HEADS UP MY FRIEND – there is a recounting of an intense violent story that happened many years ago in this transmission. I am telling it because there’s valuable insight for actors and public speakers included.
I directed a documentary, 7TH STREET, about my experience growing up in Alphabet City, NYC. It was shot over a ten year period as the neighborhood went from being run by druglords to becoming a trendy area. The film had a theatrical release 15 years ago or so, and then played on the Sundance Channel for 2 yrs.
One of the many people I followed over that decade of filming was a man named Merlin. He was extremely well read, well educated, and everyone considered him the neighborhood greeter. People often gave him books they had read that they thought he would find engaging, as well as food and money.
He lived on the corner of 6th Street and Avenue A. When I say he lived on the corner – he literally lived on the corner.
Merlin was a charming guy, with a heart of gold, and over the years that I filmed him, he came to trust me more and more.
One day I asked him a question I had been avoiding.
I was sitting on the cold cement next to him and his blankets in the middle of winter.
“How did you become homeless?” I asked. (I know there is more updated terminology for that word – but at that time homeless was the word.)
VERY MATTER OF FACTLY (and this is key to why I am telling you this) he told me what happened.
“My wife and I had separated, we each had our own apartment and were living here in the neighborhood so we could each spend time with our 7 year old son. A man moved in with her which I was not thrilled about, but such is life. One day the man who she was living with picked my son up by his feet and smashed his head into a radiator. That’s when I lost it. I flipped out. I tried to find a gun, I wanted to kill him. But ended up sitting with my son in the hospital as he died. After that I never recovered. Started drinking and found myself living on the street. That’s what happened.”
He said it as if he was talking about the weather. No dramatic recounting. It was devastating to hear.
HERE’S THE POINT FOR ACTORS AND STORYTELLERS.
Give ten actors the lines Merlin said – and I’d put money down that at least half of them would feel a need to put a dramatic build into that speech.
But this artform is about revealing life. And most people, even when they are telling something intense that happened to them are just revealing the facts – almost like a list. This happened – then that happened – then this happened.
The next time you are working on’‘dramatic material,’ whether you be an actor, presenter, public speaker, or pitching your next project, let go of the need for dramatic peaks and valleys. That’s old school community theatre stuff. Bring you to the moment, and give the facts. Let your audience have their experience – you don’t need to signal to them what is commonplace and what is “intense.”
Bring you to your art, and trust that your truth in that exact moment is the perfect delivery system from which to create.
Thank you for hanging with me on this one.
With love and respect
Josh Pais
3 month coaching (starting early June) and upcoming Committed Impulse trainings
P.S. You can watch 7th Street (directed by Josh Pais) on Indieflix.
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