Stunt School Group Photo - End of the Weekend at American High in Liverpool, NY

Day 1:

If I were in Hollywood, the famous sign would have greeted me, but instead, Destiny USA was the closest landmark to the gym where I was going to stunt school. Yes, stunt school. If you know me, you know I am trying every sport once, and stunt school was not on my list, but it really should have been all along.

Dressed in “flexible” clothes, I entered the gym where Kelly Phelan, and her assistant Jolene, both stunt actors, waited to greet me and the 12 other students. Most of them are half my age or younger, with some background in acting, martial arts, or theater production. I was there to take it all in, try it out with my 60-year-old body, and be as toned as I could be from trying many sports.

*Kelly Phelan, Stunt Actor and Coordinator, who stunts for Jennifer Aniston*

After introductions, we had to warm up to a great aerobic workout, making sure to stretch our necks, shoulders, and arms for the first set of stunts – jabs, head reactions, punches, and free-falling after being fake shot to the ground. Safety was the first rule of order, and we were encouraged not to do anything we didn’t want to. Most likely a relief for my sons to hear that, but not for me; I was ready to do it all if I could.

I teamed up with my Syracuse Actors Studio friend Joey Marcus, who is 30 years younger. Having some familiarity with the person you were fighting with took some of the nerves away. What did Joey and I first coordinate? A fight in our Italian kitchen, where we made the best sauce, punches, and jabs flying.

After lunch, we came back to watch more moves to add to the morning’s moves so that we could partake in a live-action skit with five characters. It is here that you saw the acting/stunt work combine and be performed really well by some of my classmates. The karate experienced guys were naturally great at this.

In my one role, I had to stop a shooter, push his gun away, get punched by him, and fall to the ground, make him off me with a leg kick, and then die. We did it repeatedly until we got it right. Then Kelly shifted the numbers up, and I became the shooter with different roles and cues. I would say my weakness at this age, doing stunts, was remembering how to switch up what I just learned, and relearning a new role, but eventually, I got it.

As the sun was getting low in the sky and shining through the church gym windows, Kelly shared with us what’s in a stunt person’s bag, what’s needed, the different departments a stunt person works with, and more. I sat in awe of this woman, her talents, and the excitement we each expressed, and performed for over 8 hours.

Will I ever be “Grandma Stuntwoman”? You never know, but I can tell you one thing: I would do stunt work if they needed a fearless 60-year-old chick for some stunt work at American High! Bottom line, it was awesome.

Day 2:

Besides, “Wow. Pow”….I add “ow” because my body is sore from using muscles that I don’t typically use. But the ow really is more like a WOW, I get to do POW again today, with a stunt legend and a bunch of really cool people learning the stunt world.

My legs and arms are strong, and my neck and stomach are sore. I soon discovered I wasn’t alone; even our fantastic teacher, Kelly Phelan, was in a bit of pain and asked her assistant stuntwoman, Jolene Fisher, to do fewer stomach crunches. A big sigh of relief filled the room of 12 returning students.

Today, we started by dissecting a scene from Jeremy Garelick’s “Murder Mystery 2,” set in Paris at the Arc de Triomphe, starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, who played Kelly, stunt doubles. The finalized scene was edited down to 4 minutes, but took over 300 stunt doubles as drivers, pedestrians, and actors one night in Paris and months in other locations to make it happen. The detail that goes into making the final piece is extensive.

Then it was time for us to choreograph our own one-page skit with a partner. We had lines and a few listed stunts, but we had to add at least three new moves we'd learned to the choreography. It took five hours to create, rehearse, and finally perform our skit before a real cameraman and our audience, with Kelly giving instructions to refine our individual skits.

The guys who had martial arts backgrounds had really cool added kicks, flairs, and falls. Others used props. We each had to throw a partner over our shoulder and do at least one head slap with reaction. My partner Andy and I added a knapsack hit and fall, stomach kick, and gut punch as we changed up the wording a bit to reflect my story of alopecia. #alopeciaawareness. Hey, I share the story when I can.

*Andy Risley and Tracy Chamberlain Higginbotham - Partners*

At the end of the day, we were pumped and exhausted but highly grateful to Kelly, Joleene, and David Armstrong (the other stunt actor who doubles for Jason Bateman) for teaching us the ropes of stunt work. I would LOVE to do more stunt work and hopefully will when the Academy of American High offers more courses, especially if Kelly is involved. What a dynamo and excellent instructor.

So today seems pretty boring, compared to the last two days, just preparing my moderating script for tonight’s Syracuse Actors Studio Panel of Screen and Play Writers, UNLESS I start it off with a tumble down the stairs, into a shoulder roll, and a quick gut punch to Joe Cunningham, before I take the microphone to start moderating.

WOW. POW! What an experience, right here in Central New York. TRY NEW THINGS!