impro vorno

Podcast interview with Jerry Seinfeld about comedy. A pretty good listen.

Started a new clown class here in Melbourne, taught by the amazing Liz Skitch. To have a nurturing and prompting teacher is quite a shock and a change to where I’ve come from...

Warm up this class was Simon Says, followed by Mr. Hit.

Proud clown

3 clowns up. Each are given an object, of which they are immensely proud of. Objects include handbags, sunglasses, scarfs and these comical Fish head hats.

With (or wearing) the object, one clown at a time would enter and show off said object, taking a catwalk to the audience.

Have absolute faith in that object. There is no doubt that it is the greatest!

Let the object do the work. Do less.

Bring a genuine joy - an honest joy.

Start with as little as possible - a clean canvas - then we can paint!

Often the prop does the work for us. You don’t need to underline (the prop.) It’s not an informercial. Let the prop do the work.

Keep it simple. Simple pride.

(The) clown only knows 1 thing - absolute pride in that 1 thing or knowledge. And blind trust.

Notes given to me specifically:

The clown is not a complete cretin.

Be intelligent, like a business man who flies first class - and wants to show off his new bag, very expensive.

Athlete

Clown makes an entrance. He is an athlete from the Olympics, and is going to be interviewed by the Clown Master.

(The clown is) just back from the Rio Olympics. (And the clown) only knows (that) an athlete stretches.

(Be) naïve - not saying too much, not knowing too much.

Contemporary dancers

2 clowns enter to perform a dance piece. They only know one thing... I played Minor in this exercise.

And one of you knows more than the other. (Major / Minor)

The minor really believes the friend is really experienced. Way more experienced.

(A clown is like) a small child in a ballet concert - who will stop and spies mum and dad out in the audience (then realises the play is continuing so rushes back into place.)

End of class discussion

We find our golden nuggets, half-dozen or so things, (that we can) come back to, that we know work.

The clown has a very good memory - when he finds a thing that works, he can play with it a few times and then puts it away for another day. Then (on another day) when the clown needs something new and fast, he can pull it out and surprise us.

Insults

Not really Liz’s thing, but sometimes there’s something amusing...

For the four weeks I was at clown school, the first hour of each day was dedicated to a movement class. Chan was our teacher, a graduate of the school originally from Hong Kong.

With Chan, we did many great things. The Walking on Hands exercise was a stand out, but we also did strength and flexibility exercises, rhythm and synchronicity games and a Chinese Opera.

For one of the exercises we did for strength and flexibility, using a tennis ball laying on the floor, we would place it under a shoulder blade for a couple of minutes, imagining our body breathing in and absorbing the ball. Soon, we would remove the ball and could feel our bodies sink deep into the floor. A great way to loosen up. We did this for each shoulder blade and then each glute. 

One of the rhythm games was “Boom Pa Pa”. This exercise involved clapping our hands and stomping our feet in time. Chan taught us that there was really only two moves to learn - a 3 step move and a 2step move. For the 3 step, it was clap, stomp, stomp, and the 2 step was clap, stomp.

The only rules were that, for any sequence, it must be made up of either the 3 step and/or the 2 step move - and that a 3 step move never comes after a 2 step.

Chan would call out a number between 5 and 10 (Boom means a clap, Pa means a stomp.)

For 5, we would do a Boom, Pa, Pa, Boom, Pa. (3 step, 2 step.) 

6 was Boom, Pa, Pa, Boom, Pa, Pa.

7 was Boom, Pa, Pa, Boom, Pa, Boom, Pa.

8 was Boom, Pa, Pa, Boom, Pa, Pa, Boom, Pa.

9 was Boom, Pa, Pa, Boom, Pa, Pa, Boom, Pa, Pa; and

10 was Boom, Pa, Pa, Boom, Pa, Pa, Boom, Pa, Boom, Pa.

After breaking our brains the first day or two learning this, we got quite good. So Chan would arrange us in two groups and have us do sequences... 5-6-7, 6-7-8, 8-9-10, etc. It became a little tribal and maybe the same feeling as the Haka.

The Chinese Opera was an approximately 2 minute set piece we rehearsed over the 4 weeks and performed on the final day. For me, it was very similar to martial arts or Tai Chi. There were many fixed points, kicks, jumps and balances in the piece and was a delight to learn and play.

