Truth in Comedy: The Manual of Improvisation (15 page)

However, if all they discuss is the activity itself, there's no chance for a scene —
they
might as well save their breath. The blind date scene was not about making a salad —
it was
about rejection by men. The verbal and visual levels of a scene must be kept separate, so they
can connect
later.

One exercise that encourages beginning performers to explore their environment involves
the use of objects.

CREATE AN OBJECT, SAY A LINE

This is a simple exercise, in which two players begin a scene. Before each of them speaks
a line of dialog, however, they must create and use an object. This is done every time a player
delivers a line —
he cannot keep using the same object over and over again. In this way, he
continues to make discoveries throughout the scene.

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Of course, the objects are not there to be discussed ("I'm going to fill this glass full of
water. Now I'm going to drink it."). What is clearly
seen
does not need to be
heard.

Both players soon discover their attitudes through their activities and objects. Before they
know it, they won't be concentrating on creating objects —
they'll be too busy following their
scene! The objects automatically pop up right and left.

This is also an excellent exercise for beginning players, because it slows them down and
forces them to think about what is said to them. Since they must take the time to create an
object before they respond, they must also use those extra moments to consider the meaning
behind their partner's speech. This requirement may annoy some actors, and they have to be
reminded how helpful this exercise is to their scenes!

Usually, we are stricter about following rules at the beginning of scenes, but once they are
underway, the physical
and verbal level flow naturally.

Following is an example of a scene that came from the "Create an Object to Speak"
exercise:

[WOMAN #1 roils in a wheelbarrow (and is therefore allowed to speak her

first line).]

WOMAN #1: On the way home, I saw a woman getting mugged.

[WOMAN #2 tears open a big bag and pours it into the wheelbarrow (and

can now speak her line).]

WOMAN #2: While I was riding the El train today, I saw a man pull a gold

chain off someone's neck.

[WOMAN #1 stirs the contents of the wheelbarrow with a stick, and can say

her second line.]

WOMAN #1: It's not safe to walk the streets anymore.

[WOMAN #2 picks up a trowel and bricks, and scoops what is now

discovered to be cement from the wheelbarrow, and speaks again

while she lays a brick.]

WOMAN #2: I never go out without my mace or stun gun.

Now both women are ensconced in their activity, discussing crime in the neighborhood
while building a brick wall in front of them. With their last line, "Nobody's going to get us,"
they discover they have built a wall around themselves, isolating them from the outside world.
Here, the physical level of the scene successfully connected with the verbal level, making a
wonderful scene about an attempt to stay safe in today's violent world.

VISUAL GROUP CREATION: THE INVOCATION

Del created an exercise where students invoke a "god" that they create themselves from
their own group vision. It's not as frightening as it may sound, and it actually involves the
"group mind" state discussed in the previous chapter. This god, and his or her characteristics,
then influences the scenes which follow.

There are three steps for a group to follow to invoke this
god.

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Step One: Describe It

One at a time, each student looks ahead into the space where it is to be created, and
describes a bit of this god. This vision appears as the students slowly relinquish their individual
visions for the group's vision. No one ever denies what has been said —
they accept it and see
it themselves:

EXAMPLE:

It is green, and it smells bad.

It is laughing and babbling.

It has a big mouth.

It is square, like an ice cube.

It is slimy.

Step Two: Talk Directly to It

By doing this, the group gives the god a lifelike quality, and some other than physical
characteristics:

EXAMPLE:

You try to control things all the time.

You are always telling jokes.

You are always laughing at your own jokes.

You are the only
one who laughs at your jokes.

Step Three: Worship the God

The players raise their creation to a level of power. Speaking in heightened, formal
language, slowly and adoringly, usually helps bring this about:

EXAMPLE:

Thou art the king of bad judgment.

Thy voice is no comfort to my ears.

Thou hast taken control of my good sense.

When thou art with me, I am debased and dishonored.

From this particular invocation, the players were inspired in their subsequent scenes, as
the images they created were strong and ever-present in their minds and their work.

In one scene, two players were searching for a mysterious spirit in an old house. While
searching for clues to the mystery of this entity, they were quickly overwhelmed by a nasty
odor. One of the players discovered a locked door and rapped on it saying, "Knock, knock."
The other player said, "Who's there?" Suddenly, they were telling bad "knock-knock" jokes.
They realized their worst fears had come true —
they were under the evil spell of the
mysterious spirit
of the house.

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The following scene saw two stand-up comics backstage at a concert, discussing the
previous show. Although one of them had received a standing ovation, the other one had not
connected at all because his material was so bad. Reality was trying to tell him to give up his
comedy career, and he tried to face the fact that he was a bad stand-up.

