When I was in acting school, it was ingrained in me to always be relaxed when I was performing. That made sense. When I got out of acting school and started auditioning, the only problem was I was so nervous and anxiety-ridden that one audition after another was a disaster. I couldn’t get to the […]
Continue ReadingJosh Pais Personal Stories
Kitchen Sink Drama
This is a lil nasty… I recently came back to my NYC apartment after a few days in the Catskills. I unpacked my clothes, put my laptop in my office, and walked into the kitchen to put a few farm-stand zucchinis in the fridge. And guess what I discovered… Gunky water had come up my […]
Continue ReadingThis tripped me out at 6 years old
On Sunday it was my father’s birthday. An amazing man who was a Holocaust survivor (in hiding near Anne Frank), and went on to become a leading theoretical physicist working for 11 years with Albert Einstein. A great dad. I miss him. As a kid, he explained to me, when I asked him what his […]
Continue Reading3 Keys to Being a Working Actor
Part One: I recently had dinner with a good friend, and very talented actor, who has hit a dry spell in his work. He hasn’t worked for a year. Not uncommon. It can be hard out there for a… “What can I do, Josh?” I’ll share with you what I shared with him. There are […]
Continue ReadingHow I Shifted My Identity + Worked Steadily as an Actor Ever Since
The year was 1998. Something radical shifted. See, prior to a specific moment that year, I had a strong identity as a struggling actor. By that I mean… I identified as someone who would do a play or a movie and then follow that up with 3-6 months or more of being unemployed. That’s what […]
Continue ReadingEmbracing Fluctuation
I notice as I am preparing for my roles in two upcoming movies that there is a part of me that wants to avoid fluctuation. There is a part of me that wants to create security for the future. For example, when I’m on set and Todd Phillips, the director, calls action, and I […]
Continue ReadingHow I Learned to Expand My Creative Range
I’m back from Italy – it was glorious. The day I got back I came across a quote that reminded me of my training with Shuji Terayama… “The way you train reflects the way you fight. People say I’m not going to train too hard, but when it’s time to fight I’m going to step […]
Continue ReadingNow is a Time of Unparalleled Opportunity
When I started out as an actor the only show that filmed in NYC was Law and Order. And a few soap operas. And I was super pumped ( really) to be an extra on a soap. I walked through hospital corridors carrying ‘important papers,’ then turned around and walked back the other way passing […]
Continue ReadingCI Update
Hey Impulse Gangstas Just a quickie… I often talk about how others are using the Committed Impulse Approach to bring fun, creativity, spontaneity and truth to their work. Today, just a lil update about where I am exploring the work… I am currently doing an Off Broadway play with The New Group at The Signature […]
Continue Reading