Margaret's Masha Blog was started as a Page on this site the week before my February 2015 audition for #VanyaAndSoniaAndMashaAndSpike. To access it, go here. Videos of Margaret's Masha Vlog and other acting work are here. New blog posts can be found here.
Masha Vlog_April 7, 2015
Is Your Resume in .PDF?
#ActorsResume 1. Create a .pdf file of your #resume. 2. Label it effectively.
Before you do that, though, email your .doc or .txt, (or whatever file you have it in,) to yourself to see how the margins and tabs are all over the place on different receiving devices (phones, computers, iPads, etc.)
Then create the .pdf, email it to yourself, and you'll see that everything is in a professional order. Isn't that much easier to read?
EXAMPLE: See the difference these in these two resumes.
The incorrect resume needs these 4 corrections: 1. It is labeled ineffectively as "ActingResume 2015.doc". 2. It is formatted so that it appears to the receiver in 2 pages. 3. The margins and tabs are off because it is still in a .doc file. 4. The information needs to be streamlined, corrected, and edited.
The corrected resume is on the right. Isn't that easier to read and comprehend?
Also, LABEL your resume file this way: Margaret Reed_Resume_Feb. 2015.pdf. And for your headshot: Margaret Reed_Headshot_Feb. 2015.jpg. Think from the RECEIVER'S perspective, not how you might find the file on your personal computer.
Actor Resume_Incorrect
ACTOR RESUME_CORRECTED
If you'd like help with your #acting #resume or other acting-related #coaching, please contact me at Maggie@YourSitComCoach.com. Purchase sessions here: FREE session with volume purchase.
Articulation & Breath Exercises
Hello there, Thank you for volunteering to help with this test audio of the Articulation & Breath Exercises. Please let me know any and all of your thoughts about it at Maggie@YourSitComCoach.com. It's around 20 minutes at this point because the instructions are a part of it. Another shorter version will be recorded that just has the exercises on it without the explanations, which can be used once the exercises are understood. Use the written instructions below to help guide you along.
Would it help to have this as a video instead? Or in addition to having the audio version? Thanks. And have a great, gentle but invigorating, warm-up. :) Maggie@YourSitComCoach.com
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8vhvmmakskhty5n/AAAe2xSX6wCrfDzxgk9iJBNta?dl=0
ARTICULATION & BREATH EXERCISES
1. Gently blow through your lips with no tone, 3 times, breathing into your diaphragm deeply, letting your ribs expand without your shoulders rising up, before each blow. Then, blow through your lips 3 times, but add the tones of the musical scale. See how many notes you can EASILY reach while warming up your lips and your vocal folds.
2. Now try tongue trills. 3 times with no musical tones, then 3 times with musical tones up and down the scale.
3. Now, repeat each of the 3 articulator exercises below, 3 times, without straining or harming your voice. This requires a large breath, (expanding your ribcage, without your shoulders rising up,) before each repetition.
Tongue exercise: (Back of the throat to the lips): Kah, kah, kah Gah, gah, gah, Tah, tah, tah, Dah, dah, dah Bah, bah, bah Pah, pah, pah
Cheeks, mouth, and facial muscles exercise: Wee-ooo, Way-ooo, Wah-ooo
Lips, tongue, mouth, and facial muscles exercise: MahMahLah, PahPahLah MayMayLay, PayPayLay MeeMeeLee, PeePeeLee MowMowLow, PowPowLow (like the word "low", as in "not high") MooMooLoo, PooPooLoo
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Breathing from the diaphragm, (expanding your rib-cage out, without your shoulders rising up), practice these nursery rhymes, from memory, until you can recite them at least TWICE at a moderate speed on ONE breath. Control your breath, letting it out SLOWLY, so it runs out as the last recitation ends. See if you can get to 7 times in one breath, once you've practiced many times.
Mary had a little lamb. Twinkle, twinkle little star Its fleece was white as snow. How I wonder what you are. And everywhere that Mary went, Up above the world so high, The lamb was sure to go. Like a diamond in the sky.
Joy. That's our business.