With all of the physical work we did in movement class, everyone would sweat up a storm. Add into that a studio without air con and the beautiful French summertime weather - we’d finish very hot and very sweaty.

So, I'm home now. Hooray. I'm still affected by jet lag and quite tired but slowly recovering and returning my body clock to Melbourne time.

The final week was quite tough for me. My energy was pretty low all week and my participation was lacking. I sat out of the exercises Monday and Tuesday, finally got some spirit (and courage) and got up for Wednesday's Martial Arts exercise and Thursday's Shot Put exercise. However, was pretty bombed come Friday and sat out from the Before the Show exercise - a shame actually because we saw some amazing truth work that day. I wish I had slept more and had the energy and enthusiasm to get up Friday.

Having done Week 3's (Day 14's) exercise to open up and relax and display a genuine self on stage, there was a great delight to see the audience respond and enjoy - but also brought a pressure to continue this going forward. Day 15's class of Imitate a Clown brought my confidence smashing back down to earth. Quite a hard lesson.

So, after Tuesday’s class, feeling pretty bummed, the lads at home had a bit of a get together and we laughed and laughed and laughed. We invented a new game and we rediscovered our silly, dumb selves. We also improvised some songs (mostly percussion) and shared the love. 

This was exactly what the doctor ordered and helped me be ready and happy to jump up in Wednesday's class - even if I was terrible (and Philippe's comments basically shat on me), I was happy to have had the moment.

Thursday's Tennis exercise was a bit more of a victory. Again, Ward had spoken to me before class, advising me to do less. And I had approached Philippe at interval, who gave me some pointed advice that I am too strong - more of the same message - and mentioned that he might have an exercise in mind for me, should I get up today.

So I got up for the Tennis exercise. My tactic was to visualise how a child would serve a ball and then do this - with a couple of points in mind. Firstly, don't watch the ball; watch the audience. Complicité, you know. And second, do less. Fixed-point with body, ensure all my movements deliberate, subtle.

And it worked. There were three of us on stage for this exercise, performing individually, simultaneously. And while I couldn't see what the other two were doing, I could hear and feel the audience responding to me - at the point of when I served the ball. All I did was (miming) bounce the ball, throw it up and swing my racket. And then smile. Pretty simple, really.

After Philippe bommed his drum, he spoke to us each individually. First Will, then Elizabeth, then me. For me, he gave me a follow-up exercise to play table tennis - with the audience as my opponent. Following a clown exercise I learnt back in Melbourne, I allowed my eyes to see the ball to my left or right side, looked back to the audience before returning the ball. This had some response to the audience again. I continued finding and returning the ball. Slowly my pleasure came through.

Next, Philippe gave me more stimulus - there is now an elephant in the room, in the audience, he said. He asked me to say hello to the elephant... In keeping with less-is-more, I tipped my hat to the elephant. Philippe said 'No, you must speak.' So, I said 'Hello... Elephant...' in a silly voice. And continued playing table tennis. Philippe then said there was now a giraffe present. I acknowledged the giraffe and continued playing.

Soon, Philippe had enough and gave the blunt feedback 'You are not open', and that was the end of the exercise. Talking with Eli later about it, I mentioned that I was unsure what the point of the animals was. Eli's theory is that it was designed to make me feel small - smaller than usual, given I'm a pretty big guy - and maybe push me to be more confined and do even less. This made sense and I left Thursday with a sense of having learnt something.

Friday's class I witnessed some amazing work. Firstly, in the Before the Show exercise, we saw some very touching moments. To see someone genuinely say 'I've made it, I'm a clown now.' was truly beautiful. In some cases there were tears, as the performer spoke to a loved one who had passed. No one in the room was unaffected, no one in the room could turn away. It was beautiful, amazing.

Second was a follow-up exercise with the Businessman clown. What began as a game between his pleasure and carelessness with his briefcase, turned into a beautiful tragedy with the briefcase being removed from the stage while he was backstage. 

To watch this clown's regret, sadness, longing, and ultimately an animosity with the chair - for who he blamed - was touching. His nerves, his despondency; so beautiful. He berated the chair, threw the chair and sulked. After this had continued for a little while, the briefcase was returned to the stage (again, while the clown was backstage.) When the clown returned and discovered his lost briefcase - he collapsed. The whole class cheered, clapped, stood up and applauded. It was truly beautiful.

