 “Dying is easy. Comedy is hard” - Edmund Gwenn This is a well known rhetoric that has long feared even the best dramatic actors in steering well clear of the comedic genre, but it doesn’t have to be true. As an aspiring actor it’s important to have as many skills in your arsenal as possible, comedy is an important tool to have whether its a straight comedy or a kitchen sink drama any piece can have comedic moments. The key to giving a hilarious performance is to understand why it’s funny. “Analysing humour is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies” E. B White. Breaking down comedy may seem dull however it’s an incredibly important step, the best comedians are like scientists they conduct experiments, theorise and practice until it looks effortless. In order to master comedic acting you must understand where the humour comes from. Every time anyone has ever laughed it was due to the use of one or a combination of the following principles of comedy.
*This is also an example of the rule of three an important comedy tool, in which you set something up e.g. Pull an egg out of a person's mouth, reinstate the trend e.g. pull another egg out of the person's mouth and then when the viewer think they know what's going to happen, another egg is going to come out, they switch it up e.g. pull a bird out of the person's mouth. This is a reliable joke formula that almost always gets a laugh. Archetypes are very important in comedy, unlike other genres comedy isn’t necessarily about crafting unique people it’s more about crafting characters that are relatable and easily identifiable. Scott Sedita wrote a great book that talks more in depth about this, but in a nutshell he suggests that there are only 8 different comedic characters:
AuthorEllie Hemingway.  Getting started as an actor can be really challenging and daunting, but if you start small and work your way up its a lot easier to manage. For example, whether you are experienced or not, acting classes are a great place to start and can help you gain and hone your acting skills; while also giving you the opportunity to meet other aspiring actors. Something really important which we will talk about later is networking, something you should start as early as possible, and if you can do it during acting classes then you will be off to a great start. Acting classes will also help to improve your confidence in front of a camera and an audience, an essential skill for any aspiring actor one that will certainly come in handy if you find yourself on a stage or set. We offer our own acting classes to anyone who's interested, whether you have dabbled in acting before or never even tried it, IPM acting classes are available to anyone who's interested and are a great first step in your journey to becoming professional actor. After you start to feel more confident in your acting ability and decide you are ready to start looking for roles, starting small is a great way to get your foot in the door. This could be anything from theatre to taking part in student films, both of these are great ways to start getting some experience. Classes are one thing but getting yourself some experience will do wonders for your acting skills and confidence. Once again both theatre and student films are both great ways to meet new people in the same industry as you, and if they like your work as an actor, you could be invited back for another role. Theatre, while not exactly the same as acting for a camera, still provides invaluable lessons in acting and confidence. It will teach you how to convey your emotions to the entire room, and if you can manage to take this and make it more subtle, then it makes for a great transferable skill that will help you with acting in front of a camera. Now you have some experience under your belt you can start creating your online presence, this includes things like an Acting CV, a headshot, an account on a casting website like Spotlight, Backstage, or Mandy, and a showreel. All of these are vital for an actor to get themselves known and will help you to sell yourself on any roles you may audition for. A headshot is essential and will be the first thing a casting director sees when looking at you for a role, so make sure it's a good one, it should always be up to date and hopefully highlight your defining features. There are lots of places that can take a professional headshot for you (including IPM) if you find yourself needing one. An acting CV is a great way to show all your experience in theatre and amateur films while also highlighting your skills, training, and what you can bring to a role. As long as its concise and easy to read you should eventually find some success with it. Once you have a headshot and an acting CV ready, you should create an account on any of the casting websites listed above, Spotlight is a great one to start but has some criteria before you can make an account as an actor, such as needing one feature role with equity or two credits where you were contracted as a performer. This is one way of getting an account, another is through training for 1-year full time or 2 years part time, this could be something like acting classes for two years with a reputable studio such as IPM, or going to an acting school full time for a year at a level of at least RQF level 5. Finally, you can get an account through a recommendation from an already registered agent, if you are lucky enough to have an agent already then assuming they are verified by spotlight this is the quickest way. You should also make yourself a showreel of your work, try to utilise clips that show off your strengths and skills as an actor and only footage that represents you well. However you decide to make your showreel, at the end of the day what's most important is that it represents you well as an actor and you are happy with its contents. After all of this your online presence should start to come together and you should be able to start getting your name out there. Assuming you can get an account on spotlight, you can start auditioning for roles. However, until you have an agent you will have to represent yourself and really put yourself out there as much as you can, because for the time being no one else will. You should try to audition to as many roles as possible, on top of just getting general experience for the roles themselves and also the auditions, this will help you to fill out your acting CV as you slowly replace your older roles. You will also meet lots of people doing this, even if things don't go your way you will still be getting your face out there and you may find you are a good fit for a different role to the one you auditioned for. You should have hopefully met lots of other actors and other people in the industry during your time acting. This is a good start to your networking, knowing as many people as possible is incredibly important for an actor and is vital to making sure people hear of you and your work. Things you can do to help further your networking could be attending seminars and workshops on acting, posting about your roles on social media, and even creating your own website. You could show clips of yourself and include your headshot and acting CV on your website. Getting to know other actors can also be a great help, despite the fact they are your competition they go through all the same struggles you do when trying to land roles, you could end up helping each other out with tips or tricks you have both learnt. Again, all of this helps you meet similar minded people and ultimately gets you out there, which can lead to anything happening. At this point you should have a good online presence and hopefully have auditioned for a few roles, maybe even gotten cast for them. But any actor should look at getting an agent eventually, someone who will negotiate for you and will competently sell you as an actor to the right people. It's also incredibly helpful if your agent knows lots of casting directors, this would greatly increase your chances of getting an audition which naturally makes you more likely to be cast in something. When looking for an agency try to find one that has the connections you are interested in, this will help you be more likely to find the roles you want. If you are struggling when looking for an agent, try and find an agency that doesn't have what you offer as an actor, this should help you to be accepted as you will be filling a niche that agency isn't already promoting. AuthorMax Brierley |
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