NO LAUGHING MATTER
Trying to analyse comedy has been described
as like trying to catch smoke. Difficult, yes, but we know what smoke is
comprised of, what it looks like, and we and can find ways to channel it up a
chimney, or put it in a container.
Any road up… here goes!
First of all, and most importantly, we must
be aware that there is no room for self-indulgence in comedy and the final
authority on whether something is funny or not is always going to be the
audience. Ernie Wise once said, "We may think we've put on a first-rate performance, but when
some little guy comes up to us and says – “I saw you last night and you were
bloody awful” – that little guy is always right. End of argument! Pleasing the
public is the beginning and end of it."
Laugh getting depends 75% on the actor’s
technique and 25% on the point of the joke. To make people laugh requires a
considerable amount of serious preparation and forethought.
I included the following joke in the first
ever pantomime I wrote… a version of ‘Dick Whittington’…
DAME (TO IDLE JACK) Can you sing?
IDLE JACK Can
I sing? Hah! I once sang for the King of Siam!
DAME The
King of Siam
IDLE JACK Yes!
At least he said he was! He said… if you’re a singer, I’m the King of Siam!
It’s not the greatest gag in the world, but rehearsal after
rehearsal, the actor playing Idle Jack
blew it, big time. Eventually he admitted
the reason for this was… he didn’t understand the joke… simple as it was!
You must be aware of joke construction and what makes a joke funny. No
magician could perform a trick without having total knowledge and control of
its physical and psychological elements. It’s the same with a joke.
So… perhaps we should have as Rule No.1 for
aspiring comedians, working with other people’s material – make sure you get
the point of the joke. Otherwise, you have little chance of getting any kind of
laugh with it.
The punch line gets its name from the delivery technique used. You must
punch the line out a little harder and with a slightly different voice than the
rest of the joke. Say it louder and more clearly than you said the setup lines.
If the audience does not hear the punch line, they are not going to laugh. Just
before the punch line you should pause slightly to emphasise and draw special
attention to the line.
After you deliver the line, don't utter another sound. Give the
audience a chance to laugh. Words or phrases appended to the climax tend to
delay or impede laughter. Until you get some experience, it is really tough to
wait. Beginners tend to be afraid that no laughter will come, so they keep
going. If you keep talking during this period, you will easily squelch the
laughter. As your confidence builds, pausing will become easier and easier.
Sometimes waiting the audience out will actually give them a cue to laugh even
if the joke wasn't that great.
When you deliver your punch line, deliver it to one person and one
person only. It doesn't matter how large the crowd is, you can look one person
right in the eye and deliver your line.
Farce and comedy techniques are obviously required in pantomime, but
its uniqueness demands other skills.
Playing ‘out front’ is sternly rebuked in naturalistic plays, but is an essential skill in
pantomime. The actor should try to find every opportunity to point a line in
the direction of the audience. Often this may seem quite unnatural, as the
normal thing is to look at the person you are talking to, but pantomime is not
‘normal’, and its exaggerated style allows, even demands, that the actors should
pull the audience into the production as much as possible, and maximise
audience involvement. The Dame will try to build up a rapport with them as
confidants, the Principal Boy will proclaim his courage and get them on his
side against the villain, who will taunt them… and so on, and so on.
There are specific ‘out front’ lines, which are designated as such in
the script. The audience participation routines are an obvious example, but
often the tendency is to overdo these and miss out on some of the less obvious
examples of playing ‘out front’. Try to get the balance right, and this will
help to add variety to the performance and make it much more rounded and
complete.
Don't just invent business. You need to find motivation, and it must
have timing, and technique. You mustn't
louse up the joke with physical "business" that distracts the
audience.
You have to know where the laughs are, and then define them. The first
thing you have to do is study your script, and you have to make a
mark where you believe the laughs are. This way you leave room for the
audience to react. Your laughs come from your knowledge of them, not
accidentally.
Funny is easy; you can play anything funny; resist that. If everything
is funny, nothing is funny, and you will wear an audience out.
Don't go for all laughs, only ones that are important. Don't try to
make it as funny as possible. Don't work so hard. The material is funny.
When you are reading your script and you know where the jokes are, put a slash mark next to them so you know when to do the beat. The
beat is no more time than time to inhale.
Comedy is a science. First start with characters, find out who are
they, how they feel, what they want, and then add the comedy. Comedy has to
start with convincing the audience. Unless the audience believes in the character,
there is no basis.
"In the evolution of a
performance… (Stanley
What is the underlying joke?
There is no joke unless you react.
Pace has nothing to do
with hurrying. Pace is doing away with meaningless pauses.
Playing comedy can’t be sloppy. It must be precise. Understand every
single word. Comedy is clarity, skill and timing. Comedy is technique.
The minute you
think you’re a comedian, you’re not funny.
