This week on In the Chair…
LSTFI alumni Max Weinstein and Leona Stewart join Will & Samantha to talk about their experience at Strasberg, study abroad, and the transition into the “real world”. Simone Elhart returns to share her experience as an advanced training student navigating the final semesters of her BFA. Listen to Episode 5 of In the Chair wherever you find your podcasts!
Taking Time Away
Max reflects on his academic semester abroad in Paris. He remarks how beneficial it was to have space in order process his Strasberg training. “You need time away, and you realize in your time away that this training takes time.” He explains that, upon returning from Paris, he found that the training had begun to cement itself and become like second nature. Will adds that, as time passes, you mature as both an actor and a person:
“You start [training] when you’re 18-19 years old – you’re still so young in your own sense of self. There’s something about aging into yourself and settling in your bones a little bit more that allows the technique to become that much deeper.”
Will Brockman
Learning Mindfulness
The group agrees that Method Acting is a way to learn about yourself. Will notes how, in The Method, it is so important “to be in touch with what’s actually going on inside you and to start in a place that’s actually real.” Max jokes, “I feel like I’m getting a BFA in mindfulness.”
Leona explains that her journey was about accepting that her experience with The Method won’t be the same as someone else’s. “[As] an incoming student, coming into Strasberg, the whole thing is just overwhelming and everyone is so talented. You’re like, ‘Oh my goodness, they all seems to be getting it. I’m not getting it.’” Leona shares that she has since learned to see her path as unique, and understand that her own growth is what matters most.
Will adds that your experience with The Method will also change and develop over time. Unlike when he first started his training, Will now finds that much of his sensitivity and creative imagination is activated subconsciously, or that he can use the exercises more fluidly.
“Robert Ellerman used to say that training in a technique is for the purpose of unlocking something within you and understanding more about your own instrument. When you don’t have to try as hard, if you’re not ‘doing the technique’ as you were taught, that’s not necessarily a bad thing because it means it’s living inside you.”
Will Brockman
Be Your Own Motivation
When discussing the transition from a university setting into the “real world”, Will expresses the importance of self-motivation, and how Strasberg functions to teach that lesson.
“One thing we always talk about is how self-motivated the entire [Strasberg] curriculum is, and people often don’t understand that it’s done super on-purpose. No one in the real world is gonna push you to find a job, find an audition, find something, find a new scene. No one’s gonna push you to do anything because no one cares, so you have to learn how to be your own self motivator.”
Will Brockman
Leona adds that, in the industry, there is so much that’s out of your hands, making what is that much more important. 50% of getting the job is what you prepare, the work you bring to the table, she explains. “40% is showing up on time, being a nice person, treating everyone with respect.” The last 10% is the details – your hair color, your height, whether you look more like your co-star’s sibling or love interest. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by that final 10%, by the things you can’t control. The panel’s advice? Take ownership of the things you can!
TRANSCRIPT
Will Brockman: Hello, Samantha Vita.
Samantha Vita: Happy Valentine’s Day, Will!
Will: Happy Valentine’s Day!
Sam: Thank you so much. Will brought in some rose quartz for us and the guests!
Will: I did bring in rose quartz.
Sam: I’m so excited!
Will: What a fun little treat!
Sam: Yeah. This episode I’m particularly excited about because we have some awesome guests.
Will: This one really just went for it.
Sam: Yeah, it really did.
Will: We didn’t take a break, we didn’t do anything. We just went for it.
Sam: Yeah, and I really took a step back this episode because everybody –
Will: We had some great guests. We had some great guests who had a lot to say, very articulate.
Sam: Right, I felt like I couldn’t articulate anything that they weren’t saying, so it was good.
Will: What have you been up to lately, Sam Vita? Since we last saw you?
Sam: Oh, I’ve been trying to get into that meal prep game. It’s a waste of time though, because I’m not a good cook, so I try –
Will: Do you need some help?
Sam: Yeah!
Will: I can teach you how to cook!
Sam: Okay!
Sam: Well okay, guess that’s been resolved.
Will: We’ll do that later! Next week’s episode is us cooking!
Sam: Oh my God, yes! So I’ve been trying to make meals to save money and whatnot, but it just doesn’t come out good, and then I don’t want to eat it.
Will: I can help. I can really help. I can make stuff taste good.
Sam: I just need some help with that. But besides that, I’ve been working and rehearsing. I have a long day today. What about you? What’ve you been up to?
Will: Still substitute teaching. I am acting like I know French. I have been going to cryotherapy a lot.
Sam: What?
Will: Have I not told you that?
Sam: Maybe I saw that on your Instagram, but I don’t know what it was.
Will: Okay, so I am super into cryotherapy right now. I’m not sure if it’s doing anything.
Sam: That is the bougiest thing I’ve ever heard!
Will: I don’t know if it’s doing anything, but I feel really good about it. But the first time I went, I had a really emotional day and tears started to well up in my eyes as I was about to go into the cryotherapy chamber, and completely deadpan, the woman who was running the salon was like, “You need to dry your eyes, the tears will freeze.”
Sam: Oh my gosh!
Will: And I was like, “Okay, this means business.” Because it gets down to like, 250 degrees celsius.
Sam: What does it do for your body?
Will: It reduces inflammation.
Sam: Okay, and it makes you feel better?
Will: Yeah. It’s like, you do 3 minutes in -250 and it’s supposedly the equivalent of doing an hour in an ice bath.
Sam: Wow!
Will: Because it gets it done quicker.
Sam: I gotta find a Groupon for that!
Will: Oh, there’s Groupons, don’t you worry.
Sam: I bet. I gotta get on Groupon!
Will: Because the outside of your body is what cools down and your body thinks it’s going into hypothermia, but all your inside organs stay warm because you’re not cold for long enough. So blood just rushes from the organs to the surface and it basically just reoxygenates the entire body. And your skin tightens up a little bit, so that’s kind of a good thing.
Sam: Oh my gosh, this is the most you activity I’ve ever heard!
Will: Cryotherapy, yeah.
Sam: It sounds awesome though.
Will: I helped my friend Shay buy a Valentine’s gift for her boyfriend. So we went to the Shorthill’s Mall in New Jersey and she settled on a lovely fragrance from Diptyque called
“Eau Duelle”.
Sam: There you go!
Will: And, believe it or not, this podcast is not sponsored by Diptyque. Although, it really should be. I will not stop talking about Diptyque or A Star is Born.
Sam: You don’t need to! It’s okay, we like those things!
Will: With the excitement of French perfumery, we must take a break, and we’ll be right back!
[MUSICAL INTERLUDE]
Simone Elhart: “Registration for the Young Actor’s Program at Strasberg is now open. Applications are due March 9th for the Spring semester. Email [email protected] for more information today.”
