After 10,000 shows I definitely have my tried and true characters and bits. It’s extremely hard to be completely original all the time and I would never suggest you should be.
Every year for the past 22 years I have added to my bag, and every few years I realize some tricks don’t work for me anymore. In some cases I bring back a bit I retired years ago, ready to perform it fresh.
However I also caution players avoid relying on their “BAG OF TRICKS” as a first choice.
What is the BAG OF TRICKS?
Your BAG OF TRICKS is your collection of comedy bits, stock characters, impersonations etc. Consider the reoccurring characters on Saturday Night Live. When used properly, our bag of tricks is bringing back tried and tested sure fire audience laughs.
THE TRAP
The problem arises when we lean on our bag of tricks too heavily. We revert to them first, before trying for a new idea. In our short form shows this happens a lot for games like World’s Worst. Instead of thinking, “OK, World’s Worst Teacher, I know what works for this” and then do the same old thing. Instead of pondering new gags and characters and jokes.
- We cheat ourselves out of building our bag into vast vault of ideas.
- We tire out old ideas.
- In time we bore ourselves.
- Every time we ignore the chance to create new, we fall into ruts.
- WORSE, we steal another’s bay of tricks.
CHALLENGE YOURSELF
Especially as a young/new artist. Very few of you do more than a show or two each week. There is no reason to fall back on you bag of tricks yet. Whip out your stock characters when they fit a scenario but don’t plan ahead to use them.
At our peak, we presented as many as 20 shows a week, sometimes 4 or more a day at a single school. 6-8 public shows a week in Times Square NYC for the public. I despised it when my teammates whipped out the same joke, and I’m sure I annoyed my mates with my easy outs. The world loves JIMMY but no one wants to share a stage with him ever again (if you know you know š)!!!
TRAIN YOUR CREATIVE NSTINCTS
Always be creating. Strive for new ideas.
First of all, focus on great story, creating great characters, setting and action for each improv.
After every show, keep a journal of ideas. Imagine ten things you could have said or done better. For every World’s Worst or other pun/joke game suggestion, every rhyme in a song, every topic for a scene.
Observe your world. You are surrounded by character, setting and story – WHO WHERE WHAT. EVERYTHING YOUR NEED is all around you. Keep a journal of bizarre scene from real life.
