i don't necessarily think it is. what IS harder is being able to do that without sacrificing your service to the character or the script (ask for the butter, as they say). i can't remember who said it first, but i first heard it from David Hyde Pierce...comedians say funny things. comedic actors say things funny.

[Spots]

I enjoy acting and improv. I find it unnecessary to distinguish which one is blank, blank, or blank. Perhaps I will when I'm on a kick. But this is an argument of style. Style can be argued within the improv community. Style can be argued within the acting community.

Arguments of style cannot be won. Just state your preferences as preferences. Most people are respectful of those. I do agree with Arthur that being true to the character is really all you can do. If the director ain't up to snuff you at least did your part.

[Spots]

Sorry for getting stuff off-track.

So what would be a really good course to take if you've taken a ton of improv classes and performed a lot, but you haven't done much scripted work?

Roy, I would just leap into short films. RTF students are in the middle of film class projects right now. A lot of them need actors.

I'm shooting something Monday, its a scene from "Other People's Money". I'm beating my head at the moment because I literally have to learn the lines in the next two days.


Sidenote: UT filmmakers want to collaborate with improvisers. I've been struggling to figure out a way to make this happen. Like a database or a mixer or something. I already made an announcement to a room full of eager young filmmakers.

[Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell]

I enjoy acting and improv. I find it unnecessary to distinguish which one is blank, blank, or blank. Perhaps I will when I'm on a kick. But this is an argument of style. Style can be argued within the improv community. Style can be argued within the acting community.

Arguments of style cannot be won. Just state your preferences as preferences. Most people are respectful of those. I do agree with Arthur that being true to the character is really all you can do. If the director ain't up to snuff you at least did your part.

you're wrong.

[KathyRose]

Whether comedy is "hard" or "easy" is moot. It depends entirely on the speaker's POV. What is undeniable is that there is such a thing as comic timing and (let's say) commitment. Some people clearly have it. Some people don't. Look at the people who can or can't successfully tell a joke. As we say "it's all in the delivery."

Clearly, people who teach comedy classes think that comedy acting can be taught. Certainly, the script analysis part (finding the key words and phrases and understanding the impact of pacing or timing) can be taught. Acting, certainly, can be taught. So why not a comedy acting class?

One thing that Alan Arkin said (in his improv class) was that the only difference between drama and comedy is the intensity with which a character wants something and the extremes to which s/he will go to get what s/he wants. The comedy character doesn't let "looking like a fool" stop him from pursuing his goal with gusto.

Now, what the character is "willing" to do and say is written into the script, of course, but it's left up to the actor to convey the intensity of commitment. The Eric Stoltz / MJ Fox example is perfect. Just looking at that video clip (and remembering Fox in the same situations), Stoltz was being perfectly "real," but you could easily read much larger reactions on Fox's face. His anxiety / shock / urgency was always palpable. So, comedy is about being "real," but with the commitment dialed up 200% or more.

Personally, I think that skill can be taught. Can you create a comic genius in a class? Probably not. But I'll bet you can take someone who "couldn't tell a joke" and make them into someone who can.

[Jeff]

Clearly, people who teach comedy classes think that comedy acting can be taught. Certainly, the script analysis part (finding the key words and phrases and understanding the impact of pacing or timing) can be taught. Acting, certainly, can be taught. So why not a comedy acting class?

Tonight while I was watching an awful play, I was thinking about what I'd said above about teaching comedy acting, and I realized I'd changed my mind. Then I came home and saw that here you basically expressed the things I was thinking about that led me to change my mind on this topic. I think there are ways to teach specifically comedy acting. I agree with you here, Kathy.

I feel guilty contributing to the derailing of this thread--acting classes in Austin!

[Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell]

this is a debate the came up a lot among certain actor friends in L.A., especially those of us who went to school for it (either university or conservatory)...can you teach someone how to act? or can you only teach them how to act better? if the talent is not innately there, can it be developed? or must it naturally be there, and can only be honed?

i was never sure which side i came down on...because it's impossible to empirically test something like that, and the questions it raises go much deeper than something silly like acting.