[MUSICAL INTERLUDE]
Will: So we’re back with some fun guests.
Sam: Yeah, we have Max and Leona! How are you doing?
Max Weinstein: Hi!
Leona Stewart: Hi!
Will: And Simone, how are you?
Sam: Yeah, Simone’s in the room, too!
Will: Who is now working here!
Simone: Hi guys! I loved it so much the first time, that now I’m back forever.
Sam: She’s in a really nice cheetah shirt, just so everybody knows.
Simone: Thank you. I wanted to feel classy.
Leona: Simone always dresses pretty well though.
Max: Yeah.
Will: Yes, yes, it’s true.
Leona: Sorry, I’m never surprised when I see you in a cool outfit, cause I’m just like, “Of course she’s wearing that with a cool turquoise necklace with some funky shoes with cool socks.”
Sam: I didn’t even see the shoes! Those look so easy!
Will: Oh wow!
Max: I don’t know how she does it!
Simone: These are actually Target Balenciaga knockoffs.
Will: Wait, are they like, the sock-shoes?
Simone: They’re similar. Balenciaga has a pair of very similar shoes. Target also has the ones that look like socks, but for like 15 dollars if you’re interested.
Leona: You said that in the same rhythm as I did!
Simone, Leona: The ones that look like socks!
Sam: I’m very interested. I’m also interested in what Max and Leona and Simone have to say about their time at Strasberg. They have since left Strasberg and have gone on to different studios, so I’d love to hear about their experience.
Max: And graduated!
Sam: They graduated!
Leona: That’s just Max.
Sam: You’ll be still here!
Leona: Living in the NYU bubble.
Will: Yeah, for now.
Leona: For now.
Sam: So where are you staying right now?
Leona: I’m at Stonestreet Studios, which is a TV and film acting studio. It’s part of the NYU and Tisch program, and so you can only go after your 2 years of primary training. A lot of people do that after Strasberg, after they’ve completed their advanced training at Strasberg. Yeah, it’s been great, because they pretty much – Max, did you do Stonestreet?
Max: I did the Stonestreet elective, which I actually really liked. I was surprised by how much I got out of it for, I think it was 2 hours once a week.
Leona: I now TA the elective.
Max: Oh, amazing. Yeah, I found that very helpful.
Leona: Yeah, it’s really good that they make you go two years after you’ve done some form of formal, primary training. That sounds so obvious, but they literally are like, “Okay, find a scene, you’re going up tomorrow,” and that’s it. It’s not like a rehearsal process like you’d have at Strasberg. You literally go up one at a time, you’ll have 7 minutes each in the class, or something like that. For some classes you can go out before and prep however you would prep for a scene, based on your training.
Max: But they give you the time to do whatever you wanna do.
Leona: Yeah, they give you the time to do that. But they’re like, “It’s not about doing that as a class” and then each person using their warm-up or their method to perform. Because we have people from Meisner, we have people from Atlantic, Adler, ETW. The ETW people are always wanting to move out of the chair. But they’re restricted to the seat for on-camera auditions!
Simone: I felt like when I was there, at least, the staff is pretty good. They’ve learned a lot about primaries at the different studios, so they know how to communicate with different training, which I thought was nice.
Leona: It’s also really cool because they’re all industry people, in a way. A lot of them are working actors and they audition a lot and they’re continuing to audition and they’re doing pilot season and they’re doing this and they can give real life tips about what’s happening right now. A lot of the professors are quite young – like, some of them not even over 30 – so they’re really understanding what the industry is today rather than you can have some professors who only remember it a certain way. Which is still obviously good to know. But that’s really helpful. And you have voiceover training, you can study on-camera auditions, you have writing and creating your own material – which is really cool, because a lot of people had never done that before and then are getting a chance to. It’s really a group effort. If it’s someone’s first time, it’s a lot of people’s first time. Everyone’s kind of nervous about showing what they’ve written, but everyone’s in the same boat. So it’s a nice way to start doing it because you don’t feel the pressure.
Will: Right, and to experience this vulnerability on a safer level.
Leona: Exactly, exactly. It’s nice to do that in a school setting, in a classroom setting, and to be workshopping scripts – and actors as well! I was speaking to TV and film people yesterday… “Yeah, we always try and get actors to read our scripts, because we don’t know. We’re not actors, so we don’t really know how someone would say these lines”. It was just a funny way of looking at it and I was like, “Yeah, I guess!”
Max: Right, and it’s so weird. I’ve actually been thinking about that a lot, about when you’re reading something and how it’s so immediate as to whether you think “this is good,” or “eh, I don’t know if…” It’s not necessarily something I can always put my hand on, but I’m either so in it or I’m like, “This is choppy. This is weird. I can’t imagine saying that. I don’t like how it feels. This isn’t going to be easy to do.” Not necessarily that everything should be easy, but I’m really realizing now how good writing is half the battle. It’s so important.
Simone: I’ve noticed recently, especially when I’m watching network TV, that you can tell the really good actors because they’ll say something and you’ll think about the line and you’re like, “Somebody wrote that?”
Max: Yes! Yes! Oh my God, I do that all the time! One of my favorite things to do – I’m obsessed with Sex in the City. I mean, I can recite every episode, it’s gross. But, it’s incredible writing! On top of that, what I love to do is look at the scripts – which are already good to begin with – and then see how those four actors bring that text to life. Because they’re all so alive. God, I love it!
Leona: With Sex in the City in particular, you watch the first episode, compared to the last episode, and see how each of them have found their character.
Max: I actually think that show is kind of a master class. I’m not gonna lie. I often watch it and will write notes on my phone. Sometimes late at night I’m watching it and I’ll write actor notes and then, when I wake up the next day, I’ll look at them and be like, “Was I just tired or crazy?” But, no! There’s this one scene where you see her react to what’s being said to her a couple beats before she says the line. We know what we’re going to say a second before we say it sometimes, and you could see her do it. There’s so many good parts!
Sam: Which one of the four are you?
Max: Oh, well…in emotional life? In aesthetics, I’m a Carrie. I think I just am. But then I have Miranda and some Samantha in me. I don’t know, it’s so funny.
Oh my God, in my dressing room – oh, I did A Chorus Line! I had to let you all know that! I forgot to let you know that I did that. But in my dressing room in A Chorus Line, it was funny because it came up and all three of the other guys in my dressing room love it. It’s so funny when 3 out of the 4 people are like, “Well, I’m Carrie.” This is the stupidest argument in the world. Like, one, you’re not! Two, are we actually having this argument? We were, but…
Simone: It is, it happens.
Now, I wanna know, you did primary here and then did you move immediately to…? Because you moved to NSB eventually, correct?
