Your SitCom Coach - Maggie Reed

First, we sit for a bit to get so I can get to know the student's goals, history, and dreams.  Then, depending on their needs, we do improvisation exercises, script analysis, comedy analysis, physicalizations, etc.

If they've brought a specific audition, monologue, or scene to work on, we work on that in a variety of ways including those listed above in order to create a full character study and moment-to-moment listening/spontaneity.

I teach on-camera & audition technique, as well.

I've been acting since I was 12 years old, performing leading roles in school plays and community theatre in Salinas and Monterey, and at the University of California at Santa Cruz, where I earned my B.A. in Theatre Arts.  I then went on to study in the Professional Actor Training Program at Cornell University, where I was awarded an M.F.A. in Acting. This led directly to my first professional job as Kate in Taming of the Shrew and Diana in All's Well that Ends Well at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival/Boulder, directed by Julliard's and Circle In The Square's Michael Kahn, who then cast me in 7 different classical roles in John Houseman's The Acting Company.

With the many guest starring TV roles (including 7 roles on all of the Law and Order shows, Seinfeld's Mary Contardi, and Star Trek TNG's Dr. Serova) and 8 years as Shannon O'Hara McKechnie on As the World Turns, plus many more plays and the upcoming John Turturro feature film "Going Places", I am well-equipped to teach from a place of experience and empathy for my students' endeavors.

Teaching since 1995, I have had the honor of working at such distinguished schools as Smith College, Cornell University, NYU/Stonestreet Studios, University of New Mexico, The School for Film and Television, NY Film Academy, and privately with my multi-camera SitCom and Film workshops that are available to be taught nationally at colleges and communities.  Contact me at [email protected] for more details.

Standard prices at as follows:

1 - 55-minute coaching session - $125

3 sessions - $325

5 sessions - $500

10 sessions - $950

BUT, with the Special Summer Sale (purchasing window closes Sept. 4, 2017 at midnight), sessions (that can be used anytime within one year from purchase) are:

1 session - $60

2 sessions - $120

3 sessions - $180

4 sessions - $240

etc.

Venmo to @YourSitComCoachMaggieReed, Paypal to [email protected]. Or click on the Paypal button on my website: http://YourSitComCoach.com

Teaching acting was a required course in the 2nd year of our MFA program at Cornell Univeristy.  Talk about being thrown to the wolves! Just kidding, but, really, none of us had any teaching experience so we culled from the exercises and classes that we'd had in our B.A. college years and other courses.  Then, it was another 10 years or so, gaining more experience as a professional actor in between, when I began teaching SitCom and Soap Opera (after having been a series regular on As the World Turns and having performed many a guest starring role on many primetime TV series), at NYC's School for Film and Television, which is now the NY Conservatory for Drama, School for Film and Television.

From children, to college students, to professional and aspiring adult actors.

Be as open as you can to learning how to improve.  Don't expect to be "perfect" at any point in the process, though achieving success on certain goals is absolutely possible.  Trust your instincts and be respectful of your fellow actors and teachers. Do you best to be listen without defending.

Try this:

Make sure you are in a space where you can be alone for 5 minutes, uninterrupted. Close your eyes and take a few deep, cleansing breaths. Take this time to center yourself and be kind to yourself.  Acknowledge (to yourself) the positive things about you, and those things that may need improvement, without any judgement, just as a matter of fact, in as much as you can be objective about yourself at this moment. 

There is no other moment but this one.  And there is total and complete peace within it.

Now, start to envision your happiest, most content, and joyous life.  Let yourself imagine your life as if there were no financial or social restraints.  See that life in as much detail as you can.  Where are you, exactly?  What colors are in the space? What aromas?  What temperature is it? What are you wearing?  Specifically. How do you feel?  Name it. Precisely.

Have you allowed your breath to change as you get deeper into these images and feelings? Use your imagination to its fullest.  Let yourself go into this joy.  Have the life you dream of. 