Philippe gave him amazing praise. Philippe then asked the class (with 30 minutes left in the day) would we prefer to continue the exercise and destroy the beautiful thing we had just witnessed, or finish the class on this note and preserve the beauty of the show? The class voted to finish the class.

I will never forget the performances of the last day of class for the rest of my life. I was truly touched, as was everyone there.

So we invented a new game that would be a great improv or clown warm-up game.

With everyone in pairs, person A's objective is to not laugh. Person B's objective is to get A to laugh.

First, you must make and keep eye contact. Strong complicité. Person B then begins telling a story. Person A has to repeat the story, word-for-word, as person A is speaking.

Person B should vary the story where appropriate, making Person A say whatever it takes to get them to laugh.

Before the show

For this exercise, only a spotlight is provided, down real low. There is some background music, also low. The clown enters on the stage and imagines the huge, empty theatre and has a touching moment.

(Imagine there are) no spectators, (and it’s) 3 hours before the show. You enter on the stage and you say ‘Daddy / Mummy’ - or the name of a girlfriend, boyfriend - ‘Look at me. I am a clown now, in Étampes. Tonight, I will play as a clownstar.’

If we love you, you stay. If you do something we don’t love... Boom (of the drum and you leave.)

(And) all the time, (it’s) with the silence of the (empty) theatre.

You don’t have to push, (just) do something beautiful. 

He enters too fast. You don’t have the sense of the stage (or) the light.

(Chan, music man) will put the music up slowly, and then you enter.

Don’t look at your feet! You have to say ‘Here is my audience, I give everything to my audience’ and not to your flippers.

Too many anecdotes. You have to pretend nobody is here.

Gavroche’s exercise

Continuing on from Before the show exercise. Gavroche sits in a chair against the curtain.

We (the audience) are going to say ‘Come, come.’ When you feel people call you, you come.

We call you because we love you.

Don’t try to be ready physically (as you sit.)

Everybody has to say come. Take your time.

Don’t look at us - look a bit higher. And whisper

We like you when we see your pleasure. We don’t like you when we don’t see your pleasure.

You exist because you have a pleasure - and because everyone calls you.

Before the show - continuing

When you look at your flippers, you lose your pleasure.

We hear more the words or we see more the words in a bath of pleasure? Or (bla bla bla bla)?

Philippe mentions he’s now going to change the exercise a little.

She enters as herself again, not with this horrible, commercial smile.

You make an entrance and you don’t smile!

After (you enter on stage), you have to say in your head ‘Ahh my little one, all this stuff - it’s for the show. I cry, I laugh for the show. I do all this stuff (so) to play (my dream play) William Shakespeare.

“This kingdom belongs to me!”

If you are playing timid (bla bla bla), you leave immediately.

(My notes for this exercise)

Be slow

Have wonder

Nervous - this is before your show!

Don’t sigh. A tender moment for you talking aloud to someone you love

Rhythm

Al Capone is on stage doing an exercise.

When you feel (your) rhythm starts to lose the audience, you (have to) change.

(When the) music stops, is fixed-point for the actor. And (when the music) resumes, the actor continues (after a beat.)

Philippe has Chan play several songs. First was an African high-tempo song, then we stop. Then he plays What a Wonderful World, then we stop. Then a clown entrance song. Then stop. Finally, back to Wonderful World.

Every situation you need a new rhythm. You need to know what rhythm you play. 

Every new dance is a new rhythm.

Rhythm and conflict

When you study, you have to (know many rhythms.) The director, he (looks to) have a conflict between two actors. If you have the same rhythm, you don't have conflict.

If you have one rhythm and she has another rhythm, there is a conflict.

So the work of a director is to try to give you a rhythm, to give to her another rhythm, and to know how this music of rhythm works - if she is happy with (her) rhythm and you are happy with (your) rhythm. It's not always a piece of cake. Sometimes, this actor does take time to discover how you could play the scene with different rhythms.

Every new event is a new rhythm.

I have to change the rhythm, it's good. And (with) rhythm (and) fixed-point. And another actor enters with another rhythm - you play faster (na na na na), I play slow (la la la la) - we have a conflict. You play fast, I play slow. Very good.

You need to have conflict. Without conflict, the theatre does not exist. Every actor loves to play conflict, every conflict has rhythm, voice, complicité, everything is good.

Insults

We think you are the lock ness monster. (This) is one of the most horrible things I see in my life.