Mortified Live
Casting FAQ
Q:
What is Mortified Live?
A: Mortified is a forum where people tell comedic stories about their
lives by sharing their adolescent "artifacts" (childhood letters,
lyrics, notes, schoolwork, novellas, plays, photos, home movies) with an
audience of total strangers.
Q:
How do I participate in Mortified Live?
A: You request
a screening session-- we also call these "shoebox
sessions". Bascially, you show up with a shoebox of stuff
you created as a kid, and we try to help you determine which stuff will
resonate with an audience of strangers. All we ask is that you earmark about
5-ish minutes of your favorite material ahead of time. That gives us a great
starting place, and we often sift through all the extra stuff, too. And
no, the shoebox is not a literal need.
Q:
What kind of material do I share during a session?
A: Your most embarrassing childhood artifacts (letters, poems,
journals, lyrics, schoolwork, scripts, novellas, comics, home movies)
created when you were young (typically 5-20).
Q:
How much stuff should I share during a session?
A: You should gather about 5 (ish) minutes of material. No need to
time it out, ballpark guesses are fine. Please be sure to pre-select
this. That said, bring along any additional material if you have any. If
you have a shoebox of notes or poems sitting under your bed, bring it just
in case. This comes in handy more often than not.
Q:
Is this an "audition"?
A: No. Our show is curated, but terms like audition or tryout do not speak
to our process, and we avoid using them.
Q:
What happens during a screening session (aka: shoebox session)?
A: It's part reading, part interview. You show up with something you created
as a kid. You read it aloud. We talk about it. We joke. We talk some more.
And that's it. It's very conversational and casual. Depending on how much
time we are able to give, it can take anywhere from 20-50 minutes. Given
the strange and intimidating nature of reading material to strangers, we
try to make it as inviting, fun and nurturing as possible.
Q:
Do you screen all material?
A: Yep. Since there are so many nuances to what makes one's childhood writing
captivating, our curating process is the most important aspect of what we
do. We work very hard to unearth the most compelling content we can find
for our audience.
Q:
What is your criteria for selecting material?
A: We tend to look for stuff that is: honest, ancient (created before the
age of 21), unaware why it's funny, autobiographcially revealing, and contains
a perspective that is uniquely you.
Q:
What is your process?
A: People bring us material.
We then try to find
excerpts that reveal humorous stories about their life. We're
sort of like diary detectives. Our agenda is not so much to create a retro
show-and-tell, but rather to present humorous autobiographical stories,
as told primarily through things you created as a kid.
Q:
Who performs the material?
A: You do. The original author is always our focus. This is a personal,
confessional format and is intentionally not a Vagina Monologues-style
project where actors interpret the words of unseen ordinary people. On occasion,
especially with pieces that involve songs or plays, the original author
is joined on stage by other performers. But mostly, it's just you on a dark
stage. This gives each performance an intimate, naked energy.
Q:
Can participants ever rewrite the original wording?
A: Nope. All material must be 100% authentic. We do not add new language
to the source material except for issues such as privacy. Adding new words
to the source material is antithetical to what we've set out to accomplish
from day one.
Q:
Are there any topics that are off-limits?
A: No. Topics can range anything-- family, romance, bullies, celebrities,
punishments, smoking, making-out, school, career aspirations, world peace,
obsessions, hatred, etc. The more specific it is to your personality, usually
the better it is. There is not really one topic that is better than another.
Just keep in mind, the majority of what is presented to us involves "crushes,"
so we're always on the lookout for a wide variety of topics. We tackle any
subject that kids face... from the PG-rated (crushes, camp, religion) to
the R-rated (addiction, depression, illness).
Q:
Who can request a screening session?
A: It's wide open casting-- any gender, ethnicity, generation, orientation
or profession. We. Want. You. You might have stage experience, you might
not. You might be funny, you might not. Your resume is totally incidental.
We love getting to help everyone from teachers to actors to architects shine.
Q:
Do you have performance criteria?
A: Overall, we
look for "people who are simply good at playing themselves". Are
you good at that? Sweet. We like you already. Even better? You don't have
to be an comic, actor or singer. In fact, we prefer amateurs. Mostly
our advice is to just be your sweet old self.
Q:
Do you reject anyone?
A: Mortified is curated. We sit down with each prospective participant and
try to find excerpts that reveal humorous stories about their life. When
we can find enough excerpts, we are able to put something on stage. We work
very hard to find this, talking with people for hours, days, weeks. Some
of our best material takes several sessions to truly discover.
Q:
Can I perform something that somebody to wrote "to" me (ex: a
letter)?
A: We look for material that is revealing about you. So
if it fits that bill, we'll happily consider it. But with rare exception,
we find it best to stick to stuff that you wrote. Otherwise, it
can get mean-spirited.
Q:
Do performers need to memorize?
A: No. We do not want you to memorize. Our audience generally does not respond
well to things that are too performative.
Q:
Why do people participate in Mortified?
A: Inititally, performers get involved simply to make people laugh. But
time and time again, we're told how therapeutic they found the whole process
to be. We've inspired many reunions between long lost friends and relatives
and that makes us feel pretty damn awesome.
Q:
How can I enjoy clips of Mortified in action if I haven't ever been to a
show?
A: Watch our web series, The
Mortified Shoebox Show, for examples. Always proves helpful.
Q:
I want to perform but... what if I never kept anything I wrote?
A: More often than not, we've learned everyone has something. Yes,
even you. You'd be shocked what you have. A letter. A school essay. A story
you wrote in 3rd grade. A poem. A lame rap lyric. A script. A home video.
Something.
Q:
Can I submit a memoir or essay about a childhood event but wrote
recently?
A: We are not a "lit salon." If you are looking to perform a shortform
memoir, we suggest you visit our talented friends at The
Moth or FreshYarn.
They rock. Most cities are crawling with "lit salon" style events
nowadays, where you can read personal essays that you recently wrote.
Q:
How often do you hold screening sessions?
A: It's ongoing. And open to all. We are always on the lookout
for great material and new faces. If you don't hear from us immediately,
hang tight, your request will be kept on file until our next round. We're
a pretty small crew. With extremely rare exception, we contact everyone
who contacts us.
