Help me fake a coke high

August 5, 2005 6:03 AM

This is your actor on drugs - specifically cocaine.

I will be performing in a small theatre with an audience in the know about such things and I'll be playing a coke user. All I know about coke is what I've seen in the movies. I don't have access to, or even want first hand experience with the drug. I do have knowlegeable people who will show me how to credibly snort powdered vitamin B or powdered baby laxatives. Is one safer than the other? I'm also asking for specific, physical things to do that would help simulate a coke high, or for that matter a coke low. The act of snorting something will be a physical kick, I know. I have also come up with the ideas of pinching my septum, and rubbing an analgesic on my gums. Do these ideas make sense? Can anyone suggest a safe and quick way to dialate pupils? Google fails on that one. I could also spend a day on pseudofed for research purposes, or do some sleep deprivation, but that wouldn't be practical for performances. Unless you can provide a very specific tick, I'm not asking for first or second hand experience reports, I'm asking for practical things to DO to appear credibly high.

posted by rainbaby to media & arts (55 comments total)

Act?
posted by Marquis at 6:11 AM on August 5, 2005

Amusingly, I went out last night with a friend who's about to be in a play playing a cokehead who wanted tips from our druggie pal about how to look believable doing the rolling and tapping and snorting part.

Do you really need to dilate your pupils? I just had that done at the eye doctor and a/you won't be able to see in the stage lights and b/no one can tell unless they are up pretty close. Just stare a lot. And don't forget to jitter. Play with keys and tap your feet or somesuch. Think of it as having a giant surfeit of nervous energy.
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:16 AM on August 5, 2005

In other words, what Marquis said.
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:17 AM on August 5, 2005

Sweat.
posted by handee at 6:18 AM on August 5, 2005

According to people who are supposed to know about such things... you should try to speak as rapidly as possible and run your sentences together. Perhaps you could even try removing the punctuation marks from your written dialogue.
posted by Clay201 at 6:21 AM on August 5, 2005

Acting is doing, and is also a process. I'm looking for concrete things to do to prepare for performance. Gee, I plan to "act" as well in the sense of the word you are using it. Way to start off not answering and belittling the question. No I don't really need to dilate my pupils, but it's an idea to explore.
posted by rainbaby at 6:23 AM on August 5, 2005

An interesting resource for you might be Cocaine trip reports from Erowid. A friend who indulges could provide similar info, but here you get reports by a bunch of different people. It's a way to get into their heads and see the experience from their POV (including bad trips and all).
posted by splice at 6:24 AM on August 5, 2005

Sweating is good. Overenergy is good (moving around a lot, tremors, etc). Talkative is good. Overawareness of the senses is good. Being really alert of things going on around you is good. In general, euphoria is good.

Don't take it on for too long or do any of the "I'm so high" stuff. It's a short term, very sense-tingling experience where you aren't as observant of your highness as you are with everything else going on around you. Good luck!
posted by dflemingdotorg at 6:25 AM on August 5, 2005

I seem to have skipped a bit of your post there (about first or second-hand experiences), mea culpa. Still possible that you could pick up ticks and so on if they are described in the reports, but I understand it's not exactly what you want. I don't do coke and haven't hung out with people doing it, so I guess I can't be much help. Sorry again :).
posted by splice at 6:27 AM on August 5, 2005

Yeah, from what I remember, your body and mannerisms are pretty fidgety, and you talk fast too; but to yourself, you don't feel like you're talking so fast. You actually feel pretty relaxed, confident, and sociable (almost like a drinking buzz)- but meanwhile your body is doing the whole too-much-coffee jittery and fidgety thing.
posted by p3t3 at 6:31 AM on August 5, 2005

You know that really obnoxious guy at the party? Yeah, the one that stands a little bit too close to you and laughs in this really loud, sudden way at not that funny jokes. The guy that seems like he's trying way too hard to mingle.

