David Chiu

Last night I ROCKED!!!

Tom said, “…That was a bold departure from anything I’ve seen you do in class. Your attention to details and how you played every moment was great! I really enjoyed your performance.” (paraphrased of course)

I was really able to let go and play in the scene. What really helped me is that I was not trying to cry or force any deep emotional pain. Instead I worked from anger and betrayal using a very familiar context - the dot-com industry. In the scene I was drunk and practicing what I was going to tell the other execs when I got to the restaraunt. The phrase “I’m the man up in this piece” (from Training Day) came into my head at the beginning of the improv and I played it up - trying to act like Denzel in my drunken state. The class loved it and their laughter fed my creativity and impulsiveness. The phrase became my mantra in the scene which added to the comedy. I felt very comfortable on stage because I was feeding off the positive feedback from the class. I didn’t feel like I had to rush anything. I was just having a good time. My partner Melissa was wonderful as well and greatly enhanced the scene with her really good comedic timing and her ability to play every moment. Every moment and action came naturally and worked beautifully.

If only every performance could be like that. And it should be.