Tommy Kramer Tip #183 – Recycling Material

I get asked a lot about whether or not to recycle something within a show. Almost everybody seems to think it’s okay, but it’s really not. Here’s why:

Because you’ll never do something as well a second time. Or you’ll do it well the second time after having done it poorly the first time. Unless you’re one of the greatest voice actors in the world, you’ve only got one really good performance in you. Live with it. You may not want to hear this, but artistically, you want to burn material like jet fuel, and keep coming up with more things to do – every show. Recycling the same bit a couple of hours later actually clogs up the creative process.

Note: You CAN recycle a Subject. But come up with a new “camera angle” the second time, so it’s not just you on autopilot.