How did this start? 30 Jan 2024 7:37 PM (last year)

Ya ever ponder how seemingly minor events end up completely altering your life’s trajectory?

A conversation between me and my dad when I was 6 years old led me to be a steadily working actor and founder of Committed Impulse.

You could even say this father & son conversation actually led to the connection between YOU and me.

Here’s how it all started…

I want to hear from you!
1) What emotion do you feel RIGHT NOW?
2) Can you experience it as moving atoms? In what way are those atoms moving?

The way of hard work. 30 Jan 2024 7:12 PM (last year)

I’ve been writing the Committed Impulse book very steadily. And enjoying it.
Interesting thing though…
I can’t tell you how many people have laid out a certain message to me after I got my deal with Penguin Random House.

Things like,
“Writing your book is going to be like climbing a mountain.” Or…

“Getting the deal is one thing – but now you’re gonna have to actually write it.” Or…

“You got a six figure deal, aren’t you scared it won’t be good enough?”

Kinda weird that some people want me to approach this creative process as if it were a burden.
Burden with agony sprinkles on top.

Truth is – it’s been a real joy thus far.
I mean – writing a book about being creatively invincible should be written with joy, right?

Working HARRRD is something I’ve done a lot of – but in retrospect a percentage of that HARRRD work was me just adding stress to whatever was in front of me.

It can’t be dismissed that in our culture being stressed out and carrying a heavy burden is oddly looked at as a certain kind of success.
F*^k that. Right?

Maybe if an act of creation is challenging – that’s just the universe asking us to shed some unnecessary skin and expand into our next level of artistry.

No doubt, creating is often challenging.
But adding burden and agony when facing that challenge doesn’t make one more heroic.
That’s just revving the engine when it’s in neutral.

Part of my mission is to support you in your creative endeavors.
So, question for ya, Pookie.
Are you by any chance adding unnecessary burden or agony to your creative process?
Hmm?
If so – why?

Another question…
In this new year is there a way you can do things differently?
What if you explored approaching things in the exact opposite way as you have in the past?
Just to shake it up a lil.
Just to explore.

To that end, if you wanna work/create/express/commit to your impulses with me, join me on the Committed Impulse Online Program, or one of the live or Zoom events happening this year.

I think you’re great!
I think you’re a badass!
I dig your scene.
Your future is bright.

Now, we all wanna hear from you.
-What would an opposite approach to creating in this new year be?
-And, would it be OK to take the struggle and agony out of your creative process?

Pop your insights, questions, and thoughts below.

The post The way of hard work. appeared first on Committed Impulse.

Find Your Type 5 Sep 2023 1:29 PM (last year)

Should you find your type?

Every so often a brilliant actor who is in CI tells me they’re trying to figure out their type. At first I think they are asking for dating advice. Which I happen to be quite good at, by the way.

But, no, that’s not what they’re asking for.

They want to know what box the entertainment industry would want to fit them into.
They’re on a mission, asking lots of people for feedback.

What type am I?

Honestly, I get a bit baffled by the question, because I see them as a one-of-a-kind artist. But, I do tell them what shows I could imagine seeing them on.

No doubt, knowing the answer to this question could be helpful if you’re meeting with a new agent/manager and they ask you, “How do you see yourself?”

On the flip side…

Ultimately there is only one of you – which is something to be grateful for!
Imagine if there were 5 of you – now that would be competition.

Instead of figuring out what type you are – and then trying to fit into that box – or have other people put you in that box – there is something else to consider.

Here’s what I have witnessed.

When an actor in CI starts accessing their truth…
When an actor in CI starts creating from their gut… their impulses… their core… their soul… they transcend type.

They become a spontaneous being revealing themselves within a story.
(p.s. That’s what an audience wants.)

We must always catch when we give our eyes away.
Attempting to see ourselves from someone else’s point of view will immediately pull us out of the present.
Remember: one of the key elements to presence is a detailed connection to our immediate environment.
We must always see outward, as opposed to pondering what we may look like from the outside in.
Further, we can’t do our sparkiest creative work while also having attention on proving what type we are.

Ultimately what is going to lead you to getting work is you creating from your deepest you. That funky, magical, dynamic, unsure, confident, scared, brave, brilliant YOU.
I celebrate you!

You are the absolute best you anyone has ever seen. You’re so lucky!

Let’s chat.
Let me know your thoughts about this in the comments below.

Breathe.
See.
Feel.
I’m Back.

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5 Things To Remember Today If You Happen To Be Alive. 20 Mar 2023 8:19 AM (2 years ago)

Here are 5 things to remember today if you happen to be alive.

1.)
I will remember that when anyone (ANYONE!) puts their ass on the line – they are going to feel more. Putting my ass on the line may be in the form of an audition, a big meeting, a date, or telling someone something I’ve been avoiding telling them.

