Hey Reader, Using context and intent is how performers connect with our audience. That's how AD performance, when it works well, feels like it's already inside the story, instead of at a distance. Context is everything available to you before you open your mouth. Intent is what you do with it. Together, they're the difference between words that move and words that sit there. Before I open registration to the public, you get first access. Think of it like a friend saving you a seat before the...
about 14 hours ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, I've always loved the ocean. The waves, the space, the surprisingly cool air at night. But the first time I drove Pacific Coast Highway, I wasn't ready for the road itself. The bridge that felt hundreds of feet above. Curves pressed tight against the cliffside. A sheer drop sometimes, right at the edge of the lane. I remember it didn't scare me. I could get close to this edge. Really close. And I didn't need to go over. I've been thinking about what it means to know where the edge...
4 days ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader, I’ve been thinking about legacy. Specifically, I’ve been sitting with a quote from Alan Lightman’s The Transcendent Brain, shared by Maria Popova at The Marginalian in 2023. It's like a physics scientist talking about legacy: “If you could tag each of the atoms in your body and follow them backward in time, through the air that you breathed during your life, through the food that you ate, back through the geological history of the Earth, through the ancient seas and soil, back to...
10 days ago • 3 min read
Hey Reader, After a lovely train ride along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, my niece picked me up in San Diego last weekend. Her boyfriend was in the car. In front of him, she turned around and asked: "Did you work on The Last of Us TV series?" She was glowing; a big smile, wide eyes, expectant, and also knowing the answer. I said yeah, I did. She lit up even more. She wanted to know more -- what it was like, what I actually do. And I watched her explain Audio Description to her boyfriend....
17 days ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader, I have a dear friend who won't say "I hope you're well." He says "I trust you're well." He'll say "I trust you had a good weekend." He's clear about why, and I can feel the difference. Hope has something earnest in it. A positive longing. I still like hope. But trust has a confidence to it. An expectation. I think of a trust fall -- you don't know exactly when you'll get caught, but you're making the leap anyway. That's something more connected than just hope. I've caught myself...
24 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, The Thing Narration (Instead of Performance) Does There's a version of Audio Description that explains everything. It’s voice tells you what happened. It tells you what to feel. It tells you over silences because silence feels like failure. That version doesn't trust you. I used to do something similar in my own life. When I didn't know how something would turn out, I'd start running scenarios. If this happens, I'll say that. If they say no, I'll pivot here. I'd build elaborate...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Hey Reader, Last week, I paid $13 for a drive thru burger and fries. I remember the lunch impulse: “I’ll just grab a burger real quick.” I got into the car all excited and kinda happy about it. Then more than thirty minutes later, I arrived back. Of course the drive thru wasn't even fast. And dammit, I forgot to ask for the fries to be well done, which is a new thing for me. Two bites in, I knew that familiar disappointment. Not exactly “bad” feeling -- just like a neutral “nah, this isn’t...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
You're invited: The High Wire Act Read on for the house of cards / ceiling fan analogy, and an audio description tip. For this part, last week I wrote about when a performance starts being trusted. That's the thing I most want to spend an hour on with you. The High Wire Act: How Intention Changes Everything at the Mic Wednesday April 29 | 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern Free. Live only. No public replay. REGISTRATION LINK Lately, when people ask how I'm doing, I tell them I feel like I'm building...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
There's a change that I've felt inside the booth that's hard to give words to. Some people call it flow. I love that word. like a little cute leaf floating down a gently babbling brook (Babble. Get it?). I rise and fall around and above the big stones, gently, or sometimes, more likely, briskly, through all the elements, and just ride the waves. I think there's something else, too. You might think that it's a better read. Or a tidier technique. Like Marie Kondo your voice over. It's when stop...
2 months ago • 1 min read