The reason for my topic is I want to submit to agencies but I know that I need to know a few monologues for when I am asked to perform one. But I don't really know what type I should memorize? What kind of monologues do you guys go for?

Does anyone know a good website where I can find some?? Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!

Well, finding a monologue is a personal thing. You have to know what type you are. Are you the all-american guy? Are you the nerdy type? Are you the jock type? What kind of person are you, and what do you want to say to the world.
Second, do not use monologue websites. Any actor and their grandfather can find it, and chances are its been done many times before. No one wants to see a repeat of something else. The best thing to do is to buy as many plays as you can. Read them. Get to know the work of the playwrites and get a feel for which playwrites you really enjoy.
Chose a part in a play where the dialogue really strikes you and turn that dialogue into a monologue. Its original, and dynamic! Have fun with finding it too!

quote:

Originally posted by avidactor:
Second, do not use monologue websites.

Waaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!

OK, avidactor has some valid points, but should you still want to find some on-line, a lot of people do seem happy with my originals, posted free on my site. At the very least, they're something to work on while you wait to wade through all those books.

(None of mine, by the way, are from plays, and some teachers or auditioners will insist that any you use be from larger works.)

I havent read Jim's works online, so i cant comment on those specifically, but..

the main reason people dont reccomend using things such as monologue books or websites is that there just isnt as much to take from it. If you use a monologue from a play, youre given all of the information you'll need about the character and story to make informed decisions about the monologue and whats going on there, that can make it more rich.

also, in my personal opinion, as an actor you should be constantly reading plays, both old and new. if you were looking for a job in any other field, you'd want to go into an interview knowledgeable, right? actings the same. it'll be time well spent.

quote:

Originally posted by JimChevallier:

quote:

Originally posted by avidactor:
Second, do not use monologue websites.

Waaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!

OK, avidactor has some valid points, but should you still want to find some on-line, a lot of people do seem happy with my originals, posted free on my site. At the very least, they're something to work on while you wait to wade through all those books.

(None of mine, by the way, are from plays, and some teachers or auditioners will insist that any you use be from larger works.)

oops, sorry Jim!

Actually, I've been on your site, and what I meant by "website" monologues, are those sites when you go to google and type in "monologues" and you get these sites that have monologues from movies splattered all over it, and monologues written by people who have no idea what they're doing. Yours are all original, and thats great because it is something fresh and new. Just as long as you update your monologues regularly, they won't get overused.
Jen, I understand what you mean by not having the whole story, but, as an actor, when we're not given all the info, its our job to create it. It makes the actor a lot more free to make the character the way they want to. I like not having the whole story there to tell me whats going on. If I make up whats going on for my character, it makes the monologue more unique and exciting!

OK, lest I appear defensive, let me emphasize that if an auditioner or a teacher says to use a monologue from a play, DO IT. That's non-negotiable, and there's no point in arguing or trying to sidestep the requirement.

This said, I quibble a bit with the reasoning behind that requirement:

quote:

the main reason people dont reccomend using things such as monologue books or websites is that there just isnt as much to take from it. If you use a monologue from a play, youre given all of the information you'll need about the character and story to make informed decisions about the monologue and whats going on there, that can make it more rich.

Far from getting everything they need from a play, many actors bring their own experience, their own substitutions, their own backstory even to work on full plays. It's kind of a circular reasoning that says you HAVE to get the given circumstances from the play itself, and so you have to use a monologue from a play.

In fact, part of the fun of doing a standalone monologue is to locate that moment in a larger continuum, to work out the circumstances, personalized as best you can, and the moment before. This isn't just good for working on monologues - it's often part of preparing for a whole play. The circumstances of a full play can help you decide what a character's state is at the moment of the monologue, what they want, how it relates to their character as revealed in the play, but having gathered all that information you will still often need to find corollaries in your own life.

Absent all that information from the play, you can still make decisions based on the text in front of you and bring the wealth of your own experience to the situation as you understand it.

In Meisner work, especially, I've seen people be handed short scenes cold and then bring immense life to them through emotional prep and following their impulses. Where these scenes were from actual plays, the results may not have fit the overall sweep of each play, but the work was no less alive for that.

If you can do a one to three minute piece and fill it with real life, how you get there will be utterly irrelevant to your audience. And using circumstances from a full play is only one way to achieve that.

The Number.

Wow, what a great monologue! I like the monkey ass one too! I printed that out. I think Im going to use that! But I really like the number monologue. Its subtle, and deep, but even though its so "personal", there's (at least, I think) a lot of that character within EVERYONE. Great work monsieur!

Why tanks...

Read'em quick - they get renewed each week.

Each by the way is part of a larger series, though not a play per se.