Max: Yes, so what I did – and I always knew that I wanted to do this and was one of the main reasons I chose NYU – is I did an academic semester abroad after primary.
Simone: Right after primary training?
Max: Right after primary training.
Simone: Where did you go?
Max: I went to Paris. I studied mostly art history. Since I was in sixth grade, I was like, “I’m going to Paris my junior year of college.” I just knew.
Simone: I have goosebumps!
Max: Yeah! I had taken French for a really long time. I just knew that I needed to go, and I knew I was gonna go in college, and I knew that I was gonna go my junior fall weirdly. To my knowledge, NYU is the only place where you can get a BFA and not only study abroad, because most places don’t let you study abroad, but have options. I always say, if other schools do let you study abroad, you have to go to London and you have to study Shakespeare. And that’s amazing, but I just had no interest in that.
Will: Having the option of going somewhere else, to do something else is another thing.
Max: Yes! To do something else. And those three, those… how much? Like, four or five months off?
Simone: I was going to say, how do you feel like that impacted your acting?
Max: It was the best! I think it was the best. Because one, it showed me how much I really loved it. By the end of December, I’m like “Okay, I’m missing this and I’m itching to get back.” And then, they say it all the time: acting is living, and how can you act if you don’t live? It sounds very cliche, but you did a lot of living! I always tell people, I don’t say that “I studied abroad.” I say, “I lived in Paris and studied for four months, or four and a half months,” because we lived with other students, with other French students, with international students. We all had our own apartments. I would go to the boulangerie every day and they know my order. I really felt like I lived in Paris for the time that I was there. Yeah – oh God, it was the best! I remember all the teachers here at Strasberg – Lola! I was talking to Lola while I was in Paris and she was like “Oh!” She was telling me all the museums I have to go to, and the cemeteries – the Père Lachaise – and all that stuff. When I was in Shanghai, I was talking and Lola was like “You’re in Shanghai? It’s the best!”
Simone: They push you. They love travel.
Max: I feel like they push living here. They push art, they push culture, they push. I was always aligned with that aspect. I love how Lola’s Method class would start with “Okay, what did you do? What theatre did you see? What museums did you go to?” And she could kinda tell if you were BS-ing her.You had to see real shit! Or else she would just say “That’s fake!” Well, she wouldn’t say that’s fake… but she would be like, “Mhm. Really? You watched that movie?”
Will: Madeline Jaye loved that.
Leona: I would always get so excited every time I did go see theatre. I’d be like “Oh good, I can tell them about it on Monday.”
Simone: The thing is, you do get excited to share with them because they value it so much. I would always try hard to go and see stuff because I was like, “I want to show you how cool I am!”
Max: It’s so important, it’s so important! So yeah, so I did an academic semester in Paris and then after that I did three semesters of NSB, which is the musical theatre studio to anyone who doesn’t know. I found that incredibly valuable as well. I wouldn’t have done my college any other way. I think two years at Strasberg, one semester abroad, and three semesters in NSB… it all worked out really perfectly.
Leona: Were you able to audition for New Studio abroad then?
Max: Yeah, so that was kind of a funny story. So they… I don’t know if I should say this… well, whatever, I don’t care. They technically say that they don’t let people come in half way through the year. Like, you have to audition in the fall and you have to go in the entire year. I auditioned in the normal time my sophomore spring, and was accepted. And then at the same time, I found out I was accepted to go to Paris. I don’t know. One of the things my parents always taught me, my mom always said: “So long as you’re respectful and you have manners, ask for what you want. The worst they can say is no.” That was ingrained in me as a kid. “Ask for what you want. The worst they can say is no,” and so I asked. I said, “Look, I’m so excited that I’m accepted. I also was accepted to go to Paris and I’m very excited about that. Is there any possible way…?” and they said, “Yeah, absolutely. We’d be thrilled to have you in the spring.” And I said, “Fierce, okay. Let’s do it!”
Simone: They don’t often make acceptions, but they do. Especially if someone, like you said, is respectful and has manners and asks nicely.
Leona: Do you mind if I ask – if they had said no?
Max: If they had said no? What would I have done?
Leona: Yes.
Max: Ooh… that’s a good question. When the guests become the interviewers!
Will: Watch out!
Sam: Leona’s taking over!
Max: I think I would’ve gone to Paris, and I just would’ve figured it out. Maybe then I would’ve done my senior year doing theatre, and I could’ve come back here for a semester before. Not for Practicum, it’s not Practicum, really –
Leona: The advanced training?
Max: Yeah, that’s probably what I would’ve done. I would’ve gone to Paris, come back, done another semester of Strasberg, and then auditioned.
Leona: I’m glad you said you would’ve gone to Paris, though. I didn’t study abroad, but I studied abroad here for four years. If you’re able to do it, I think it’s a really cool thing to be able to travel. While New York and London are not crazy different in terms of the metropolitan cities, they still do culturally different things. Americans and Brits are very different in really cool ways.
Max: That’s such a cool thing that you don’t realize until you really travel. There are cultures that – on the surface – are like “Oh, they’re metropolitan,” or “Oh, they seem so westernized,” or “Oh, they’re just like us.” But, no, they’re actually completely different. Their mentalities about their country, or about government, or about everything are just so different.
Will: Well, something like London even moves so much slower in New York. I think it’s something to do with it being an old city, and everywhere in Europe kinda moves slower than New York especially.
Max: Right, they take lunches.
Will: Oh, during rehearsal processes at RADA, we’d just have tea everyday at 4:00 like clockwork. It was great. There’s subtle differences that really inform you about the world at large, which is definitely one of the important things that I feel like I got in my education at NYU – just being able to meet different people from different places who had completely different perspectives on what life was and about. Because I went to, like, a Catholic high school, like practically from preschool to high school.
Max: Oh, wow.
Will: That’s, like, a whole thing. That’s a different story. We’ll get that next week. But yeah, that’s like a very insular isolated experience – and I think I said that exact phrase on the last episode, but I stand by it! There’s a lot of maturation that happens at NYU for a lot of people, whether they’re from less isolated places or more isolated places. But, being in a community of people with different lived experiences is just an invaluable thing that you can’t replace.
Max: Right, and you realize how vastly varied America is. I’m from central Connecticut – I didn’t realize that I had so many marked traits of being northeastern, or of being like Connecticut. I thought I was just normal! And then you realize there’s no such thing as normal, because that’s a completely different thing from Southern Californian people, which is a completely different thing from Washington, Oregon people. My junior and senior year, I was the only one in my apartment who wasn’t from LA. I talked totally different after living there. I was like, “I’m a Cali-Connecticut kid now!” But like, it’s not even just different countries, which… that alone is huge.
Leona: I say “awesome” now, way more than when I got to New York, like “Oh my God, that’s so awesome!”
