Practice, goes the old joke.  Whatever humor you find in that dies pretty quickly as you’re struggling to think of your next line.  Or worse, when you’re leaving the office/set berating yourself because you didn’t put in more prep time.  So, I have a suggested solution.  It can’t prevent the self-recrimination (for that, maybe skip Catholic school in your next life?), but it probably will be of help with the practice.

It’s called Rehearsal.  No, I’m not being a smart ass.  Yes, rehearsing will of course help, but finding friends to help you rehearse for an audition/job you have, which is, simultaneously, an audition/job that they wish they had, isn’t always easy.

Enter Rehearsal 2, the app, available in iTunes for iPhone and iPad.  It makes memorizing your lines so much easier.  Among its features:  you can audio record and play back the whole scene, so that you’re receiving your cues audibly, not just reading them off the page.  You can make audio and video notes, highlight your lines, and even submit voice-over auditions.  Basically, it’s a stress-reducer, and who among us doesn’t need that?

It was developed by actor David H. Lawrence XVII, who built it for someone just like himself.  And he’s great about adding new features and keeping it updated.  I’ve recommended it to several friends, all of whom now swear by it.  To me, it’s been worth every penny.

[This is another in a continuing series of potentially helpful, hopefully practical posts to actors on practicing their craft or surviving the trying.  I bear no responsibility for how this or any of my posts might ruin your life, lead you to law school, or make your parents sick with worry.  For more of the same, click the ‘Info to Actors’ category at left.]