I first received this advice in an acting class when I was 16, we were sat around in the drama studio of a local school, our acting teacher in front of us, a friendly, exuberant, bespectacled man who rarely sat down as he was prone to fidgeting.
I wasn't new to acting by any means but as with all 16 year olds anxiety about my image, especially in front of girls was at the forefront of my mind. Regardless of being in an acting class, the remote possibility that I might embarrass myself was a terrifying prospect.
So when it came time for us to perform our preprepared monologues, John, our teacher, asked quite innocuously:
"Who would like to go first?"
I soon learned that I was not the only one suffering from adolescent stage fright as everybody seemed reticent to raise their hands.
It was at this point that John, quite unassumingly, stood in front of us and gave me some of the best advice that an actor can hear. So good in fact that almost 16 years later I still remember and put it into practice; he presented to us...
The Blue Jumper Theory
Let's say you go out shopping, and you are looking for a light blue, wool jumper, in fact as castings are specific we will get specific. A light blue, light nit wool jumper in a medium size, with a zip fastening at the neck (see pic) that costs about £20.
You walk into a store and you find a light blue, light nit wool jumper in a medium size, with a zip fastening at the neck that costs £19.99, now the big question, do you...
A: Buy the jumper, content that it has everything you were looking for?
B: Go to another store and keep looking?
The answer is fairly obvious, you buy the jumper and enjoy it's warm embrace.
How does this apply to acting?
In situations such as the one presented to us it can be tempting to hold back, see what the competition does and go later, maybe you'll stick in their minds because you were towards the end? Or maybe your performance will be so good that even though you were in the middle of the pack you stood out? True but do you really want to take that chance?
What the blue jumper theory posits is quite simple, if you get the opportunity to go first DO IT!!! No you won't ALWAYS be what they are looking for in terms of casting, but if your audition and performance is strong enough and you are confident enough in your choices, that first audition of the day will stick in their minds across everyone else's. They will remember you because amongst all those other auditions they did all day they will always remember the first one.
So the next time you are at a workshop or group audition raise your hand as fast as you can, if you are offered a morning audition, take the first slot, if you get a selftape, learn your lines and turn it around as quickly as you can. Be that first audition they see and the one that sticks out in their minds. Remember THE BLUE JUMPER THEORY!
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