PAR Portfolio – 1080 words

Artist statement

I am a comic artist that tries to create non-literate comic moments that are live in the space and often blur the boundaries of reality and performance. I am interested in making the audience feel deep guttural moments of laughter and extreme emotions constantly guessing what is coming next in the performance. I try to create an authentic comic experience. Content that exists live in the moment and also create digital content afterwards which is often from live recordings. I like to play games and try to create a ‘live audience’ (Rudlin & Crick, 1960) which is interactive. This is in response to how passive I feel mainstream comic performance often is. I incorporate elements of physical comedy, clowning, DIY aesthetic (Daniels, 2014), improvisation (Johnstone, 2007)  and chance in my performance, which draws on classic commedia forms such as the arlecchino and other forms of persona and mask work is often at play. A core mechanism is the idea of fun and playfulness in my work which often is now missing in mainstream contemporary comic work ensuring that my performances stand out on any bill, festival or event.

Performance As Research project/Tom Short’s Special

For my PAR ‘Tom Short’s Special’ I decided to stage my comic work as a comedy special and American style tv show as I believe this has a lot of room for experimentation and exploration.

 

 

My key inquiries were an avoidance of deadly theatre (Brook, 1968) and to create ‘non-literate [comic] phenomena’ (Bevis, 2016) rather than just literate comic moments. I am interested in Allan Kaprow’s chance and happenings (Kirby, M and Dine, J 1966) as I believe these are the most exciting art form and help push me away from deadly theatre and the passive comic experiences that I believe contemporary comedy has in abundance due to how cheap comic performance can be to create for television. This is currently exacerbated further by the oversaturated nature of the comedy industry. Andy Kaufman is a big influence for me particularly the deception of the audience to heighten the comic experience.  

I tested the PAR project out at the Edinburgh fringe as an external research project. As my work is so interactive I require an audience to do a lot of my experimentation which I think makes my work exciting from conception to execution. When working with clown lab they said ‘A clown can not exist on his own’ (Robinson, 2019). Which was a big element behind my decision to make this an external research project. Another reason was since I was looking to subvert the comic industry, to stage elements of it at the Edinburgh fringe helps my purpose in the piece. Edinburgh Fringe has heavy links to the contemporary comedy industry. 

The piece can only exist that one time because to do it again would be counterproductive and the recorded version is in my mind now a different work. The live deception elements at play and interaction between live and recorded media means that I managed to make a happening as Kaprow would define it. A blurred piece of art and reality leading up to, during and after the performance as the PAR project will be turned into a recorded special for distribution online further blurring the nature and intention of the piece.

Video, particularly online video is probably the best way to document the intent and focus of my performance especially when I have control of the editing process. I don’t think video can ever fully capture my work outside of live performance. I feel it is somewhat a short coming to how stripped back contemporary comic performance is, combined with how video does not capture properly comic non-literate phenomena (although it is possible). 

PAR Annotations

I picked this outfit as an echo of Late night with with Conan O’Brien (1993), The tonight show with Jay Leno (1992) and Andy’s Funhouse (1979) as a clue as to what people were about to see and what was going to be subverted.

 

This is my tour of Sealife in Blackpool which I filmed before the course began. I created it in the run up to the PAR as one; an opportunity to practice my comic documentary skills again, and two; as a continuation of my output of these type of videos. This also gave my documentation in Edinburgh further credibility to have it as a series of comic site specific investigations rather than a one off.

I purchased an arlecchino mask which I used along with some other commedia masks as an opportunity to experiment with the classical mask and persona work I have developed. I practised some mask work in the streets. Eventually the masks formed part of the set in the PAR as a subtle nod to what theatrical elements were at play.

PAR Feedback

I have some of the audience feedback here:

I am pleased that the risk taking was noticed, although I dialed back on the random chance for the piece I was worried that the risk may be lost.

This I feel is a sign my want to incorporate DIY aesthetic along with failure and clowning was performed effectively. 

PAR Research

Much of my PAR research has been blogged here 

My PAR piece is built on the research and experimentation from my ACP and DYP modules.

My ACP piece came from wanting to subvert the hegemonies in mainstream stand up or at least as I saw them. However I felt too restricted by the voiceover utilised and sought to break this up.

My ACP piece can be seen here.

Much of my ACP research was documented here.

