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Hello everyone, as I said in my last post, I will be talking about monologues today! Whether you need one for acting class or an upcoming audition, I hope I can help you find a good one! So I will mainly be talking about female monologues because that is all I have worked with, but you can apply most of these tips to male monologues as well. Let's get started.
There are two main types of monologues out there, comedic and dramatic. Which are obviously, quite different. There are more types, but these two are the most commonly used.
Some of my favorite comedic monologues:
http://static1.squarespace.com/static/54fa5b6be4b07e462fd5a3f0/t/555a9681e4b003aeea389a39/1432000129389/The+Bus+Stop.pdf (Male, 60-90 yrs old, can be female as well)
http://www.monologueblogger.com/rather-be-a-man-comedy-1-minute/ (Female, teens-20's)
http://www.monologuegenie.com/killing-chuck-monologue.html (Male, 20-30, this can be female as well if you change around the names a little)
http://www.dramaticwriter.com/Alysa.html (Female, late teens, this is my FAVORITE monologue, I love this one)
Some of my favorite dramatic monologues:
http://www.monologueblogger.com/smile-pretty-alice-drama-1-minute/ (Female/Male, 20-40 yrs old)
http://www.monologueblogger.com/i-cant-win-drama-1-minute/ (Female, 30-50 yrs)
http://www.ace-your-audition.com/support-files/amy.pdf (Female, teens-20's)
http://freedrama.net/breakheart.html (teens-20's, Female/Male)
Let me know if you look at any of these, use them for auditions or even just enjoyed them. Like I said, my favorite is a monologue from the play, "When It Rains Gasoline," by Jason D. Martin. This monologue is performed by the character, Alysa. I am going to use this one, for example to analyze and show you all how to break down a monologue and understand it.
Everything that is highlighted
Green means it can be taken out if wanted/needed
Purple means this an overdramatic section of the monologue
Black means this is a serious section
ALYSA:
Do you realize that tonight is the most important night of my life? Oh my God! Do you? It's like totally more important than cheer tryouts. It's more important than my first kiss, the first day of middle school, the first day of high school, the first day of Driver's Ed, more important than my driver's license, more important than any of my ex-boyfriends, more important than my current boyfriends... I mean friend. It is the pinnacle of the high school experience. The prom. Prom night. The night that I will remember for the rest of my life. I spent six hundred dollars on my dress. Anyway, Jane Hickman spent a thousand... She's a total daddy's girl. For her sixteenth birthday, her Dad bought her a brand new Ford Explorer. For my sixteenth birthday I only got a two year old Taurus. Whatever. Some girls are just born with a silver spoon in their mouth. She's such a snobby little rich girl. A little rich girl whose parents buy her anything she wants. Her parents have a swimming pool and a tennis court. All we have is a jacuzzi. One time she told me she (Makes quote signs with her fingers.) liked my outfit. She's such a snob. I know what she meant. She was
making fun of my new designer jeans. She thinks they're out of fashion already. Slut. Oh well, I'm not going to let Jane Hickman ruin the most important night of my life. My six hundred dollar dress is way more stylish that that over-priced rag she's gonna' wear. That little bitch. That little slut. I'm gonna' be homecoming royalty for sure. Homecoming queen! I hate Jane Hickman. Hicky Hickman, 'cause she's always got a hicky on her neck. That little hootchie mamma better not be getting on the royal court. I'd just kill myself if she was homecoming queen. I'd kill myself! It's bad enough her dress cost more. It's bad enough she's got a newer car. It's bad enough she's got a pool and a tennis court. I hate my parents. I can't believe you're related to my Mom. She's so lame. At least you have money. We sure don't. Why don't we have a pool and a tennis court? My Mom is so lazy all she does is sit around at the computer. My Dad's never around. He's always at the (Makes quotes with her fingers again.) office. Whatever that means. Like if he was at the (Makes quotes one last time.) office, he'd be making money right? Well, maybe he needs to get his butt in gear and get his daughter a fifteen hundred dollar dress so she doesn't look like a bag lady at the prom. That's what I'm going to look like. A bag lady! Jane Hickman is gonna' be prom queen for sure. This is gonna' be the worst night of my life.
Remember, it's okar to take out certain words or phrases to make the performance unique to you!
Also, one good thing to do is go on youtube and search for videos of someone else doing your monologue. Now, obviously, don't do exactly what they do, but use this to get inspiration and help spark some ideas.
Lastly, one good thing to do is to observe different moods and ways of living for a character. I mean, to an extent. For example, if you have a really bubbly friend, and your character is bubbly, then study what they do when your hanging out.
Cold readings-- Usually when I need to prepare a monologue for an audition or class, I like to start preparing about two weeks prior. If you don't get to choose your monologue or you have to do a cold reading, then that's different. But I'm going to give you similar advice that I did in my "How to Ace Your Audition" post. Just go to the corner and keep to yourself to learn your monologue and analyze. If anyone bothers you, just politely tell them that you need to learn your lines. It's good to try and memorize as much as you can, think, if you see someone looking up from their paper more and say their lines without the paper more, it looks better. So it definitely is worth it, if you have a cold reading.
If you get a monologue ahead of time-- However, if you have your monologue ahead of time, I would dedicate about an hour every few days to practice, memorize and analyze your character. Don't forget to research about the moods of your character. What I mean by that is, if your character is depressed, search online symptoms of depression and ways people act when they are sad. Then, try to mimic these actions. Again, your lucky to be able to have your monologue ahead od time, so use your time wisely! Don't procrastinate until the day before, practice as much as you can until it looks your best.
How to find a monologue-- The best way to find a monologue is simply to go on google and search female or male, comedic or dramatic, age range monologue. For example, search "male, comedic, 20-30 monologue." You can always search something more vague as well. There are even some websites that have you put in information about the monologue that you can select and it will give you multiple monologues to pick from.
That's all for today's post. I hope everyone enjoyed it. I worked really hard on this one, so I hope its helpful. If you use any of these monologues and post them to youtube, don't hesitate to let me know about it. I would love to watch you guys act! Have a great rest of your day.
Faith.