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samnyangie · 3 years

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It’s from a book called ‘conversation in the wings’ by Roy Harris; it’s a transcript of the interviews he had with actors and this is the section of rsl.

Just a warning it’s quite long.

(Source)

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1994: CONVERSATIONS IN THE WINGS

The Author's Intentions Are Good

by Roy Harris

Conversations in the Wings

1994

This interview took place on Friday, May 24, 1991, on the Mainstage at Playwrights Horizons where Jon Robin Baitz's The Substance of Fire was playing. Considering that he is the youngest person who talks here about acting (he was 22 at the time of the interview), it is remarkable that Robert Sean Leonard speaks with so much ease and apparent knowledge on a subject that can be as elusive as this one. The clarity he has as he discusses how he works on a role is not unlike the focus he brings to the characters he creates on stage. At the time of this interview, Mr. Leonard had recently finished a run of Romeo and Juliet for the Riverside Shakespeare Company.

Roy Harris: So let's start at the beginning. If you get a script and you read it and say to yourself, "I've got to do this," what makes you feel that?

Robert Sean Leonard: Well, that's hard to say. It depends on if you're reading for a certain character-I mean, if you're not sure who you're going to play yet. I guess I read specifically for the author's intentions of the play.

Roy Harris: Do you ever take a role-maybe it's not so wonderful-to be a part of that writer's particular world?

Robert Sean Leonard: Oh, yes. But if the play is important to you and that moving to you, then a small role becomes important because of what the author's saying. I'll be doing Our Town in London this fall and early winter. George is a very nice, I thought, young juvenile role to do. But then I read the play again, and I was astonished at the simplicity and importance of Wilder's message. Suddenly, George became much more important to me. I realized his place in that world, and it was big. If you look at the play, no one talks to each other. Except for the soda fountain scene. And there they talk. That's why they get married. Seeing this made playing him exciting. The way George has to deal with life and death is amazing.

Roy Harris: When you decided to do, for instance, the Greek pianist Alexandros in When She Danced, what made you make that decision?

Robert Sean Leonard: Joanne Woodward told me I had to do it.

Roy Harris: That's a good reason; she's very smart.

Robert Sean Leonard: Well, that play defined the undefinable qualities and questions about what I do as an actor. And I'd never seen that in a play before. So, I guess it was both things: the play itself and what a wonderful character.

Roy Harris: When you were working on Alexandros, what did you find the most challenging thing about it?

Robert Sean Leonard: Oh, come on, Roy, you remember?

Roy Harris: Well, I have to ask you now as if I weren't there. I'm an impersonal interviewer now.

Robert Sean Leonard: His incredible self-confidence. The guy walks into a room and you look at him. I've never been able to do that. I've seen other people who have that. And, it's not a quality you can play. It's not like an accent. It's a within quality. And you're in awe of it when you see it.

Roy Harris: Well, you have a quality as an actor of self-effacement. Do you think you had to get past that, go beyond it in some way?

Robert Sean Leonard: Oh, yes, but what a time I had working on it. It was a breakthrough for me. Sitting at that piano, standing up and saying, essentially, "I am a prodigy." I would say it in the mirror at home and I couldn't do it. It goes against everything you try to be as a human, as an actor. To never assume you know because then you'll stop growing. That was completely foreign to me.

Roy Harris: Did you feel you were the right choice for the role?

Robert Sean Leonard: Oh, yes.

Roy Harris: Me, too. It has to do with the other quality we talked about: something reserved and thoughtful. If you don't have that, then the sureness of Alexandros will be obnoxious.

Robert Sean Leonard: What was fascinating for me: to have an amazing bravura, and at the same time, as Quixote says, to have the humility to "love pure and chaste from afar." To love purely requires a lot of humility. It goes against the bravura. With Alexandros, I had the humility, but as you know, it took weeks and weeks to get the right assertiveness.

Roy Harris: It was fascinating watching it happen. All right, let's back up a minute. You got that role a couple of weeks, at least, before we started rehearsal. What sort of work did you do, if any, before the first day of rehearsal?

Robert Sean Leonard: Well, the bravura element didn't even occur to me until I started saying the words out loud in rehearsal with the likes of Marcia Jean Kurtz, Elizabeth Ashley and Jonathan Walker all sitting there watching me. Actually, the thing I dove right into was the Greek accent. That sort of gives you a center. It's a tangible task. And you have to accomplish it in a certain amount of time. The accent gives you a guideline. You go to the dialect coach and you sit down and start. "No," he says, "the A is pronounced this way. It's always pronounced this way." It was so refreshing to have a guideline as your beginning point. Otherwise, where do you start?

Roy Harris: Did the actual pronunciation of particular words tell you anything about who the person was?

Robert Sean Leonard: I would say the rhythm of it more than the pronunciation of it. The clipped musical rhythm gave me a sense of his spontaneous movement, his vital energy. There's a snappiness to Alexandros, which I really don't have as a person. Something happens to you when you get to have that snappy, clipped musical speech coming out of your mouth. You change inside.

Roy Harris: Let's say it's Thursday night and tomorrow you're going to work on the scene where you introduce yourself to the translator, Belzer. What sort of ordinary, basic work do you do on the scene?

Robert Sean Leonard: You know, the first time this ever came up was when I was doing Beachhouse with George Grizzard. I was sixteen. I was up there one day doing it, you know, just doing it, and Melvin Bernhard the director said, "What are you doing here? What is this about?" And I had no clue. I was just asking my dad where the letter was. Well, he said, "Do you have any assumptions about it? Who's it from? Is it from your mother? If so, what would that mean to you?" When I went home that night, I wanted to quit the business. I cried. And to this day, it's always an obsession of mine-not getting general and relying on some phony charm. What I want to do is get specific and ask myself the necessary questions: what is his intention here? what's he after? why? So, to answer your question, I read the scene, trying to pick out where they're starting, where they're heading, and how they got there. If something changes, where does it change? However, I usually find out more in rehearsal than at home.

Roy Harris: Sometimes, do you find after a rehearsal or a series of rehearsals on a particular scene that there's more there?

Robert Sean Leonard: Oh, sure. The more you work, the more you find. You can be hitting your head against a wall, as I was with Alexandros, and the director can say, "It's because you're not as confident as he is." Like any trouble you have, once you define it, it's so much easier to deal with. Then you know what you're after.