Joy. That's the business we're in. We, in the entertainment biz, are in the business of sharing and inciting Joy. In our audiences, in our collaborators, in ourselves. And not just happy-peppy, feel-good Joy, which of course, is a delight. But, also, the joy that comes from a deeply felt insight, an epiphany, or an acknowledgment of a perspective that one might not have thought of before. Thoughts about that idea?As I describe my objectives for my prospective logo to designers, that emotion keeps coming up. Finding ways to produce it, to create it, to help others feel it. That's my mission with my newly-titled coaching biz, YourSitComCoach.com. To produce joy by helping actors and standup comedians craft joy through their creations. So, here's a giggly story from Taylor Negron through The Moth. "No matter how horrible your day is, no matter how scary your night is, everything can turn on a dime, and with a knock on the door...." http://themoth.org/posts/stories/california-gothic ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you haven't discovered TheMoth.org yet, you're in for a treat of the imagination, like back when radio was the only home entertainment. Since the visuals aren't there, your imagination gets to create all of them in your head. So sit back, listen, and enjoy. It's very funny. http://themoth.org/posts/stories/california-gothic If you have a story to tell, check out how to do it here: https://pitchline.themoth.org/pitchl…/tell-a-story/index.php.
Private Acting/Comedy Coaching - FREE SESSION offer
#ACTORS YOU NEED COACHING TO MAKE 2015 YOUR BEST YEAR YET! And it'd be my pleasure to help you reach your goals with a FREE SESSION. My clients have worked, and are working on, Orange is the New Black, Girls, Nurse Jackie, You're the Worst, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Whiplash, The Interview, Blue Jasmine, Wolf of Wall Street, etc. http://YourSitComCoach.com/ In person in NYC or anywhere by Skype.
And wouldn't it be great to have your sessions paid for in advance so you could just make an appointment without worrying about the dough? You'll get a FREE FIRST SESSION when you buy 3, 5, 7, or 10 sessions.
But, this special only lasts until December 31, 2014. So get started with getting a career that you love. http://YourSitComCoach.com/
*FREE COACHING SESSION. *Awesome personalized coaching. *You need it. *You want it. *Now get the acting career of your dreams and make 2015 your BEST YEAR YET! The time is now!
More information and the Paypal button are here: http://YourSitComCoach.com/ Or email me at Maggie@YourSitComCoach.com.
You deserve a career you love. And I can help you get it.
ACTING & COMEDY COACHING SALE - FREE SESSION! These prices end soon. Buy now to make 2015 your best year yet! $90 / hr. $180 – 3 sessions for the price of 2. $360 – 5 sessions for the price of 4. $540 – 7 sessions for the price of 6. $810 – 10 sessions for the price of 9. Sale ends Dec. 31, 2014. No expiration date on when sessions occur. In person in NYC or SKYPE.com. Prices increase January 1, 2015.
SitCom Blog #2_Making it Funnier_November 1, 2014
Breaking her script down into comedic elements, my client, the very funny and droll Carla Birkhofer, observed, "What we're doing here is like Shakespeare." We shared a chuckle of recognition because of our shared Shakespearean backgrounds as actors, having parsed his sentences for rhythm and meaning many times in the past.
We then realized that her monologue needed to be updated so as not to throw the listener off into some outdated reference, as opposed to staying in tune with the magic Carla's so capable of creating with her acting.
We changed the outdated line, "...be the first person in Blockbuster to rent 'Yes Man'..." to "...first person at Best Buy to buy "Dumb and Dumber2." See the echo of the words and hear the rhythm? Hear the plosive consonants "t" "d" "b"? The Patterns of Three?
We also changed the line, "...bumper sticker that says, "You toucha my car, I breaka your face" to "Honk if you love boobs!" There is no Italian reference within the monologue for the listener to refer back to (that's called a "callback" or an "echo"), so we changed it to something shorter (Brevity is the soul of wit) and more generic so the listener can stay in touch with the character's feelings rather than being diverted into something that wasn't relevant to the monologue's intention. Yes, the "toucha" and "breaka" are funny because they are operative/unusual words with a callback of the 'a', but "Honk" has the "k" plosive sound and the "boobs" are what I call the "TeeHee Factor." (There is still a modicum of decency left in our society, isn't there? Where there are certain words or references to which we shouldn't speak in polite company? Those are the TeeHee Factors.)
If you'd like help with your monologues, understanding script analysis, and why we laugh, contact me at Maggie@YourSitComCoach.com. I'd love to help you. It really gives me so much delight to do so. Happy Sunday to you!
#Actors #Comedians #ScriptAnalysis #WhyWeLaugh #ComedyLesson
December 2014 On-Camera Courses with Your SitCom Coach-Maggie Reed. Weist Barron Studios.
AUDITIONING FOR SMALL PARTS (Under 5 lines) TBAThursday December 4, 2014. 3:00-5:00pm. AND/OR Tuesday December 16, 2014. 6:30pm-8:30pm at Weist Barron Studios, 35 West 45th Street NYC
“It’s only a few lines, what’s the big deal?”
