Creative Actors Lab

Send us Fan Mail Max and Kelley talk about their experiences with ghosts in a Miami theater, Underground Atlanta, and seeing holiday lights at a park in Tallahassee, where we actually got photo evidence two years in a row of a ghost with a tri-corner hat and his friends. What we learned from those experiences is that respecting the spirits is crucial, and when you do, they will often leave you alo...

Send us Fan Mail Join Kelley and Max as we explore a few well-known and not-so-well-known acting superstitions.  We explore what they are and offer logical explanations for why they came to be and include: Whistling backstage  Ghost lights No blue costumes on stage No mirrors on stage Bad dress rehearsals No peacock feathers  We also discuss the origin of wishing someone luck by telling them to &q...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Max and Kelley welcome their special guest, Amber Grimm, a fellow writer and one of the sweetest people on the planet. We discuss her children's book, Polly the Polite Possum, and the importance of manners in a world that seems to value rudeness. We explore how being kind helps you feel better and that sometimes rude people might have issues we're unawar...

Send us Fan Mail Max and Kelley discuss the importance of taking care of yourself mentally, whether you're an actor or a creative dealing with rejection (creatives do get a lot of rejection) or someone in the business sphere. We talk about our experiences dealing with people and places that were less than kind and how important it is to reach out if you are feeling down or depressed. We also...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Max and Kelley explore the world of auditions, the ups and downs, and how it's changed from being in person to doing demo reels. We also look at some of the not-great experiences we've both had. We talk about our own mistakes auditioning and how to beware of scams, i.e., if someone wants you to audition at their home or apartment, don't put yourself...

Send us Fan Mail This week, Max and Kelley discuss three books that have helped shape their lives as creatives and actors.  The first is An Acrobat of the Heart by Stephan Wangh, a physical approach to acting.  This is a link to Stephan Wangh's website , which includes more on his most recent projects. The second is Games for Actors and Non-Actors by Augusto Boal, which includes more games ab...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Kelley and Max discuss one of the most famous true crimes that took place in a  theater: the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. We discuss the infamous John Wilkes Booth and his world renowned brother Edwin who were both actors. In fact, the brothers actually did a benefit performance of Julius Caesar to put a statue of Shakespeare in Central Park which is still th...

Send us Fan Mail In this week's episode, Kelley and Max  look at more tools in the creativity toolbox including the use of  Lateral thinking which is a manner of solving problems  using an indirect and creative approach  via reasoning  that is not immediately obvious. It involves ideas that may not be obtainable using only traditional step-by-step logic.  The term was first used in 1967 by Ma...

Send us Fan Mail In this week's episode, Max and Kelley look at different techniques of using creativity for problem solving from using randomization like bibliomancy (opening a random text and pointing to a word or sentence for inspiration) to techniques use by Carl Jung and Salvadore Dali for dream interpretation.  Max explains the difference between intuition and intellect and that in prob...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Max and Kelley look at Commedia dell'arte stock characters and how an Italian improvisational art form from the 1600s still influences what we watch today, from sitcoms like The Office, Friends, and Brooklyn 99 to cartoons like Sponge Bob Squarepants to shows like Succession.  We also look at how Commedia was the first theatrical art that allowed women to per...

Send us Fan Mail Join Max and Kelley as we discuss the Improv and Teambuilding Game - Yes And... It's a technique that keeps you in the affirmative and is something we've used in both acting as well as in our business training. It's so easy to go negative, which takes less energy on the front end but robs you of energy on the back end.  Yes And... teaches you how to build on other p...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Max and Kelley talk about doing a play and script writer's festival and how they actually met at the Florida International University Playwright's Festival doing a play ironically called Whoredogs.  As the Fates would have it, they kept on meeting randomly in other productions, including a children's theater version of A Midsummer's Night Dream...