That guy might just be the cokehead.
posted by Pollomacho at 6:37 AM on August 5, 2005

Talkative. Talk a lot with no regard for caring what another person has to say in reponse to your rants and with no gaps for them to respond. Be INCREDIBLY cocky - like the laws of the universe don't apply to you, but then quickly transition to absolute paranoia, and back again (although this bit depends on exactly how bad a habit you're supposed to have...a couple bumps isn't going to send you to that extreme, but an addict..probably). Imagine that everything you think, say, do, desire, imagine, or want is absolutely perfect and above reproach and within the realm of reason and that you are ENTITLED to think, say, do, desire or behave in any imaginable way.
posted by spicynuts at 6:39 AM on August 5, 2005

oh...one more thing...but only act that way for about 20 minutes..then act like if you don't get anothe bump, you are going to DIE. Again..depends on what level of use you're going for..addiction vs. recreational.
posted by spicynuts at 6:40 AM on August 5, 2005

All the coke users I've known were liars. So you could lie to the audience.

Of course, I don't know how to let them know you're lying to them. Rapid-fire sentences, "brilliant" ideas poorly explained with lotsa body language, and of course, the cliche' sniffles.

The "coke-wipe" of the nose goes like this: grab the medial crus (the part at the bottom of your nose separating the two nostrils) with your thumb and index finger, initially blocking both nostrils with the fingers, then pull down gently, then quickly follow with a wipe of left nostril with the back of your index finger, followed by a wipe of the right nostril by the inside of your thumb (helps to do a kind-of "thumbs-up"). This if for righty's--reverse if left handed.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:44 AM on August 5, 2005

Maybe this part goes without saying, but you have to appear as if you're, you know, enjoying it. Only addicts do coke (or any drug, including alcohol) becasue they need it. Most folks really like the feeling of being stoned. Don't forget that part.
posted by MrMoonPie at 6:52 AM on August 5, 2005

Another word of advice that others may or may not agree with: Don't overdo it.

In real life, you can usually guess if someone "might" be high, but they can also hold some semblance of normalcy if they are an experienced drug user. You would get cues, but probably couldn't tell for sure unless they're completely trashed.

In movies though, most actors totally overplay the stereotypes of the drug symptoms and it comes off pretty cheesy to anyone who has actually done the drug. I guess the hard part is to give off enough of those subtle cues that the audience starts to get it, but without playing the complete stereotype druggie.
posted by p3t3 at 6:55 AM on August 5, 2005

It's harder to find the specific things to do than to research and apply the sensations, behaviors, and motivations.
posted by rainbaby at 7:00 AM on August 5, 2005

What is the context of the cocaine use? I mean, if your character is trying to hide it, it might be best to appear extremely controlled while high. Maybe just exhibit one or two different habits of coke use in each scene? Sort of like how sometimes the best way to act "drunk" is to "act" really really sober.
posted by sciurus at 7:02 AM on August 5, 2005

Best comedy I've heard on cocaine use also provides some insight as to how to portray someone under the influence: "Who needs cocaine when you have Trivial Pursuit? They both do the same thing: you stay up all night, with people you don't like, talking about shit you know nothing about."

Hope that helps.
posted by jperkins at 7:03 AM on August 5, 2005

Try and take your underwear off over your head.
posted by corpse at 7:13 AM on August 5, 2005

From observation of others: Talkative. Inflated sense of self-worth. Etc. The more higher or deeper into it: Paranoia. Mostly what's already been mentioned.

Some performances to study, though not to imitate wholesale, but to watch for what specifically you think they do that might be right or wrong from the context of your character (in addition to a sensitivity to the charge of overacting):
Sean Penn in Hurlyburly (no matter what one may think of the movie overall), and Ray Liotta in Goodfellas. See Also: movies and songs about cocaine @ Wikipedia.
posted by safetyfork at 7:14 AM on August 5, 2005

Never done coke, but have hung out with plenty of people who have. In general, it's a lot like ADD + manic behavior. Everything is incredibly interesting/important to you for about 10 seconds. Whoever supplied the coke is very, very interesting to you, mostly because he/she probably has more.

And yes, please don't overdo it. I don't know what the narrative is, but unless your stoned state is driving events, then it's easy to let behavioral tics become a distraction. If your audience is "in the know", they'll see anything but a truly mannered performance as fakery.
posted by mkultra at 7:15 AM on August 5, 2005

That wikipedia entry overall is pretty good, too.
posted by safetyfork at 7:17 AM on August 5, 2005

You could try taking some niacin before the play to get a "niacin flush" going- you'll get red and sweaty (and feel not quite yourself, which may help), but maybe you want to be clammy and sweaty instead. Go for a run in heavy sweats just before the play, maybe?
posted by bobot at 7:27 AM on August 5, 2005

It's really going to depend on if you want the audience to understand what you are trying to portray or if you want the few coke users in the audience to believe. Most people have not done coke, therefore, their only understanding is through what they've seen portrayed as "coked up" behavior. When was the last time you say a drunk hiccup or sing "how dry I am," but do either of those things and people know you are supposed to be drunk, no?

