This technique allows us to discover unconscious connections to ordinary things that we might otherwise just blindly pass. It became so fertile for me that I started doing it just for fun, so now I often have conversations with a Martian visitor. One day he asked me what I did for a living. I thought about it for a while and finally said:
A.A.: I ... I ... (struggling for clarity) ... I pretend I’m a human being.
MARTIAN: You pretend you’re a human being?
A.A.: That’s correct.
MARTIAN: Aren’t you a human being?
A.A.: I am. Yes.
MARTIAN: Then why do you have to pretend you’re a human being?
A.A.: People like to watch me pretend I’m a human being. MARTIAN: Why?
A.A.: I don’t know.
MARTIAN: Couldn’t they just watch you be a human being without the pretending part?
A.A.: They could but they wouldn’t.
MARTIAN: Why not?
A.A.: They wouldn’t find me interesting.
MARTIAN: Why not?
A.A.: I ... I’m not sure.
MARTIAN: And for this they pay you?
A.A.: They do, yes.
MARTIAN: Why would anyone pay you for pretending to be what you already are?
A.A.: They don’t pay me for pretending to be what I am. They pay me for pretending to be other people.
MARTIAN: Why can’t you just pretend to be you?
A.A.: I don’t have to pretend to be me. I am me.
MARTIAN: (after a considerable pause) Are you good at pretending to be other people?
A.A.: I think so. In fact, a lot of people who do what I do, we are called actors, are better at pretending to be other people than they are at being themselves.
MARTIAN: Strange.
A.A.: I suppose it is, yes.
MARTIAN: Again I ask, why do people want to see you doing this?
A.A.: (after some thought) Because watching actors live pretend lives often gives people clues about how to live their own lives.
MARTIAN: I begin to see. You become imaginary characters, in hypothetical situations, which are then used for problem solving.
A.A.: Yes. Thank you. You said it better than I did.
MARTIAN: Who designs these problems?
A.A.: We have special people who do this. They are called writers.
MARTIAN: So you pretend to be whatever creatures these writers imagine?
A.A.: That’s what I do.
MARTIAN: Are these ethical and moral people, these writers? Are they priests?
A.A.: They are occasionally ethical and moral; rarely are they priests.
MARTIAN: So, in other words, to make a living you become a pawn in someone else’s assessment of the human condition for other people’s amusement or possible edification.
A.A.: I suppose that’s what I do, yes.
MARTIAN: A very humble work.
A.A.: Not necessarily.
MARTIAN: How so?
A.A.: Some of us are treated like gods.
MARTIAN: (shocked and incredulous) How can this be?
A.A.: Many people think we are really doing what we’re pretending to do.
MARTIAN: They don’t know you’re pretending?
A.A.: They know we’re pretending, but they pretend they don’t know we’re pretending.
MARTIAN: (after a great deal of mulling) You are a strange and complicated race.
A.A.: I’ve often thought so.
So when things get tense, when I start taking my work a bit too seriously, I remind myself that I’m only pretending to be a human being. I am happy to say that I don’t take it all that seriously any longer, which doesn’t seem to have affected my work too adversely.
It the final analysis, it’s all improvisation. We’re all tap dancing on a rubber raft. We like to think otherwise, so we plan our lives, we plot, we figure, we find careers that will guarantee us an early retirement, we look for relationships that are permanent, we fill out forms, we do scientific experiments, we write rules—all in an attempt to solidify, concretize, and control this universe of ours that refuses to be pigeon-holed, to be understood, pinned down, categorized, or even named. This magical wild horse of a universe that gallops by us and through us and around us, and every once in a while allows us to grab on to its mane for a moment or two and join in its dance, but won’t be tamed, conquered, or figured out. We keep finding the smallest possible particle only to discover six months later there is a smaller one. We find suns and planets and star systems that continually defy all logic. We ask doctors for the scientific unalterable facts about our condition and when pressed to the wall they tell us they don’t know the answer, they can only approximate. Psychiatrists tell us after five years, “I never promised you a rose garden.” We try endlessly to make sense of the whole thing. We write down rules and regulations that are supposed to work under all conditions, it never happens. It’s not possible for it to happen. You know you’ve found a real expert on television when they can’t give you a definitive answer. Real experts know something about the variables, the intangibles. We are at our best, I think, when we start to let it all go. When we begin to trust the fact that millions of years of evolution have created this organism, through a lot of trial and error, and it’s come up with some pretty good answers. It’s all the nagging, the complaining, the plotting, the fears, the endless need to keep the universe in all its majestic chaos at bay—that with a little more thought and effort we can figure it all out, control it all, the universe, our destiny. This is what kills us, robs us of our spontaneity, our ability to improvise, which, as Webster’s says, is to create something on the spur of the moment with whatever material is at hand.
