Truth in Comedy: The Manual of Improvisation by Charna Halpern, Del Close, Kim Johnson Page B
Ads: Link
seemed lost, lonely and worried:
TOM: I have a theory why we haven't seen people for days. I think there
was a nuclear exchange, and somehow we were the only ones who
weren't killed.
ROGER: I'll buy that. Even the last town we walked through was deserted.
62
TOM: Well, I guess we have to start over. We need a president.
ROGER: Okay.
TOM: I nominate myself.
ROGER: I second that.
TOM: Does that mean I'm president?
ROGER: No, it just means you're nominated. We have to have an election.
(They vote, and Roger counts the secret ballots.)
ROGER: You lost. I don't know how, either, because I voted for you.
TOM: Then I declare a dictatorship. But, I appoint you attorney general.
ROGER: Great! Then I get to prosecute someone.
(Looks around.) Well, since you're the only one here, I guess I'll prosecute
you for the state of the world.
TOM: Okay.
ROGER: I find you guilty.
TOM: But you haven't proven anything yet.
ROGER: This is a dictatorship! There's no due process of law.
TOM: I'm defecting.
As the scene continued, there was a summit in the middle of the highway to discuss trade negotiations. The pair began fighting, and the threat of war was once again at hand. The two players were clearly affected by the desolate environment they had visualized in their heads.
Improvisers must totally commit to their environment, because as easily as they create a location for their audience, they can destroy it. It is very jarring to see an elaborate envi- ronment created on stage, in which everybody knows where every imaginary object is on stage, only to see an actor walk through a table and destroy everything the players worked so hard to establish.
This is one of the most common forms of “breaking reality” one of the worst mistakes an improviser can make; this rccliscussed in detail in the next chapter.
Players who commit to the environment respect all objects created on stage as though they were real, because once the performers bring them into existence, they are real. If players don't commit to them 100 per cent, they will not commit to anything.
Any audience that has watched enough inexperienced improvisers has seen some truly astonishing things, feats to challenge a Houdini. Drinking glasses vanish and re-appear, telephones magically grow and shrink several times in a few seconds, and people walk through tables, chairs, and walls. Performers who do this are obviously not visualizing their environment.
Most audiences stop paying attention to a scene like this, and instead concentrate on the many ways the player has destroyed his reality. This is a form of denial, and it can only be avoided if each player pays close attention to the physical details created byeveryone on stage.
63
An environment created on stage nearly always has a six-sided "where." In other words, there is something in front of, behind, on either side of, above and below the players. There are truly an unlimited number of objects that cause the impro- viser to feel a certain way. Many people believe "You are what you eat," but in theatre, "You are what you do."
The objects created on stage influence the actors' choices, and help to discover emotions and attitudes. As soon as a player begins an activity, his mind discovers why, and he justifies it in his attitude.
If a woman is discussing the blind date she had the night before, she may not have a clue as to how she feels. But, if she is preparing a salad as she discusses the date, the motion of tearing apart the head of lettuce may put her in a violent state. The anger she feels about the blind date is put across subtly through her activity as she discusses the disastrous evening. This brings her information to a visual, as well as a verbal level. In fact, she can strengthen the effect if she verbally plays down her anger, while she is violently tearing the lettuce to shreds.
This player discovered her emotional state through the activity in her environment. Why is she making salad in the
TOM: I have a theory why we haven't seen people for days. I think there
was a nuclear exchange, and somehow we were the only ones who
weren't killed.
ROGER: I'll buy that. Even the last town we walked through was deserted.
62
TOM: Well, I guess we have to start over. We need a president.
ROGER: Okay.
TOM: I nominate myself.
ROGER: I second that.
TOM: Does that mean I'm president?
ROGER: No, it just means you're nominated. We have to have an election.
(They vote, and Roger counts the secret ballots.)
ROGER: You lost. I don't know how, either, because I voted for you.
TOM: Then I declare a dictatorship. But, I appoint you attorney general.
ROGER: Great! Then I get to prosecute someone.
(Looks around.) Well, since you're the only one here, I guess I'll prosecute
you for the state of the world.
TOM: Okay.
ROGER: I find you guilty.
TOM: But you haven't proven anything yet.
ROGER: This is a dictatorship! There's no due process of law.
TOM: I'm defecting.
As the scene continued, there was a summit in the middle of the highway to discuss trade negotiations. The pair began fighting, and the threat of war was once again at hand. The two players were clearly affected by the desolate environment they had visualized in their heads.
Improvisers must totally commit to their environment, because as easily as they create a location for their audience, they can destroy it. It is very jarring to see an elaborate envi- ronment created on stage, in which everybody knows where every imaginary object is on stage, only to see an actor walk through a table and destroy everything the players worked so hard to establish.
This is one of the most common forms of “breaking reality” one of the worst mistakes an improviser can make; this rccliscussed in detail in the next chapter.
Players who commit to the environment respect all objects created on stage as though they were real, because once the performers bring them into existence, they are real. If players don't commit to them 100 per cent, they will not commit to anything.
Any audience that has watched enough inexperienced improvisers has seen some truly astonishing things, feats to challenge a Houdini. Drinking glasses vanish and re-appear, telephones magically grow and shrink several times in a few seconds, and people walk through tables, chairs, and walls. Performers who do this are obviously not visualizing their environment.
Most audiences stop paying attention to a scene like this, and instead concentrate on the many ways the player has destroyed his reality. This is a form of denial, and it can only be avoided if each player pays close attention to the physical details created byeveryone on stage.
63
An environment created on stage nearly always has a six-sided "where." In other words, there is something in front of, behind, on either side of, above and below the players. There are truly an unlimited number of objects that cause the impro- viser to feel a certain way. Many people believe "You are what you eat," but in theatre, "You are what you do."
The objects created on stage influence the actors' choices, and help to discover emotions and attitudes. As soon as a player begins an activity, his mind discovers why, and he justifies it in his attitude.
If a woman is discussing the blind date she had the night before, she may not have a clue as to how she feels. But, if she is preparing a salad as she discusses the date, the motion of tearing apart the head of lettuce may put her in a violent state. The anger she feels about the blind date is put across subtly through her activity as she discusses the disastrous evening. This brings her information to a visual, as well as a verbal level. In fact, she can strengthen the effect if she verbally plays down her anger, while she is violently tearing the lettuce to shreds.
This player discovered her emotional state through the activity in her environment. Why is she making salad in the
Similar Books
