The Moment Before: An Actor's Warm-up Podcast

Work with larger-than-life Clown exercises to find connection to your emotional life in performance.  Inspired by exercises created by Christopher Bayes and Michelle Matlock.

Feel more relaxed, open and vocally ready for rehearsal or performance through exercises that create release in the neck and jaw.  

This episode will help those exploring heightened text to activate their bodies using Psychological Gesture from Michael Chekhov. Text used will be the English translation of Mexican 17th century playwright, Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz.

Ignite your sense of play and creativity by using your imagination to transform nearby objects.  

A dynamic exploration of Laban's Eight Effort Actions, employing principles that integrate weight and time into invigorating activities.  This episode will awaken senses, stretch imagination and leave listeners feeling rejuvenated, offering an innovative way to activate the body by embracing the power of movement.  

Explore the emotional and boundary preparations required for intimacy choreography.  Actors are led to protect their mental well-being while authentically portraying characters engaged in intense and intimate scenes, and guided to mark their boundaries through imaginary exploration.  

Whether you're looking to get creative with a current character, or take a creative break by becoming an imaginative super-hero, this episode is for you.  

Follow a guided, imaginative journey through 3 possible points in your character's life, and find ways to let go of your character in a healthy manner.  

Discover skills to tell the story of a large emotional life through full-bodied gestures and breath.  Based on Michael Chekhov's Psychological Gestures.  

Explore movement, empathy and intentions by connecting to your ancestral roots. This practice stems from enslaved African ancestors; it places strong emphasis on artists bringing their cultural backgrounds to the work, showing up with intention and advocating for a full range of one’s humanity. 

Head to an imaginary "big top" tent to explore different elements of dynamic characterization through a guided embodiment exercise.  

Drag performance is an artform that requires preparation of both body and mind. This episode will release tension and increase energetic engagement and dynamic expression for those transforming into their new, fabulous selves! 

Take time with the senses to release a character after rehearsal or performance. This episode will use sights, sounds and textures from the imagination and the real space around you to release the world of the character and return to your own.  

Journey within through a guided meditation practice to awaken imagination, senses, and self. This warmup is inspired by the practice of Ritual Poetic Drama.

This guided visualization is a magical way to warm up your body and mind for classroom or performance.  Listeners will be led first on a journey through their own senses, then a journey through a spell-binding world. This exercise encourages playfulness, creativity and commitment to imagery as a tool to enliven one's performance.

Through breath work, body scanning and guided imagery, this episode will help you release your character post-performance. 

This podcast is meant for you to explore, motivate, and challenge your imagination! As actors, one of our biggest assets is creating places, circumstances, objects, that do not exist with us in the moment. Specifically in improvisation, there is a lot of object work, and this exercise is going to explore how you can mime objects, food, and space that is familiar to you. Let’s get started. 

In our day-to-day lives, we probably don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the texture of words, or the resonance of the sounds we make. In our acting work, however, these are important tools for transformation into characters from every walk of life. Play this episode whenever you’re looking for a low pressure exercise geared to invigorate your vocal and physical choices. This is great as a wa...

By exploring mask work, you can revisit "old" text with a new eye.  Using mask images to ignite and inspire fresh ideas to add layers and complexity to your monologue.  Learn to play and trust your instincts with this new exercise.  

Prepare yourself for performance or rehearsal by challenging your perfectionist brain and promoting self-care and kindness. 

A practical means for an artist or performer to transition out of a character role, especially an emotionally taxing one. 

This simple but effective warmup will cover all the basics for performing classical text effectively. This warmup will help you unlock your resonance centers and engage your full body for a powerful performance. 

The exercises in this podcast span a wide enough range for all voice types. 

Cold read auditions will leave you expected to make bold choices on a moment's notice.  Use this podcast to gain tools to find an entry point into new material.