2.)
I will hang out in discomfort when it arises and explore the nuance of the actual experience. I will give up the pattern of suppressing myself.

3.)
I will remember that all sensations are atoms moving through my body at different frequencies. They’re not good. They’re not bad. And they are in a constant state of flux.

4.)
I am designed to feel every emotion that occurs. It is part of my DNA to feel emotions. It’s how we’re all built. I will stop fighting what I feel. Because it’s a waste of time, and a denial of my truth in this moment.

5.)
I will not escape into my phone when I am unsure, insecure, or scared. I will refer to #3. I will remember that smart phones are designed to make us phone addicts. As with all addictions – a key element is the avoidance of a sensation or experience. I can handle everything my body gives me to feel. I will remember that when I suppress what I feel, I limit my creativity. I choose to be brave and feel the full range of sensations, and I choose to be a fully creative being.

I wish you a delicious powerful day full of the richness of experiencing YOU.

Be brave, you got this!
You got you!
Josh Pais

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Josh’s Daily Inspiration 7 Nov 2022 1:38 PM (2 years ago)

We wanted to share this short interview with Josh from VoyageLA as he talks about the evolution of CI, and how he uses it in his work…

By the way…

Wanna learn from Josh directly? Whole bunch of classes coming up. See below!

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How to give your audience what they want 16 Sep 2022 10:30 PM (2 years ago)

Regardless of what you do – you have an audience.

And your audiences wants one thing more than anything else.

THEY WANT YOU.

Specifically: they want your truth.
They want to connect to your aliveness – your authentic present self.

Obvious, right?
But it’s often unclear HOW exactly we can do this.

I want to give you a simple and mighty exercise to bring your truth, your YOU, to your acting, your presenting, your interactions, your life.

The exercise is called STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS.

Here’s how ya do it.
Give this a try.
It’s simple, and it’s a game changer.

1)
Choose a few lines of a monologue, the words of a nursery rhyme, or a song. Anything that you have memorized.

2)
Now for the Stream of Consciousness part…
For two minutes say out loud what you feel.
For example: “I feel unsure. I feel calm. I feel annoyed. I don’t know what I feel. I feel energy buzzing inside my torso. I feel nervous. I feel the bottoms of my feet. I feel calm again.”

3)
Now, let’s put it all together…
In the midst of your stream of consciousness – staying connected to the sensations in your body – I want you to experiment shifting away from your own Stream of Consciousness words to the words you have memorized.

FOR EXAMPLE: “I feel grounded, I feel bored, now I feel peaceful, I feel annoyed, (Going to your memorized words) Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water…”

WHAT TO LOOK FOR: This is important.
Did the quality of your voice change when you went to the memorized words?
Did you lose the connection to your body when you started using your scripted words?
It’s very common in the beginning of this exploration to leave YOU – and say the lines how you THINK they should go.

But remember – your audience wants YOU.
(Not your idea of you, or the idea of how you should be.)

Try this a couple more times going back and forth between Stream of Consciousness and the memorized text.

How did it go this time?
Let me know – leave a comment below.

In class this exercise always reveals where you’re at in terms of offering YOU to your audience. With some feedback and a few minor tweaks this exercise can make a radical shift that has transformed the careers of countless actors, artists and entrepreneurs. That’s CI, yo.

Wishing you a delicious day!
Josh Pais

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33 Pieces of Advice 9 Aug 2022 10:42 AM (2 years ago)

My first professional actor training was very traditional.
It was great training – but it often left me in my head as I tried to do a technique the RIGHT way.

Needing something else, feeling incomplete, and full of angst, I went on a 2 year journey. I sought out directors and teachers from all over the world with whom I could train.

My quest was twofold:
How can I create in the present, free of my judgmental mind?
&
How can I make spontaneity something that I can rely on?

I had moments in my work where I felt spontaneous and present – but it was always fleeting.

Spontaneity is a moving target.
But I began to uncover tools and approaches to hit that target with greater consistency.

One of the many teachers that brought me closer to the artistry of spontaneity was Gabrielle Roth. She took me under her wing for many years.

Gabrielle was an urban shaman. She got people moving into impulse.

With her blessing I started experimenting with her work as a means to getting myself and other actors out of their heads and into their bodies. And even create characters.

Even though she is on another plane now (I’m sure she’s dancing somewhere), her work continues to unfold throughout the world.

Her husband recently passed as well. Robert Ansell. An amazing percussive musician and friend. He created music with and for Gabrielle and her work.

I often play their music in class.

Spotify: Gabrielle Roth and The Mirrors.