How do cokeheads act in your impression? I'm not saying pantomime that or ham it up, but asking coke users for their impression of how coke users act will only ensure that your performance is believable to the coke users in the audience.
posted by Pollomacho at 7:40 AM on August 5, 2005

It depends if you're trying to hide it or trying not to. People I knew who did coke when I was younger were sort of bragging about it and they'd do a lot of the stereotypical coke-user things: talk a lot and a little loudly, sniff frequently and blink a lot afterwards, act all grandiose, smile a little overwide, etc. Newer coke users could overdo it and wind up a bit overagitated, sweaty, and with heart palpitations and it was a really fine line between the "I've had so much I feel GREAT" feeling and the "I've really overdone it" side.

People who were just sort of strung out would wear sunglasses, do a bad job at controlling their fidgeting, be a bit agitated about the location of their stash [the coke users I knew carried some with them, but if you were at someone's house who had some around, they would sort of hover in an orbit around where they kept it] and wipe their noses in an "I have a cold" way but also in an "I'm not fooling anyone" way.

And, of course, since coke is expensive there was usually some sort of related money flashing -- the whole snorting it with a high denomination bill (I was amazed when I found out that people really do that) carrying big wads of cash if you were going to buy some more etc.

One more difference is how people carried it. People who were regular steady users would have a container for their stash, often. Weekend users or high school/college kids would more likely carry a travelling amount wrappe dup in a folded piece of paper and tucked into their wallet. You may already know all this, but an easy way to really make a coke user appear fakey is to take out one of those glass vials with the little spoon like everyone had at Studio 54 if your character is just a casual user. Ditto the long pinky nail.
posted by jessamyn at 7:51 AM on August 5, 2005

Most people have not done coke

I think that depends on where this performance is going to take place. NYC? Fuggedaboudit...particularly if it's not a mainstream play/movie, the audience will be savvy.
posted by spicynuts at 7:51 AM on August 5, 2005

Paranoid hard ass. Coke rarely manifests itself into symptoms a person who doesn't know the person can see. People tend to talk more about themselves, be paranoid about what people think, get kind of needy -- but this is all stuff that would be written into the script. I would say beyond the really well described coke wipe, be really quiet when you're about to do it. The weirdest thing is seeing people about to do coke and get all quiet like it's a religious experience. Seriously, they aren't shouting and going down for a line, they are discreet about it and don't say anything until they've done it.

On and about insuffulating. It's more like "sniff-sniff-sniffffffffffffff" where they take a few short ones to get it up the nose then a huge one to send it to the back of the brain.

The only time when I see people I don't know and think "they're high on coke" is when they get really into a hardass mode.
posted by geoff. at 7:56 AM on August 5, 2005

Oh and if your audience is anything but The Lion King audience, they would have done coke. Every single theater department I've hung out with does coke and weed, even more so than alcohol. I'm actually a little surprised you're not surrounded by it.
posted by geoff. at 8:02 AM on August 5, 2005

Is scoring some completely out of the question?

People have given excellent advice. Sean Penn in Hurlyburly was basically perfect.

Roller girl and the redhead in the bedroom in Boogie Nights were also great.

Quintin Tarantino at the end of Four Rooms. OMG.

Be very confident and really, really willing to talk about stuff. Be a little too eager in a conversation - but not lovey dovey - that's E. You don't necessarily have to be a mean cokehead. A coke user can actually be good company as long as you're drinking.

Lots of nose contact. That "coke-wipe" advice was great. Consider grabbing and pulling forward and down as well.

Don't make the mistake of going overdoing the twitchiness and tics and hand tapping. It's really easy to do that when imitating a cokehead.

If the cokehead is without coke for a while, give him a general, low level of frustration and mild desperation. A clammy sweaty look would be good.