That’s what we’re all doing, all the time, whether we know it or not. Whether we like it or not. Creating something on the spur of the moment with the materials at hand. We might just as well let the rest of it go, join the party, and dance our hearts out.
INDEX
Academy Award winner, criticism of an
Academy of Music
Academy, the, critique of
Acting, as a metaphor for life
Acting classes
sense of competition in
taken by Alan Arkin
teaching, issue with
Acting profession
dream-analysis conversation involving the
power of the, sense of the
Actor’s disease
Actors’ Equity
Addiction
to acting
to film
Anarchy and chaos, difference between
Arkin, Adam (son)
Arkin, Alan
as an acting addict
acting classes taken by
adolescent years of
attending musical performance at Carnegie Hall
in Austin, Texas
in Broadway productions
career dip of
in Chicago, with Second City
childhood of
college years of
conducting improvisational workshops
connecting to emotions
on the craft of acting
depression felt by
directing and performing in one-act plays
as a director of off-Broadway plays
on directors
and dream analysis
early decision to go into acting
on embracing the beginner’s mind
in Europe
on failure
on fans and fandom
fears and inadequacies faced by
as film director
as film junkie
gauging performances of others
as guitar player
in Hawaii
on his improv workshops, a reflection
improvisational work of
and learning about actors from directing
on learning from films
on life
on the making of movies
most imp
ortant experience for
and the move to California during childhood
and moves to New York
in the movies
on the needs audiences have
in New Mexico
in New York, with Second City
in off-Broadway role
in other productions
philosophical and metaphysical shift experienced by
as a playwright
on the possibility of internal growth and conscious living
re-examining his acting technique
reflecting on his own acting
role-play in childhood
in school plays
schooling of
on script reading
on self-knowledge/discovery
singing career of
in St. Louis
in Toronto
undergoing therapy, effect of
working professionally with his sons
working with Native American youth
as a writer of books
zone experiences of
Arkin, Beatrice (mother)
Arkin, David I. (father)
Arkin, Matthew (son)
Arkin, Tony (son)
Arrick, Larry
Assadorian, Lucy
Audiences, needs of
Auditions/auditioning
Bach music
Ball-throwing exercise
Barry, J. J.
Beatty, Miss
Beethoven, Ludwig van
Beethoven’s 9th
Beginner’s mind, embracing the
Bennes, John
Bennington College
Berlin, Jeannie (daughter of Elaine May)
Beth (workshop participant)
Billie (workshop participant)
Bonerz, Peter
Brad (workshop participant)
Breslin, Abigail
Burnett, Carol
Candid Camera (TV show)
Carey, Bob
Carnegie Hall, musical performance at
Catch-22 (film)
Chaos and anarchy, difference between
Chaplin, Charlie
Charlie Chan (character)
Chekhov method
Chekhov, Michael
Children’s imaginary play, value of
See also Role-play
Cold War
Committee, The (improv group)
Conflict
avoiding, tensions in
manufactured
Conscious living, and the possibility of internal growth
Control
attempting to have
fear of losing
loss of, confusion resulting from, as riveting
minimal, feeling of
Coping tools and techniques, new, need for
Creativity, issue of
Crossing, The
Dana, Barbara (second wife)
Darden, Severn
Darling, Erik
Developmental stages, effect of going through
Devil and Daniel Webster, The (film)
Diary of a Mad Housewife (film)
Directors, view of
Dooley, Paul
Drama, meaning of, view on the
Dream analysis, techniques in
Duncan, Andrew
Eastern philosophy
Eliot, T. S.
Emotional context/state, as a tool, using the
Emotions, connecting to one’s
Emptiness, moment of, embracing
Energies, sensitivity to
Engles, Mr.