Now, take a few deep breaths to bring yourself back to the space you're actually in.  Open your eyes and start a journal writing about what just happened. Were you resistant to any part of it?  Were you able to see, in detail, how your life would be if you were living a life you love? etc.

Do this exercise as often as you can.  An actor's imagination is a "muscle" that needs a lot of exercise. Try it.  I think you'll like it.

My first thought after reading this question is to suggest reading about other actor's journeys in books like Actors on Acting: https://books.google.com/books/about/Actors_on_Acting.html?id=PKTRWQaXgRAC

or videos like http://www.dailyactor.com/actors-on-acting/.

That should get the questions stirring in their brain.

And start with the basics, reading anything from Stanislavsky's "An Actor Prepares" to film books like the incomparable Michael Caine's "Acting in Film", or these suggestions by Denise Simon:

“How to Stop Acting,” by Harold Guskin. Acting coach to the stars, Guskin offers a brilliant and simple strategy: Just keep it real. He advises actors to approach text in a freeing manner. Instead of transforming yourself to become a character, the character becomes you. He offers sound and unique advice on adapting to the particular demands of playing difficult emotional scenes as well as confronting Shakespeare and other great roles. Whether you are a novice or an established actor, this book offers sage advice to all performers.

“The Intent to Live,” by Larry Moss. Moss focuses on the inner work required of actors to become not only great performers, but true artists. This is a nuts and bolts guide to the basic techniques of acting. Whether it is  emotion-on-demand when you’ve been doing a stage show for months, or you’re filming your big final out-of-sequence scene on the first day of shooting, this book offers specific case studies, performance exercises, and great advice on approaching a tough job. Moss encourages actors to look within themselves in order to develop their character, overcome fear, perfect their technical skills and, most importantly, to live in the moment on stage or on camera. 

“The Actor’s Art and Craft,” by William Esper and Damon DiMarco. Esper trained with the legend Sanford Meisner as an actor and teacher for many years. Although I mention “Meisner on Acting” in my last article, Esper includes exercises in “Actor’s Art and Craft” that Meisner never included. What makes this book superb is co-writer DiMarco’s addition to Esper’s work. A former student of Esper’s, DiMarco spent over a year observing his mentor teaching first-year acting students. In this book he recreates that experience for us, allowing readers to experience the progression of performance exercises in practices. If you are not familiar with Meisner’s work you might want to include this to balance out your library.

“Building a Character,” by Constantin Stanislavsky. Do you know what you are doing on stage? You might change your mind after this read. In Stanislavsky’s second installment after “An Actor Prepares,” he explores the external technique an actor must use to become a character, while understanding the physical art of acting. It focuses less on the creative aspect of performance and more on the technical side of developing your voice and character. Contrary to what many believe, acting requires an enormous amount of precise, some may call it tedious, work in order to prepare your instrument: your body and voice. If you can get past the language of the text there is a lot to learn.

“To the Actor,” by Michael Chekov. Russian actor and nephew to the famed playwright Anton Chekov as well as a student of Stanislavsky, Chekhov teaches actors the critical aspects of acting and performance. He explores emotion, physical awareness in scenes, and the character development necessary for truthful acting. Chekov’s simplistic and real-world method has been used by professional actors all over the world. He presents wonderful theater exercises that served as the foundation for a generation of future acting teachers. His ability to clearly outline the necessary components to truthfulness on stage is the key to training the actor’s imagination and body to reach its full potential.

“Acting as a Business, Fifth Edition: Strategies for Success,” by Brian O’Neil.  A bible for the business of show business, this book is a favorite among actors. O’Neil is a former talent agent and personal manager who has represented actors for theater, film, television, commercials, and radio. As a talent representative, he was responsible for the career guidance and professional placement for hundreds of actors. What readers love about this book is the current information—such as how to best use the Internet—that O’Neil emphasizes as the key to success. O’Neil’s expertise in the industry, coupled with the latest show-business trends, makes for a resourceful book that no actor should be without.