Dear Bonnie,
I’m not sure if this is the kind of questions you answer but, there are no acting schools or anything around me, and I’ve been trying to get into acting at like theaters and everything, and whenever I get to a funny line that I have to say I always start laughing. So I was wondering if you had any tips or techniques to help me get through a scene with a straight face. If you could help me I’d really appreciate it! Thank you for your time!
Jeff
Hi Jeff,
Oooohhhh, is this something I’ve faced! I was 17, doing a Shakespearean play in which I had to keep a straight face while all my peers and friends and foes sat laughing and laughing and laughing some more. It was TORTURE.
I was told, by my coach at the time, to think “forward action.” This didn’t mean a dang thing to me at the time, but what she meant was, place the tip of your tongue at the back of your front teeth and keep your tongue from laying down in your mouth.
I know that sounds weird, but it’s amazing what that action did for me.
I was able to put the tip of my tongue at the back of my front teeth and suddenly I was put in a very serious stance. I was so busy concentrating on that action that I could NOT laugh, even if I wanted to.
Now, what this means is, you have to focus your energy away from the scene for a moment (which is risky) and you have to be able to not betray the facial expression of the scene while you pay attention to what your tongue is doing.
Like I said, I know this sounds weird, but it’s the only thing that has worked for me to be able to put away laughter.
Some people suggest thinking of some really horrible event in your life, in order to get to seriousness, in the face of laughter. I disagree with that. I find that getting off into some personal tangent takes you away from the scene even more than you may be by just doing the tongue technique, and that could send you off in such a way as to destroy the honesty of the scene.
Anyway, that’s how I got past it. And I can still do it, even when I’m trying to be funny in a social situation. I can keep a straight face for days. Good luck! Let me know how it goes for you!
-Bon.