Roy Harris: Do you try to look and see an intention in every line, or a basic intention in a scene?

Robert Sean Leonard: I'm sure that you should, but I've found that there's a level of subconscious work that goes on. I find that it's much better for me to find out what's there with the person in rehearsal. It doesn't mean I don't I really think about it before though.

Roy Harris: Would you say-I'm asking a loaded question now-that you are more an instinctive actor or one more given to plan?

Robert Sean Leonard: I think I'm more instinctive than planned, but both, I guess.

Roy Harris: From having watched you in two different rehearsal situations, I'd say you seem to have done a lot of work when you came in.

Robert Sean Leonard: I would say that's basically true. But there are all sorts of ways of being prepared. For instance, take Romeo. My God, I spent hours just finding out what all those words mean. And then, with Shakespeare, it's so maddening because one thought can mean many different things. You don't have to choose one. Another form of preparation is just knowing your character so well-the background you've come to through what the playwright made up-that when something comes up, you instinctively know what's wrong or right.

Roy Harris: When you re working on a role, do you ever get a picture of what the character should look like?

Robert Sean Leonard: Yeah, and it's never me!

Roy Harris: Well, it shouldn't be you. You're playing somebody else.

Robert Sean Leonard: But I never get that out of my head. I can think back on every role I've done and picture who should have played it instead of me-what type of person; what he looked like.

Roy Harris: Does it help you to do that?

Robert Sean Leonard: Sometimes. Slowly the picture in your mind becomes you. I can look back now and say, yes, I'm Eugene Jerome. Yes, I'm Romeo. But it took a while for me to get there, to get me in the picture. It was always someone else.

Roy Harris: When you're working on a role, do you ever get a sense of how that character should dress?

Robert Sean Leonard: Actually, not much. I know there are actors who do. I guess it doesn't matter so much. I just had a problem with that on The Speed of Darkness, however. The designer was very intent on including the actors in her plans. I drove her crazy. "I don't know. Why are you asking me? Whatever you put on me, I can justify." She didn't like that. But I guess it would depend on the role. The only battle I lost was she put a letter jacket on me, a varsity letter jacket. It was the only thing I didn't like. Any time I see a varsity jacket on stage, I think, 'Oh, here comes a young actor.' I want to be a person. It's too much a sign to me. But I ended up wearing it. She liked it too much.

Roy Harris: When you're in rehearsal, what are you looking for from other actors?

Robert Sean Leonard: Well, hopefully we'll all be pretty solid in our agreement about what is going on in this play and what our part in it is. Of course, there are technical things: like you don't upstage someone when they're talking. An important thing is knowing when the scene is moving, and knowing when it's time to take a moment for yourself. And that's hard. A lot of actors get up there, and understandably, the play is about them. If you're playing a milkman, the play is about a milkman. But when that becomes your only reality, you lose sight of the intentions of the play. You know, it's so obvious to me when an actor feels he is the most important thing in the play. It's so portentous. Every line means something. It's so boring. Maybe that's why I'm a little afraid of finding intentions in every line. Then it all gets too much meaning.

Roy Harris: Have you ever worked with an actor-you don't have to give a name-whom you had a problem with?

Robert Sean Leonard: Sure. I worked with an actress in a film who had no clue, didn't know the first thing about acting. The camera would go to you, and she'd be off camera reading her next film. She would say her lines not looking at you. That drove me crazy. On stage, I must say I've never worked with anyone where there was a problem. I've worked with people who really snapped with me and then people who were just all right to work with.

Roy Harris: Who is an actor you've really liked working with?

Robert Sean Leonard: Cynthia Nixon - when you work with her, she's so in tune with what's going on. When a scene is playing, it just lifts and rises. She's like a dancer. I love all her work. Something happens when that actress walks on stage. It elevates into another world.

Roy Harris: What are you looking for from the director?

Robert Sean Leonard: An unshakable vision. You know when they have it, because you'll ask questions and immediately there's an answer that makes sense, and it makes sense in relation to everything that's happened so far.

Roy Harris: What if it's a vision you don't agree with?

Robert Sean Leonard: That doesn't matter. I want a vision that's like a force running through everything.

Roy Harris: What happens when there's not a vision?

Robert Sean Leonard: Well, my sister told me once, when she was in third grade, her whole class went into the city. When they came up from the subway, the teacher-for a moment-didn't know where she was. My sister saw that look, and suddenly was terrified. She lost all faith. And that's horrible when it happens with a director, and it can happen in an instant. If they have an unshakable vision, it won't happen.

Roy Harris: Have you ever had a director tell you something and you felt that you just couldn't do it?

Robert Sean Leonard: Couldn't from myself?

Roy Harris: Yes.

Robert Sean Leonard: Well, no, because the minute someone asks something of me, my first reaction is, "God dammit, I can do this. I can do whatever they want." You know, to me the author's intentions are God, and the director the channel for those intentions. The very idea of not being able to do something a director asks, or being averse to it, is upsetting to me.

Roy Harris: Have you ever been in a situation where some or all of the actors didn't trust a director? How do you deal with that?

Robert Sean Leonard: Good question. Well, if a director can't give you an answer for why he wants you to do something a certain way, then you shouldn't trust him. If I initially don't trust a director, I try to find out why I don't. Maybe it's me. But if he can't give you an answer, you can't get bitter. You have to rely solely on yourself, or on yourself and who you're playing with. You do the best you can and hope for a short run.

Roy Harris: What director would you most like to work with?

Robert Sean Leonard: Mark Lamos.

Roy Harris: Why?

Robert Sean Leonard: In everything of his I've seen I always witness such clarity and devotion to the author's intent, even if it's complex, as in Hamlet or The Master Builder.

Roy Harris: For someone your age, you've had a chance to play some very good roles. What's been the most challenging role so far?

Robert Sean Leonard: Romeo. I think I misunderstood him the whole time I was playing it.

Roy Harris: Oh, Bobby, everybody who plays him feels that, don't they?

Robert Sean Leonard: Probably. When I took the role, I thought, I'm going to make him honorable, which I think he is. Most people feel he's a sap. My mistake was making him that way from the beginning.

Roy Harris: What do you mean?