In anticipation of his death, Robert left some excellent advice for his grandchildren, which the family felt important enough to share with all:

I share his 33 pieces of advice with you today.

1. There is no reason to be afraid of lightning. If you see it, it didn’t hit you. If it hits you, you won’t see it.
2. Take everything seriously, but don’t take anything seriously.
3. You can control the way things come out of the dishwasher by the way you put them in.
4. Play the game on your turf.
5. Make sure the utility knife is either open or closed all the way.
6. You can eat with your betting money, but never bet with your eating money.
7. Question everything.
8. DON’T FRICKIN’ SKATEBOARD IN THE STREET!!!!
9. In music, photography, writing and life, the space you leave is as important as the space you take.
10. Two bites of the apple gets you — more apple.
11. Every coin has two sides.
12. Art takes the time it needs.
13. What’s behind the camera, comes out in front of the camera.
14. The way you go into a problem or situation determines the way you come out of it.
15. Nothing is more important than family (unless your family sucks). Yours doesn’t.
16. In business, if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.
17. If you come from the place of “not enough”, you will surely end up at the place of “not enough”.
18. Don’t play it “cool” when you love someone. Surrender!
19. In cooking, clean as you go.
20. Don’t be afraid to change. It’s how you grow.
21. You can never go wrong loving a dog.
22. If there’s nothing you can do about it, there’s nothing you can do about it.
23. The measure of anything’s worth is to imagine yourself without it.
24. Righty tighty; lefty loosey.
25. Be kind.
26. Tip well.
27. What you give is what you get.
28. If you think you smell something burning, something’s burning.
29. Everyone plays the game with the equipment they have.
30. When there’s only one choice, it’s the right choice.
31. How we feel drives what we think, and that determines what we do.
32. You get two points for turning a negative into a positive.
When a grain of sand gets into an oyster and lodges under its muscle, it is a major irritant. The oyster’s response to this negative event is a thing of beauty– A PEARL!
33. Scramble the egg in the pan while cooking it, not in a bowl on the side.
ONE FINAL QUESTION – Whatever you are doing, is it the best that you can do?

From your loving Papa (a/k/a Grandpa Robert).

I hope you enjoyed that advice as much as I did.

Have a beautiful creative week!
Josh

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What if you were Creatively Invincible? 3 Jan 2022 4:58 PM (3 years ago)

I asked a group of students in LA an important question. I think it freaked some of them out a little.

But it is a question worth exploring.

It actually might be the ultimate question for any Actor, Artist, or Entrepreneur.

Check out the video and see what comes up for you.

Note: This video is from back-in-the-day when sitting together in a training studio, sans COVID-19 testing, was a thing.

Now, I want to hear your answer to the question I pose in the video.

What would it be like if you were Creatively Invincible?

Leave some juicy truth below…

The post What if you were Creatively Invincible? appeared first on Committed Impulse.

From Ferris Bueller to Succession: Alan Ruck 6 Oct 2021 7:56 PM (3 years ago)

I love hearing HOW someone booked a career-changing role.

I had the great fortune to be reunited with my good friend, Alan, on the Hulu show we’ve been working on the past few months.

Alan and I met 15 years ago when we worked on a mini-series, The Bronx is Burning.

Most recently I’ve been so pumped watching him playing Connor Roy on Succession.

Love that show!!!

You probably first saw Alan in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

So, I interviewed Alan, between camera set ups, about how he booked Succession.

Alan reveals an important trend to take note of – something that has been unfolding over the past 6 or 7 years.

The need for actors in film and TV to be able to IMPROVISE.

90% of the TV and Film projects I’ve been acting in recently have all involved a certain amount of improvisation.

NOTE: What is KEY for improvisation in film and TV is that one fully inhabits the character, and integrates the improvisation within the world of the film or TV show.

Let Alan tell ya! By the way – Season 3 of Succession airs Oct. 17th!!! I can’t wait!!

x Josh

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All about Josh Pais’ Character Lab 29 Sep 2021 7:38 PM (3 years ago)

Josh has discovered a set of tools that have allowed him to become a steadily working character actor over the past 25 years.

He’s built game-changing skills over the last couple of decades, and they’ve made him a damn good actor. He also knows how to teach these skills to YOU. His mission is to get you booking work and having fun while you do it.

Not all good actors can teach, and not all teachers understand what it takes to be a working actor. With Josh, you get a professional skilled in both.

Check out this video Josh filmed for you in the trailer of his current TV job, acting opposite Amanda Seyfried in The Dropout. It’s a 1-minute sneak peek of the content you can look forward to in Character Lab this Fall.

What burning or lingering questions do you have about creating a character? When you consider ‘creating a character’ what scary thoughts come to mind? What have you always wanted to know?

Pop us your question below!

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