I have been struggling for years for something to teach folks to play to the back of the theater. I would teach, imagine there is a Broadway Balcony. Up and out, I would scream. J LO!!! (We used to have a picture of Jennifer Lopez on the red carpet in the back of theater. I have no idea why, or remember when she arrive. Then one day she was gone. End of an era. But we still I woke her presence when kids and teens fail to speak over the fans/AC).

How do you teach non theater kids to be theatrical? This is the never ending battle of an actor teaching comedy. The biggest problem I have with “trained” improv players is their lack of stage presence.

Today I had an inspiration. During a round of World’s Worst I instructed every camper to finish each line with a borsht belt gesture. That gutteral sound and shrug asking WASN’T THAT FUNNY. It’s the legacy if bad catskills comedy from generations past. TAKE MY WIFE, PLEASE! kind of hack BS.

BUT IT WORKED!!!

What started out as mockery, started to land. Suddenly the campers were not walking away on their punch lines. The note was to finish what they had to say, make the sound and guestire to the back of the room, THEN return to the back line.

THEN, I added the move at the beginning of the jokes. New note: Take center stage, make the sound/gesture, then do your bit, then finish with the gesture.

First couple kids dis the gestures, then collapsed the chest back to amateur comic body, talking to the front how’s feet.

NO NO NO, NOW… Make that big gesture and keep your energy and focus up and out…

EUREKA!!!

Suddenly we had framed, focused comedy beats, physical action and vocal energy fit for a professional.

Eventually we will take away the hack. Modern comedy and acting requires subtle. But unsupported, subtle is dead. We must fill our inner lives with intense life.

I often say most so called dead pan comics are just lazy. They are not dead pan. They are just dead. Steven Wright is working harder than most comics.

But a great physical comic needs to hit beats like a master mime. In modern times, we glide through those beats to avoid looking clownish. But the structure is there. The breath supports every movement. The framing more subtle. But inside is still incredibly intense.

The Real Win?

These days apathy seems to be cool. But after about 5 minutes of this ridiculous exercise, the campers started ro enjoy the ridiculous. They started ro get why WE love process. The scene work in later games and a long form set suddenly had physical life.

As an artist with some experience I realize it might be two years before these kids and teens truly GET what they learned today. Some may never get it. But just after 5 minutes, 2 or 3 looked ready to some day lead a board room, standing with a smile and presence that could fill a Broadway stage.

Too often kids acting classes just lean into the cheese, creating the next generation of bad wannabe Annies that have no usable acting skills after 18. These kids discovered true acting technique today, through the most ridiculous of comedy bits.

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