Sam Rockwell
"I first took an acting class from Terry Knickerbocker more than 25 years ago. Since then I have worked with him on every film and stage role I’ve done. Nobody’s better at what he does. Terry is incredibly intuitive and full of ideas that are usually outside the box. His sense of what is truthful is like a laser. I depend on him. He’s invaluable to me and I don’t know what I’d do without him."
Oscar Winning Actor
and Tony Award Nominee
in studio in VANCOUVER
250921 - The Meisner Technique with Terry Knickerbocker
Terry Knickerbocker is part of a direct lineage that connects back to Meisner himself. Seeking a path forward in his acting career that celebrated the voice and imagination of the individual, Terry first discovered the Meisner technique in his training with William Esper. Esper, a Sanford Meisner-trained instructor, imparted his knowledge of the Meisner technique to Terry over years of studio work and observation.
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Terry has since worked hand-in-hand with award-winning actors throughout his years of teaching the Meisner technique, including some of today’s brightest and inspirational performers. He teaches both talented students and working professionals from around the world how to learn the Meisner technique.
Meisner developed his technique as a way to create more impulsive and emotionally rich acting—less intellectual and more organic.
What is the
Meisner Technique?
It is a technique which emphasizes the actor’s imagination, rather than their biographical history, as the primary source of their creative work. The Meisner Technique helps actors “get out of their head” and learn to follow their impulses.​
Your identity meets the craft and becomes art.
While the Meisner technique is a structured and codified curriculum that is standard across the industry, Terry offers a unique approach to the subject matter; above all, his approach is driven by a firm and abiding belief in the importance and value of art and artists in the world.
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Terry sees all his students as artists in training, preparing to tell important and necessary stories in the world with excellence and heart. All of the TKS faculty are attuned to the voices and growing edge of each student and take great joy in facilitating the process of individual transformation. There is no cookie cutter approach here.​​​​​​​​​
At the Terry Knickerbocker Studio, Sanford Meisner’s approach to acting is at the heart of their teaching and overall philosophical approach to actor training.
The Meisner Technique challenges you to leave your preconceived, conventional ideas at the door and act instead with truthful, organic, and spontaneous behavior. Through this philosophy and practice, you will gain the confidence to walk into any room and consistently give a performance that is richly sourced in spontaneity and truth.
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​Meisner acting classes contain a core series of exercises that build upon each other in order to create rich, authentic, and compelling behavior, no matter what script an actor is working from.
The Meisner technique focuses specifically on the behavior of an actor and incorporates four main components:
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Listening
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Responding truthfully
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Emotional availability
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Imagination and Improvisation​
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Meisner taught his technique in two-year conservatories, and TK Studio carries on this tradition with their Two-Year Professional Acting Conservatory. As Meisner liked to say: “The first year is about putting money in the bank. The second year is about learning to spend it wisely.” Their Career Essentials, continuing the metaphor, is about learning to invest that money in ways that will pay dividends into the future of your acting career.
While we are grateful for the rich scaffolding Meisner created, in order to cultivate the “brave space” all actors need to do their work—in ways that don’t inflict harm to themselves or others—significant adjustments must be made in the classroom. The teaching and the work need to be trauma-informed and consent-based. This pedagogical orientation allows us to enter the imaginary with a joyous sense of play, curiosity and connection.
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Using the Meisner acting technique and his holistic approach to training, he teaches actors how to consistently access their unique talent while at the same time equipping them mentally, physically, and emotionally for the rigours of training and working as an actor. TK Studio provides the best of Meisner through its philosophy of supporting your hard work and providing a warm, inviting, collaborative, and passionate community.
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The benefits of the Meisner technique are varied, but most importantly, training at this level, and with this faculty, means that you will be prepared to tell the most important stories of our day at the highest level of excellence with a finely trained instrument: heart, mind, body, and voice.​​​​​​
Meisner Level 2
Terry Knickerbocker returns to Vancouver November 9, 10, 12 and 13 for Meisner: Expanding the Work, a four-day exploration of the technique and the possibilities it opens up for actors.
At the heart of the Meisner technique are listening, responding truthfully, and connecting with another actor in the moment. Repetition develops these foundations, encouraging actors to follow their impulses and engage their imagination.
Building on the foundations explored in Terry's Vancouver Intro workshops, the work will move beyond repetition into expanding and deepening the activity, and also into emotional preparation.
For actors returning from Terry's Intro to Meisner workshop, this is an opportunity to build on what you explored with him and take the work further. Terry is approaching this as an experiment in expanding the work, with room for curiosity, exploration and discovery.
in studio in VANCOUVER
9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. each day · Vancouver local time
Prerequisite: Meisner Level 1 with JBA. If you haven’t completed it, an online prerequisite with Terry’s team is required at an additional cost of $75 USD total. This will be two 90-minute sessions, likely the week before the workshop. Dates and format to be confirmed.
Full Participation
$595
plus tax
