How to Memorize Lines

Video Transcript

"This is Dr. Charles Grimes. I'm speaking on behalf of Expert Village about analyzing a text and beginning to rehearse your monologue. Here are some tricks for memorizing lines. It's one of the first challenges you have, when you're looking at your monologue and trying to think about how you're going to perform it. As an actor, you may have many tricks already that will help you do this. Here are some that have worked for me. First - now the joke is coming up in about one, two, three seconds. Repetition is key. Repetition is key. Repetition is key. So you will have to memorize your line over and over, and there is no substitute for saying them over and over. Actors talk about muscle memory, and it has to do with your face, your mouth and your voice. The more you make yourself say these words, the easier it will be to memorize them. It's really that simple. Get all the words exactly right. This is what the first phase of your rehearsal is all about. If you make a mistake here, it's likely to be embedded all the way down the line, into your final performance of the monologue. Get all the words right. Think about the breaking down and putting it back together, the analyzing that we did. So you could memorize first the beginning. Then you can work on the middle. Then you can work on the end. Let's think about sequential readings. And Hank's going to do this. A very simple technique. He's going to read the first sentence of his monologue. And he's going to try to memorize it. Then he's going to read the first sentence and the second sentence and memorize those. Then he's going to try to read the first and the second and the third, memorize those. And continue. Hank, why don't you give that a shot for us, to demonstrate? The main issue is a singular issue and quite distinct from the previous, your previous work. The main issue is a singular issue and quite distinct from your previous work. Certain elements, however, might well approximate the points of procedure of some of your other activities. The main issue is a singular issue and quite distinct from your previous work. Certain elements, however, might well- might well approximate the points of procedure of your other activities. All is dependent on the attitude of the subject. All is dependent on the attitude of the subject. In all events, McCann, I can assure you that the assignment will be carried out and the mission accomplished with no excess aggravation to you or myself. Are you satisfied? Good. So that's a simple demonstration of sequential memorization. You can do that with someone who can bounce a line back to you. But you build up your memorization in units. Lastly, I like to write my lines down. And this helps me recreate what the writer did as he was writing them down. And it's one of the most intimate ways that you can explore the words you're about to say on stage. "