Earn The Laugh

Sometimes audiences are easy and sometimes they're hard. Sometimes they laugh at everything and sometimes they laugh at nothing. Monday nights new teams perform at iO. Last night I saw a show that was disturbing for a couple reasons.

The show taken in a vacuum was bad. All the scenes were arguments, multiple scenes degraded women, and multiple scenes devolved into a loose premise with only one line jokes to move it forward. It appeared as if the team wasn't having fun and didn't like each other. I'd cut any team some slack, having an off night, or this team in particular being green, but open to close the show was packed with negativity.

The other disturbing thing was that the audience appeared to love it. The team was getting laughs and applause, totally undeserved. They liked the fights, they liked the series of joke with no actual scene structure, they liked the women being picked on.

Teams need to hold themselves to higher standards when performing. As actors and improvisers we have to realize what we do has an effect on the audience whether it be conscious or unconscious. We are not a TV show we are live theater. Even if there isn't justice in life there should be justice on stage. If we see a scene where a man bullies his wife, at some point that man should be brought to justice. When we improvise we shouldn't focus on what is and what's funny. We should focus on what could be. Whether that be fun, a message, or simple enjoyment of each other. The audience shouldn't direct us, we should direct them.

As audience members watching live theater we should be aware of what we're watching. What the message is behind what we're seeing, what the implication is. We aren't watching a movie, we are involved in a participatory art form. Especially in improv we as audience members are free to laugh, cry, or groan. We are free and obligated to judge the content of what we are seeing.

Comedy is and has always been a reflection of our reality, of our society. I wouldn't want my sister being treated like I saw some women being treated in the show last night. Being presented at a comedy theater doesn't make something comedic. And it certainly doesn't make it something to laugh at. I'm not saying don't laugh, of course, please laugh and laugh fully.

But think about what you are laughing at.