Enter Laughing (Broadway play)
Enter Laughing (Reiner)
Failure, allowing
Falk, Peter
Fans and fandom, view of
Fears
faced by Alan Arkin
of failure, children’s imaginary play devoid of any
felt by workshop participants
letting go of
of listening to Beethoven’s music
of losing control
role of, in manufacturing conflict
Feiffer, Jules
Fidel (arranger of workshop for Native Americans)
Film making, rules of, change in mindset about
Flow experience. See Zone experiences
Freedom, sense of, carrying on the
Free-play exercise
Frog-in-hot-water syndrome
Gardenia, Vince
Gielgud, John
Glengarry Glen Ross (film)
Great Dictator, The (film)
Greenwich Village
Greg (workshop participant)
Group art forms, underlying message running through all the
Guilt, nature of, obtaining a perspective on the
Hagen, Uta
Hall, Anita
Hayward, Louis
Hepburn, Katharine
Hiller, Arthur
Holland, Anthony (Tony)
Hollywood Boulevard
Huston, Walter
I Hate Hamlet (Broadwaybound play)
Imaginary play. See Role-play
Improvisational training, actors with, working with
Improvisational workshops
conducting
reflecting on
Improvise, defined
In-Laws, The (film)
Institute for American Indian Arts, The
Intellectualizing, problem of, avoiding the
Intention, role of
Intuition
Jackson, Anne
Jackson, Mahalia
Jewison, Norman
Judgments, initial, problem of making
Kahn, Madeline
Karen (workshop participant)
Kaye, Danny
Kazan, Elia
Kennedy, Jackie
Kennedy, John F.
Khrushchev, Nikita Sergeyevich
Kirlian aura lab
Korkes, Jon
Lampert, Zohra
Lavin, Linda
Lemmon, Jack
Letting go, value of
Lewis, Mrs.
as improvisation
metaphor for, acting as a
Little Murders (film)
Little Murders (off-Broadway play)
Living in the moment, whole-heartedly
Los Angeles City College
Luv (Broadway play)
Machine exercise
Major Barbara (production)
Man in the Iron Mask, The (film)
Mann, Thomas
Marx, Groucho
Mathieu, Bill
May, Elaine
Meaning and intention, role of
Mercer, Joanie
Merchant of Venice, The (play)
Merrick, David
Metaphor for life
Moss, Thelma
Moving tableau exercise
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
My Dinner with Andre (film)
Native American shaman
Native American students, workshop for
Nemerov, Howard
New York University (NYU)
Newlander, Suzanne (wife)
Newscasters, critique of
Omega Institute, The
Palmer, Arnold
Patinkin, Sheldon
Perkins, Tony
Petrouchka (ballet)
Playing, value of
Playwrights, perspective of
“Playwriting” problem
See also Intellectualizing, problem of, avoiding the
Poetry reading, unusual
Popi (film)
Power of the acting profession, sense of the
Power Plays (evening of one-act plays)
Prince Igor (opera)
Problem-solving exercise
Promenade Theater, The
Psychodrama, conducting workshops as
Reiner, Carl
Renoir, Jean
Richardson, Ralph
Role-play
during childhood
value of
See also Ball-throwing exercise; Free-play exercise; Machine exercise; Moving tableau exercise; Problem-solving exercise
Rubin, Charlie
Ruggles, Charles
Russians Are Coming, The (film)
Sahlins, Bernie
Sandy (uncle)
Schisgal, Murray
Schlossberg, Julian
Scorbate, Susan
Script reading
lack of, by actors
method for
Script-formatting computer program
Sean (workshop participant)
Second City, The (improv group)
Alan Arkin directing cast members from
in Chicago
in New York
in Toronto
Self-knowledge/discovery
Selling culture, living in a
Sills, Paul
Soviet Union
Stanislavski, Constantin Sergeyevich
State of the Union (film)
Stravinsky, Igor
Susskind, David
Suzuki, Shunryu
Tableau exercise
Tarriers, The (folk singing group)
Television newscasters, critique of
Therapy/analysis, undergoing, effect of
Threepenny Opera, The (Chicago-based production)
Toler, Sidney