Will: I would love to delve a little bit deeper into both of your times at Strasberg. We’ll just hear a little more about… if you want to go into auditioning a little bit, we touched on that last week. If you want to bring that up, I think that’s always a valuable thing to have. The beginnings of your time here at Tisch, I think, really set the tone for where you go from there. So I’d love to hear you guys speak about that.
Max: Totally. Do you…?
Leona: Sure. Yeah, so I was…
Will: Do you want to talk about auditioning? Do you want to talk about auditioning?
Leona: Wait, auditioning in what context?
Will: Auditioning for Tisch. That’s what I meant.
Leona: For Tisch! Oh, I thought you meant, like…
Will: No, no, no, no.
Max: Like our audition story! Yeah, let’s do that!
Leona: So, my audition story was… my whole thing was when I was looking for drama schools, let me see… England has incredible drama schools. They were not overlooked, but I knew I wanted to go to NYU.
Will: Did you apply to any?
Leona: I applied early decision for NYU.
Will: Oh, so it was too late, but…
Leona: So, I found out I got in and I was just like, “Okay, like, I’m safe,” y’know? The process of drama auditions ended up quite long.
Will: Well, there’s several rounds of callbacks…
Leona: There are several rounds of callbacks. I was just like – I mean, if it was this evening, I would get all the callbacks.
Will: Who has the time?
Leona: No, so, I found out I got in and I knew that I wanted to go to NYU. I visited with my family and walked past the Tisch building. I was like, “I could go there!”. I went in and this kid’s comes like, “Where’s your NYU ID?”. I was like, “Oh… I’m 16 and I don’t have any ID. I just wanted to look around,” and then – do you know Tom Pettiford?
Will: Oh, yeah. I think he’s gone now.
Max: I‘ve never met him, but I’ve gotten many emails.
Leona: Yeah, yeah, exactly. So, really strange, he was walking down the stairs as I got into the NYU building. He asked, “Do you need any help with anything?” and I was like, “Yeah, I just wanted to look around.” He goes, “So weird! I’m doing a private talk with potential students in like 15 minutes. Do you want to come?” and I was like, “Oh my God, yes!”. It was one of those things that was written in the stars. I was like, “Oh my God, I’m gonna come here!”. Obviously the talk was amazing and I was like, “I’m gonna be in a star, I can’t wait!”. Of course there was some other stuff, but that’s another episode. But yeah, I still applied to audition.
Will: Did you audition in New York?
Leona: I auditioned in New York, yeah, and that’s where I met Leggy.
Will: Oh yeah!
Sam: Leggy!
Leona: Leggy and I were in the same audition group. We were in the same audition group, and we’re both blonde. We were like, “Okay, we kinda look a bit similar, but it’s okay.” And then, we were all going around the circle where people had to say where we’re from and we both had British accents. I was like, “Honestly, I hate you.” I love her now that we’ve been together for three years, she’s amazing, but we both agreed that the first five minutes of us knowing each other, we full-on hated each other. And we were like –
Max: “It’s not gonna work, it’s not gonna work.”
Leona: We were like, “They’re not gonna take two blonde Brits from the same group!” But then we added each other on Facebook, and… I don’t even know if this is in the right context.
Will: I liked it.
Leona: Okay, I’m gonna keep it. So, yeah, we had a really good mutual friend, so when I found out I got into NYU, I was like, “ooh poor Leggy… clearly she didn’t!”
So then I messaged her and I was like, “You got in as well? Which studio?” Well, we didn’t find out the studio then, but then we both got placed into Strasberg. We weren’t in the same “group,” but then it was just one of the things. We both came to NYU at the same time and we already knew each other because we had this weird British thing. That’s kinda how I make all my friends.
Will: It actually is!
Leona: Yeah, we ended up living together for three years. That’s not really an audition story for Tisch, it’s more like how I became friends with Leggy. But it’s how –
Will: It’s how you started out here.
Leona: Yeah, exactly.
Max: I think it’s so important – Oh, sorry, go ahead.
Sam: Oh, go ahead. I was just wondering how your experience coming from England and starting university in the US was.
Leona: I moved to NYU the day after my 18th birthday. I literally arrived, and my parents dropped me off, and I was like, “Okay, I’ll be fine!” Then they left and I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is big.” It was definitely difficult. I say London and stuff, but I didn’t actually live in London. I lived in Buckinghamshire, just outside of London. So I’d never lived in a city before, and that was more of the difficult experience than actually moving to a different country. I’d always gone to boarding school, so it wasn’t that I was homesick. I had kind of adjusted to living away from my home or my family. It was more the city thing, just dealing with going to sleep with fire engines. Yeah, it’s a lot of people but I think everyone can kind of attest that freshman year’s first few weeks are quite a lonely, weird few weeks.
Max: Right, the first few weeks are good because you can talk to anyone. You can talk to anyone.
Leona: But you can’t really be like, “I’m done, help me!”
Max: Right, right. But at least you can be like, “hi,” and no one’s gonna be rude or look at you weird. Seize that time from the beginning.
Leona: Exactly, and it’s true what they say. I mean, I just did my whole Leggy-confession story, but those people you meet on your first day really do shape the way NYU’s gonna route you. I’m still friends with –
Max: Yeah, some of them really actually do. Well, I think they do and they don’t, because there’s a joke about like, “First semester friends!” Or like, “First year friends!”
Simone: Welcome week friends…?
Max: Right, welcome week friends. And then when some of them last til your senior year, you’re like, “Huh. Not too bad, wow. We really love each other I guess.”
Simone: So, how was your audition experience for NYU?
Max: It was okay. I didn’t do ED because, as much as I loved NYU, I was just too curious. I kinda wanted to audition at a bunch of different places. I oddly enough kinda enjoyed my college audition process. I actually had a really good time. I thought, “Oh, this is fun. I just get to walk into different rooms and meet different people and do my thing.” I enjoyed it.
Simone: That’s a good actor mentality, to love auditioning.
Max: Right, and I wouldn’t say I “love auditioning,” but I really liked what I was doing. I really liked my material, and I was like, “Alright, cool. Let’s drive around and let’s do it!”
Will: Can I ask where else you applied/if anything else was a potential option?”
Max: Um, do you want my full list?
Will: Yeah, go for it.
