I’ve talked about getting ready for it, my cold during it, the popularly of the Big Ugly Glasses throughout it. But how was the festival itself, doofus?
Great. Intense. Dense. Freeing/frustrating.
The focus was on the concept of “The Fool” and how it relates to improv. We delved into Shakespeares’ fools as well as clowns and kind of a larger, fool’s-eye view. Our fantastic teachers:
- Kelly Kitchens — powerhouse Seattle area actor, director, and Shakespeare expert
- Paul Del Bene — clown, dancer, performer
- Randy Dixon — director of Unexpected Productions, Seattle
I’m still absorbing and trying to strategize on how to bring this into my group. There are so many things to think about!
My fellow festival attendees said some good things on Facebook and elsewhere…
Graham weighs in with an excellent essay that explores The Fool’s role as advisor and as connection to the audience.
From Facebook (thanks, friends, for all your great input!):
This is something I got from our group discussions more than focusing on ‘the Fool’, but the biggest short-term thing I’ve noticed is the power of stopping to breathe in the middle of a scene where nobody is… and trying to make offers that encourage everyone to do so. It seems simple, and I’ve heard it before, but I think maybe I’d never focused on it as much as I felt encouraged to after the festival.
Being aware is a big step in the right direction in getting or actually letting the audience be more involved in what we do. There are so many aspects to it like really taking their suggestion and honoring it. Showing them you can be trusted and that you are loyal to them as well as you will go further if they trust you and you trust them. So from here I will start to play around with this and see where and how far we can go. I will mess around with new openings that aren’t just the standard “whose seen improv before?”
If we’re today’s fools, is the audience our king? Shall we tell them things, which other people would be killed for? Let’s cross borders. Let’s play.
I’m seeing The Fool everywhere. I saw Shelley Berman this past weekend — old school comedian and one of the original members of the Compass (improv group that turned into Second City). He spoke on the history of comedy; when he talked about the evolution of street theatre, he touched on the idea that comedy brought comfort to those living in dangerous times. Comedians took on the danger of life, of authority, of war — examined and presented it back to the masses. This, in effect, made the dangerous issue “safe” — or at least approachable, less overwhelming. One of the aspects of The Fool’s job!