That’s what you might ask yourself when you get your audition script for a co-starring role on TV or a day player in a film, right? But, once you get to the audition, if you haven’t prepared properly, you feel lost and unsure about how to deliver such a seemingly simple scene. The Under-5 Workshop will give you a solid technique for preparing for those short scenes. Learn how to create your character’s world, while still serving the script, with 5 lines or less. Films are filled with these short scenes, as well as primetime and daytime TV co-starring roles. Be prepared. Get the confidence you need to Nail those Under-5′s!
$45 for a single class. $40 for each additional class.
Please go to www.WeistBarron.com for more information and call 212-840-7025 to enroll.
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SITCOM COMEDY INTENSIVE 
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2014, 10:00am-5:00pm – Weist Barron Studios, NYC
You know the Rules Of Comedy, now come play with them all day in this Intensive On-Camera Workshop of Sitcom Scenes chosen specifically for you. Or you can bring in scenes of your choosing*. Either way, it’ll be a blast improving your script analyses skills, like how to find the jokes and how to land ‘em, all while gaining more comedic confidence for slammin' SitCom success in any comedic adventure you encounter!
*Scenes MUST be memorized before the beginning of class, so register ASAP to give yourself time to get those words down.
ONE-DAY ONLY 10:00am – 5:00pm
$145 Special Holiday price
Please go to YourSitComCoach.com to sign-up by Paypal or www.WeistBarron.com for more information and call 212-840-7025 to enroll.
To get the confidence you need for the approaching pilot season, book private coaching sessions with Your SitCom Coach-Maggie Reed, in-person or on Skype.com, now to hone your funny bones and get the confidence you've been looking for with your comedy monologues and scene work. In-person or on Skype.com. Click here to take advantage of current rates before they go up January 1, 2015.
SitCom Blog by #YourSitComCoach - Maggie Reed
Do the C.O.W.* Everybody now! Well, not Everybody.Just actors who want to start DEVELOPING A CHARACTER through script analysis.
These are the 3 steps:
Go through the script and write down what your 1. Character says about themselves 2. What Others say about your character AND...wait for it... 3. What the Writer says about your character
After you do that, you're probably going to start feeling like you're getting a pretty good idea of who your character is.
One thing I love about acting is that it's like a big jigsaw puzzle that's so fun to 1. find those innie-outie pieces and 2. start interlocking them until there is a clear (yet, nubby) picture of your character.
Of course, there are more steps after this. But, I said 3, and I'm a woman of my word. ;) Have fun with this 1st dive into your character's world.
For coaching on more script analysis skills and further character development techniques, contact #YourSitComCoach - Maggie Reed at Maggie@YourSitComCoach.com. Sessions available either in person in NYC or over Skype. Check out more information and session fees, including volume discounts (going up January 2015) at YourSitComCoach.com
*I totally stole this concept from Mary Lou Belli. She is an awesome teacher, and is also the incredibly talented director of the hit TV show Girlfriends among many other popular TV shows. And she's a very accomplished writer, as well - Acting for Young Actors and Directors Tell The Story. maryloubelli.com 
Student Bookings
Rising star Trey Gerrald, has a recurring role on Orange is the New Black and has appeared and will be on Tina Fey's Tooken, You're the Worst, Next Caller, and The Carrie Diaries, to name a few. Tom Coll has booked. So has Megan Grocutt. Likewise with Daniel Hepner, Bill Beckwith, Joe Gesuale, Jill Wurzburg, Megan Elliott, Rahmel Reid, Terrence Jenkins, Jeff Joslin, Irene Minko, Max Brand, and so many more of my students/clients. In projects such as Blue Jasmine, The Wolf of Wall Street, American Hustle, Nurse Jackie, The Fosters, The Good Wife, Win, Win with Paul Giamatti and the new HBO miniseries directed by Todd Haynes with Kate Winslet as Mildred Pierce (and yours truly as Maggie Biederhof), plus indie films, TV, stage, and internet productions.
This year has been an embarrassment of riches for us all. May it continue on in all of our lives who read this and want the world to be a richer place by giving audiences food for thought, emotional inspirations, and insights they might not have had before.
Please let me know how your projects are going. I'd love to hear about anything you're working on. And send me a link to your website or Facebook, ActorsAccess, etc. page. I'll display it on my Links page. Bravo to you for living your dreams!