Send us Fan Mail Kelley and Max discuss the famous quote from Polonius in Hamlet,  "Brevity is the Soul of Wit," and how it can translate to your creative projects (check out NoSweatShakespeare - Making Shakespeare Easy & Fun✔️ to find cool ways to learn about the Bard). So often, procrastination is not about being lazy; it's because you have so many ideas you don't know wh...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Max and Kelley explore the best way to show what you mean rather than telling. In acting or business, it's a vital skill to have. For example, if someone acts up at a wedding, rather than mention it as a line of dialogue, do the scene where the mother-in-law has a meltdown - that's much more interesting.  Max also uses examples from the acting guru. Jerz...

Send us Fan Mail Join Max and Kelley as we discuss how similar the process is for casting a play or movie to trying to find the right "actor" or employee to fill the role in your company. We also look at how important acting is when dealing with the public and keeping that drama mask in place.  Of course, we discuss the Writer's, SAG-AFTRA and possible Teamster's strike and how...

Send us Fan Mail Max and Kelley talk about knowing when you're wrong.  Being able to admit that you might not see all the aspects of a situation is the key to emotional intelligence and makes you a better artist and leader.  Many times, we've been delighted to be wrong.    We also examine the difference between a sincere apology and a non-apology that pivots to the fault of the people wh...

Send us Fan Mail Max and Kelley discuss how working in restaurants and the theater have overlapping premises. You have the front of the house, which functions as the actors in a restaurant; the back of the house, which is similar to the backstage, and the chefs and managers are the producers and directors. It might explain why so many actors work as servers.  We also discuss how the structure of t...

Send us Fan Mail Max and Kelley look at why using failure as a learning tool is important. So, yeah, failure is an option. We use examples of our own life from a pilot they tried to produce in 2016, which later became a blog, a novel, and now back into an award-winning screenplay.  Max talks about the time he tripped and face-planted in front of a theater audience that was waiting to go in and see...

Send us Fan Mail Join Max and Kelley as they talk about how to make interesting choices when creating a character or scene. It's important to know why the character does what they do, but more importantly, what are the choices that a performer can make to their character real and interesting.  Kelley shares a time when a group of children in the audience taught her improv players how to work...

Send us Fan Mail Join Max and Kelley as they explore what makes an intriguing hero. It's more than being brave in the face of danger; it's having the complexity to overcome obstacles, both physical and mental.  They explore Batman, Sherlock Holmes, Scarlet Witch,  Clarice Starling from The Silence of the Lambs ,  Mulder, and Scully from The X-Files , and  Mookie from Do the Right Thing ,...

Send us Fan Mail Join Max and Kelley as they discuss the psychology of villains and why it's so much fun to play them. Max discusses some of his favorites, including Scar from The Lion King , villains from DC Comics, Syndrome from The Incredibles, and Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs .  Kelley talks about her favorite villains, including Annie Wilkes from Misery, Norman Bates fro...

Send us Fan Mail In this podcast, Kelley and Max talk about taming insecurities, whether it's about a stutter which Max had as a kid, presenting to a group of people, and how to develop a love and understanding of Shakespeare. They even do a key scene from The Taming of the Screw. For actors or anyone, trying your hand at Shakespeare is key to helping you tackle other ways to stand up in fron...

Send us Fan Mail Max and Kelley discuss some of the pitfalls they've experienced in the early days of their careers, including choreographers and improv actors behaving badly,  a bad high school production of A Midsummer's Night Dream, and some stories from the set of a TV show set in Miami.  Be aware, and if your gut instinct is telling you something's not right - listen!  And some...

Send us Fan Mail Join Max and Kelley as they talk about the importance of cold reading and how reading children's stories out loud relieves stress and helps strengthen your acting muscles.  The stories are all written by Amber Grimm and include Boo's Zoo Adventure, Rapunzel Pup, The Moon Chases Boo , and Ellie in the Closet .  Each story has its unique voice but also looks at the importa...

Send us Fan Mail Join Max and Kelley as they discuss some of their favorite improv and acting games to help create a more dynamic performance. But these exercises are not just for actors. Anyone can use them to help them feel more comfortable talking to groups or presenting and increase their creativity. The games include Yes and..., Machines, Emotions, Nature and Weather, and The Library.  For mo...