Max: Well, I won’t give my full list, but I applied for 10 schools. I had 10 auditions, and I was fortunate enough to have choice, which was great. So when I found out – I had auditioned for MT initially, I had auditioned all MT, and then I got into 2 programs for acting. I got into NYU for acting and I got into another school for acting. I was like, “Huh. That’s interesting.” And I won’t lie, when I found out, I was really upset that I wasn’t placed into the MT studio here. I was devastated. I was fully devastated. I was in – it was so funny, at my high school, I was in this performing thing. We were actually in Germany, so the time zone is crazy. So I get an email at 2 in the morning that I was placed in Strasberg, and I was so upset. I wanna be honest! It turns around, friends, don’t worry. It really turns around. I remember calling my mom, and… so sad. So then, we came to NYU on accepted students day, and even that day was hard, because we went into the Tisch building and I didn’t know where Strasberg was and so we asked someone like, “Oh, excuse me, is this Strasberg?” They were like, “Oh, no, this is the musical theatre…” Like, we were literally in the halls, and then I got sad again, and – it was sad! So then we meandered out way up Broadway, through Union Square, and we came up to the Strasberg building and I’ll never forget it. Lorca had a class that was on lunch break, and so we got to pop into – which one is right there?
Sam: The Marilyn Monroe?
Max: Yeah, so we popped in just to see the space, and they were on a lunch break, and Lorca was right there, and I don’t remember… someone from the front maybe? But they were like, “Oh, he’s accepted to Strasberg, he just wants to know more!” And I was able to talk to current second years about their time. And Lorca was there as well, and we had a really great conversation! And it was really meeting… I thought, all the kids were so cool. They seemed really… the way they were speaking about acting, and the way that they work, and the way that – I was like, “Hm, okay, this seems really cool. I’m very much aligning with how they work and what this vibe is here.” And so then that day, it was after meeting the students, the same day I was like “Okay, yeah, let’s do this!” I remember we were at the bookstore, and we were like, “We got the shirt!”
Later, whenever I was at NYU, whenever I would see anyone who is a potential student, be it in the Strasberg building, in the Tisch building, I would always go up to them and say, “Hey, I know this is kind of out of the blue, but I’m a current senior. Do you have any questions? I know it’s kind of confusing with all the studios, what can I tell you?” For me, it was really getting to talk to the students. That sealed the deal for me. And then, once I got here, in no time I was so grateful for it and now I’m still so grateful for it. I think I really needed this training. I really needed to kind of be, like, broken down. I had a lot of bad habits that needed to go away, I needed – I just had a lot of stuff that needed to be pushed away to get to a neutral, so to speak. So I feel like my freshman year was kind of that, was breaking all the bad habits, finding what this honest place is where you can just react to the stimuli that’s coming to you, and you can just live in that way. Then sophomore year was more working on the technique that was applied freshman year, and it’s rough. I haven’t talked to one person who was like, “Sophomore year is the best!”
Simone: I was about to say that, I feel like that’s the most common experience here at Strasberg is that the second year is so hard. That’s why so many people, I feel like, left after sophomore year. Maybe people who were considering staying, but then… y’know, there’s some people that came in that had a plan and knew that they were planning on leaving, but I knew a lot of people who were like, “I can’t handle it anymore,” and left after sophomore year.
Will: ‘Cause I feel like for me, after doing two years here, I went to RADA and I needed that semester away.
Max: You need time away, and you realize in your time away that this training takes time. You notice a difference after a couple months or after your freshman year, and you’re like “Wow, I see so much growth!” But I don’t believe, really, that it gets into your bones until you’re done. Or until two years have passed and you take some time away. I remember thinking that some things felt so tedious – even like, how to approach a script, how to analyze a script, how to analyze a scene, how to do your character work. I was like, “Why does this feel so tedious, and why does it simultaneously feel so easy? I know what to do, but I still have to look at my notes on how to do it?” And it’s still this, like, very untangible… intangible… untangible?
Will: Intangible.
Max: Intangible. This very intangible thing that you can’t quite grasp. But then when I came back to NYU Tisch, what, junior spring, and I’m in the musical theatre studio, I’m like, “Okay, yeah give me a script. Okay, then what am I looking for? Oh, I’m looking for that, oh okay, that tells me a lot about my character.” Then into senior year, it was only deeper. I knew exactly all those things, but it was like, “When is this gonna become secondhand?” And it became so secondhand. How to breathe and how to warm up and how to have a way of working – all those things didn’t really cement themselves, or begin to cement themselves, until the end of junior or senior year.
Will: Well, I think there’s also something about the age at which you start training. You start when you’re 18-19 years old – you’re still so young in your own sense of self. There’s something about aging into yourself and settling in your bones a little bit more that allows the technique to become that much deeper.
Max: Ooh, that’s a good point! I haven’t thought about that.
Simone: I think one of the things that I discovered about myself so deeply here at Strasberg is… so much about the sensory work is what your memory can recall the fastest. We’ve been talking about the touchy points, or the things that you can find a little bit easier. I learned so much about how I remember things because of what comes faster when we’re doing exercises and what impacts me. The training really helped me solidify how I think and how I work. I think that this method – it’s like you’re saying, you barely know anything about yourself when you’re 18 because you’re newly on your own.
Will: And asking yourself to start from a place of self is a very vulnerable thing to do when you’re in your late teens.
Max: Well, right, right! That’s what the training does. I remember it wasn’t until March of my freshman year in one of my Method classes, we had this moment… I always had difficulty speaking out when something wasn’t working. I always had a lot of trouble being like, “This isn’t working.” And there were a lot of times when it wasn’t working. There was this one day, I’m pretty sure it was in March, where it wasn’t working and in my head I was like, “Max, just say out loud that it isn’t working. Just say every thought in your head.” And I couldn’t do it! After sensory, we sit in a circle and we talk about it. It was on me and I was like, I kinda took that moment, I was like, “Well, I wanted to say that this wasn’t working and I don’t think I have any talent and I think I suck and why am I here but I don’t want to say that because then everyone else is going to think I’m not talented.”
As I said that, it was the most cathartic, big release ever, and it happened outside of – it wasn’t even through doing scene work, it was through articulating fear and articulating insecurity, but it took so much to even say that. Once I said that out loud, once I said “I’m scared that I’m no good at this,” then we got to a place where like, “Okay, good. Now we can actually start working.” I just wanted to say this too, I had a teacher at NSB who always said, “Nothing is good or bad. It’s just, is it useful or is it not useful?” I love that, because there’s such a connotation about, “Oh yeah, that’s good,” or, “That’s a really good emotional thing!” No! That paints it in a way that’s… it shouldn’t be about that! It’s like, “Is it useful for the work you’re doing or is it not useful for the work you’re doing?”
Will: I think going off of that, one of the most useful things that I’ve learned here – that I think I’ve only started to appreciate after graduation – is relaxation. Because it’s so much more vital to be in touch with how you are in the present moment than to use – I mean, of course you should use sensory if it works for you but it’s more important, I think, to be in touch with what’s actually going on inside you and to start in a place that’s actually real than to re-experience something else and try to bring in something in that, maybe, is a struggle to bring into the moment.