Robert Sean Leonard: A friend of mine said late in the run that that first scene is not about a man who knows love. It's about a kid who thinks he knows what love is. Then he meets Juliet. He said, you should make us puke in the aisles when you tell Benvolio what you think love is. And he's right. From the moment I walked on stage, boy, did I play passion. All through the Rosaline stuff with Benvolio, it was passion. Consequently, when I met Juliet, I just didn't have anywhere to go. It was like starting with a nine and getting to a ten.

Roy Harris: But you seemed to have a good time working on it.

Robert Sean Leonard: Well, I learned from it. You need to see his feeling about Rosaline in order to really appreciate the great feeling he comes to have about Juliet. I didn't look at it intelligently enough. I didn't realize the simplicity of: he doesn't know what he's doing and then he does know what he's doing. It's also our job as Romeo to convince the audience that once he's in love with Juliet-and some people would scream at this-it's worth dying for. With all the mistakes I made, it was a great experience.

Roy Harris: Ten years from now you can do it again and think what that will be like.

Robert Sean Leonard: I'll have a whole new series of questions about it. That's why acting is so phenomenal. You can't ever be good enough.

Roy Harris: Does there come a point for you in rehearsals, or probably in performance somewhere, where you think you got it?

Robert Sean Leonard: No. There are points where I feel I've gotten something. I've never given a perfect performance. I wonder who has?

Roy Harris: Well, if they think they have...

Robert Sean Leonard: I don't want to talk to them.

Roy Harris: Me either. Have you ever been praised by a friend for a performance that you thought was bad, or certainly not adequate?

Robert Sean Leonard: Sure.

Roy Harris: How do you deal with that? How does it affect you?

Robert Sean Leonard: Well, you're praised very often for things that you don't deserve to be praised for. But you learn pretty quickly who does that and who doesn't. So I guess you learn who to listen to. How do you deal with it? I get very indignant. I go home and I say, 'Well, they're wrong.' When I was filming Dead Poets Society, I noticed that Peter Weir (the director)-as soon as he'd say, "Cut"-would look to John Seal (the cinematographer) first. As soon as the play is done, I consider myself a cinematographer; I check with myself. Then I check with the director. A friend may be right in saying something I did was false, but I have to go by what the director is asking for. So, it's complicated when friends say things. Very complicated. It's very sacred between you and the director, and frankly, people need to honor that.

Roy Harris: What's the biggest difference between acting on stage and acting for the camera?

Robert Sean Leonard: In some ways, they're very different and then in some ways they're not so different at all. It's a little like recording music and then playing it live. In one sense, you're part of the whole, but fragmentally. In film, you're offering pieces, and the director makes it whole.

Roy Harris: Do you prefer one over the other?

Robert Sean Leonard: No. I don't know. I think I prefer theatre. Is that three answers?

Roy Harris: You can change your answer later. I'm trying to find out what your feeling is at this moment. In film, you go in on the first day of shooting and you may shoot pages 68-72. In terms of preparation, how do you shoot something that's in the middle of that character's (for want of a better word) journey? What do you do with all that comes before?

Robert Sean Leonard: Homework becomes much more important in film, ironically, because in film, usually your work has much less to do immediately with other actors. It's much more a solitary art. Because you start with page 68, you have to know exactly where that character is and has been before page 68. Hopefully, the director will know, too. And you will discuss it together, as Peter Weir did with me through the shooting of Dead Poets.

Roy Harris: Where do you think the director is more important, or is he: in film or stage?

Robert Sean Leonard: They're more important for different reasons in both areas.

Roy Harris: Have you ever been asked to do something by a film director that you didn't want to do, or thought you shouldn't do?

Robert Sean Leonard: Yeah. Usually it has to do with poor writing. Sometimes the director will want something because of what's in the script, and you have to do it, even if you're not sure it's right.

Roy Harris: Let's say you did a role on stage for six weeks, night after night, and then you go and make a movie of it. A scene you've done many times, you're now going to do and the camera is going to be this close to you. Does it do anything to your way of thinking about it, to know the viewer is now so close?

Robert Sean Leonard: The relationship with the director becomes much more intimate. It would be like having the director on stage with you at all times, saying, "How about this? how about this? or how about this?" They are creating with you at the moment, and they know, and hopefully you do too, the journey of this character. It would be wonderful to do it on stage first because your homework would be done for you. An obvious thing is that when the camera's so close you do bring it down, even though you try to keep it as truthful as you would anywhere. In film, you do a lot more with your eyes, where on stage you use your hands and body language.

Roy Harris: So far, what is your favorite film role?

Robert Sean Leonard: Well, I'd have to say Dead Poets Society is for me in film what Brighton Beach Memoirs was for me on stage. It was kind of my baptism because I suddenly found myself on the set with a powerhouse of a director. It also has to do with the time. I was nineteen. Peter took me in as the leader of this gang. He had me read poetry. Also, I had to play Puck, and he wouldn't tell me which scene we were going to do, so I learned all of Puck. Without a doubt, it was the most glorious film experience. It was college for me. All of the guys, we lived together. We had a whole floor of a hotel, and we became this group of young men. We did everything together. We created together. Ethan Hawke and I used to practice scenes listening to Beethoven's Ninth.

Roy Harris: What is your favorite scene there?

Robert Sean Leonard: Well, for personal reasons, the scene with Ethan on the roof where we throw the desk set off. We came up with that scene. Originally, it was a scene which ended very sadly, with Ethan saying his parents didn't love him. Peter pulled us aside and said, "Okay, we know all this. Let's just have a scene about friendship." And the three of us came up with the scene where we destroy the desk set. That was a real accomplishment for me because improvisation has always scared the hell out of me. I don't like it that much as a working technique. When the director is as strong as Peter is, then improv is wonderful.

Roy Harris: We've talked a little about this, since you and I are such fans of hers, but what was it like to play Joanne Woodward's son in Mr. and Mrs. Bridge?

Robert Sean Leonard: It's funny. They're an amazing team, she and Paul. He's reserved. Though I don't know a thing about him, I like him a great deal. Joanne is-well, you know, there's a love you have for certain celebrities. I think she knew I had this huge feeling, and she takes that feeling and makes you feel comfortable. It's okay to have it. Know what I mean?

Roy Harris: Absolutely.

Robert Sean Leonard: She embraces this feeling you have about her, and it frees you. Therefore, working with her was a dream. She's completely honest in her work.

Roy Harris: What was a favorite scene of yours in that film?

