I did a character that's been rolling around in my head for a while last Friday at Holy Fuck at the Annoyance. Pastor Dirk Deadman is a motivational of speaker of sorts who, aside from his parish, does a seminar entitled "Christian Cheating" where he describes the theological justifications for infidelity and gives practical advise on how to cheat without being discovered.
Some of the comedians I know like to script everything out. Have all the jokes written, all the words on the page. I don't know if it's because of my improv influences or the time I spent at Second City but I prefer to go into a sketch or a bit with just a simple idea or framework. I like to know what I'm going to do sort of because it leaves room to be inspired and make discoveries while I'm in front of an audience. My strength isn't writing out well worded jokes my strength is improvising so it makes sense to do as much as I can. As the audience reacts to this or that I'm guided through the piece by them, I discover what hits and what doesn't hit, where the real meat of the scene is. I can then go back and refine it, shape it, distill it, still not scripting out actual lines but maybe remembering a phrase or a pause to insert at the appropriate time.
It's a thrilling feeling because it's not exactly improv and its not exactly scripted material. It's an exploratory type of performance. And even as sketches are refined without scripting them you're able to maintain the spontaneity of the piece, the immediacy of it. The audience doesn't perceive that you are reciting lines because you aren't reciting lines.
The Dirk Deadman piece for the most part went over well with the audience and I have a much better idea of where to take it and what points to hit. It's an exhilarating feeling, having an idea, implementing it, and getting direction through the performance. I was talking to Tisher afterwards about that unique feeling, the in between idea stage.
Tisher: It's like trying to find a light switch in a dark room.
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