Max: Totally! I would tell people that. I remember talking to my aunt my freshman year, I was like, “I feel like I’m getting a BFA in mindfulness.”
Leona: It’s tough, but the other thing as well is that it’s really hard to be that relaxed. That was the biggest thing for me in Strasberg. Once you get it, then it starts becoming something that you can get a little bit easier, much like how you were saying. But first year even into second year, getting relaxed for me in particular was difficult.
Will: I don’t think I learned how to properly relax until third year.
Leona: Yeah, exactly, and it was –
Max: My legs never fully relaxed! I’m still fully convinced they’ll pick it up and I’ll go, “What’s this?”
Leona: No, literally! There was someone, I don’t remember who it was, but it was someone who said to me, maybe a senior when I was a sophomore or something, who was like, “Oh yeah, I still didn’t get it, but I’m getting there.” I was just like, “That’s okay.” If you were like an incoming student coming into Strasberg, the whole thing is just overwhelming and everyone is so talented and you’re like, “Oh my goodness, they all seems to be getting it, I’m not getting it.” And it’s also like, everyone has a different sort of path to it.
Will: Part of training, I think, is that you only pick up so much while you’re doing it and then you learn more later. One thing that I think about the Method specifically as a technique is you can get very lazy with it. With sensory, you can get just enough to be like, “Oh, I’m kind of doing it.” I took Lola’s class for the first time last fall, because I never had her first year, and she was very particular about me going back to the very beginning of doing coffee cup and lemon and smell and place, and doing one exercise at a time for like, two hours – doing it as fully realized as you can. When you’re on stage, you do get just as much as is gonna come to you at that moment because you’re under the time constraints of a show. To be more specific, you’re training and retraining the muscle of your imaginative mind in the sense of thinking in images so that it’s there more easily.
Max: So that it’s there.
Will: So that it’s there more easily – usually.
Max: What’s so big is you need to know the rules before you can break the rules. So having a really solid technique in one method and one facet of training I found so helpful because then, once you have that kinda under your belt, you don’t necessarily always need to reach for it. I remember my freshman year, I was in a romantic scene and I was just looking at my partner. In that moment, she was enough and I didn’t need to do a sensory about another person. Or maybe I tried to and it wasn’t working, and Ted just said, “Just look at her! Sometimes your scene partner is enough. Sometimes the person who’s right there in front of you – it’s real stimuli, it’s enough!”
The head of the musical theatre studio would say, “Technique is what you go to when imagination and inspiration fail you.” I think that’s really great too, because how amazing to have this wonderful technique – that totally informs how you work – that you can always go to, and you don’t necessarily need to always start with it. Sometimes, if you’re in the moment, what’s right there is enough. But when it’s not enough, then you can then call upon those things.
Will: One thing that Robert Ellerman used to say, or says to me now, is that training in a technique is for the purpose of unlocking something within you and understanding more about your own instrument. When you don’t have to try as hard, if you’re not “doing the technique” as you were taught, that’s not necessarily a bad thing because it means it’s living inside you – instead of you trying to actively reach for something that’s not there. If that makes sense?
Simone: I’m interested, now that we’ve kinda talked about how we felt about the learning of the primary, how that carried into your training when you left this building and –
Will: And also how you use the technique now, and in what ways –
Simone: Right. Because, I think we’ve talked about it. The primary is such a foundation, and how that foundation… how you’ve built upon that in your… just for a couple minutes here.
Leona: I’m just gonna say, I’ll second what Max said about it kind of just becoming – what was the sort of word you used?
Max: Second nature?
Leona: Yeah, a second-nature sort of thing when you’re eventually doing other work or other auditions, because you literally spend 3 days a week at least, if you’re not in a show, from nine to six doing The Method.
Max: Yeah, I always tell people – I’m like, “Four hours, twice a week, in a metal chair.” And they’re like, “Whoa,” and I’m like, “I know,” and it’s amazing.
Leona: And it’s amazing! Because you might not think in the moment that anything is happening, which happened in my personal experience. At least once in the four hours you’re like –
Will: Nothing’s happening, yeah.
Max: Right. I love that they say, “Say it! Say ‘God, I hate this! Nothing’s working!’. Speak it out!”. I’d hate it, I’d be like “I hate this, nothing’s working!”
Leona: Right, exactly. So it’s like, that sort of stuff – it just becomes second nature. When you go into other classes and other auditions in other NYU Tisch schools, or externally auditioning, or self-tapes, anything like that – like you said, you get a script, you make your sensory choices, you think about it…
Max: You kinda know what to do.
Leona: And you kinda know what to do! That’s definitely been the coolest thing about it. It’s just to have something to rely on if everything else doesn’t work. Because honestly, this is to Stonestreet’s credit – what they make you realize is how you’re going to be on a set: there are people relying on you to make sure you know your lines, you know your thing, and you’re gonna be able to act; you have this set amount of time; this is how long we’ve rented this location for; it’s costing this amount of money. They’re very good at letting you know the pressure and the stakes that are at. I’ve gone on…
Will: Well, and what it takes in that to be an actual professional. Because it’s one thing to be an actor and it’s a very different thing to be a professional actor.
Leona: Exactly.
Max: Totally.
Leona: I guess I would say the same thing for theatre, because in theatre you have the pressure of being able to be on every single night, consistently for months.
Will: And regardless of what media you’re acting in, no one wants to be the asshole in the room who can’t do their job. It’s not a good look.
Max: Yeah, no, it’s so important. I’m so happy you said that, because to anyone who’s training – or who’s in college or high school auditioning – it is such a real thing that, yes, it gets to a point almost where… talent will always matter, but it gets to a point where everyone is talented.
Will: And a certain level of talent is expected.
Max: Yeah, like, you’d better be talented if you’re doing it for your career. I sure hope so.
Leona: A professor said to me, “Talent doesn’t make you unique.” I was like, “Oh my God! That’s such a good way to put it!” Like, everyone’s freaking special.
Max: Yeah, I mean, you’d better be able to know how to be in a room with people and know how to be respectful, because I’ve been in some rooms where it’s just like, “Oh my God, is that person actually saying that, or doing that?” And it matters, and sometimes they’re fired! Or if they’re not fired, then there’s kind of this air of, “Oh, we don’t want to work with this person again.” Like, it’s real.
Leona: Yeah, another professor said your percentage points make what’s in your control and what isn’t. It’s like, how you can be prepared is like 50-60% of it. But then the other 40% is showing up on time, being a nice person, treating everyone with respect. And then there’s the other 10% of if your eyes and hair are the same color as your romantic interest, you don’t wanna look like siblings. You know what I mean? There’s some things that you just can’t control as well in that, and that’s really important to remember.
Max: But what is in control –
Leona: What is in control –
Will: Make it in control!