Cokeheads completely out of coke or way too into a binge are surly, desperate, and/or total assholes and wrecks until they take a valium or xanax and go to bed.
posted by redteam at 8:06 AM on August 5, 2005

Smaller, experimental theatre attached to a gay nightclub. The audience will know. Maybe it's a generational thing, but I just haven't/don't know anybody who uses it as a drug of choice. I'm glad I asked - thanks for the responses so far.
posted by rainbaby at 8:18 AM on August 5, 2005

There was an episode of Six Feet Under near the end of the 4th season where Claire is having a gallery show and she does coke. I think it was this one but I'm not totally sure from the description. I haven't done that drug or hung out with people who are doing it, but from the descriptions people write above, it sounds like this might be another good portrayal to look at.
posted by matildaben at 8:44 AM on August 5, 2005

Intermittent, slightly fast sighing deep breaths, especially when you're absorbed with some insignificant detail or in between manic sentence bursts.
posted by peacay at 8:47 AM on August 5, 2005

Coke is a local anaesthetic, so feel like your nose suddently went numb. You think it's probably running, but it might not be -- better give it a quick check, nobody will notice. Oh, hey, wait, that was the cokewipe, well nevermind it doesnt matter because afterall you feel so damngood and hey this is what you DO, right, who can fault you for feeling this good hey look over there it's that chick baby you want some of this ain't no other chance your gonna get to have a go at me cos I'm the STAR baby is my nose running? wow i'm getting kind of low again, damn that was good, do I have another bump? Shit. Who has more?
posted by 5MeoCMP at 8:50 AM on August 5, 2005

BTW, done coke a couple of times, recreationally. Hated it afterwards. I could feel the asshole in me rising up, up up, and then I didn't care.

Ick.
posted by 5MeoCMP at 8:51 AM on August 5, 2005

Oh, totally coincidentally: in today's Achewood, Phillipe drinks a Coke and writes his Friday Facts column. Heh.
posted by 5MeoCMP at 8:58 AM on August 5, 2005

I could feel the asshole in me rising up, up up, and then I didn't care.


Truer words were never spoken. That may actually sum up how to act it right there. Find your inner asshole, bring him to the surface and then don't give a shit who or what gets in that asshole's way.
posted by spicynuts at 9:00 AM on August 5, 2005

It seems incredible obvious to me given the comments, but it seems like a good idea to try slamming some caffeine before the performance to add to the jitters.
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 9:41 AM on August 5, 2005

RikiTikiTavi writes "it seems like a good idea to try slamming some caffeine before the performance"
...or coke™, of course.
posted by peacay at 9:55 AM on August 5, 2005

heh, I was reading this and my only thought to add was to perhaps pop a pair of vivrain, will make you jittery and talkative, perhaps even a bit sweaty... some other of those minor physcial behaviors.
But Rikitikitaci kind beat me to it.

Of course with any drug, be careful with the caffeine, as a girl my mom tried it (vivrain) and blacked out.
posted by edgeways at 10:19 AM on August 5, 2005

overdosing of of B vitamins is not a walk in the park (espelly b-12), so be carefull no matter what you put up yer nose
posted by edgeways at 10:23 AM on August 5, 2005

Watch AbFab. Patti snorts up all the time.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:36 AM on August 5, 2005

I don't think the jaw thing has been mentioned. A lot of people experience a clenched jaw, or move their lower jaw around a bit. Some also experience a bit of the shakes (nothing extreme though).
posted by btwillig at 10:43 AM on August 5, 2005

Read the Druge Report. Translate into mannerisms.
posted by dong_resin at 11:40 AM on August 5, 2005

The thing I remember most about one cokie friend was her going out of the room constantly. "I have to go to the bathroom, forgot something in the kitchen, um, be right back, need to check something in the laundry, etc. She also took her pulse a lot, finger against the artery in her neck.
posted by BoscosMom at 11:40 AM on August 5, 2005

Whatever happened to cocaine anyway? Cheaper replacements? The death of the 80s?
posted by craniac at 12:48 PM on August 5, 2005

It's still alive and well, craniac. Still super popular among the Vice Magazine crowd. Hell, popular in many scenes. Particularly scenes where bars or clubs are involved. Casual (in addition to totally addicted) use of crystal meth is all over the place nowadays. Boy, meth really invaded. Big cities, the countryside ... I've seen it everywhere.
posted by redteam at 1:59 PM on August 5, 2005

I don't think the jaw thing has been mentioned. A lot of people experience a clenched jaw, or move their lower jaw around a bit.

