I always think it looks better when characters fight with sharp swords on stage, and I work with the actors to sharpen them beforehand. I hate it when they wave around hunks of blunt steel that they know aren't dangerous. The audience can tell.

Now before I continue, my lawyers are telling me that I can't go around telling people to use sharpened props on stage, so I better clarify what I'm talking about post-haste.

I'm really talking here about how to help actors to portray characters in a world where swords are sharp and weapons are serious and dangerous. Too often, actors handle or react to weapons, especially swords, in a way they would never do in the real world. And if the characters don't seem to perceive the weapons as dangerous, the audience won't either.

America has a weird relationship with actors. We judge them on their looks, then call them vain. We say actors in Hollywood get paid way too much, then we tell struggling actors to "get a real job." We say, "Anyone can act," but then we get sweaty palms at the idea of speaking in front of crowd of 20 people. Actors get labeled emotional, air-headed, clueless. And sure, a few of them are....just like the rest of us.

But actors are amazing people. And their craft is one of the most difficult to do well because it's so subjective. It's not like engineering, with numbers you can plug in to a formula. It's not working with wood you can saw and fit to length. It's literally all based in interpersonal relationships, emotion, and empathy...some of the hardest things to quantify in the world, next to the weather. Because some of you are approaching design without starting out as an actor yourself, I want to give you 5 tips for working with actors to smooth out the process and make less stress for them and for you.

If the theatre community doesn't want to change from within, let's change it from the outside. I'm calling on HEMA scholars to stop grumbling in their masks about unrealistic sword work on stage and film and start doing something to change it. Because you, ladies and gentlemen, have skills that the entertainment industry needs, whether they know it or not. I want to work with you to reinvent stage combat as we know it.

If you are in a show right now where you perform any kind of stage combat, I want you to stop what you're doing and go print out the Instinctive Fight Acting reminder card that is this week's bonus content. Seriously. Print it out, take it to the theatre with you and tape it on your makeup mirror, because you are going to use it to make tonight's fight rock. And you'll do it without changing one iota of your choreography....

If you direct enough plays, you'll eventually choose one that includes violence. It comes up more often than you might think, because people in my line of work use the term to include not only times when one character is actively trying to harm another, but any moment of physical business that may pose a safety risk for the actor: someone falls out of bed, or faints, or trips on an electrical cord and pulls down a lamp, etc. Some plays have obvious fight scenes, like Hamlet or Extremities, while others may only include a single punch or a slap or a moment of struggle. Then there are the "sleeper" shows, especially comedies, that don't seem to need a violence designer until the actors start getting banged up. I

The big question, then is: Do You Need Help to Stage the Violence?

Since this is the first episode of the podcast, my first topic relates to beginning your career in fight choreography. Specifically: When Can I Transition From a Fighter to a Violence Designer?

It can be a really awkward time on your artistic journey, because often there's not a clear jumping off point to get to that next level. Maybe you've had some stage combat training and you've done pretty well in your classes and workshops, Maybe you've acted in several shows where you performed fights that rocked it and you really "get" playing violent characters. But you know you're nowhere near the wealth of information and experience that your teachers and mentors are. So when is it time to take the plunge?

Since this is the first episode of the podcast, my first topic relates to beginning your career in fight choreography. Specifically: When Can I Transition From a Fighter to a Violence Designer?

It can be a really awkward time on your artistic journey, because often there's not a clear jumping off point to get to that next level. Maybe you've had some stage combat training and you've done pretty well in your classes and workshops, Maybe you've acted in several shows where you performed fights that rocked it and you really "get" playing violent characters. But you know you're nowhere near the wealth of information and experience that your teachers and mentors are. So when is it time to take the plunge?