Teen acting classes commence!  Come along to free improv classes at The Playhouse this December.  Bridget will be launching a series in the new year but grab these classes for free in 2024! 

Get ready to unleash your inner star under the guidance of Bridget McCarthy! This experienced acting teacher is passionate about igniting a love for improv in young minds, transforming ordinary teens into extraordinary performers. Immerse yourself in a world of imaginative play, where you'll hone your dramatic skills, boost your confidence, and unlock a whole new level of acting ability. Join Bridget's class and embark on a thrilling journey of self-expression, creativity, unforgettable and hillarious performances!

So much fun finding these beautiful funky people for this McCains campaign. And the audition was fun - everyone began on a laugh to get into the swing of togetherness and fun.  

Love how the story of this spot is the chips taking centre stage over the footy.  It's easy to relate to the love of all things chip! 

We cast on Zoom, it's still surprising that we no longer cast every ad in the studio.  It's interesting that COVID catapulted us into using our technology and jump us into our future.  The industry was always facing in the direction of self taping and remote casting and then overnight it happened.  Even as we no longer need to wear masks we are not reverting entirely back to studio.  Zoom is here to stay.  

Thanks McCains and Black River FC.  

Bridget McCarthy casting director, Act Natural - casting agency Cape Town. 
And thanks to my editors Chris Kunz and Vivianne Garnet! 

This Vodacom/Giant Films shoot was the best! This little 3 year old had so much joy she was a total delight to work with.  The production team had made sure that she had a back-up, in case she didn't have the energy for all the shots.  Playing with toys and a child minder off set there was a another little girl dressed exactly the same with a wig of hair to match those crazy curls.  But this little star shone her allotted time. 

To get this shot both myself and the director, Ian Gabriel, had mock cell phones in our mouths and we were spinning and spinning with her mimicking us.  We felt like total hero's, the last shot of her scenes!  Ian was so delightfully playful with her, and the team created such a respectful set, knowing how to make a quite, focused space for a little one. 

And no folks, that isn't a real cell phone and don't try this at home.  Most people don't know that little children shouldn't play with cell phones,  if they do it needs to be in airplane mode, their brains are too sensitive for radiation - until age 10!  We aught to all be on earphones!  But that's another story. 

 The other day I was chatting to a mum and she was telling me how she struggled with communicating her whole life, she'd get panic attacks.  She wondered if improv would hep her kid, she felt that her child might need some extra nudging into being a stronger communicator.   Yes! I assured her you've come to the right place!

Improv is not only for actors, in fact some of the people who play improvisation and perform for an audience were never actors but discovered a love for the art from and are brilliant improvisers who've had zero actor training.  And on the flip side... many actors feel traumatized at the thought of stepping into the action and making it all up on the spot.

But making it all up on the spot on your own, is not what it's about!  The reason why improv is a brilliant communication tool is that you're never alone and the whole point is to create together!  The rule of thumb is to be in service to the scene and to your scene partner.  This means listening for what the scene needs and being the solution.

The games we play are often about tricking the brain.  The other day Willow and Nha-Nha were playing PREOCCUPATION.  A game that tricks us into talking while our focus is on something else. The preoccupation is with the space objects.  In this case a school science project in space substance, which means that the science project is not real but imaginary.  While keeping the focus on making the science project real they have to hold a discussion at the same time!  Their chat was on a farewell party for the last day of school.  While putting their attention into giving the objects their real weight in space they managed to have a lively conversation, it just seemed to flow out of them.  They had to be reminded to keep the preoccupation and the chat going at the same time, that 's the trick...."AND, scene!"

Afterwards Nha-Nha said "it was like the farewell party was a real plan, like we knew what we were talking about!"

If you feel on shaky ground when you have to talk to people, after some time in improv class the muscle memory will kick in and you'll know you can chat to anyone about anything, because you've done it before!

Join us, come play the games.  Sign up for a free trial class in the form at the bottom of this page.

I am an improviser who is fortunate enough to play with the talented group of improvisers that are ImproGuise!  
When lockdown began one of our players, the huge hearted Brett Fish Anderson created CHARACTER STORIES FOR CHILDREN and invited his crazy creative friends to give stories.  Here is one of my stories …

Happy Youth Day folks and let's not forget that every pain we experience, every mistake we make, each trauma, tragedy and pandemic has an equal and opposite reaction.  All things are equal and the good will shine through, as it did for us in SA - today we live in a free SA! 

Thank you SA youth,  Nelson Mandela and friends for our beautiful rainbow  nation. 
 
