100 Monologues is a project where I’m writing monologue scripts, performing, and filming the pieces. Since I’m beginning to dabble in acting, the project is meant as a means for me to acquire more acting experience where I can work on refining my craft. You can find out more about the project here.
If you’re a student who would like to perform this monologue for class, just make sure you credit me, Maggie Coyle, as the author. For any other use of the script, please contact me.
100 Monologues: #7 Headphones
Eric is so unbelievably, incredibly full of himself. And he’s such a music snob. He thinks just because he listens to music that no one’s ever heard of, that makes him so artsey and more authentic than everyone else. And I like to listen to music they don’t really play on the radio, unless it’s one of those small indie rock stations or local college stations or something like that. And Eric likes to make fun of me because other people have actually heard of the bands I’ve listened to. Well obviously I couldn’t have been the only one who ever listened to these bands, especially if they’re ever going to get anywhere in life, people had to listen to them before me. You know, like record labels and producers, people need to promote groups so they can actually get listeners. But Eric is so proud about bragging about groups no one has heard of. Do you really want to brag about a group that only about five people on the entire planet have heard of? They aren’t really going to get anywhere if no one has ever heard of them…That makes sense, doesn’t it? I’m not going crazy with that logic, am I? The last time I checked you want a musician who actually has fans in order to keep releasing albums. Anyway, Eric has been mocking me because I like to listen to music on an ipod, and I’m not trying to be all vintage like he is and listen to mix tapes on a Walkman or listen to old school vinyl records. I don’t even know where I’d get a Walkman or record player these days…and quite honestly I don’t really want to lug around heavy equipment when I just really want to listen to my music. And he also loves to mock me because I like to wear earbuds instead of those large “hey I like music” headphones that you see on really serious, studious music listeners or those really emo guys. And that Eric…nothing gets past him, he hones on any small thing related to music…I guess all I can really do is tune him out with my headphones. Just turn that volume up.
Brian O’Neil’s “Acting as a Business” is packed full of helpful bits of advice for the working actor. At the beginning of the book, I wasn’t sure how helpful/useful/how much I’d enjoy it. O’Neil filled one of the beginning chapters with various names of well-known actors and gave examples of the work they’ve done. I wasn’t particularly interested in hearing a laundry list of actors and their work since I wanted to get to the real meat/content of the book. But much to my satisfaction, the majority of the book is well written, thoughtful, and incredibly helpful for beginner/mid-career actors.
The other day I sat down and read Janice Lynde’s “Ten Minutes to the Audition” all in one sitting. What’s nice about this book is that it’s very concise. The book doesn’t come close to all the repetitive problems that occurred in “The Art of Voice Acting” by James R. Alburger. So the reader doesn’t run into the problem of feeling like parts of the book are wasting his/her time.
I recently finished reading “The Art of Voice Acting” by James R. Alburger. Overall, the book was pretty helpful for someone not knowing where to begin with voice acting. It included info on what areas you can get voice acting work in, different techniques, exercises for your voice, and tips and tricks of the trade. The book did seem a bit repetitive at times – it had a tendency of mentioning that you must know your character’s back story and who your audience is throughout.