Warming Up My “Cold Read”
High fives and back slaps all around; I’m coming up to the 1 month mark of spring semester! And man, second semester at NYCDA is like the main course of a good meal; the appetizers were tasty, but now its time to really eat!
Now out of this gumbo pot of technique we stew in daily (and the food metaphors end….now), I’ve noticed that the ability to give a great cold read is a very important skill to have…indeed.
Often over-looked, the cold read is an integral part of an actor’s work. Sometimes you get to prepare, but sometimes you don’t. And no matter how much of a script analysis wizard you are, it’s just a bunch of beans (whoops, sorry) if you can’t get the job.
I never realized how important cold reading was until I was forced to do it, like, 15 times a day. And even outside of class, cold reading has become a regular part of my scheduled program. Here are a few of my favourite materials to cold read out loud where I practice diction, pitch, tempo and intention:
- daily newspapers- I read it like a CNN (or better yet, Daily Show ) newscaster for both informative and hilarious results
- first person biographies of influential people- makes me think I’m accomplishing much more than I actually am
- take out menus from my favourite restaurants- and then I reward myself by ordering the duck with vermicelli noodles
- my homework (sometimes a textbook, sometimes a script or scene)- you might as well kill a bunch of birds with a bunch of stones, right?
So there you have it. Warming up the cold read is not a chore when you know how essential it can be.
Go cold read something today!
2 comments
I the idea of reading everyday things like it is a cold read. It gives you an HUGE amount of practice without it really seeming like practice because it’s something you would have read anyways. I will definitely be using that tip! Thanks!
I read news papers like a CNN reporter sometimes too!
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