I used to have a rather nifty party trick. It went like this: pick a number between 0 and 155...then I would recite the sonnet.
An impressive feat. Actually, the "trick" was that I had only memorized about ten sonnets and no matter what number you picked I would recite one of the ten declaring it to be your chosen number and hoping that in the early hours of the morning and having imbibed copiously you might not suspect my trickery.
My dear friend Tony was far more accomplished with his variation of this party trick by asking his audience to pick a number between 0 and 155, whereupon he would tell them the corresponding dish on the menu of the local Chinese takeaway.
Joking aside, every actor should have at least a handful of the sonnets committed to memory. They provide an excellent workout for the speech and voice, for tuning up the chops, and waking up the vocal chords.
They are, of course, so much more too; self-contained and exquisitely told stories (well, maybe not 145), in fourteen lines: beginning, middle and end.
However, while we are still on the subject of "tuning up," try one before your next voice over casting. Better still, try one with you tongue stuck out. You may attract some unwanted attention from other motorists in the morning traffic but it really does work a treat.
An impressive feat. Actually, the "trick" was that I had only memorized about ten sonnets and no matter what number you picked I would recite one of the ten declaring it to be your chosen number and hoping that in the early hours of the morning and having imbibed copiously you might not suspect my trickery.
My dear friend Tony was far more accomplished with his variation of this party trick by asking his audience to pick a number between 0 and 155, whereupon he would tell them the corresponding dish on the menu of the local Chinese takeaway.
Joking aside, every actor should have at least a handful of the sonnets committed to memory. They provide an excellent workout for the speech and voice, for tuning up the chops, and waking up the vocal chords.
They are, of course, so much more too; self-contained and exquisitely told stories (well, maybe not 145), in fourteen lines: beginning, middle and end.
However, while we are still on the subject of "tuning up," try one before your next voice over casting. Better still, try one with you tongue stuck out. You may attract some unwanted attention from other motorists in the morning traffic but it really does work a treat.
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