Robert Sean Leonard: I don't know. I was so racked with his age throughout the filming-you know, when he was fifteen, when he was seventeen, when he was nineteen. But I guess it would be the boy scout scene. I was so worried that no one would buy that I was fifteen years old. I was twenty at the time, so they gave me braces to help me get a sense of youth. It helped. Really, though, it was memorable because Joanne was so wonderful in it. She did everything for us. She made us all look good. I remember during filming looking over at Paul when I don't kiss her and begin to sing. And he wasn't Paul, he was Mr. Bridge, my father, and looked at me with such hatred, and it was startlingly clear that he loved his wife more than me. For him, his son wasn't going through something; no, some guy just hurt his wife. The most joyous scenes were coming home from the air corps through the final scene where I take her hand. For me, Douglas is the only one in that house who grows up with a true sense of other things in the world. After all, he's the one who writes the books.

Roy Harris: Well, you do feel he's the least selfish of those children.

Robert Sean Leonard: Yes, well, I think that's evident even when he's behaving like a brat with her. I wanted people to feel: yes, he's doing it, but it's killing him to do it. I remember feeling, 'If this guy can write about these people so brilliantly and so warmly, there's got to be something there, and I'll be damned if I'm not going to get that feeling into the film.' In his air corps training, Douglas met so many different kinds of people that he was able to look at his parents objectively and with love. To me, it's the only moment in the film where anyone reaches out to Mrs. Bridge as a human being, not the mother. Actually, Paul would probably disagree with this. But I guess we each see it from our own point of view in the film.

Roy Harris: One more quick thing before we close. If you could work with any actor, actress, director, and pick your own role; in other words, what's your ideal situation?

Robert Sean Leonard: I think doing The Seagull with Joanne would be an amazing experience. Doing anything with Ian Holm. I've always had a dream of playing Horatio to someone else's Hamlet. Horatio to Gary Oldman's Hamlet would be very good.

#robert sean leonard #rsl #interview #theatre #dead poets society #films #I didn’t realised how many times he mentioned about flying desk scene #I just love how he is in this #so natural and honest

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aion-rsa · 5 years

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The Adventure Zone: From Three Points of View

https://ift.tt/30NcKNH

Three of our contributors review The Adventure Zone, based on their familiarity (or lack thereof) with the source material

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This post is sponsored by First Second. All opinions expressed in this post are based on the writers' personal views.

The Adventure Zone series is a unique storytelling experience—a graphic novel series that began life as a game of Dungeons & Dragons played by podcasters Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy and their dad Clint, it has evolved into something much, much more. You don't have to have listened to the McElroys' podcast or to have played D&D before to enjoy this tale of adventure and intrigue.

Den of Geek reached out to three of its regular contributors—one of whom is a McElroys podcast fan, one of whom loves D&D, and one of whom is neither—to get insight into their respective experiences reading The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins and The Adventure Zone: Murder on the Rockport Limited!, the first two installments of The Adventure Zone series.

Here's what they had to say...

The Adventure Zone Review #1

Reviewer: Megan Crouse, a fan of The Adventure Zone podcast

You’ve probably seen the McEloy family’s influence online, even if you don’t know it. Griffin McElroy founded video game journalism site Polygon, and he and his brothers’ sense of humor has become the new voice of the internet. They’re known for games, memes, and podcasts, including The Adventure Zone.

As a Dungeons & Dragons podcast, The Adventure Zone starts out as a stock fantasy quest, albeit lead by bumbling heroes. Later arcs branch off the established format. Murder at the Rockport Limited, the second arc collected as a graphic novel, is a murder mystery on a train, and later arcs diverge even more dramatically from dungeon-crawling. My primary window into McElroy World is the most recent The Adventure Zone arc, "Amnesty." For the release of the latest graphic novel, I returned to the earlier arcs.

Some of the references, jokes, or information in the episodes is moved around in the script, and clearly a lot of work went into making them feel like a story instead of a conversation while also preserving the most well-known moments. The art varies from beautiful and easy on the eyes (the lush Rockport Limited and the lands it travels through) to humorously pinched and distorted to a Dr. Suessian degree (most of the elves). Details in the background and the funny names of places reward a close look. But some of the art was flattened by color choice—there’s a default pink hue that my eyes tended to skim over.

Like the podcast, it takes its time getting good. Unlike the podcast, the book spends less time on the stock fantasy adventuring of the first arc and zooms to the funnier, more creative stories. There’s still a hurdle to jump, because some in-jokes aren’t explained or don’t work as well without delivery. Character voices likewise don’t translate as well.

But the stories are still funny. Clever and unexpected and raunchy, the group has a charming rapport with each other. Adapting writer Clint McElroy and artist Carey Pietsch know when to sparingly drop Griffin McElroy in to break the fourth wall as the DM. The Bureau of Balance and the Rockport Limited are both unique concepts that bring new flavors to the fantasy.

Whether you like the characters will depend on your tolerance for irreverent, canonically annoying protagonists with rapid-fire jokes. There are deeper relationships in these stories, and glimmers of those show through, but most of the best and most serious character work comes later in the podcast series. The collection editions offer the delight of official art and skim over the podcast’s more tedious sections, but an established fondness for this particular brand of humor may be a requisite for reading.

The Adventure Zone Review #2

Reviewer: Alana Joli Abott, a Dungeons & Dragons fan

Reading the first two volumes of The Adventure Zone feels a lot like sitting down at a table with my high school gaming group. In some ways, that's great—it's incredibly nostalgic and definitely brought back memories of my early days in gaming.

During those early years, we worried less about world building and our characters being consistent in their fantasy knowledge and included things like Fantasy Quickie Marts where our characters could snag a pack of gum along with a healing potion. The McElroy's world is full of those kinds of jokes, and while it makes for inconsistent world building, it joyfully breaks the fourth wall with references readers are sure to appreciate. Griffin McElroy as DM is, by turns, long-suffering and cacklingly evil—as a frequent DM myself, I can identify with both aspects, and I cheered with the characters in triumph when he makes a call breaking the rules for the sake of the story.

In other ways, that echo of real game tables hit some sour notes: a lot of the familiar tropes (particularly the evil drow wizard with the ginormous spider) are overplayed, and their familiarity was irksome rather than enchanting. Despite the inclusion of some really fantastic female NPCs, the story is entirely drive by the three male main characters, whose humor has a more masculine turn ("Man, it's nothing but dick jokes with us"). That's not a problem in itself (and it makes complete sense given that the players and DM are all male), but it did frequently make me feel like I wasn't the target audience for the story, and recalled the many times where I've been the only female player at a table.

