Assignment #2: Joke Assignment

Julia Adams
28563468
TA : Renae Miller

Summary - 101 words

One time I had to perform a play with my competitive acting group. I never fully learned my

lines or rehearsed thoroughly. I decided that I would memorize them right before so that it would

be fresh in my mind. I walked on stage and I couldn’t remember my lines or movements. I froze

and blurted out the wrong line. Then when the scene was done I went the wrong way and

bumped directly into my co-star and she tripped. When the play finished, I got in trouble. We

still obtained a great score. I even got some clout from it.

A Performance of a Lifetime - 514 words

My entire life, I wanted to try acting. So I challenged myself, joining a competitive acting group
despite my fear of crowds. Strangely, of countless screenplays, my director chose the Little
Mermaid. Let’s just say I wasn’t amused to wear a wig and costume in front of a massive crowd
at 16. I felt like weird eye candy for some guy with a mermaid fetish.
We practiced for weeks, but unlike the rest of my group, I couldn’t take this mermaid shit
seriously. I’d go to rehearsals, assuming I looked more like a space-cadet than a mermaid.
Nonetheless, I ‘had’ to suck it up since my grandma was coming. Her presence was deemed a
big deal, but considering she can’t remember my name and sleeps, I couldn’t care less.
The day of the performance I still hadn’t learnt all my lines. I had one short scene so I
wasn’t too worried, until I went backstage and saw thousands of people. Then, I worried. I had
extreme stage fright all my life, and today was no different.
My mind immediately visualized worst possible outcomes, my heart racing and breath
shortening. Panicking, I recited my lines repeatedly, trying to hinder the intense sweat and
shaking that dispersed through my body.
Before retaining anything, I heard my director’s strange-pitched voice.
“You’re up.”
At this point, I bottled up so much fear, causing my eyes to tear up and my mouth to tremble. I
kid you not I couldn’t even generate a thought. I frantically looked around to see who was
starting off the scene. I realized It was me. Fuck.
“Where is Ariel?” I blurted.
My co-stars' all broke character out of confusion. I clearly had just said the wrong line and to
make it worse, Ariel was right in front of me. I had to move, but my legs were chafing horribly

1
Assignment #2: Joke Assignment
Julia Adams
28563468
TA : Renae Miller

in my stupid tail costume that I could barely walk. I moved slightly, sending a rhinestone flying.
Another actor chimed in and said some random improvisation shit. No one knew what to do.
Grabbing my tail, I quickly waddled off the closest side of the stage I could see. It was all dark,
but I felt something slip as I brushed by. I looked onstage to realize I had tripped another
mermaid. Her face beamed bright red as she improvised a mermaid in water, dragging her tail on
the ground. I then knew I was mega-fucked.
Making my way to the greenroom, I wished to trade lives with my character, to swim
away from the mess.
I got scolded by my director, but hearing kermit-the-frog’s voice in a serious manner was
anything but serious. It cheered me up. To everyone’s surprise, we actually got a great score. The
judges mistook our error for the actual script. That girl I tripped even got a creativity mention for
moving on the floor as if she were a mermaid swimming in water. I guess the takeaway here is
that young women in mermaid costumes really do have an appeal, hence why my weird director
probably chose it.