My DYP project was birthed from how I felt restricted in my ACP work and wanted to add more elements of chance and risk which I managed with the chance wheel.

My DYP piece can be viewed here

My DYP research was documented here

Each of my works I have felt have been their own entity and paradoxically part of a linear body of work. My ACP and DYP projects have given birth to various aspects in the PAR. Examples being the awkward silence and the telling the same joke routines being directly taken from the DYP work and the chance I created by asking for a joke from the audience which had immense amounts of risk involved. The ACP work was channeled in the video segments particularly the live reactions to recorded medium which is something I am interested in exploring more in the future.

Bibliography

Bevis, M (2017) Comedy a short introduction. Routledge. London

Brook, P. (1968) The Empty Space. London: Penguin.

Daniels, R. (2014). DIY. Chichester. University of Chichester.

Johnstone, K. (2007) Impro. London: Methuen Drama.

Kirby, M and Dine, J. (1966) Happenings. 1st ed. Routledge. London.

Robinson, A. (2019) Clownlab, Performers playground. The Lowry.

Rudlin, J and Crick, O (1960) Commedia Dell’arte : A Handbook for Troupes. London: Routledge, Print.

Audio visual references

Andy’s Funhouse (1979) ABC. August 28th

Late night with with Conan O’Brien (1993) NBC Universal. 13th September

The tonight show with Jay Leno (1992) NBC Universal. 25th May

 

 

 

Willy Wonka

In my search for inspiration, I have looked at Willy Wonka specifically the Gene Wilder interpretation of the character . The part that I find of the most interest is his introduction of Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory (1971).

It is the first time he is seen by the audience and the characters and he has a slow meandering introduction complete with a cain. This is followed by what appears to be a fall which becomes a forward roll to great applause. This was a deliberate choice by Gene Wilder

“When I make my first entrance, I’d like to come out of the door carrying a cane and then walk toward the crowd with a limp. After the crowd sees Willy Wonka is a cripple, they all whisper to themselves and then become deathly quiet. As I walk toward them, my cane sinks into one of the cobblestones I’m walking on and stands straight up, by itself; but I keep on walking, until I realize that I no longer have my cane. I start to fall forward, and just before I hit the ground, I do a beautiful forward somersault and bounce back up, to great applause…from that time on, no one will know if I’m lying or telling the truth”

(Wilder, 1970)

from that point on to be able to be taken at face value and an ambiguity to his words and actions. I think that I wish to be able to replicate this will heighten any comic action I do especially when you consider how effective this is for an entirely fictional character within a work of fiction. my stage persona whilst still not entirely a work of fiction it is based on a real facet of myself which should bring an authenticity to my piece, performance and comic actions.

Bibliography

Wilder, G (2012) Letters of note. http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/06/part-of-this-world-part-of-another.html

Paramount pictures. (1971) Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory.

Edinburgh fringe

I have been very busy at the fringe however the benefit of doing my wheel of misfortune show is that I am able to incorporate parts of the PAR into the show to test them out.

I am currently working on awkward silence which is the 6th option on the wheel. It is giving me lots of opportunities to play with the crowd and try to create a live audience as i am trying to with my studies into commedia. it is different each time which reminds me of the 9 view points work i did with Richard and my experiments with Jo.

I am also working on the joke section where I repeat the same joke over and over again to the point of it being ridiculous.

I intend to continue to perform the wheel of misfortune as I feel it has endless possibilities and I feel has the ability to evolve as it has done twice now into the to PAR. once with my studies into historical clowning from a key context point and now again with my ability to incorporate elements into direct performance.

 

Andy’s funhouse

I watched Andy’s funhouse (1979) for research. There were several points I have taken from it.

He started with almost a best of his stand up to that point which is something I will look to incorporate.

He also had plants with long time collaborator Bob Zmuda playing a stage hand which he was mean to. I definitely want to emulate this with my own stage hands. The thing I like about Andy’s misdirections is that there are clues that they are taking place if you look deeply enough. If Andy had used different plants each time it would have been harder to know that a happening was taking place. However the fact he frequently used Zmuda in this role means that if you know Zmuda you know that what you are viewing is false. As a result I have asked people I have collaborated with in the past to fill these roles. I have asked AJ Hill and Maisy Whipp whom I have interviewed and utilise in my youtube videos so if you follow my work you will be able to spot the signs too.