That said, the story itself, particularly starting at the end of the first volume, when the larger world context is introduced and departs from some of those more heavily trafficked D&D tropes. The second volume's combination of train-bound murder mystery with swords and sorcery felt like sitting in at a really excellent game table, particularly the inclusion of an underage detective (although a few contextual jokes about that NPC felt a little uncomfortable to me as a parent). Pietsch nails the artistic tone (especially in one cute chibi page that references another Hasbro toy line), but I'll note that the child-friendly appearance of the covers, which drew both of my kids like moths to a flame, belies the adult language inside (there's plenty of cursing, as you'd expect from a raucous game table).

Not many non-game works out there really capture the spirit of playing D&D. While I may have nit-picked about the target audience flaws, but I recognize here that the McElroys and Pietsch are doing something really cool that stands alone without my ever having listened to the podcast. The Adventure Zone doesn't quite overtake The Gamers (which has some of the same issues I mention above) as one of the best representations of D&D in other media, but I think it's a close second.

The Adventure Zone Review #3

Reviewer: Natalie Zutter, previously unfamiliar with Adventure Zone or Dungeons & Dragons

Reading The Adventure Zone graphic novels as someone who has neither listened to the McElroys’ podcasts nor played D&D (aside from listening in on my husband’s weekly games) is constantly feeling not quite in on the joke. That’s not the fault of illustrator Carey Pietsch, who remarkably translates four voices into a rich visual fantasy adventure; nor Clint McElroy, who worked with Pietsch to adapt the audio campaign in fourth-wall-punching ways, like including Griffin as a long-suffering DM providing helpful context. Regardless, something never quite clicked for me.

Strangely, what I found myself missing most was more D&D structure. Completely skipping character creation and jumping into the action—with brief stat/proficiency explainers via tongue-in-cheek cue cards—made for a very sitcom-y feel, as if these three players have always been adventuring together. But without any background, the characters felt shallow; I knew plenty about their foibles (Magnus’ poor impulse control, Taako’s self-servingness, Merle’s evangelism) but not enough of their wants. It’s also unclear how meta they’re intended to be, accepting the presence of their omniscient DM so readily that it seems as if they must be aware that it’s a game, yet treating their quests as life-or-death.

As someone who initially bounced off D&D gameplay precisely because of how dice rolls dictated every possible movement, I was surprised to see how sparingly rolls were used in the fight scenes. Instead, Magnus might get a mighty swing of his axe in, or Taako might get knocked down a peg by a more powerful wizard—but these felt like moments typical to any fantasy story, instead of being susceptible to the randomness that controls the rest of the outcomes in D&D. Another pet peeve was the constant asides: the trio ribbing NPCs instead of using conversations to learn more about quests, and especially out-of-universe references to Star Wars and Paul Blart: Mall Cop. On a podcast, it’s probably snappy and fun; on the page, it just feels like tedious wheel-turning.

These criticisms aside, the world is incredibly inviting. Once our heroes got rid of that pesky static at the end of the first volume and got to join the Bureau of Balance, it gave them some much-needed artifact-of-the-week structure combined with “these might be the good guys, but they’re not telling us everything” levels of intrigue.

I vastly preferred Rockport Limited to Gerblins because of how it sharpened the stakes: a locked-room mystery with a countdown clock; gender-stereotype-challenging NPCs; and a truly clever twist for a story set within so many constraints. Beyond the titular train murder, the scenes set at the Bureau evocatively step outside of the podcast narrative and utilize the graphic novel format: nonverbal moments where the Director ponders some undisclosed regret, and Taako considers conspiracies, lay curious groundwork as to future clashes.

Even if The Adventure Zone isn’t for me, I can’t deny the power of the McElroys’ reach—wonderfully illustrated in the fan art galleries that make up the back ends of both volumes. Each piece is imbued with the listeners’ delight in the story, and their own particular headcanons for each character reveal just how much they care about this world.

The first two installments of The Adventure Zone are now available for purchase. You can find out more about The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins and The Adventure Zone: Murder on the Rockport Limited! here.

Read and download the Den of Geek NYCC 2019 Special Edition Magazine right here!

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Review Natalie Zutter Alana Joli Abbott Megan Crouse

Oct 3, 2019

First Second

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martin9395 · 5 years

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Reveal the Amazing World of the Swinger Way of living

You are undoubtedly reading this on account that you are actually at the quite minimum curious about the swingers lifestyle and also have much more than very likely read different swinger stories stating on the essentials of swinging. A multitude of swinger pairs feel that their relationship partnerships has ended up being much stronger after uncovering this lifestyle. Thus if you're interested exactly how this kind of sex-related lifestyle works, then you possess to understand the history of opening in addition to what you can expect from it. For some people, exchanging husband or wives for sexual delight is actually impossible. However, swinging is a lot more than sex as well as sexuality. It is a lifestyle which takes a look at personal independence, private sensualism, aside from brand new kinds of relationships.

Sexual swinger stories are actually secondhand. As early as 18th century, sensuous and ardent tales regarding prominent swinger groups had been actually usual one of the upper class markets of The UK. The swingers way of life eventually got here in The United States on a much later date. During those times, exclusive institutions and also top secret swinger groups had actually come only for a really handful of select people. Today, moving has actually ended up being a socially recognized exercise with a growing number of people exploring its own advantages. You can easily locate swinger websites, systems for couples, and also sensuous gatherings nowadays. For that reason you have much better opportunities now to discover the remarkable miracles within the swinger way of living. https://prideconnecticutlimo.com/

Swinger accounts excite the feelings through providing fictional sexual activity relating to the swinger lifestyle. Go through concerning very first time expertises, seductions, unforeseen situations, threesomes, girl play, plus a lot more. Make brand-new way of living buddies merely through composing your personal swinger statements and/ or even 'restricted' fantasies. You never understand when an additional swinger pair might wish to create your goal come correct. The body and soul of becoming a swinger is actually to experience a new type of sexuality. Inevitably, you'll uncover the fantastic world of the 'total' swinger experience to accomplish your way of living modification. Like many factors in life, you ought not push yourself on people to embrace the life-style. You can directly enjoy fabulous true to lifestyle swinger stories if you picked to open your thoughts to the total lifestyle take in Private Swingers Club.

