Timing & Bits

Tonight The Night Shift hosted the 4th incubator night at The Playground. Nine teams played short sets- some of them themed, some essentially a protracted sketch, some straight up classic prov. It was a fun night as it always is, a little rowdy but not overly so.

Each group had a limited amount of time and revealed some instances of varied comedic timing. There are two types of comedic timing- 1. the rhythm of a joke, when you pause/when you speak, the cadence of the punch line 2. the awareness of when a joke or bit has run its course. They are both equally important however it seems like a disproportionate amount of improvisers have the first ability not the second. I'll borrow from one of my favorite authors Jonathan Lethem and call the violation of this second kind of timing tugboating.

Desperado had a really fun set, what was essentially a protracted high-energy Taco Bell commercial. The team danced around to Simply The Best and threw out tacos to the audience. They ended their set by getting a suggestion and then taking a bow. They had ten minutes they only used five. They presented the bit, they executed the bit, they ended the bit. Simple, concise, fun.

Ghost Car did a pseudo-planned murder mystery where people died one by one and the killer delivered an outline to the audience(I'm wish I could remember it). They asked me to play the SNL outro music after and they all got up and hugged and congratulated each other like they do on the show. I let it go a minute or so then gave them a slow fade. Total probably about six and a half minutes.

The other improv sets had varying degrees of success. Mostly because of this ability to look at the set as a whole while inside it. How long are the scenes, what purpose do they serve, and how quickly or slowly are we approaching a conclusion given what has gone before.

The set before ours was a mash up of a couple teams and random performers some of whom are perpetual tugboaters. (It's not an insult, Joey Romaine the funniest guy I know is a tugboat.) The set started off fun and went quickly meta which with mostly performers in the audience audience can get a lot of traction. The set ended with the lovely Tim Joyce dancing with finger lights and singing. I pulled the lights and got down to do our set. Molly came on stage to introduce our team but someone from the mash up decided the set wasn't over and tried to delay ending by initiating the normal iO ending to a show, Freeze. Whether the intention was comedic or deliberately antagonistic toward my team it was ineffective on both counts. It was awkward and there was a brief sense of hostility, deliberate or otherwise, that has no place in a celebratory night of comedy and community.

It passed and we did our set, brief and to the point, the highlight of which was Damian coming onstage halfway through and getting a standing ovation.

The lesson: see the ending, feel it, and close. Don't wear out your welcome. Don't tug the boat.