Andy also incorporated happenings in having a point in Andys funhouse where the screen becomes white noise. I wish to incorporate this in the video content and will work errors into them that blurs the line of reality.

Bibliography

ABC Andy’s funhouse (1979)

 

the scratch thoughts

I performed my scratch routine. it was very useful. It did not go as I planned it to and I think that this is all the better for this. I went into this with a lot of emotions especially because i had a mental health appointment. I found that the moment i showed my work and started to react to it live in the space gave me the idea that i need to frame it in order to be effective. I have gone back to an idea I had since the beginning of the course. to stage a performance in the format of the late night American talk show. I think I have seen enough of this format, i think it will be appropriate vehicle to show the VTs, and allow me the freedom to experiment with the live. it should also feel like a continuation of my work from ACP and DYP. I also don’t think it is a coincidence that Andy Kaufman found these shows a good place to experiment within live and recorded mediums also.

Arlecchino notes

The Arlecchino or harlequin is perhaps the most well known of the Zanni or lower class clowns in Commedia.

I think for me to be focusing on the servant subclass of clowns specifically definitely helps to accentuate the comic potential of the piece as it taps into and highlights the relationship between the comic performer and comic audience; the comic is providing a service to the audience in the form of entertainment and laughter.

The Arlecchino is known for telling lots of jokes and stories whilst performing, I feel this is a very important anchor point and allows me to keep my performance still connected to modern comic performance techniques and staying true to the comic form moving forward rather than my work evolving past comic practice.

They are gullible, childish and absent minded. energetic and athletic.

The arlechino is also clever and crafty, I think that my own work taps into, my own experiences and social background in and out of the comedy industry I think  means I am often underestimated, once a cause for frustration but I now see as an opportunity to subvert expectations and allow myself the opportunity to blur boundaries in my own work to create contemporary comic performance.

The Arlecchino channels anarchistic behaviour which I feel is very much in the vein of speaking truth to power that traditional and effective comic performance can evoke and is also tapped into in my explorations of DIY theatre.

They were very colourful. multi coloured patches.

Often utilises slapstick, I have found this has been useful in creating non literate comedy rather than the scripted comedy that has arisen with the deadly theatre that has arisen in the comedy industry.

They are sometimes attributed to animals such as the cat, the fox and the monkey due to their cunning nature. I think that ignorance can definitely be played with to again blur boundaries for comic performance.

Some people believe that the mask has demonic elements, perhaps a hint at the darker side of the comedic voice?

It is known as a prankster, sometimes small pranks and sometimes elaborate. this is something I wish to further explore as i believe it can be used to blur the boundaries of reality which I believe helps comic performance become live. in my own show which I am creating for the PAR i wish to utilise this prankster trickery which I think only goes to further increase the tension in the live space. that tension is crucial according to Jimmy Carr and Lucy Greaves (2007).

A contemporary example of the Arcchelino, is Bart Simpson someone who I think is very notable as The Simpsons aired in 1989 the start of the post-post modern era a very tumultuous political time similar to now in the west which I feel may be one of the reasons that his character is so successful due to drawing on these old tropes such as: street smart, prankster who uses practical jokes and of low status yet showing truth to authority such as Principal Skinner.

Another prominent post postmodern example would be Jim Carrey’s performance as the titular character in holly wood adaptation of The Mask (1994) in which he serves to through a masked persona, effectively subvert modern laws and societal hegemonies.

This assimilation of commedia tropes such as Arlecchino I hope with lead to more work due to Arlecchinos and commedias history as part of an ensemble I hope that by exploring the comic potential of my act in these ways I will be able to explore other formats more easily and have my act inserted into future projects more easily and be effective in those in terms of subversion and blurring of boundaries and realities which I think helps make those project more interesting just by inserting my new found performance style into.

Bibliography

Carr, J, and Greeves, L (2007). The Naked Jape : Uncovering the Hidden World of Jokes. London: Michael Joseph,

Gration, S, and Peelgrane, N (2008). Commedia Oz: Playing Commedia in Contemporary Australia. Strawberry Hills: Currency Press,

Rudlin, J (1994). Commedia dell’Arte: An Actors Handbook. London: Routledge,

Gordon, M (1983) Lazzi: The Comic Routines of the Commedia dell’Arte, Performing Arts Journal Publications: New York

Notes on self reflection on action by Ian Wilkie

This is my thoughts from Performing in comedy a students guide by Ian Wilkie (Wilkie, I 2016).