If you are going to welcome the swinger way of living, there are actually quite vital points that you'll wish to think about. For starters, turning is actually assumed on free choice. No one can easily compel you to carry out something that protests your will. This likewise applies for your companion. In instance your lover isn't crazy about beginning the swinger knowledge, then don't pressure them. Try appearing at or even generating a sexual account with one another to attract your lover's interest. Refer to your favorite swinger accounts and after that look at the options of making your very own accounts come to life.

Swinger stories can undoubtedly boost your swinger encounter. Select a swinger website that utilizes swinger accounts to generate brand new pals. Carries out the internet site possess composing competitions to display your sex-related ingenuity as well as attract various other swingers? Can you invite other swingers to join you in creating swinger accounts all together? Together with swinger stories, are there any beneficial lifestyle write-ups or post? Some websites also belong for you to create adult video scripts. You can easily compose your own adult video texts and after that ask various other folks to join you in shooting it. Swinger tales may be even more than reading fulfillment. It is essential to find an internet site that helps make swinger accounts part of the entire swinger expertise.

Just how to Construct an Online Profile That Attracts Swingers to You

Utilizing flirtatious humour

The very first trait to perform in creating an on-line swinger dating profile is to generate a simple to don't forget customer title that is actually also snappy. Take a look at a few other profiles and you will certainly quickly discover that far way too many are actually quite mundane and also unimaginative. You require to create your own different in an easy-to-remember means in order that it attracts attention coming from the group.

In person to person encounters, an irresistible smile and also coy playfulness are actually the main points that entice swingers to one another. Online communication operates in specifically similarly as well as profile pages composed with this in mind will be the ones that bring in folks. Equally as no person desires to date or swing along with individuals who are actually dull and also major many of the opportunity; no person desires to review on-line outdating profiles that are actually unsharpened and also doing not have humour.

Illustrate the swingers you intend to fulfill

Think about thoroughly the kind of swingers you desire to satisfy and afterwards describe them in your profile. This does not mean that you need to get really selective. The hazard of being actually too discerning is that you'll end up omitting people who you may otherwise have actually taken pleasure in some actually good swaying with. For example, if you are actually a single male along with an account specifying that you are only considering meeting singular girls, you are actually going to miss out on out some melodramatic trios with pairs that would have additionally verified to be actually one of the most likely source of introductions to the swinger party scene for you Private Swingers Club.

Be specifically careful not to make a listing of your disapproval. Profiles that do are a significant turn off to everybody that reviews them and certainly not merely individuals who the checklist is striven at.

Include your swinger way of life encounters

It is essential to include your swinger way of living knowledge in your online profile page however the most awful factor you may do is actually to declare knowledge you have actually never possessed or even produce crazy overestimations. Accounts that create or exaggerate take ins are often rather quick and easy to observe by means of yet even when they are strongly believed, others will certainly expect you to meet the take in defined and also make-believe claims possess an unpleasant routine of collapsing at in person appointments.

Even though have not possessed any kind of experience of the way of life, it is better to state therefore than to silence. There are in fact a ton of swingers that are actually drawn in to the tip of making love along with a full way of life amateur. Every swinger was actually a newbie at some time!

Feature sex-related fantasies too

Swingers desire to become aware of your sexual fantasies as effectively as your real-life experiences, so make certain you include some in your online profile. Aside from making certain the omission of any sort of fantasy that could be provocative of unlawful sexual process, the only note of care below is to neglect any kind of that may typically be actually deemed horrible within the swinger way of life area.

Read through just before you release

Prior to you release an on the web swinger dating profile page, take a while to consider it from the visitor's viewpoint. Envision you are the reader - an individual (or married couple) who has never met you. Inquire on your own just how that person might picture you. Perform you encounter as self positive, conceited or scheduled. Do you envision a spirited, flippant, boring or even severe person. Perform you appear truthful, fake or undependable etc?

The vital photograph

Internet profiles that don't have photos seldom attract anybody's interest so it is actually important that you consist of one. Make sure to acquire a good total face and physical body try as well as whatsoever expenses steer clear of smutty, distasteful images. It never neglects to surprise me that many males seem to think that a close up photo of their penis is the sort of profile photo that will bring in women. Derision and also ridicule have to do with all such tasteless photos ever get.

Swinger married couple profiles

Swinger couples produce shared on-line accounts. The suitable is to forecast an image of a satisfied pair that are actually visiting be actually enjoyable to be actually along with. It is necessary that married couples make their accounts together as a couple and it is actually a wonderful tip to enjoy yourself whilst they are actually generating it. Putting together an account whilst taking part in sex-related foreplay can be actually a real turn on, which is actually most likely to become shared when the account is subsequently read.

It is a good tip to include exclusive bedroom adventures along with your knowledge as swingers. Cover your partnership along with one another and clarify exactly how and also why you chose to enter the swinger lifestyle. This is precisely what various other married couples intend to read about when searching for swing partners.

Similar to songs, it is actually crucial for swinger married couple accounts to consist of pictures and also these need to preferably be of each partners. If just one partner photo is featured, make certain that it is one of the female companion. Married couple profile pages that include a photo of the male partner only never attract numerous positive feedbacks. Lots of people looking at such a profile page will attract the final thought that if the woman even exists whatsoever, she is very likely to be a passive or averse individual in the swinger connection!

An exclusive keep in mind for solitary males

Solitary males need to understand that most women (whether singular or couple) that use swinger dating web sites crave for journey as well as pleasure. Self assurance, maleness, witticism blended with a degree of secret are actually the kind of top qualities the male account needs to forecast to satisfy this desire. Finding as the nice individual who they can fulfill everyday, isn't the greatest means to entice such girls.

Often males using swinger dating web sites might need to have to tell themselves that they are actually certainly not appearing for romance or mainstream dating, long-term-relationships. If your profile winds up recommending this you might not acquire considerably of a response. However, it is actually also significant certainly not to worry the purely sexual side of factors relevant where the profile page appears like crude, immature ranting Private Swingers Club.

Communicate your attraction in as natural a technique as achievable and also stay clear of flaunting about possessing fabulous sex-related endurance. Most girls are actually even more likely to consider a lengthy staying repeater as a potential resource of vaginal ache than a bringer of overjoyed satisfaction.

