Each of the schools here have a different focus and emphasis. ComedySportz are shortform games, and what they feed into my long form game is the urgency of making a quick choice and committing at 100%. I am sure they feed in in many other ways too, but that is my thinking as I write right now, sitting as I am, with a beer in hand in Salt and Pepper, a sort of diner place under the iO theatre.
The world is passing, through the window (the comma was essential there) and I’m going upstairs shortly to watch a show. It is 10 in the evening and warm here right now, and I confess, I have a hunger. None of which has anything to do with these notes…
This class focussed on Point of View and Emotion, Committing at a 10, and Having Fun at a 10.
Who you are can be stated or implied through how you treat your scene partner.
The theme of a scene, what it should be able to boiled down to in a single word by the end of it, doesn’t need to be stated at the top. But, by the end of a scene, its theme should be able to be stated in a single word.
The “Where” – make it obvious and clear, this will give options.
The “What” – the characters’ focus – their attention and their intention. This can be immediate or longer term.
French Maid into 3 line scenes
In a circle, one person to the middle. From one person in the ring they get a character, from another an emotion.
They turn to a third in the circle and say a line, response, response. Simples.
Monologue rant
This is like a one person rant, except the next person jumps in to complete the sentence or even word, imitating as much as possible every aspect of the first person, making that character very clear indeed.
2 Person Scenes with an emotion and a physicality
This resulted in several fun scenes:
a couple who negotiate a wedding dance with pop tarts
a grandmother and granddaughter discuss relationships and how they are both tarts
two competitors flirt with dead alligators
a model with a new pair of asschaps and a mosquito bite on bum
The went on to having a walk on third character. Once the word that describes the scene is discovered, this third person knows what to do to heighten it. So do so!
So, come on as a pop tart, a sex slave, the ghost of an alligator, a mosquito, etc.
Remember (as always) emotion at a 10, physicality at a 10.
Oscar Winning Moment
This is a great fun game, where, during a scene being played, the referee names a player and they do a 30 second monologue of massive overacting for their “Oscar winning moment”.
These are normal 2 person scenes with a walk on. Each person gets one.
Try it, huge amounts of fun, a real licence to go for it.
The key is to remember that this is still a scene. Remember the Who, the What, the Where, look after yourself, emotion, physicality, so that the scene still has a nice strong base to it. Specificity, as always.
New Choice
An old classic. A normal scene, obeying all the important rules of a proper scene. Every time the ref says new choice, you make a new choice. This can go really dark if it is allowed to!
This is great practice for thinking further through things, come up with good choices that are not the immediate thing, that are surprising and new.
Tricky but great fun, push the brain…
Relief of the Windy Spasms... 