I needed a way to learn lines without tearing my hair out. I found a method that worked quickly, beautifully, and seems to deliver a much more natural performance. Check out a little Kindle book called “The Actor’s Machine.”

Buy it at http://www.amazon.com/The-Actors-Machine-Simplest-Approach-ebook/dp/B00OU0QISO for $7.99. Even if you don’t own a Kindle you can get the app for your PC or smart phone.

Here’s the strategy in a nutshell.

The worst thing you can do is memorize lines off a script. What the Irhig Method has you do is assign what your character

• sees,
• hears, or
• says to herself

to every beat in the script. Memorize only these “triggers” and see, hear or say the self-talk (to yourself) before saying the line.

Note: A beat is considered a change in behavior happens in the scene.

Worked like a charm on 6 single spaced pages with a bare minimum of effort. Normally, I’d be paralyzed with sweat trying to get those lines over the course of weeks.

Of course, your mileage may vary. Let me know if it works or doesn’t work for you.