The Birth of Improv

Improvesation, is the finest path in comedy in my opinion. Reason being is because you have to be very attentive and always be thinking in creative humorous ways. Thinking and connecting parts of story together to create something funny and ironic. This way of comedic direction became popular by the conception of Commedia dell'arte. To be more precise, it began in the european nation of Italy. Commedia dell'arte literally means Comedy of Art or Comedy of the Proffessional. In those days, the plays were already mapped out, and chosen how they were going to begin and end. Each plays had their own set of characters, relationships decided upon, and each characters circumstance was already preconcieved before the actors performed this play on the stage.



To explain what you are viewing this picture, are four commedia actors, performing part of their play on stage. As you can there was plenty of music, to give the actors something to dance to. Also, even though this is a painting, this is a representation of how the actors dressed and the masks wore. They wore bright colors to draw attention to themselves.

                         

In comedic acts, we have truly expanded on the ideas set beforehand by the great minds of Commedia Dell'Arte what it was in the days of olde. We have taken the comedic genius of those days and it has been transformed over the years into 21st century humor and NBC has even created and entire show around those traditions; the show called Saturday Night Live. Most of the people that take part in this show are taking part in performance tradition that has been around for centuries. Comedy actor and me as well, appreciate the creation of Commedia dell'Arte.

That's a wrap!

                                       

Sources:

Bellinger, Martha F. A Short History of Drama. New York: Henry and Holt, 1927. TheatreHistory.com. 2002. Web. 05 Apr. 2011. http://www.theatrehistory.com/italian/commedia_dell_arte_001.html.

 

http://www.lightwire.com.au/, Lightwire. "YouTube - Commedia Dell'Arte Production 'Cafe Floriani' - Www.lightwire.com.au." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. 9 Dec. 2006. Web. 05 Apr. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95EzlJDaPZo>.

  

Adam. "Google Images." Google. Clownlink.com, 19 Feb. 2010. Web. 05 Apr. 2011. <http://www.google.com/images?hl=en>.

                                                                

The Ability of Mime

       Miming in today's society is, "O look there is a guy with  white paint on his face, dressed like he's about to go jail." Although, there is a lot more involved in this historic art form. The first record of miming happened in 467 B.C. when a chorus was performing in Greece and one of the choir members stepped out of formation to stand alone, but he was acting out what the choir was singing about. The choir member was Telestes, who was a legendary dancer, gave miming it's beginning, early on in history.

        What you are seeing in this picture, is a close representation of how choirs in this time period might have dressed. Also, it could be a good indication of what Telestes might have been wearing when he pulled away from the other performers to give birth to the art of mime.  This could have been where the convention of the painted face came from.

       Pantomime or mime? That is the question. What is the main difference between the two? Pantomime performers, wear a mask, instead of face paint like mime performers. They are limited as far expressing emotions like happy or sad, the only way they can show emotion is through the use of their hands. Mimes on the other hand, (no pun intended) have the use of their entire body, especially their face because they emphasize the expressions happy or sad with the use of paint. 

       The performer on the left is an example of how a pantomime dresses . Notice the mask, hiding the expression of his face and showing only the expression of the mask. Then look at his hands, they are a bright red color, drawing attention immediately to his hands, letting you know where to look when they are showing emotion. Then to the immediate right, there is a mime. Opposite in most ways, notice how he is wear a bright white drawing attention to his entire body, because he is able to use his entire upper body to show emotion
including his face.

        This a perfect example of how a mime works. They mimic other peoples action and they interact with objects that are not there. This video is funny because he is so expressive in his emotions that you can't help but laugh.










 Sources

Thicknesse, Robert. "Ancient Greece Choirs - Google Search." Google. Guardian News and Media Limited, 7 July 2006. Web. 08 Mar. 2011. <http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=829&tbs=isch:1&sa=1&q=ancient greece choirs&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=>.

Lust, Annette. "The World of Mime Theatre * Library * History of Mime." The World of Mime Theatre. 1 Jan. 2003. Web. 08 Mar. 2011. <http://www.mime.info/history-lust.html>.

"The Art Of Mime And Pantomime." Wise Dude - He's Got the Answers to Your Questions. Google, 2006. Web. 08 Mar. 2011. <http://www.wisedude.com/art_music/mime.htm>.

"YouTube - Old School Mime." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Pelleaskagain. Web. 08 Mar. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtPMFbottnk>.

Improvisation - at it's finest ..

       The world of comedy is a world of many opportunities for success, there are movies, to stand-up comedians, all the way to even puppetry. However, there is a form of comedy that is the freshest and most out there, called improvisation. Improvisation, is at it's best when there is a group of improveteers, all working with one another to create something that is meant to be very humorous, since improv, was born out Commedia Della Arte, it had no choice but to be funny.

       Luckily, you don't have to go that far to see this hilarious improv, there is a place in Orlando called the SAK Comedy Club where all they do is this kind of comedy.

To explain what you are seeing in this picture, the number in the gentlemen's hands apply to game that is a staple in the evening show of Sak Comedy Club. This show is called "Lab Rats" and it is a "competition based" show where there are two teams of 3 or 4 members and they act out different scenario's that are selected by the host or my personal favorite, the audience. The performance of the two teams is rated on a scale of 1-5 by the audience, and which ever team has the highest score at the end of the show wins!

   Another great thing about this show is that it incorporates, real true life people; people you know, people you may see at work, or somebody you see at church, anybody can be in Sak. You just have to have a desire for making people laugh and have fun with them, that's what makes the show tick; their ability to interact with the audience and have fun with them.

Here's a review from an actual spectator of one of the shows at Sak Comedy Club:
 "I’ve lived in Orlando for nearly five years now and I am ashamed to say that, until recently, I’d never experienced SAK Comedy Lab. All that changed last weekend when I finally visited SAK in their new downtown location at the City Arts Factory. Talk about funny… I laughed so hard, I nearly peed my pants.The most popular show, and the one I attended, is called Duel of Fools. Two teams of three improvisers face off by creating hilarious skits they create on the spot, right off the tops of their heads. The result is an off-the-wall performance that’s somewhere between zany and genius. The skits, which often utilize audience participation, are given a score of 1 to 5 by three volunteer audience judges. At the end of each show, one team is crowned the winner.

Besides being ‘laugh out loud’ funny, two more things make the SAK experience top notch: 1) all acts are super clean, in fact, teams that get too raunchy lose points. This means that you can bring your kids to the show without having to worry about covering their ears."


http://www.youtube.com/embed/hk0bR9t6Bvo

     To explain, this was a video of one of the skits they perform at Sak, where they poll the audience for ideas, so this audience came up the idea of an illiterate boy who love to play baseball. The video unfortunately started in the middle but it was still funny!

         

     I haven't had much exposure to improv, but I would definitely see this show again and again! 

  Sources:

           

"YouTube - SAK Comedy Lab May 31st,2008." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. 31 May 2008. Web. 01 Mar. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk0bR9t6Bvo&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_fresh div-1r-3-HM>.

Manieri, Kirsten. "Orlando’s SAK Comedy Lab | Orlando | NileGuide." Weblog post. Free Trip Planner and Personalized Travel Guide | NileGuide. Nile Guide, 3 Nov. 2010. Web. 01 Mar. 2011. http://www.nileguide.com/destination/blog/orlando/2010/11/03/orlandos-sak-comedy-lab/.

"Sak Comedy Lab - Google Search." Google. Microsoft. Web. 01 Mar. 2011. <http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&source=imghp&biw=1224&bih=717&q=sak comedy lab&gbv=2&aq=0&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=Sak Comedy>.