I'm a knight of the round table...I dance whene'er I'm able

[onib]

Let me say to begin with that I am properly psyched to go see Spamalot in Philly this weekend. We picked up the soundtrack a while back (when we were on vacation with Amy's parents in Hawaii - woo). I had mixed feeling about how something as magical as "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" would fare when turned into a stage production, but listening

Comments

[ginafae]

Rock on!!!!

Way to go!

I am jealous of your cajones in getting up and auditioning. *nods* Someday I'll have those.

[onib]

Thank you so much, but truly, you perform in front of crowds all the time. In fact, the simple fact that you have actual swordfighting experience would put you well above many others in a play such as this. I'm always way nervous going into the audition, but once I get on stage, I really let go and become someone else - it's much easier that way to shut off the embarrassment centers of the brain.

Also, I'm not sure exactly why you're planning on having my cajones one day...

[ginafae]

Well, I am not so sure about that. I mean, traditional stage combat has *nothing* to do with what RST does or what I do with my German Medieval Martial Arts. And I honestly have very little traditional training.

I wish I could shut off the embarrassment centers of my brain. THat's awesome!

I left that vague just to interest you. Just what *would* I want with your cajones??? *cocks an eyebrow*

[onib]

Most people doing stage combat as part of a show have far less training than you. They are trained in making things look cool to the audience, not making them authentic in any way.

One way I think of it is that I work with high end, clustered, parallel computer systems. If someone calls me up and says, "Hey, we'd like you to help out some Mac users." My response would be, "But I know nothing about Macs? I couldn't possibly do a good job there." However, all they actually want is for me to plug in the computer and turn it on.

I think what you do is so far above what gets done on a stage as to hardly be comparable.

I wish I could shut off the embarrassment centers of my brain.

It helps to do something phenomenally embarrassing. Then, everything else is pretty much a walk in the park by comparison. :)

[multidudinous]

DUH! YOU SWING SWORDS AT PEOPLE...WHILE GREAT NUMBERS OF OTHER PEOPLE WATCH YOU DO IT.

Silly, silly girl. :)

[ginafae]

Ok, see, but those are just the ignorant masses who are just there to be entertained and they will be no matter what I do. That's FINE.

Now, going in front of actors and directors and trying to become their peers... that's a whole nother thing. *nods* Think I am silly if you will, but I see these things as radically different.

[onib]

Are you suggesting that actors and directors are not part of the ignorant masses?!? Methinks you give them too much credit. They say "Oooooo" when they see two people cross swords just like the rest of the masses.

In both cases, you dress in costume, say a few "in character" words, and put on an entertaining show. Besides, if you were going to do a show that involved sword work, the amount of time it would take for you to learn their version of stage combat would be minuscule compared to the time it would take for the average actor to learn how to even hold a sword properly.

It's sort of like those career counseling centers that try to find how your skills could be used in areas where you have no direct experience. The simple act of performing before a crowd and knowing how to engage an audience is all the experience you really need to be an actor. I think you would do great.