The jaw thing is spot on. roll your toungue around in your mouth, chew on it slightly, stick your jaw out, out to the left, out to the right, keep it moving around akwardly, use your toungue as if you were trying to push bits of food from between your teeth. lots of coke users have really fitgety jaws and tounges, which is why it really feels good to talk non stop or chew lots of gum. another mannerism which would be gross but go over well is imagining you found a little chunk that didnt go all the way up your nose when you do your nose wipe, and not to be wasteful rub it into your gums. i saw someone do that on sex and the city once and it was perfect. hope i could help.
posted by garethspor at 2:14 PM on August 5, 2005

overdosing of of B vitamins is not a walk in the park (espelly b-12), so be carefull no matter what you put up yer nose

That goes double (at least) for snorting baby laxatives. Dear god, a small snort of coke will probably be less damaging to you than a big snort of baby laxatives. 'Cuz...well...they're laxatives, for chissakes.
posted by equipoise at 3:05 PM on August 5, 2005

Another spot on with regard to the jaw.

The day after, I'd usually begin by wondering why my jaw was sore/uncomfortable until the cells I hadn't nuked kicked in and reminded me.

The tongue thing is also confirmed via anecdotal history. Think about how after having gone to the dentist and receiving novacaine, you find yourself unconsciously running your tongue over the numb portions. With coke, if your nose is sort of numb, usually the area of your mouth immediately below is too. And, you guessed it, there is your tongue probing the numbness.
posted by sillygit at 3:07 PM on August 5, 2005

Speaking of the Drudge Report...
posted by interrobang at 3:47 PM on August 5, 2005

If your character is only doing a little bit, you'll want to look less tired than you've ever looked in your life. Get a lot of sleep the night before and drink coffee; consider using stage makeup to eliminate any dark areas under your eyes. (If your character's been on a long binge, on the other hand, look tired, appearence-wise, but don't really act tired.)
posted by Tlogmer at 8:09 PM on August 5, 2005

bobby cannavale, who plays mickey in the current broadway production of hurlyburly, uses sugar as his coke substitute, for what it's worth. i'd imagine that must be the theatrical standard or something.

also, even though this is theater and you have to emotionally project to come across, you'll be better served by not overdoing it. people that have never done the drug it often get it wrong (as in, many depictions of cocaine use/abuse are exaggerated or just off).

i don't think i see anyone on here mention that oftentimes people on coke become (too) effusive, (too) outgoing, (too) generous... it's not all assholery.
posted by Hat Maui at 1:08 AM on August 6, 2005

This, from Hunter S. Thompson's A Dog Took My Place is a wonderfully accurate depiction of someone strung out on coke:

"And the servants were turning weird and on some nights there were weird naked people running around on the lawn and throwing rocks at the upstairs bedroom windows and people with white foam in their mouths were jacking off like apes in the hallways...people screeching frantically at four in the morning about volcanic eruptions in the Pacific that were changing the temperature of the ocean forever and causing the jet stream to move south, which would forever bring on a new ice age-and that's why neither of us could get get any sleep, Your Honor, and the sky was full of vultures so we called a plastic surgeon because her tits were starting to sag and my eyes didn't look right anymore and then we drove halfway to Miami at 100 miles an hour before we realized it was Sunday and the hospital wouldn't be open so we checked into the Holiday Inn with Jim's wife and ye gods, Your Honor, this woman is a whore and I can't really tell you what it means because the children are in danger and we're afraid they might freeze in their sleep and I can't trust you anyway but what else can I do, I'm desperate-and by the way we spent $441,000 last year on things I can't remember."

Also, watch An Evening With Robin Williams.

And yes, sweat.
posted by fandango_matt at 9:08 AM on August 6, 2005

That goes double (at least) for snorting baby laxatives.

Seems to me a much bigger problem than potentially overdosing on baby laxative is being onstage when you feel the sudden urge to take a huge dump. Find another substitute. This Rotten Tomato thread offers folks quoting DVD commentaries from Blow and Boogie Nights, etc, about what they snort onscreen. Sugar, flour and powdered milk are mentioned. Whatever you use, make sure it's ground as fine as can be or your nose is going to hurt. A lot. Press the powder through a very small mesh kitchen sieve with a spoon, maybe?
posted by mediareport at 5:48 PM on August 6, 2005