No Acting Please: A Revolutionary Approach to Acting and Living

by Eric Morris and Joan Hotchkis

Book Overview

A collection of 125 acting exercises that are based on journal excerpts and dialogues from Mr. Morris' classes. These exercises teach the actor to systematically eliminate his or her instrumental... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 096297093X
• Release Date: April 1995
• Publisher: Ermor Enterprises
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.5" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

No Acting Please

I am personally an Eric Morris actor. I live in Los Angeles and I attend his workshop weekly. Having actually experienced his Craft personally and by watching hundreds of others come and go, and succeed and fail: it has become strikingly obvious to me that his Work works. One of the elements of this uniquely personal Craft is that it can be very overwhelming and emotionally draining. Through my two plus years of experience in the Work, I have found that very few Eric Morris actors actually uses the Craft exactly as it is intended. I believe as do many of my contemporaries that the Craft provides the actor with a limitless supply of "acting" tools, which encourage the actor to experience truthfully. It is painfully obvious that "truth" or an organic expression of impulses and emotions is severely lacking in theatre, television and on screen. There is not one person who has come to class and gone on stage who has not gone through a substantial growth. Being a student of acting my entire life, on a constant pursuit of truth in my work, and having over 25 teachers since first grade: I have found the one teacher on the planet who can answer all of the difficult questions actors ask about the mysterious art of acting. If you have a thirst for truth in your acting and in how you live your life, you foolish to remain ignorant of Eric Morris.

Acting that makes sense...

I'll admit that at first glance Eric Morris's System can seem scary and misaligned. But I believe it to be a very misunderstood system. I too was skeptical in the beginning, but after studying this technique (with Eric, but mostly with Anthony Vincent Bova in NYC, Eric's protégé), and after seeing the difference from "acting" and what this Work creates, there's no way I'd ever go back to the "acting" form. Eric Morris teaches the actor how to react honestly and in the moment, including everything that's going on inside and out-the other actor, the props, the imagined objects that one might be working for-that impels you to "do" whatever the character is required to "do", but out of a real reaction, not just because you're doing it. I've studied Adler, Strasberg, Meisner, and with Robert Lewis. I've hashed through the process of verbs, actions, objectives, obstacles, and onward; and they're all good and dandy for figuring out what's going on in a script, what the characters are doing and why; but other than that, these techniques never helped me figure out HOW to make it real to ME... How to get to a place where I'm actually functioning from a real, organic, truthful state ... How to get to the point where I am "doing" all the script tells me to do, fulfilling the "actions," out of an honest REACTION to what's going on.... Not just "playing" as if I am; how, in essence, creating the realities of the character.... No matter where you go, all the great teachers (and actors) say the same thing, "Acting is reacting." Even the most used and cherished word in the actor's language, LISTENING, is about focusing outside of yourself and REACTING to what is there. This Work trains the actor to create the stimuli that will fulfill the demands of the piece, specifically, wholly, and with Truth. For the most part, plays and movies are imagined circumstances, and we as actors, have to create stimuli to react from, so we're not just faking, or indicating our performance. I'd rather watch two people have a relationship on film or on stage, than two actors reciting words, no matter how well they "act" it. If they don't believe it, I won't. This System trains you to create those stimuli and REACT to them honestly, fully and truthfully. A crucial part of Eric's System is based on Instrumental Work, which is the process of identifying blocks and fears and tensions to expression and, one-by-one, through the use of hundreds of exercises, eliminating them. It's really about self-awareness-learning about yourself and how you function, so you can "get out of your way" and function truthfully on stage or film and get to where you need to get to in a scene. I think this is the aim of every method, but I feel that this System is the only one to address the issues of the actor on a personal level. If I'm tense and depressed (in real life; me the actor), I'm not going to be able to REACT truthfully in a scene where the character has just won the lottery and is jum

A Must-Have Book/A Must-Avoid Acting Coach

This one of the best books on acting ever published. It is also one of the only books where you can significantly improve just by reading the thing, "getting" it, and playing around with some of the exercises. Eric stumbled upon something great with his "Being State" stuff. However, I have studied with Eric, and run from Eric, and so have many established actors/celebrities. He is a total narcissist neurotic whose "craft" sucks all pleasure from acting. Personal recommendation: JUST READ HIS BOOK AND DON'T GO NEAR HIM. And one more thing: Eric's books on imaging and craft and Carl Jung-based theories on acting are all bogus. If you read them you see how more and more self-indulgent and full of it he gets and how these lengthy pop-psychology theories are truly ignorant. Save your money but keep "No Acting Please" as a bible.

An eye opener!!!

I discovered this book by accident years ago and it helped my acting tremendously. This, Being and Doing and Irreverent Acting --all by Eric Morris are some of the best books on acting ever written.These books helped me stretch as an actor by suggesting exercises for my emotional instrument. I did them alone and found I could reach areas of emotions that were at one time foreign to me.Incredibly helpful. Helped me grow as an actor, a teacher and a director!!

A toolbox for actors

A wealth of excellent exercises. If you want to learn sense memory, this is the best way I've ever encountered. He is so specific and practical. And it works. He doesn't teach you to "imagine" a smell or a face. He shows you how to train your own senses to actually experience these things. It is a powerful tool for an actor. I am surprised and delighted when my senses kick in so quickly.