Online accounts for swinger way of life girls

The majority of what has actually been mentioned over uses in one type or another to solitary female internet profiles. The major added point to emphasise is that as a single woman, your photograph is visiting be actually the initial thing other swingers will certainly take a look at. It is consequently crucial that you get it right. Never ever utilize an outdated image and don't fear of openly sexual, tarty or even explicit sexual shots. You are actually posturing for swinger lifestyle contacts - not enchanting LTRs! Dress (or even undress) to thrill and only pull the collection at those ridiculous gynaecological close-ups that are actually occasionally seen in on-line swinger courting, female profiles.

Getting The Most Out Of The Swinger Lifestyle

Traditional instances of the leave impact are actually:

Participating in a swinger club and at that point certainly not picking up the guts to participate in some of its activities.

Organizing a swinger time with one more pair who fail to appear.

Possessing a new swinger date along with a married couple who don't pair up to their profile page cases.

Joining their first swinger party simply to leave behind before it obtained sufficiently heated up. (Very usually pairs who do this ultimately declare that they "Waited all night for something to take place but it never ever carried out". )

Attending their 1st swinger party however not emotion brought in towards any of the various other guests.

Locating another thing about a swinger date or even swinger event that was certainly not to their preference.

You'll never get turning unless you press the swing

Turning feels like a lot of various other things in lifestyle. If you appear for factors that are wrong, you may be certain to find them. If you expect every thing to become excellent on your first try, it hardly ever will be actually and your more than likely reaction will be actually to not persist any sort of longer.

The brand-new swinger married couple decrease out result examples provided above are actually very most commonly experienced through pair of kinds of folks. One are actually those who either knowingly or even automatically really would like to make opening fall short. It can be just one partner who is actually liable or even it might sometimes each companions. Regardless, at some level or even an additional, there was a wish to leave their decision to plunge into the swinger lifestyle.

The various other type of folks are actually those that absolutely carry out would like to delight in a swinging way of living yet who possess insufficient patience, endurance as well as maturity to identify that it can take perseverance as well as some tenacity to acquire started Swingers Club.

Inevitably, no volume of guidance or even recommendations can easily change the unpreventable result the initial style of pair will definitely experience. They are simply certainly not ready to start the swinger way of life as well as one may just propose that they invest additional opportunity paying attention to one yet another and also learn to accept that swinging may merely ever be right when each partners are one hundred per penny up for it. I strive the observing swinger-lifestyle effectiveness recommendations at the various other form of people.

Participate in a great online swinger dating site

Anyone who adores wishing to acquire begun on the swinger way of life will need to join an on the web swinger dating (or even adult dating) site. This is actually without question the most effective way to find and also fulfill other swingers yet simply ending up being participants and kicking back for the days and invites to begin happening is actually not enough. To start with you will definitely require to put actual effort into the creation of your account and also to make sure effectiveness you are going to need to have to take the project in making contact with other participants. Essential of all is to persist in seeking, talking to and also fulfilling it also when factors don't go so well. Shake off the dissatisfactions, the times where others neglect to appear for the conferences you organize, or the amount of times when people you satisfy stop working to match your requirements.

Getting the most coming from swinger parties

It may take a great deal of tenacity to crank up to a first time swinger day yet joining your very first swinger event call for a lot more nerves. Even after having actually worked efficiently with those pre-party nerves, lots of people knowledge but extra anxiousness within a handful of minutes of getting to a celebration. If you assume regarding it for a minute, also a close friend's birthday gathering can easily in some cases seem to be a little bit overwhelming when you walk right into an area packed with strangers.

The method to get rid of both the pre-party anxiousness and also the gathering nerves on their own is actually to know and take pair of factors. One is actually that at any type of given event there will be lots of various other absolute newbies. The various other is that you will never be actually the only restless individual as well as the possibilities are actually that there will certainly be actually a lot of others who are experiencing considerably worse anxiousness than you Swingers Club.

Acquiring the most from swinger nightclubs

Participating in a swinger club is a really similar situation to going to a personal home celebration, although some individuals mention they locate the suggestion much less challenging. In truth this is actually a false belief because swinger clubs, like all various other forms of nightclub, are controlled through normal patrons that may be incredibly cliquey. This type of behaviour is probably to include an additional level of social stress and anxiety to occasions kept at groups instead of those organized elsewhere.

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samuelfields · 6 years

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How to write a polite email asking for something

I want to show you an actual email someone sent me to ask for something that had me clamoring to call them.

With emails like these, I hope you appreciate the mental fortitude it takes to not go insane every day of my life.

But instead of just mocking the people who read my blog, I want to talk about the very best ones — the people who know how to politely reach out to VIPs and get a response.

The #1 key to asking for what you want politely

A lot of people think success is just a matter of “figuring it out” and reading a few books.

Top Performers know that they can leapfrog everyone else by getting personal advice from people who’ve already been through the fire. Ask any successful person how a mentor/advisor/expert has helped them, and they won’t be able to stop talking.

So how do you ask an elite level performer/VIP for help with something in a way that will actually get a positive response? Maybe it’s to get a recommendation for a job … or to get invited backstage to meet your favorite band … or even to get some advice on a tricky business situation.

The answer is to shift your focus from a “me” perspective to a “you” perspective. For example, years ago, I was hanging out with Charlie Hoehn, who’s worked with me and a lot of thought leaders like Tim Ferriss.

He told me how working behind the scenes has taught him about how to work with these kinds of people. “Everyone wants something from you guys,” he said. “Now I know how to stand out. Just don’t ask for anything! Actually add some value first.”

This “you first” approach is how I’ve been able to get the advice of best-selling authors, superstar CEOs, and all kinds of fascinating people.

Let’s take a look a look at that in action.

How to write a polite email asking for something

Here’s an email I received from a reader a while back. I called him within 60 seconds of reading it. See if you can find out why:

The reader was polite, considerate of my needs, and sold me on the benefits of working with him.

Let’s break down the anatomy of this email, though, so I can show you exactly why it works.

Step 1: Focus on the recipient

Remember: Your message to the important person should be focused on THEM. That’s the key to any polite email that hooks the reader in.

The reader above did this with a snappy and eye-catching subject line: I want to work for you for free.

YES. You have my attention.

