I'm not great at one-liners or set-up/joke type of delivery. I tend to get laughs from voices, physicality, and/or the subject matter of my scenes. During a second beat scene tonight Craig and I were roommates. I was writing a screenplay and wrote my roommate(Craig), dad(Tim), and stepdad(Timmy) into the story. We cut back and forth from screenplay scenes to "real life" scenes, gathering a significant amount of speed as we progressed. At the end Andy tagged in as a producer type and told me my screenplay was obvious, unoriginal, and an amalgamation of movies that have already been made. I responded "No art is new art. Shia Labeouf." and the scene was edited on a huge laugh.
Now don't misunderstand, I don't think this is a terribly good joke but it is relatively difficult to think of a cogent topical response on the fly. I was pleased with it and gratified by the response of the audience. It was the right line for that particular set of circumstances. I felt like how I imagine a batter must feel at times. You can see a pitch and its almost as if time slows down. You know exactly where the ball is going to go. You swing and connect at the perfect place on the bat. There is that most satisfying crack and the ball leaps away. It's a perfect moment. Not a great one. But a convergence of different inspirations and motivations and information that find a resonance. A moment rooted and defined and solely in the present.
Some people call it "the zone" and its that heightened feeling of awareness that I strive to duplicate.
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