Acting Tips: Tools, Reminders, Stimuli, and Hints for the Actor in Rehearsal and Performance

by Jon Jory

Book Overview

Until very recently, acting was passed on the form of tips. Here are 205 of them -- ranging from using opposites to the way to set a laugh, and on through a clear definition of actions, how to use a breath score, and even how to react if you're fired. The tips are clear, concise, evocative and constructed to give you a better day in rehearsal and a better night in performance. A buffet of ways to improve immediately that you'll want to have with you in your rehearsal bag.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1575252023
• ISBN13: 9781575252025
• Release Date: March 2000
• Publisher: Smith & Kraus
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Essential book!

This book is invaluable for both actors and acting teachers. It's concise, very much to the point, and offers quick solutions for problems actors invariably encounter. I highly recommend this book over many others!

Pick the brain of a true expert in his field.

In my opinion, this is a book every serious actor needs to have. I've been lucky enough to have Jon as a professor, and "Tips" is the next best thing to being able to actually talk to the guy in person. He's got a lot of down-to-earth, nuts & bolts type advice in very straightforward language. While many theatre people are want to use flowery language and get caught up in the lofty ideal of being an "artist", Jon is much more interested in helping actors serve the STORY they are helping to tell, in a way that a PAYING AUDIENCE will be glad they saw. Jon has a lifetime of experience with the theatre; "Tips" gives you a pretty darn good distillation of that experience.

Real theatre starts here.

If this book is any indication, Jory must be a marvelous teacher. Clear, concise, and direct, this is the one book about theatre I wish I'd had when I was in school. Targeted mainly toward actors, this is a wise and lucid compendium for ANY theatre artist, or for any patron who wants to understand more about how a play works onstage. Jory covers all the major themes and topics in pithy one-page descriptions, and clearly relates them to one another. Although he obviously has definite ideas about how to approach a play, he also emphasizes that the actor (playwright, director, etc.) as artist is responsible for making the work organic. He's also very strong on discipline and professional behavior. This book is for anyone who loves the theatre, and can be heartily recommended for beginners and seasoned professionals alike. Appropriate especially for actors and playwrights, it's full of insights for directors and the rest of the technical team as well. Should be required reading for all university-level theatre programs. Keep it in your script bag when you go to rehearsal, just in case you need a little reminder of why you do this.