He goes on lavishing me with compliments while sharing an example of how my advice has helped him.

What do you notice about that? It’s a genuine compliment. He’s not giving me superficial niceties like, “Your blog is cool” or “Awesome videos!” He says he has multiple ING Direct accounts, a Roth IRA, and an automated finance system set up because of me. THAT’S how you write a polite email.

Use the first one to two sentences to compliment the person you’re emailing and their work. Tell them how long you’ve been following them, what their advice has done for you, and/or your favorite post by them.

This will hook them into reading the rest of your email.

Step 2: Sell your benefits

Let’s face it, you’re trying to sell yourself here.

What benefits can you offer them? Why should they care?

Sometimes this comes in the form of a warm contact (more on this later). If you know of a mutual connection, you should name drop so the person you’re talking to knows how you know them. They’ll be much more willing to work with you if you both know the same person.

For this email, my reader knew that I was looking for talented developers — so he sold me on that.

Guess what? That immediately set him apart from 99.999% of the crowd.

You’re going to have to do your homework if you want to leverage this technique. You need to know your VIP’s pain points and how YOU can solve them.

Go deep. Get inside of their heads. See what solutions you can offer to their biggest problems.

Be like Don Corleone.

Notice that they’re ramping up their YouTube presence and you’re a video expert? Tell them that and do it for them.

Can you take their social media game to the next level? Sell them on all the followers and traffic you can generate for them.

If you can’t come up with a specific solution, show the person you’re emailing you have XYZ skill that’ll have ABC benefit for them.

Step 3: Make saying “no” impossible

Your last step is to anticipate any objections or concerns they might have.

My reader knew I had a few projects I wanted to get to but hadn’t made time for them yet.

And while I could tell he really wanted paid work, he tells me that he’d “be happy just for the opportunity to network and receive a little advice.”

This made me saying no to him impossible!

He respected the power dynamic. After all, he reached out to me asking for my time.

And he showed this by being proactive, offering up his phone number, and also providing samples of his work from his website.

Also acknowledge how many emails they get by ending your email with this script:

“I understand you have tremendous demands on your time, and if you don’t have time to respond, no problem. But if you do, even a sentence would mean a lot to me.”

This gives VIPs an easy out if they’re too busy. Counterintuitively, it also boosts your response rate since you’re showing empathy toward their time demands. Remember, this email from the developer worked so well, I called him within 60 seconds of receiving his message.

Follow these steps, and you can see the same results.

I then encourage you to use the Closing the Loop Technique to follow up with your VIP two weeks after you get your response. You can use the following script:

“Hey, you told me ABC. I dug in. I discovered you were right, and so I took your advice and I just wanted to thank you. I’ll keep you updated a couple months from now about how the new XYZ is going.”

ACTION STEP: Contact your VIP

Brainstorm ONE busy VIP you’d love to contact, then shoot them an email.

In the comments below, share your story and the response you got.

Now I want to show you the four traits all great email introductions share that’ll get you responses.

The traits are simple — but 99% of people skip them. Don’t do this.

Trait #1: Reaches out through a warm contact.

As mentioned before, you’re going to have a better chance of someone responding if you name drop a mutual contact.

Why? This gives you social capital. If you know the same awesome people they know, they’ll want to work with you. Simple as that.

Even if you don’t think you have one, I HIGHLY suggest you search anyways. The results might surprise you.

Some good resources to check for mutual contacts:

Facebook (Use the site’s mutual friends tool to see who you know in common)

Twitter (Check out who they follow. Do they follow and engage with anyone you know?)

LinkedIn (Leverage the site’s mutual connections tool to see who you both know)

Their blog posts

If they wrote a book, check the “Acknowledgements” page

Over the years, people have found mutual contacts with me through ALL of these resources.

Trait #2: Explains any similarities we have.

This trait can automatically establish a connection with the person you’re emailing even if they’re a complete stranger.

Some examples of areas where you might share similarities:

College

High school

Hometown

Company

Industry

Even if you’ve never met, if you both went to the same high school or are from the same town, you both immediately have shared experiences. This is powerful and crucial when getting someone to respond to you.

If another Stanford alum reached out to me and seemed genuine, I’ll almost always take a phone call, or if convenient, a coffee meeting. It’s that powerful.

Trait #3: Cuts out the fat.

Check out this email I got a while back. It’s an absolute master class in bad email introductions.

Notice that in the second paragraph, he actually acknowledges that he should focus on ME (the busy person) … and proceeds to do the exact opposite!

On top of that, this was a very long stream-of-consciousness email.

Chances are, the person you’re emailing is probably very busy. As such, you’re going to want to make sure that your email isn’t wasting their time with any superfluous information.

Do that, and you’ll INSTANTLY eliminate yourself from their inbox.

Trait #4: Doesn’t outright ask for a favor.

This is something you should not do in an email introduction. That’s the opposite of polite.

Even if you’re just asking for help, it’s best if you provide the recipient an out so they don’t feel like you’re demanding something from them.

It’s always best to end an email acknowledging how busy they are and that they shouldn’t feel pressured into doing anything. Here’s the great script from above to do just that:

“I understand you have tremendous demands on your time, and if you don’t have time to respond, no problem. But if you do, even a sentence would mean a lot to me.”

See why that works? This gives your email recipient an easy out if they’re too busy. Counterintuitively, it also boosts your response rate since you’re showing empathy toward their time demands.

NOTE: The people who have reached out to me weren’t always the most socially smooth people. But the very best showed a remarkable level of preparation, which anyone can accomplish — but few actually do.

As a result, many of these people stood out among tens of thousands of others who left comments/emails/tweets. Not only do the very best Top Performers have an uncanny ability to reach extremely busy people, but they can turn a one-time meeting into a long-term relationship.

And over time, that is worth more than almost any technical skill or amount of experience.

Get what you want

I’ve just given you the five steps to asking for a favor and getting what you want. This strategy works for anything.

And if you want specific scripts for emails that get results too, I have five you can use to:

Set up an informational interview

Ask for recommendations for people to talk to

Cold email a stranger for advice

Pitch for a consulting gig or a job interview

Reach out to others in your company to get to know them

Just enter your information below, and I’ll send you these five word-for-word scripts for free.

How to write a polite email asking for something is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Finance https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/how-to-ask-for-something-from-an-important-person-and-actually-get-it/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

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