There is a checklist of tasks in the appendices which is devised for comic actors rather than solo comedy performance work. However as my work continues to veer towards comedy theatre I wanted to disseminate these as I feel they will be useful for my own craft.

 

Finding truth in the text –  authenticity has long been something that I am striving for within myself but also a genuine audience response. Wilkie also mentions in the book about 4 types of laughter which I intend to look into more in the future.

what does your character want most?  I think that the thing I most want is to be on the stage and have fun whilst up there

What are their motivations? I think that the motivation is that something in me makes me do it unconsciously, to not do it feels worse.

Describe your character – Mischievous, rule bender, tricky

How shaped by their environment are they? I can definitely work more on this, I want to do more play in the space but have not worked it out yet,

What does he/she like or not like to show? I like to show myself playing in the space, not necessarily my intelligence, I am increasingly feeling that political opinions should be kept away from this performance not that it massively informed it but I am now increasingly aware of this.

Are there any textual clues to how your character speaks? I have quite a broad working class Mancunian accent which I think can help for not only copmedic purposes but also allowing for deception of wit.

 

Comic principals

What are the main comic buttons at play in the piece? I think clowning, improv, wit, sometimes games, creativity and want to not be bored on stage.

Interplay:

Are there any points of audience interplay? I think my performance is heavily based on audience interplay, the audience shapes the piece probably as much as I do.

Ensemble:

is your reaction central to creating comic moments? I think my reaction to almost everything in the space helps to create those moments. I think that the audience/objects/space is often becoming the ‘second person’ in the piece.

Are you supporting the comic moment by giving it focus at any points? I think what i focus on especially if it was spontaneous or created within the room accentuates that moment.

Bibliography

Wilkie, I (2016) Performing in comedy a students guide . London. Routledge .P205.

 

Zanni

As part of my PAR research I am looking into the historical aspects of clowning. One of the earliest of these is the Zanni. It is part of commedia del’arte. A often masked figure. This role can be split up and has been several times and into different archetypes as time has gone by, into harlequinn and minstrel as two notable examples.

I find it interesting that clowning does have a strong historical connection to class as this is something I feel strongly about. even the name zanni is a corruption for the phrase for a servant to the underclass in 1500s Italy.

The Zanni character was a character in it’s own right but was eventually split into 2, a clever fool and an oaf ‘which together create a person of less than average intelligence’ (Rudlin, J 1994). This reminds me of Black adder and Baldrick, which I think may be particularly pronounce due to their relationship and also that the second series of Blackadder is set in renaissance Europe also.

As part of my research, I have discovered that commedia performances can be played numerous ways and should seem somewhat different each time that the audience sees it. Due to the mask work there is a lot of physicallity in Zanni particularly due to its responsiveness to dialogue and actions. I have been unknowingly applying some of these techniques myself. in my want to be more physical and improvise my shows and create chance within my work.

Zanni is a masked character, it wears white baggy clothing similar to peasant clothing of the time. There is a mask, which used to be a full faced mask but the need for dialogue  made it a half mask. It has a long nose similar to a plague doctors mask. The longer the nose the stupider the Zanni. It does make me uncomfortable as I wonder how much of this was punching down, and who this was for originally.

Zanni are able to address the audience directly and have a relationship of sympathy with an audience which i feel is very much in the same vein as solo comedy performance such as stand up.

The Zanni voice is often coarse as they try to make a living outside in busy market places etc. It reminds me of modern street and flea markets and the connection it has to the working classes such as meat vendors in vans and Del boy and Rodney, who may also be a modern version of the 2 Zannis.

I am likely to continue my research into clowning and will open it into looking into commedia del’arte

Rudlin, J (1994) Commedia dell’arte: An Actors Handbook. London: Routledge, 71.

PAR session 1

We did a session today in the DPL in Media city. My work is analogue so I struggled to adapt my stuff as much I felt. I did enjoy the video mixing stuff and I am interested in following this up and getting the software. I think t was called modul8.

This is the final semester and we have been told to go into it without a fixed end point.

