Day Twenty SixThunk

CLASSES:
Combat: Review, and a new bit, an arm twist. We put together a sequence.
A) Pushes B.
B) Pushes A.
A) Contact slaps B.
B) Contact slaps A.
A) Throws missed right punch to B's right shoulder. B blocks then
B) Throws left cross, B knaps.
B) Contact punch to A's right shoulder, B acts like neck hit.
B) Chokes B from front.
A) Breaks choke.
A) Contact belly punch to B.
B) Twists arm up behind A, who is really controlling the twist.

The victim in most of these needs to react in a way which sets up for the next blow/move to be received or delivered.

We'll be doing a lot of these fights (stories) in the upcoming classes now that we are familiar with some of the basics.

Voice: Damn, I forgot all about the homework assignment, height scoring of our Shakespeare texts, that is find levels (on props) with key words. Well, we only got through 4 people, and one didn't get finished. I'll be working it on the stairs at home Saturday night and/or Sunday morning. Watching the people work showed how it helped to create clarity and specificity.

Acting: We worked on physical comedy, given props, in our case a stack of plastic plates, and creating something with set up, build/suspense and a reversal/surprise. Then we went to two person bits with the worst jokes in the world. Committing, extension (exaggeration), and comic elements to create humor. Some ended up being very funny. Tow bad joke examples I did with partners:
Sam: What steps would you take if you met a dangerous lion?
Ham: Long ones. Long ones.
That wasn't one of our successes. The physicality made it look like I answered the question I'd just asked. Then (paraphrased):
Customer: Quick, give me a mouse trap.
Clerk: I can just go in back and look for one.
Customer: Don't waste time standing around, I have a bus to catch.
Clerk: We don't have any traps big enough for that.
That one worked better, mostly because we played our roles as extended and truthfully as we could, and as the customer my take to the audience actually cracked people up. Who'd a thunk?

The Comic Elements we listed follow. In the exercise with props we were to use at least three of the elements. The others were done very quickly, relying I guess on just having them somewhere in our minds.

humiliation	Loss of Dignity	Surprise
Rhythm	Taking the Fall	Unexpected (inappropriate) Reaction
Reversal	Build	Take - Action<-->Reaction
Being Caught	Recognition	Commitment
Exaggeration	Anticipation	Incongruity of stakes to reality
Ridiculous Responses	Denial	Geometry
Repetition	Mimicry	Context & Breaking Context
Hostility	Absurdity	Rule of Three

At the end of class we got our assignments. I'll be Pancrazio and the Porter in the first half, working with John Abramson. The other half of the class will be working with George Lewis on the remainder of the play. We have an added recital performance, on Saturday, December 17th at the Monroe Correctional Complex.

OBSERVATIONS/CLICKS:
A number of things have come together. Different expressions of the same concepts in different classes. Things like intent, specificity, change, listening, etc. After classes, the three of us with the little scene in movement got together, and we used a contact slap and hair pulling for our physical score. There wasn't a big conscious decision to do so, simply an "Oh this will work here."

Sometimes it seems like we are just going through the schedule. Work, class, rehearse, drill, homework, eat, sleep. Every once in a while we do some work in class which shows how people have grown since we started. I sometimes feel it in myself, and write it down here so I'll believe it and not dismiss it -- that nasty life long habit for me. I imagine for many others as well. It is very encouraging to see other people in the classes make great strides, though it can be a little intimidating. Especially when you deny you are making the same sort of strides.