Even upside down chin people are our brothers and sisters!  Take it away Silly and Billy! 
I love south Africa! 

​The classes are going great.   Even though improvisation is all about interaction, which is difficult to emulate in the ZOOM room, we’re discovering the stuff that works online.
 
The kids had so much fun last week, I even heard some parents laughing in the background.  Especially when they were expressing themselves in gibberish. Gibberish is improvisers made up language.  Gibberish can sound like a fake foreign language or a pixie like language and for some its bits of half English and sound effects that will with more practice guide them to the land of nonsense speak. 
 
Last week they had to talk about their frustrations of lockdown in gibberish, it was hilarious!  Very expressive arms going, faces animated as they jumped up and down and threw themselves into speaking gobbledygook.  This is what gibberish is about, using our whole body and letting the nonsense words pour out in a free flow of sounds.  This release of vocal expression with emotion feeds back to the fluency of language, unlocking our voices and giving us permission to express ourselves.  Gibberish is great because we don’t have to bother with getting tangled up in thoughts.  We can take the brain out of the picture and let our mouth and our words make friends as we become fluent in the free flow of language.   
 
We don’t have to think everything through first and make sure it’s perfect but instead jump in and trust ourselves to come up with something, anything!  That’s when we laugh the hardest, we’ve just totally surprised ourselves, we’re genius creators! 

​Not being able to hold classes in my beautiful studio is frustrating, but this has spurred the future into the present.  I’m teaching on Zoom and fibre is moments away from being installed in my home, I will be supersonic soon.  I can teach all day long if I wish, and from the comfort of my own lounge.   I wonder will this stick after #stayhome is over?  I guess many people will prefer not to travel if possible and fewer will want to be in a class with others, until a vaccine is found.  Perhaps this style of teaching is here to stay at least for the next while! 
 
I’m loving teaching the kids and adults improvisation on Zoom.  In the most recent class they were hilarious as they had to get themselves out of a trap (a bear trap no less).  They were asked to focus on making the imaginary real as they struggled to free themselves.  
 
It’s fascinating that the more they pretend to get themselves out of a trap the less interesting it is, and when they really see and feel with their own bodies the elements of the trap – the hard metal and sharp teeth - then the rest of their environment comes to life too - the forest, the gash in their leg.  And their escape from a bear trap becomes sheer brilliance as I even see their muddy wet bottoms!   It becomes that real because they stop relying on their imaginations and instead respond to a real moment.  Wow!  
 
In improvisation we are invited to get out of our over planning minds and trust the focus of the game to deliver truth.  That’s the magic folks!  Being in the living moment. 

​Saying yes!  
The first rule of improvisation is: say YES!  Can you believe this is a rule?  It’s all that’s asked of us when we step into an improvisation scene.  Saying a loud resounding YES to yourself as you trust your idea, jump in and play.  Saying YES to your scene partner who might be inviting you to bake pancakes, fly to the moon, or spy on the neighbours.   It’s funny how hard it is initially, how often the NO pops out without us even realizing.  No! We can’t spy on the neighbours, that would be wrong.  Fly to the moon in this contraption? Are you nuts??  Pancakes? But I’ve just fried you eggs!   If you’re a new improviser those scene killer NO’s are just living to murder your scene.
 
If I don’t play for a while I discover the NO bobbing under the surface of every interaction.  I have to call up the YES from deep within and give myself permission to jump in with all four feet and surf that YES through all I do.  Then the class is over all too soon and I have to wait a whole week before playing again.  Oh YES, where have you gone?  
 
Say it wholeheartedly in improv and discover that’s where the magic begins.  YES is the launchpad to brilliance and then let those tasty reverberations flood into ours real life as we get into the rhythm of YES, let’s do this!  YES, let’s play improv! 

​I used to ban imaginary guns in my improvisation class to stop students (ok I’m gonna say it, boys!) from resorting to their guns to solve any problem: “Oh dear the ice-cream’s finished!  Boy shows gun and says, “you better go back to the shop mom!”  Funny though, very funny but in this case, good to get beyond the first option.
 
I’ve just discovered that this season I'm asking kids to keep their imaginary cell phones in their bags.
 
I noticed that every character was staring into their palms, speaking on a cell phone to describe everything they’re thinking instead of … showing us.  
 
“Oh, it’s so late and I’m soooo tired!”  That’s them telling us how they're feeling. 
Feet have slight drag, face is soft and a big sigh.  Now, they're showing us how they feeling.
 
The big idea is to show us not tell us.  See in the photo after they put their imaginary phones away the kids showed us what was on at the local fair.  Living in the moment, not talking about it!  That’s the idea!