Jo said to start with an enquiry and interest. For me it is historical anarchic roles of comedy performers such as clowns and jesters which I am finding interests me and speaks to my want to bend rules and not be bound by convention. Jo said that through exploration something will emerge

I created a short scratch piece in which i put on my clown make up and read the news of the recent virginia massacre and a list of previous cases similar to this in the last few years. It got very little comedic response however I was told that it became too tense. My thoughts for this moving forward fill me with trepidation. Perhaps this is a deadly theatre mind set? (Brook P 1968)

Upon chatting to Patrick afterwards he mentioned about pushing this and the neutralness of the jester highlighting these things being really interesting in the piece which I hope is evoking of the jesters role of old. It also made me think of something I read a while ago about comedians being too left wing, that is not to say that comedians should be more right wing  but that when a comedian plants a flag politically they consciously or subconsciously inform their work and where it stands as a result.

Jo said to keep an eye on the MIF which is coming up. I have already been interested in having a look at the David Lynch showcase that has been heavily advertised.

Jo asked where does my work sit in a number of fields

Artistic

I think it sits with Andy Kaufman, Red bastard and Mark Steel

Academic discourse

I shall ask Richard and Wilkie about this, as I am sure that they will have lots of discourse about historic roles of comedy performers.

Wider social contexts

It is perhaps because of this and the world we are heading into politically that makes this work so apt .

Jo asked what is important about the work for me

I think for me it is that it scratches an itch of something subconscious for me which I think has been a running thread of enquiry for this course to unlock my comedic potential on stage.

Jo has said to make sure to build critical reflection into this unit which i intend to do likely through the blog and video as I felt i fell behind a little with my last unit and had to catch up with. Jo said to build reflection into my process and think about the work.

This unit is continuing the hands off element. In this semester I will have 8 hours of my supervisers time. Which is Wilkie, I hope to be able to utilise our rapport in a variety of ways as I think we work together well and I very much respect his input and ideas. I am most worried about the 5000 word submission for the middle of august as I feel that critical academic writing is something I struggle with.

 

Brook, P. (1968). The empty space. New York: Touchstone

Clowning notes

I have been working with clown lab in parallel with my DYP module as a means to incorporate more clown work into my piece. These are some of the note I have taken from my learning with them.

I also wanted to develop circus skill street performance in relation to my own craft and also to further develop the marketing for the DYP festival

Joined clown theory on Facebook to ask about street performance and was made aware of the work of Chilean clown Karoacha which I started to take seeds from to develop my own performance. In particular a comment on one of his youtube videos that said ‘you’re either part of the performance or watching it’. I hope to take this into my own work on and off the streets.

I started to do the street work and off of the advice of Sean who said that people may steal my props I have flattened the act and started to mime and utilised make up which I have based on Robin Williams’ mime make up used in the 1970s. I started off doing magic but felt it was too insular and wasnt drawing people in. So I moved on to juggling and diablo which i found was much more effective and has jeopardy and failure which leads into my over all comedic performance and is strengthening it too in my opinion.

I found that through mime I was made hyper aware of my suroundings both in performance and out of it too which I think is a really interesting development and will help my audience connection which will only help aid comedic impact.

We played with impulse, impulse puts you in the moment. When you find yourself in the moment try to stay in that moment a little while longer. I think selecting items from my box in relation to the context of the show and the performance haleps me be in the moment several times in my piece. We did an exercise where we threw balls across a circle and if the ball hit you in the face it was a direct showing that that you weren’t in the moment.We were told to be impulsive starting from being on stage. ‘Be in the moment and to have fun onstage as you have fought to be on that stage’. Whilst that is true in a clown sense but also from a personal perspective. This should fuel my time on stage and dictate that i should be having fun on stage primarily.

Clowning opened us to exploration

Clowns are not cute. They create anarchy and mischief. I got a taste of this first hand when I was accosted in the library during my street work. They have a love and a lust for life.

The mentality of if it doesn’t work: ‘That always works usually, but ok’

The clown often comes after the moment of play. the idiot is who we fall in love with. This reminds me of Tommy Cooper, who i have been compared to since starting developing this piece.

from a physical point we were told to open our chests as to have a closed chest makes you defensive.

We were told to be open, vulnerable and ridiculous like you would be with your friends but with an audience.

To find pleasure in the ridiculous.

These are all aspects of clowning that I am trying to incorporate into the performance both on stage and within the street performance work too.