Acting class today. Had a scene from According to Jim. I played the electronics store clerk.
The store was called “Lazy Al’s”. The script said I was wearing a bathrobe over my clothes, hands in pockets. My dialogue is clearly “scripted customer service” — stuff like “Welcome to Lazy Al’s where we’re too lazy to raise our prices.”
I figured the guy was lazy. Bored. Hated his job. So I played it lazy, slow, and understated.
Clearly I made the wrong choice.
Ralph asked me to try it again, with his notes. Play it up. Which I did.
Then we watched it back in front of the class. Both ways.
His comment?
“You do know this is a comedy, right?”
Um, ouch.
It’s tough enough if you don’t get the tone right. But shit, when you don’t even hit the right genre? How hard do you have to suck?
But then, I’ve seen a couple of minutes of According To Jim. I may not be the only one who doesn’t know it’s a comedy.
Ew, sour grapes. They’re tart.