Unknowingly, the group managed to invoke the archetypal "bad comedian," and elevate it
to a god! The work was driven by the demon that sometimes gets in the way of our brilliant
scenes by forcing us to go for bad jokes —
a slimy, smelly creature with bad taste!

A second group invoked a blob with eight legs, a bad toupee, and a cigar in its mouth; it
was covered with chocolate. It became clear that this was
the archetypal talent agent. One
scene saw the agent on four different phones, making deals, lying, and sweet-talking his way
out of things, while sugar-
coating everything he said.

The images created by the group mind were clearly hanging in the air, and very definitely
affected the scenes on stage which followed. While the group invoked an archetype which had
power over their work, the power truly came from them.

Visual group creation is the most vital part of the invocation. This is certainly not limited
to the creation of a "god." Human qualities like greed or virtue can be used. If a team invokes a
quality and raises it to the level of archetype, then they can become it and be affected by it,
rather than just discuss it.

Some of the most successful invocations also involve mundane, everyday objects that are
raised to high status, objects like a pencil or a comb. The team must imagine the object in front
of them, and enlarge it to a thousand times its normal size in their mind. They will be amazed at
the details they can see, and the types of ideas that grow out of the invocation. The process is
the same:describe it, talk to it, worship it.
Sometimes a fourth step,
become it,
is added. The
Invocation Game is a wonderful opening for a Harold, as it can
inspire so many scenes and
characters from a simple audience suggestion!

When invoking a human quality, abstract qualities are projected onto the group creation
in the form of physical details. When invocating an object, the visual details inspire human
traits, emotional responses, memories and character quirks.

If the pencil were invoked, for example, a wealth of information could be gleaned from
physical details. Teeth marks might inspire a nervous character. An eraser that wears down
more rapidly than the point could suggest someone who makes a lot of mistakes, or a
perfectionist who is never satisfied. The "Number Two" label might conjure up memories of
standardized testing, while "red" could suggest anything from debts to spelling errors. All from
a simple pencil!

Following is an example of the invocation of a cigarette:

DESCRIBE IT:

It is white with a long green line. Its filter is white, and it has three separate

chambers. It says "Virginia Slims."

TALK TO IT:

You've come a long way, baby.

You make me bold.

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You make my teeth yellow.

You make me cough. I hate you, but I need you.

You keep me calm.

WORSHIP IT:

Thou hast the power to control my nervous system.

Thou art a thing of nature.

Thou canst snuff out my life with thy smoke.

I am addicted to thee.

Thou chokest me and I return for thee. BECOME IT:

I am the cigarette that you always seek.

How dare you crush me under your feet.

I will have the last laugh.

I will get you through that big exam you must take.

Calm down. I will be with you forever!

This invocation inspired scenes about feminism (Virginia Slims), a controlling person,
and someone who made her friends sick whenever she entered a room.

Probably the most powerful invocation in improv history occurred with the Second City
cast in Toronto a few years ago, according to Mike Myers. The company was having trouble
with a scene, and they wondered what Del Close would do. Mike decided to have the cast
invoke Del for his advice, an exercise he had experienced in ImprovOlympic workshops. The
cast proceeded to invoke Del. As they reached their peak, suddenly Del himself stepped out of
the darkness in the back of the theatre!

"The cast freaked out! Everybody screamed," laughs Myers. None of them knew that Del
had flown into Canada on business that week,
and just happened to stop by the theatre when
the company was performing the invocation.

CHARACTER MOTIVATION

Wear your character like a straw boater.

—
Paul Sills

Many potentially wonderful scenes come to a dead halt because the actor is concerned
about what his "character" is doing or saying in a specific situation.

It is impossible for the
character
an actor is playing to get stuck. It isn't the character who
is stuck, but the actor himself. Since this "character" shares his mind, his intelligence, and
his
morals, the player must reveal
himself in this person.

When improvisers realize that all they need to do is react honestly, their scenes come
alive with real human relationships. They interact in social situations that everyone relates to.

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Too many would-be improvisers think using a funny voice or wearing a silly costume is
all that is needed in playing a character. These are actually only incidental embellishments. A
real character consists of the actor himself, with any additional point of view, preoccupation,
or attitude that this character has. This additional point of view motivates his responses in
specific ways.

One exercise called Secrets is used in workshops to show how a preoccupation adds a
dimension to a character.

SECRETS

Each player is given a piece of paper with a great secret or desire written on it (the
suggestions may be written previously by the group). Some of these may include: