Thanks, Cold Readings

If my time acting and doing cold readings of scripts has given me anything, it has given me the ability to read things very quickly and then say them as though I was not just reading something. I was on call today in Evidence, which means that I was responsible for one out of four cases that we were going over. So I read two cases very well (okay, well I read ONE very well) and skimmed over the rest, because that seemed like the efficient thing to do. When it came time for one of the people on call to volunteer, I was the first to raise my hand and gave the synopsis of my case. I got it over with, I relaxed, I went on with my class.

Then it was time for the second case. The judges who teach the class asked for another volunteer from those on call. No one raised a hand. Then they pulled out the list. They always have a list of people that they have told to be prepared, and they just run through that list when someone doesn't volunteer. They called the first name on the list:

"Is ____ here?"

Silence

"Is _____ here?"

Silence

"Alright... is ______ here?"

Silence. They look back at me. "Would anyone like to save Mr. Johnson?" Classroom of a hundred people. No one raises a hand. (To be fair, the judges were running a class behind so everyone "safely" assumed that they would not get to this reading.)

I am auto-assigned every other case instantly. I spit out what I know of the second case and then try to read the small details of the third case while they talk. It was fun. I only said something that was directly contradicted by the case once, but I recovered quickly. By the time we got to the fourth case a very kind classmate had read ahead and took the bullet for me. Well, at least the judges know my name now.