Leona: And that’s what NYU is great with.
Will: Well, especially at Strasberg. Because one thing we always talk about is how self-motivated the entire curriculum is, and people often don’t understand that it’s done super on-purpose. No one in the real world is gonna push you to find a job, find an audition, find something, find a new scene. No one’s gonna push you to do anything because no one cares, so you have to learn how to be your own self motivator.
Max: Right, and no one’s gonna push you to be like, “Oh, are you doing your script work?” Like, no, it’s either going to be good or it’s going to be bad.
Leona: You start each scene with like, “What are you working on? What choices have you made?” and then you can see the people who are like, “Um, so I’m kinda been thinking about, like, maybe doing…”
Max: It’s like, no! Do it!
Simone: And I think that’s one of the things about second year that people are like, “Oh, second year was so hard,” and, “Oh, I only did 2 scenes all semester!” And I’m like, “Who’s fault is that?”
Max: Right, sophomore year, the responsibility is all on you, yeah.
Simone: Because freshman year, it’s very structured, and like –
Will: Scenes are assigned for the most part, but they will push you to be like, “What are you working on next?”
Simone: They’re suggested, y’know. Sophomore year was very structured, but you bring your stuff in.
Will: Especially in Geoffrey’s class. Like, you’re not going to have Geoffrey Horne assign you a scene.
Simone: Right, you can ask him for advice, he can bring his plays to you, but…
Will: You’ll do The Flick, I’ll do The Whale.
Simone: But yeah, I think it’s very self motivated. And I think that’s right, it is because no one is gonna do it for you in the real world. So I think Strasberg really does a great job in preparing you for- if you wanna work, you have to make work for yourself.
Max: What I also love so much about Strasberg and what I think informed the most is: One, it teaches you a way to work that really worked for me. From all the finding your character classes or script analysis classes, now I kinda always know that, for me personally, if I’m approaching a character, something that’s real is always going to be the most helpful for me. Something that’s based in actual truth is always gonna be the most helpful, and that’s something that we learned here. So for instance, when I did West Side Story – there’s a book that was written by a real psychologist who did field studies on delinquent youths in New York in the 50’s and 60’s. That was the first thing that I went to because it gives you something that’s concrete, which is so helpful.
Then also, what you were saying about Geoffrey is just that… a lot of the teachers here, they’re always kind of repeating the same thing. But now I can’t get those things out of my head, and I’m so grateful for it all the time! Like, I always hear Lola saying, “Relax your face,” in my head. I always hear –
Sam: I can hear it in her voice too!
Max: Yeah, I always hear Lorca saying, “Why are you looking at the ground? Look up!” I hear Geoffery saying, “You can only go as far out as you can go in.” I hear that all the time! “Pain before anger!” I hear these soundbytes in my head!
Simone: The other one that I always hear when I’m onstage, and I’m sitting up there being like, “Oh my God, is this work good enough?” I can always hear Geoffrey in one ear whispering, “You are enough,” and in the other ear Geoffrey whispering, “just talk.” Just talk! And I can hear him saying this to me when I’m up there, like, “Is this working? Am I doing something actor-y?” I can just hear them being, “You are enough.” “Just talk.”
Will: My favorite Geoffrey quote was always, “If you think you’re boring, go slower.” Because if you’re not taking your time, you’re not breathing, you lose so much of the work. Because it’s so easy to speed through something.
Max: It’s so important too, about the “be yourself” and the “just talk.” I’ve been in The Chorus Line and, specifically, that whole show is just you talking and nothing can feel kind of put-on. It has to feel really natural. They would always say, “It’s too put-on! It’s too forced!” … Just talk! And then you have to do all your character work.
Leona: And you have to feel like it’s nothing!
Max: [singing] I’m feeling nothing!
Max: It’s like, you have to… all the work has to be there, so that it’s just in your body. And then once it’s there and you know why your character says everything he says – which is so important because you realize, before you do that work, that you realize you breeze right past it. When you actually stop and are like, “Oh, I’m saying this because of my relationship with that character, and my past with that character, and blah, blah, blah,” – only then can you actually just talk. God, I love that stuff.
Leona: I wanna say my Geoffrey quote!
Will: Say your Geoffrey quote!
Leona: You might’ve already said this on the show.
Will: Say it again, it’s worth saying!
Leona: “Don’t go bigger, go deeper.” That’s my one that he says that I like. He’d give that note a lot.
Will: Because he’d always be so angry when directors would say, “go bigger, faster, louder.”
Leona: He’d get that note a lot and it’s, like, you can’t be. ‘Cause if you’d be bigger, you’re just gonna be annoying or louder, but go deeper!
Max: Right, yeah, the pain. Yeah, I love that. We can only go as far out as we can go in.
Simone: And we kinda talked about this earlier, about what you can control, and things like that. We talked about how 10% of is they like you, they like that person standing in front of you. So I think that note of, “Just talk,” is so important, because they hired you because you’re you. I think that’s something especially that they push at Stonestreet, is that all of you are talented, all of you can memorize lines, all of you can analyze a scene. But they’re hiring you because, in their vision of the show, you look like the character to them.
Leona: And you bring value to what they envision.
Simone: Right, and when they think about the show they want to put on, you’re what they were kind of envisioning. That’s why I think the note of just talk is so important, because we forget that half the reason why we’re able to do what we do is because we are the human that we are.
Will: Well, and how weird is it where you’re slate and you’re a normal human being, or you’re talking with whoever’s behind the table beforehand, and then you do this weird thing where you switch on and now I’m acting. That’s such an annoying quality to have. I think it was Sally Field, when she was here, talking about when you audition you need to go in as the character you’re auditioning for. You have to let the casting director believe that this is just who you are, that it can’t come from some sort of false place.
Max: Right, it can’t switch. Also, that’s such a good note in reverse to facing rejection. If you don’t get it, in most instances it’s like, “you’re not right for this director, producer, ecetera’s vision for their version of this project at this time.” And hell, I mean, sometimes it’s, “You’re not the same size as the replacement, and they want to-” You know what I mean? It’s a million different things.
Simone: Right, and we talked about it! Maybe they already committed – like the producer’s friend is playing the romantic lead, so you look like their brother or you’re 5 feet taller than the lead male.
Will: It’s a thousand different things.
Max: If you’re fully you as yourself, and fully you being the character, then I think it makes rejection easier.
Leona: Yeah. I was also gonna say… I went to an audition, like, last week and everyone who got called back sat in a circle. We had to go around, say our names, our pronouns, and the name of our first stuffed animal toy. We went round in a circle, we did that. And then we went out of the room, and then I saw people got called back. And I was like, “What did I do wrong? Not name my first pet toy a more interesting name?” I literally said, “I had a tiger called Tiger.” And that was like… it? Clearly, there were other things at stake and you just have to be able, when they say no, to know that it’s really not you. It’s nothing personal.
