Acting Lessons From The Cat From Outer Space

The 1978 movie, “The Cat from Outer Space” is a guilty-pleasure favorite movie from my childhood.

I recently rediscovered it on Disney+ and have enjoyed the nostalgia.

If you’re not familiar with it, the movie tells the story of a cat from another planet nicknamed Jake by a scientist who befriends him. Jake’s spaceship crash lands on Earth and the scientist helps him repair the ship.

As Jake and the scientist, Frank, diagnose repairs for the ship, they determine Jake needs $120,000 worth of gold to fix the ship’s systems.

Frank is stunned at this and emphasizes to Jake why getting $120,000 in gold is no easy task.

Because I studied acting, I was really impressed by actor Ken Berry, who plays Frank, in the scene. Ken commits to the scene fully, telling the cat he’s playing the scene with just how hard it is to get that much gold.

Despite it being a ridiculous premise in a forgettable kids’ movie, Ken plays the scene straight, without any camp or attempts at humor.

As a viewer you really believe he’s having an intellectual discussion with the cat.

On the other end of the spectrum, I’m reminded of another Disney production, a TV show called “The Suite Life.” It was about two twin boys and the trouble they get in school and throughout their lives.

(My wife went through a three-year period where she was addicted to Disney kids shows.)

I couldn’t stand the show. Every adult’s reaction was wide, pandering to kids watching, and acting like they were projecting to the back row, even in close ups.

And despite the completely absurd premise of “The Cat from Outer Space,” the acting is more sincere than “The Suite Life.”

I have nothing against kids’ shows. My wife and I watch a lot of family entertainment.

The bad acting on “The Suite Life” destroys any chance of me becoming invested in its much more believable premise.

I can’t stand it when the actors are directed to mug and act like buffoons. It completely takes me out of the narrative.

But I can believe Ken Berry’s sincerity with Jake the talking cat.

Magicians could learn a lot from actor Ken Berry.

We traverse in the bizarre, weird, and ridiculous every time we perform.

And despite the narrative in our shows that we have superhuman powers, we often use our supposed gifts for dumb things.

Seriously, if you could really do magic, would you use your abilities to put a bottle cap into a bottle? At least with card tricks, there is the whole gambling subtext to make money to lean on.

Since we are dealing with the absurd, it is my contention we should present everything in our shows as sincerely as we can.

I’m not saying we have to be serious all the time. Only that we believe and are fully committed to the premise.

Even when performing Bill Abbott’s wonderful Mind-Reading Monkey routine, I never wink at the audience. And each time the monkey puppet misbehaves, I act like I’m really irritated and getting angrier each time.

I can’t stand it when magicians mug to the audience.

I feel that the more naturalistic a magician’s acting is, the better. I’m not against exaggeration, only mugging.

Check out both productions to see what I’m really talking about.

And regarding sincerity, I also can’t stand it when a magician does magic and then immediately belittles what they just did.

I noticed several comedy club magicians doing things like this a couple of decades ago.

There seemed to be no belief in what they were doing. They treated what they were doing as a joke.

If they didn’t care, why should I?

Contrast that to Penn & Teller. Even when they are supposedly exposing a trick, they treat the art of magic as if it’s the most important thing in the world to them.

They treat their presentations as important. So their audiences are fully invested.

Same with David Copperfield.

He’s most known for his big illusions and posing while fans blow his hair. But re-watching many of his specials, I had forgotten just how funny he was.

And he was sincere.

So, your homework assignment this week is to look critically at your show.

Are you sincere? Do you perform naturally? Or if you exaggerate your reactions, do they at least come from a place of sincerity?

Most importantly, do you treat what you are doing, the performance of magic, as a Big Deal? (Capitalization intended.)

If you do not, consider what I’m saying this week.

And give it a try.

My bet? You’ll get more investment from your audiences if you are invested in what you are doing.

Have a great week!

--Cris

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