Diaspora studies continue to expand in range and scope and remain fertile terrain for investigating multiple techniques of myth creation in dance performance, history as performance, dramatic narrative, and staged rituals in the field. Similarly, research in postcoloniality, gender/sexuality, intercultural, and literary studies, among others, all engage and feature core components of performance and myth in articulating and understanding their fields. This sharing of similar components als...

Despite being roundly cited as much harder to perform than its dramatic counterpart, comic acting is traditionally seen as a performance genre that can’t be taught. At best it is often described as a skill that can only be learned "on the job" through years of practice, or given to a performer through natural talent.Acting Comedy is an effort to examine this idea more rigorously by looking at different aspects of the comic actor’s craft. Each chapter is written by an expert in a pa...

In this book Richard Ayoade - actor, writer, director, and amateur dentist - reflects on his cinematic legacy as only he can: in conversation with himself. Over ten brilliantly insightful and often erotic interviews, Ayoade examines himself fully and without mercy, leading a breathless investigation into this once-in-a-generation visionary.Only Ayoade can appreciate Ayoade's unique methodology. Only Ayoade can recognise Ayoade's talent. Only Ayoade can withstand Ayoade's peculiar s...

"An important contribution to the history of show business and to the saga of American comedy and comedians, comics and comicality." —James ThurberWith impeccable timing, outrageous humor, irreverent wit, and a superb sense of the ridiculous, Groucho and Me tells the saga of the Marx Brothers—Chico, Harpo, Zeppo, Gummo, and Groucho—the poverty of their childhood in New York's Upper East Side; the crooked world of small-time vaudeville (where they learned t...

 Ever wonder about people who are always laughing?  They are usually remembering stories they have read in the TWENTY FUNNY STORIES books.  What do these things have in common? Juicy-Fruit gum, crazy drivers,  the look,  the social security office - they are stories in  Twenty Funny Stories, book Six along with many more to make you laugh out loud

There are many monologues books on the market but very few provide rich material for comedy. This collection from up and coming comedian & actress Katy Wix plugs that gap and provides female performers with the kind of wonderfully warm and interesting characters that they need – and deserve.A comedian and writer, Wix has for the past few years been writing audition speeches for students at drama schools including RADA, LAMDA, Drama Centre and The Royal Welsh College of Music and Dr...

A smart, witty and accessible guide to the rewarding and joyful practice of improvisation.Classic improv games and variationsTelling stories and creating charactersUsing improv to make theatre and comedy, from monologues to full-scale productionsAn asset to students and teachers of improvisation in schools, drama schools, higher education and theatre groups, both professional and amateur. It will also be of benefit to organisations and individual readers who w...

Halle Berry, Sean Penn, Dustin Hoffman, and Robert DeNiro have all been coached by or participated in seminars with Brown. This invaluable manual offers an extensive compendium of reference information from the legendary acting teacher.

The opportunities for presenters have never been greater. But, although it's seen as a glamorous job and a step to celebrity, being a TV presenter is also hard work, and demands a varied range of journalistic, technical, performance and personal skills.With a background in TV directing, working with professional presenters and training new ones for the TV industry, Kathryn Wolfe takes you through the techniques and skills required to become a successful presenter, including:

Have you struggled with an acting role, realizing you were "not quite there yet" but not knowing what was missing? Have you felt challenged, not sure how to portray a character's needs and actions? TEAM for Actors gives you reliable tools for successful acting and helps resolve a common gap between the mind and body so you can create a dynamic, holistic performance. Based on Laura Bond's twenty years of teaching acting and somatic emotion-regulation techniques, TEAM for Actors provides tan...

Clowns’ slapstick is their primary mode of performance and allows them to provoke audiences to laughter wherever they perform. This innovative book, focussing on contemporary practice in the USA and Europe over the last 50 years, investigates the nature and function of clown performance in modern society. Through analysis of clowning in a range of settings - theatre, the circus, hospitals, refugee camps and churches - Peacock establishes a theoretical framework for the evaluation of physic...

Is it possible and acceptable to deliver a credible, exceptional audition from your iPad or iPhone? YES! If you know the industry standards spelled out in detail in How To Take Advantage of Technology as an Actor & Voiceover. Discover trade secrets to securing voice acting jobs through the use of today’s most common and widely-used technology. Most seasoned, successful business owners will tell you that it generally takes three to five years to establish any small business. The same is tru...