Dawn: I just want you to share a little bit about how you rehearse. People have such a hard time with this and go, “Gosh, I can’t get in the habit of rehearsal,” “Or how do I rehearse? Do I need a theater like this to rehearse?” Or a it’s at a special time, and it seems like you schedule the time and then everyone just kind of brushes it off and doesn’t do it. So can you give them some ideas of how to use it daily?
Bo: Yeah. I rehearse pretty much all day, every day, at this point. Even when I do the dishes after dinner, I’m constantly … I don’t know why dishes … for some reason when I’m washing dishes, I’m rehearsing, I’m thinking of lines, I’m thinking of themes, I’m thinking of what people need or what I want to say or what’s bugging me and I’ll start to put words to it.
I’m just doing everyday things and I’m working with it, I’m struggling with it, I’m writing it down. So I’m constantly writing and rewriting and rehearsing out loud. A lot of times I’ll be at the house and the kids will be there and Dawn will there and they’ll go, “What, Dad?” And I’m like, “Nothing. I’m rehearsing.” And they’re like, “Oh, okay, I thought you were talking to me.” Because I’ll be going, “ predator, predator, predator,” and I’m trying to physicalize the word predator and they’re like, “Dad, you’re so weird. What are you doing?”
If I can’t get the words into my molecules, I don’t use them. I can get them in here and that’s the point of rehearsal. Your script, your words, are your enemy and you must get rid of them. The only way I know and the only way I was trained to get rid of them is to attach them here (touches his stomach) so I don’t have to think about them. I don’t have to memorize them anymore. They’re here. And those of you who’ve been to my office, you’ll see that every inch of the walls in my office is paper; like big butcher paper, filled with writing, filled with ideas and I’m constantly in my office memorizing and saying these words that I’m seeing all around me in my office until they’re a part of my body.
Two years from now you might see that sentence come out of my mouth, and I don’t even know when it’s coming, but its part of who I am. Honestly, I’m so bad if it’s not attached to me. If my training isn’t part of everyday life and my guts, I really suck at being kind of phony. Like if somebody asked me, “Bo, can you train my stuff? My stuff’s about internet marketing.” I’m like “No.” I can’t get that here (touches his stomach). Unless I can get it here, then I can teach it and I can help people.
Rehearsal is about me attaching those themes and the content to my molecules and then freeing Bo up enough through the Sacred Six to get out there and let it rip; let it go. Look, this is the most dangerous thing there is to do. You get on stage in front of people … you talk to the guys who’ve been in battle … this is scary shit. Being up in front of people alone is hard so you need to be free. You need to be connected. And you need to have a lifeline and that’s the audience.
So rehearsal is kind of all day, every day, happening all the time. And if you think about it, you’re rehearsing all the time too. If you look at your young sons, 7, 8, 9, they’re rehearsing for manhood all the time. That’s why they play with guns. That’s why they play cops and robbers. They’re rehearsing for the day they’re going to be called. They’re wondering if they’ve got what it takes to run into a burn building and so they’re rehearsing it all of the time. And then the day comes and they’re ready. You’re doing it to. It’s just, ‘What are you rehearsing for?’ What are you willing to do? I want to be so free so I can make all the mistakes up here and it’s still going to go well.
