Today we’d like to introduce you to Tyler Herman
Hi Tyler, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve been acting for as long as I can remember. From little plays with Lego people in bedroom to camp plays to doing theatre in high school. In college, I had some teachers in undergrad who were also professional actors and suggested I should give acting a try in the real world, so after I graduated I came back home to Silver Spring and started auditioning.i started getting cast, but more importantly, finding a home with artists who all call DC and Baltimore home. This is the largest area for theater in the country outside of NYC and it has a robust ecosystem of organizations and people.
I helped to found Faction of Fools, DC’s hilarious theatre focused on Commedia dell’Arte, and worked as an actor, director, and theatre teacher for several years. Along the way I met my wife, Sarah, who also worked in theatre as a Production Manager. I went to Brown University/Trinity Rep to get my MFA in Acting, and came back to ply my skills, and grow my family. I now have two daughters, am the director for Walt Whitman High School ‘s theatre program, teach at Montgomery College, and am MC’s Resident Fight and Intimacy Choreographer. I act and direct all over the area. Recently I have performed at The Kennedy Center, Ford’s Theatre, and Theater J. Currently I am directing 3 plays (Macbeth, The Liar, Tuck Everlasting) and assistant directing at Theater J (Prayer for the French Republic)
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Living the life of an artist is extremely challenging. Beyond the sheer presence of mind and body it takes to imagine myself acting in or directing plays, (which is to say, whole imagined realities), it is taxing on my personal life. Since most of my commitments are in the evenings and weekends, it is extremely hard to maintain friendships, and relationships with my family. Lately, that has extended to my wife and children. In the months and years that my career has flourished, I have experienced deep isolation from my wife, children, and other friends. It is hard to miss weddings, holidays, and hangouts with friends, for years on end. At some point, people start assuming you are never free, and then migrate away.
As I get older, I also feel that any rejection I hear is harder to bounce back from. Now, more than when I was 24, it always feels a little personal when you know you are passed over for a certain gig.
In terms of my wife, trying to balance my artistic pursuits with her life desires has been very hard. We have hit low lows and have had some unbelievable highs, and it always feels like anything gained, whether for my family or for my artistry, comes at a huge cost somewhere. Over the past 13 years, we’ve broken up, experienced loss, and consistently feel like we are living on fumes.
I also count my blessings. We have never struggled to find food to eat or for a roof over our heads. True we haven’t bought new clothes in maybe five years, but while it is tough to live this life, I am also financially and logistically able to live the life of an artist. Even my day jobs revolve around theatre. Persistence and joy are key.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Most of my training is in comedy, physical comedy, and physical theatre. I am adept at physically transforming myself into characters, and carving out plays that feel vibrant, dynamic, and hilarious.
My core training is in Commedia dell’Arte, which is a form of Italian street theatre that is based on mask work, very physical comedy, and improvisation. These are my core strengths, and after my MFA training, I am equipped to tackle any character, in a variety of situations.
As a director, I specialize in taking older, more traditional works, and reimagining them, often with a focus on devised ensemble work, or having a group of people work together to portray moments physically.
I am.a trained Intimacy and Fight Choreographer and Movement Director, which in the strictest sense means I choreograph and design moments of physical contact or seeming contact, to help tell storied. But really it means I bring consent-forward frameworks and pedagogy to all my spaces, allowing artists to feel comfortable and defining and advocating for their boundaries and consent, and speaking up for themselves within power differentials. This allows my students, actors, or anyone the freedom to stand up for themselves in an artistic process, and, by extension, feel more comfortable taking risks and making vulnerable work.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
To survive as an artist is a long-game. In one case, I suffered a rejection that directly resulted in my getting hired for another gig, except it took 8 years until it came back around. Don’t measure your success by fits and spurts, see it for the progress you’ve made over years
There is a lot in the air about being yourself and how your own quirks, culture, and niche interests all coalesce to make you a more independent, dynamic person. This is true with artistry, too. And to be an artist is to have enough confidence to try risky acting choices. But the real bread and butter is in building relationships with people and trying to prioritize your friendships over the gigs you get. Relationships feed your soul and buoy you when you’re not actively working.
Pricing:
- Acting and career coaching: $90/hour
- Writing critique, accountability partner, or dramaturg: $75/hour
- Fight, Intimacy Choreography, Movement Direction, Clown direction: $75/hour
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.TylerLHerman.com
- Instagram: @Thundercurl
- Facebook: /TylerLHerman
