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Hello fellow actors.

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Welcome back to casting actor's caste.

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Today.

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The episode is called how to act with

irony.

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And I want to start with a warning,

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irony is one of the fastest ways actors

sabotage themselves,

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not because irony is bad, but because

it's

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always

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So today we're going to talk

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about what irony actually is, why

casting loves it when it's done right,

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and how to play irony without losing

truth.

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This is casting actor's caste.

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Well, hello, and welcome to today's

episode of cassing actress gas.

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I'm Jeff dries back a casting partner

with mcorkal casting in New York for

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going on, like sixteen years.

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Oh my goodness, it's been a long time.

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I hope you're doing well.

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I'm looking forward to sharing this

episode.

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It's been a while since I've done an

episode about some acting

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moments, some acting truths, so I

thought this would be an excellent time

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to do that, to share that, talking all

about irony.

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I think you're going to find this

really, really valuable, especially

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when you come across it in a script or

an audition.

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The tips I have for you might be very,

very practical for you to play

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very very practical insights on how to

make it work for yourself.

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But first, this is that moment of the

podcast where I simply get to say thank

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you for tuning into casting actors gas.

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The podcast has been going really,

really well.

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And I invite you to check out the

website, casting actors cast, all, one

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word dot com.

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There you're going to find all kinds of

things there.

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One is a form that says, dive into the

talent pool.

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If you fill out that form, it gives me

your name and your email address.

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I don't abuse that email address, by

the way, I don't Spam you?

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Ever, I might send out an occasional

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check out this episode kind of thing.

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But that's been very, very rare, simply

because I don't have the time to do all

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of the social media stuff that people

tell me I need to do.

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I just don't have the time to do it.

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So I'd rather put my energy and focus

into doing these patios, these podcast

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videos, because I'm also similcasting

on YouTube, so you can actually watch

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me do these podcasts.

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But anyway, if you go back to casting,

actress cast, Alwyn word dot com,

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you'll see that form.

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And when you fill out that form, you're

going to find some freebies there,

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available for you.

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Also on the landing page, you're going

to see.

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My book is out also.

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My course is available to you as well.

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there's jeff's jots, which happens to

be corresponding, show notes to each of

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the episode.

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These are the actual scripts that I

write out for each of the podcasts.

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So if there's some information you want

to hang on to, or you find very valuable,

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many actors have found this to be

really, really helpful as well.

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Because if you're in your car listening

to me, or you're doing your work out

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routine while listening to the podcast,

god bless you, that's amazing.

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But there may be some piece of advice

or information that really lands with

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you.

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And getting a print out of that entire

episode might help you out very, very

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much as well.

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So good for you.

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There's a lot to talk about.

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What's happening in our casting office.

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We're gearing up right now for some of

our summer theaters, contemporary

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American theatre festival, Barrington

stage company.

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We're doing work with playmaker's

repertory company, but we're also

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working simultaneously

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on three films that are going to be

shooting in Europe this summer.

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So there's a lot happening at mccorkl

casting.

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And you can check out mccorko casting

dot com just to see what we were

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working on.

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So welcome, aboard glad, to have you

here.

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Let's jump into the subject.

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First of all, irony.

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You know, it took me a long time to

really understand what that was.

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And it wasn't until I saw a production

of importance of being earnest

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that I really figured it out.

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That the character has one train of

thought, but the audience knows better.

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So if you think about that, just talk

about what irony is.

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First of all, let's talk about what

irony is, not that's, I think, more

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valuable first.

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So when we're talking about irony

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in acting, it is not sarcasm.

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It is not smirking.

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It is not sort of winking at the

audience like you are on the inside of

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the joke.

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Irony is playing the truth of the

moment,

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while the audience knows more than you

do

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see, the character is absolutely

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committed and believes fully, while the

audience

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holds the contradiction.

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To me, in writing, that is the magic.

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But, you know, I often see actors

overplaying

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the ironic moment

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in whatever scene that they're doing

whether it's in scene study, or even

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whether it's in a film audition or

television audition.