Max: Right, because most of the time it’s not. That’s also something that’s probably important to say – you’re a full time auditioner. You’re a professional auditioner. And as soon as I leave a room, I”m like, “Alright, fierce. On to the next.”
Will: Right, it’s over. Because if you stay there for too long, you’ll drive yourself absolutely insane.
Max: Yeah, you have to do the work and get excited. I always, y’know, envision getting the job before I go in.
Simone: Manifest.
Max: Of course. And you always get your hopes up, or whatever. But as soon as I walk out, I’m like, “It’s over. What’s the next audition? What’s the next thing to focus on?” Because you’ll drive yourself crazy if you fixate on every audition.
Sam: Tim Crouse would always tell me to physically throw it away. If I had sides, to immediately throw them in the trash. It was the best advice ever, because it’s not yours so you shouldn’t claim it, y’know what I mean?
Max: I bought a play for a play that I went in for last week, and I didn’t get it. And it’s just so funny that you say that, cause I saw it on my floor this morning, and –
Sam: Did you want to throw it away?
Max: I kinda wanted to throw it away! And I thought, “I’m not gonna throw it away because it’s a really good play, and I hope to work on this play someday,” but now I’m like, “Maybe I can put it at the bottom of my bookshelf, I don’t need to look at it right now.”
Sam: Put it away!
Max: Yeah, you put it away. If you can’t throw it away, put it away!
Leona: I’ve just been Marie Kondo-ing my apartment. So I’m going through all my plays and stuff, and I’m just like, “Does it bring me joy? No.” and I chuck it away.
Will: You get rid of books a lot.
Leona: I do, but I sell them!
Max: Donate them – oh okay, sell them.
Leona: I sell or donate them.
Max: [whispers] Don’t throw away books!
Will: No, books are great. Books are friends.
Leona: All of them are in this library right now.
Will: You gave me a few books.
Leona: I gave you a few books.
Will: They were all British-adjacent.
Leona: Yeah, well, it’s just because books… I love books, I really love books. I’m not gonna start.
Sam: It’s okay if you don’t!
Leona: No! I love plays and stuff, but they just… most of the time, if they’re not getting used enough, they’re heavy and you’re moving apartments. Books can be a little…
Max: I know it’s hard. I have a mini – not mini, it’s actually kind of growing – coffee art table book collection, which I love. I love, love, love… but I mean, those are hard to lug when you’re moving apartments. I’m like, “Jesus Christ!”
Simone: What have I done?
Max: God, do I need this Kate Moss thing that’s, like, the size of a computer? Like… like an old computer!
Leona: Just in case anyone listens to this, I don’t throw away all… I keep the ones that I love, and that matter to me.
Will: Well, now that we’ve learned about Leona’s book habits, I think it’s time for us to take a break. We’ll be back for the Long Loud Sound.
[MUSICAL INTERLUDE, ADVERTISEMENT STARTS]
“The Strasberg Film Festival is around the corner. Submissions are due March 1st and the festival takes place on March 22nd. Our annual film festival showcases the creativity and ingenuity of our students. Best of luck to everyone who submits!”
[MUSICAL INTERLUDE]
Will: So, Sam Vita.
Sam: What up?
Will: We’re here with our favorite segment: The Long Loud Sound.
Sam: Ahhh! …We’ll give a short preview!
Will: We’re gonna start with Max this week.
Max: My long, loud sound is that I have to go to work right after this. It’s because I just got off an acting job that was incredible. A Chorus Line is my dream show and doing that was so fulfilling and happy and wow! I just want to do this every day for the rest of my life! So then when it ends, and you have to go back to your day job before the next acting job, it’s rough. I’m like, just back. I just want to look in the mirror and do step-kick-kick leap-kick-touch everyday! I just wanna do A Chorus Line every day, I wanna go to a real – not a real job, a fake job. So that’s that.
Sam: There you go. I just thought of mine right now, as I’m experiencing this pain. I just took a spin class for the first time in a while yesterday. Got a Groupon, really good deal. But the area in which your body hits the seat when you’re doing the up-downs, it really hurts! So that’s where my long, loud sound is going to.
Leona: My long, loud sound is my dryer just started smoking.
Will: What, Menthols?
Leona: Yeah, can you believe that? It’s so weird. [laughs] It started smoking, so we can’t use it. My poor roommate has all her wet clothing in the washing machine. She was a bit worried that it was gonna…
Will: …light on fire?
Leona: Yeah. Could you let the listeners know next week if…?
Will: Yeah, I’ll add that as a little ending.
Leona: “By the way, Leona’s dryer -”
Will: It’s like a Real Housewives finale where we tell them what you’ve been up to.
Max: Oh my god, I’m dead! With like a still photo and it’s like, “Her dryer was fine.”
[laughter]
Leona: Yeah, no, that’s what my long, loud sound is to.
Max: Did I just make a Housewives tagline? “I always get the last bow, and the last word!”
[laughter]
Will: Let’s go, Simone. What’s your long, loud sound?
Simone: My long, loud sound is just to how expensive groceries are and how much it costs to feed yourself – especially if you want to be healthy and buy healthy foods. Just how expensive produce and stuff is… that’s my long, loud sound.
Leona: I’m gonna add to that. Do you know how oatmilk is the new thing? It’s so rare to find, and I went on Amazon and guess how much they tried to charge for oat milk?
Will: How much?
Leona: 25 dollars.
Max: Woaaah.
Will: A bottle??
Leona: On Amazon! Because it was in so much demand. Isn’t that hilarious?
Simone: So yeah, Whole Foods: expensive. And that’s my long, loud sound.
Will: My long, loud sound is for a notification on my phone that I got from CNN which says, “A recent poll says that 1 in 3 Americans are okay with blackface, sometimes.”
Max: …Oh…
Will: I don’t really have a lot to say about that besides, if you think that, you’re an idiot. You’re a real idiot.
Simone: What?
Will: Yeah, I’ll show you the poll later. We’ll link it in the show notes.
Simone: Yeah, I’m changing my long, loud sound to that.
Sam: Yeah, everybody’s is that. We’re all doing that.
Max: And all these garments of clothing that are coming out that resemble it…. It’s psycho.
Leona: It’s like, how did that get out? How did that get out?
Max: It got out because there aren’t any African American or black people on these creative teams to say that that’s totally messed up! It needs to be a huge change in…
Simone: All industries. In all industries!
Sam: Screw my pain!
Will: Well, we gotta do one, we just gotta do one! Ready?
[long, loud sound]
Will: Thank you everyone, we’ll be back next week!
Leona: Thanks for having us!
Will: Thank you guys!