I was directing a scene . . . an homage to Abbot and Costello’s fabulous “Who’s on First.” (And if you’ve never seen that skit, stop reading this RIGHT NOW watch it! I mean it—watch it NOW!)
Amazing, right? Back to my class.
The actor playing Charlie couldn’t get the emphasis correct on his second line.
Actor/CHARLIE
I figure we’ll take them out for an early dinner, then . . .
Actor/ALAN
Then what?
Actor/CHARLIE
Then what what?
I tried to help.
Me
You’re really asking, “Then which what?”
Charlie tried. Wrong.
Me
Why don’t you actually say that?
Actor/CHARLIE
What?
Me
“Then which what?” Say that instead of “Then what what?”
It went on from there. I won’t put you through the tedious process. You get the picture…He finally got it.
So here’s what directing comes down to:
- The job is getting the job done right.
- It is sometimes tedious.
- But it’s not done until the actor gets it right.
- And then when he does, it feels great.
- You just have to love the job of getting the job done right.