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See, actors overplay irony because

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they want to show that they're

intelligent, that they know, they want

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to be in on the joke with the audience.

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Sometimes I think actors want to feel

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They want to feel like they're smart

enough.

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They don't trust simplicity.

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But you have to know that irony lives

in commitment,

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not commentary.

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So please do not comment on those

moments.

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And so here's a call to action to help

you out with that.

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Ask yourself, why does my character

believe

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completely

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play that?

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Why does my character believe

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completely

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play that?

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I think that was worth repeating.

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The casting director's point of view.

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When actors play irony correctly

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is important to take a look at.

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When I see it done well, it feels

effortless.

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It feels really confident.

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It feels watchable.

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Now when I see it not being done, well

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here's what it feels like.

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It feels smug.

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It feels very busy.

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It feels unsafe.

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It kind of muddies the Waters.

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Casting doesn't want clever

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we want

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grounded.

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Okay.

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Somebody write that down?

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That was really good.

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Now, how to practice irony here's some

practical tools that I think you're

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going to find useful.

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First of all,

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remove the punch line.

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Just eliminate it it's not something

you have to play.

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It is not something that you need if

you simply remove the punch line.

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I'm not talking about in performance.

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I'm talking about in preparation.

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So if you're indicating the irony, you

need to stop.

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Let it land without help.

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Here's tool number two, raise the

stakes.

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Ok, how many times have you heard that?

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Right?

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See, but as it relates to irony, irony

works when the character needs

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something badly.

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Ah here's tool.

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Number three, stay in the earnest mode.

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Speaking of the importance of being

earnest.

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Irony Dies.

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When actors judge their own character.

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When you make a statement about

yourself, you are dead in the water.

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So here's a call to action.

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I'd like to share with you.

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Play every ironic moment.

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Like it's deadly serious.

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When you do that, that heightens

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the emotional

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aperture, so to speak, of the moment.

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And it really makes it interesting.

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It can also broaden the comedy.

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It really does work so beautifully

well, because

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to the character,

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that kind of sincerity

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is really fun to see.

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So I think where irony lives best,

where do you see it, and where does it

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live?

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Bess I love that phrase, where does it

live best?

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Because it thrives.

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I think in comedy, you see it quite

frequently,

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what I call dramedy

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comic drama.

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You'll see it in procedurals, many,

many times.

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You'll also see it in modern realism.

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But this is true.

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Irony seems to just fall flat

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when it's a generalization of self

awareness,

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when it is actor commentary.

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And so we're going to have some final

thoughts about irony

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right after this.

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Welcome back.

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I'm so delighted that you are able to

stay with this talking about irony.

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And there are some thoughts that I have

to share with you about this, because I

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think irony is not about showing how

smart you are.

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I see that happening all the time.

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It's like that proverbial, nink, whit,

nink, wink, wink, nudge, nudge

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that the actor turns to the audience.

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It's almost as bad as mugging, as far

as I'm concerned.

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So that's the effort for

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the actor to show the audience,

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I'm really smart.

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I know what's going on.

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When the opposite is true.

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The truth of the matter is, it takes a

very, very sophisticated

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sense of humor to be able to be sincere

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in those ironic moments.

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You see, it's about honoring how

sincere the character is, even when

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they're in the wrong or they're doing

something wrong.

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Another thing to consider is

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to be able to trust the writing,

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trust the moment that is being created

by the writer.

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And that's simply when you're reading

through your material and you find the

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ironic moments in that script, you

know, I would absolutely make a

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notation of that just so that it is

something that you can work against showing

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um.

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And then you can trust the moment

itself.

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Because when you do that, you're

trusting yourself

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and trusting yourself as what it's all

about.

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But it's also

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very, very smart of you to make a

notation of those moments, simply

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because that will help you stay away

from commenting on it.

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I hope that that was helpful to you.

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If this episode helped you, please do

me a favor.

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Share it with a seen partner who keeps

playing the joke.

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I'm Jeff driesbach, and this is casting

actors cast.

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Please remember to prepare smarter,

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act better and book more.

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I'll see you next time