Guthrie Conference 2005

Some rough notes transcribed, included some lesson details from the workshops.

Guthrie Conference 2005 “Laugh and the World Laughs With You”

John Guare, playwright His Girl Friday

Writing comedy is tricky, specific word or line delivery

Don’t drop energy through line, carry to end

Jim Lichtscheidl (Guthrie actor, focus on physical humor)

Warm-ups (some isolation)

Walks

Spotlights

Slow/fast

COPY (then exaggerate)

Age

Gender (more masculine/feminine)

Tall/short

Timing (trip, double take)

Stevie Ray What Makes a Person Laugh? (Stand-up comedy)

7 levels of Comedy

Physical – someone really adept or really inept

Profanity – break the rules/social taboo

Storyline – plot, what happens next, especially with irony (we can say “I told you”)

Language – puns, double-entendres, connections, repartee

Imitation – mimickry, impressions

Character Contradiction – someone out of pattern (Bill Cosby in $3000 suit, rolling)

Satire

Inconguity is funny

“People who try to be funny are usually just annoying”

4 Laws of Laughter

Unexpected

Superiority

Delight

Recognition

Conditions which must be present for laughter to occur

Light environment

No self-awareness, nervousness

Detachment, know they are safe, subject is safe

Permission to laugh

Humor is:

Premise

Set-up

Punchline

Careful of too much information

Randy Reyes

Name introduction with motion and sound

Midsummer Nights

Read through together all

In groups, choose parts, prepare prologue

Other groups prepare scene

One provides vocal, one acts

Buffy Sedlachek

All my friends (warm-up, middle of room greeting for similar)

3 chairs, master and two servants

Famous adages – form a scene around well-known adages

shakesperean insults

rat basher scene (variety of line delivery)

12 pages of comedy styles (including commedia characters

Sarah Agnew

Tail-grabbing warm-up

Walks

Oil/electricity

Own substance

Musical chairs with created character

Dance mixer with oil/electricity

Vincent Gracieux, Commedia/Jeune Lune (Jacques Lecoq)

Warm-ups, isolation

Run-through of characters and masks, using neck

Show intent step by step

Charles Fraser creating a comedy sketch

Start a scene with something funny that’s happened to someone, something they own

Talk through and run, taking choices from audience

Run again, detailing motivations

Run again, keeping good lines

Run again, keeping good lines

Write down

Run