IMPRO
Comedy Agenda
1. Knows what effect it want to achieve.
2. Is conformist. i.e.only embraces acceptable ideas.
3. Releases tension too quickly. Never lives with it and lets it build up.
4. Takes nothing seriously, as it is as prejudiced against seriousness as
serious drama is against low comedy.
Real Agenda
1. Doesn't know in advance what effect it wants or where it going.
2. Has big, non-conformist set of ideas to draw on.
3. Expands world to include comedy, philosophy, etc.
4. Builds tension to release it eventually.
5. Is serious with comedy as a by-product.
At moment, as we all in impro world well know, impro has at moment mostly,
a comedy agenda. With success of Who's Line and similar, all performers
want to go down that road. Not only that, audiences appear to demand this.
And the pressure to please an audience is very great indeed. What i would say though is we should all stop and think. What other profession simply supplies
the demand of it's clients, no matter what those demands are? Answer. PROSTITUTION! I'll say that again. PROSTITUTION! iF You think this is
too strong just honestly examine your feelings after a comedy impro performance. How do you feel? Answer. In truth. Flat and deflated. Why?
Because what has this performance really got to do with you and what you
as an individual need to express? What? Also. Did it contain those uplifting
magical narratives that make impro so worth doing? Answer. No. In comedy
impro the stories are just a vehicle to get to the next gag. Comedy accent.
Bit of silly mime bizznizz, that will always get a laugh. As a pose to this,
Real Impro leaves you inspired and uplifted.
Obviously people do not want to think about this. They'd rather live with the
flat feeling than to have to actually think. THINK! But I WOULD point out this whole
thing does make a mockery of the whole impro ethic. You go to classes. You
are taught the importance of certain things, but then once you actually do get
in front of an audience, all that goes out the window. It turns into a kind of roman games, with the audience baying for blood!
What can we do? One solution would be to acknowledge this honestly, this
split between comedy and real and then do two shows! YES! TWO SHOWS!
Do one to satisfy the comedy hungry mob, where it's agreed that's the purpose. But then do another one, which is agreed should be real. This one having performers who are brave enough to go against peer pressure and actually stop making jokes for a bit! Hard? Yes. But not impossible.
This not as crazy as it sounds. It just about being honest about things. It about
discriminating clearly between things.Remember, comedy Impro is not really Impro at all. No matter what spin you put upon it, it just ain't. And why were you attracted to Impro in the first place? Answer. Because it could provide that magic. That truth, that would make life so much better!!!!!!
TRUST ME. I'M AN IMPROVISER!
