KIMBALL STUDIO
BALLISTICS one three-hour meeting per week, WE SUPPORT EMOTIONAL BRAVERY, reads the Kimball Studio brochure. To Understand exactly what this means, simply remove “istic” from the course’s name, “Ballistics.” And don’t be misled by the soothing warm-up exercises, because when finished, you’ll experience a kind of trial by fire: About 15 students sit in a semicircle around a pile of little pieces of paper, each of which is inscribed with a command—anything from PERFORM A MONOLOGUE BEGINNING WITH “HOW COULD YOU?!” to the hellishly daunting YOU’RE A PARAPLEGIC SEDUCING YOUR MAID. One by one, students pick pieces of paper and carry out the commands. There is no specified order, so you can take as many—or as few—turns as you want. But remember that waiting and watching everybody else perform will only freak you out, so it’s best just to go for it.
While “Ballistics” doesn’t provide basic training, it offers plenty of experience. And this course is a great way to jump into some of the scariest but most gratifying aspects of acting: You’ll unleash your imagination, learn to think on your feet and open yourself to new experiences. If you work best on pure adrenaline, get your cojones over there.
