Do I know anything about acting? I don’t know how to answer that question. I think I might know squat about acting. But I can imagine, right? I think that one of the greatest joys of being an actor is when you are in front of a live audience and they are cheering for what you just performed. I think that the feeling is even greater when you hear the cheer for something that you improvised on the spur of the moment. But to get into character- that’s a tricky part. As a human being, as someone who knows all about us as a person, inside and out, the beautiful and the ugly, there is that feeling of insecurity and maybe in some cases, even self-doubt when you are on stage. Because you are you, you are naked in front of an audience and they can see- they see everything and yes, they do judge, of course they do. But what if you are someone else? You don’t really get those feelings, do you? At least not in that intensity… They are laughing at the character you are portraying, not at you, right? That’s when your job gets a bit easier and you begin to shed a little bit of your inhibitions. And a mask makes it all the more easier, I think. Because you truly are not the person you actually are on stage- you are this whole other person now. You can sing, dance, and go crazy without worrying about any sort of repercussions. I’ve always marveled at how Jim Carrey danced to the ‘Maraccas’ song in the movie “The Mask” as the title character. Because he is playing two characters at the same time, a coin, one of who wears the mask and is a god. The real you, the person who you actually are now feels like your conscience, something shoved to the back of your mind closet. You can access it anytime you want, it won’t go anywhere right? You know where it’s gonna be, you have that safety and assurance- now it’s time to go crazy.