Acting classes teach students how to simulate emotions and imitate mannerisms, skills useful for aspiring film stars and undercover robots. Master the art of mimicry with today's Groupon: for $25, you get a one-day acting workshop at PPA Studios (a $75 value).

PPA Studios' Director of Education Joseph Giampapa, an accomplished playwright with more than 35 years of industry experience, develops students' acting skills for commercials, television, and film, emphasizing aptitudes necessary for audition success. In the four-hour introductory workshop, Giampapa schools pupils in the basics of blocking and explains critical differences between acting for camera and stage, such as projecting the voice and avoiding entanglement in curtains. Alongside line memorization and recitation, apprentices discover key acting techniques for nonverbal communication and channeling nervousness. After revealing more effective strategies for finding auditions than sending out homing pigeons clad with business cards, Giampapa describes what novices can expect from the audition process and details the qualities and abilities directors seek in actors.