The Art of Play / Acting on Impulse
Remember playing as a kid? You get tossed a spaceship toy and told: “You’re an astronaut,” and POOF! You’re flying through space, living within imaginary circumstances, and you don’t need anybody to tell you to believe. You’re in space. It’s happening. And you’re acting on impulse.
Children have no problem following impulses. A child never looks at a toy and says, “I’m not really sure what to do with this toy.” It doesn’t happen. Children possess the freedom to play and don’t think twice about it. Now, of course, there’s a difference between playing with a spaceship and dealing with complex emotional character conflicts, but the same rules apply.
And it’s all about that sense of freedom and permission to play within imaginary circumstances. Children have an innate kind of reckless abandon to play-acting; a natural yielding to action impulse and action.
Freedom
As we get older, we can lose this freedom. We take back our permission. Our egos check and edit our impulses and carefully manage the image we put out into the world. Add to that, as artists, we can become too self-conscious; too self-critical. We over-think, hold back, self-edit, impose limitations on our acting choices. We observe ourselves from the outside and are rarely kind in our observations. As a result, we block impulse and unconsciously stifle creative energy. In other words, we get stuck in our heads.
The actor stuck in their head is an actor out of their body, and an actor out of their body is an actor not in touch with impulse. This is why the work feels stiff, flat, overly-planned, to the viewer. The inner critic, the controlling ego is running the show.
Inner Critic vs. Inner ‘Fuck It’
We all carry degrees of the inner critic. We need the inner critic to help us assess our work, our progress, our creative objectives. But equally, we need to feel free to explore without blocking artistic spontaneity.
We need a ‘fuck it’ button. A kind of, “I don’t give a shit if I look like an idiot,” button. Inner ‘fuck-it’ is that moment of departure from feeling stuck that happens when you allow yourself to do something, despite not knowing what the outcome will be. It’s the moment that often proceeds a breakthrough. It’s what we say to ourselves just before we take a big bold risk. We say “fuck it.” And it usually precedes us taking an action. It stops the thinking. Shuts up the critic. Coincidentally, it’s usually fun.
Fall on your Ass / Get back Up
An actor fully in the moment, free and open, can screw lines up terrifically at an audition and still get a callback. Because freedom and spontaneity are captivating to watch. It’s both alive and unpredictable.
It’s very very hard to stay in your head while simultaneously being committed to taking risks and making unapologetic bold choices. By committing to this acting practice, you are unconsciously sending a message to the subconscious to r-e-l-a-x. To let go. That you got this.
You will begin to notice tension leave the body, clearing the way for an impulse to enter. This is acting on impulse. You will be more free, open, and able to act on impulse without even thinking about it. It’s all connected. There’s a beautiful symmetry to this process. Invite it in. And trust the process. Fuck it.
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