|
|
Sealegs Inner circle The UK, Portsmouth 2596 Posts |
I thought it might be interesting to pose a possible problem situation as an exercise to flex your creative comedy mind muscles.
What scripting would those of you out there in Comedy Café land apply to the situation of the non-responsive member of the audience who's been directly addressed? Obviously on the vast majority of occasions you could just pretend to have heard a response and work from that, or just move on to someone else or maybe something else. But lets assume you cant do that on this occasion, perhaps it would cause a loss in the audience's confidence in you. So... you've committed yourself, or have invested yourself, in getting a response from a specific spectator who just decides that, for whatever reason, they don't want to join in even at the level of giving a one word answer to a non demanding question. (e.g., what's your favourite colour? or name an animal, or give me a number between 1 and 100) Let's assume you know for sure that they are basically just being a deliberately awkward rather having a hearing or language issue. What might you say to them, or the audience, to generate laughs and move the show along that lets the audience know that this person is being a bit a pain whilst ensuring that you don't come down too hard on them? I'll allow you to assume that the audience is going to be generally with you but I think we should also assume that they are probably also going to have sympathies for one of their own too hence the need to tread somewhat carefully. It also makes the exercise more of a challenge. The floor's yours.
Neal Austin
"The golden rule is that there are no golden rules." G.B. Shaw |
harris Inner circle Harris Deutsch 8812 Posts |
Back in the early days something like...you see what I look like...heres what a couple of you look like...
hand over mouth..arms crossed...etc.. these days I don't usually take the challenge directly..playing to the 229 folks that are into it ..not the 1 - 5 not so much.. and as an aside..sometimes I laugh out loud..think Horshack on Welcome Back Kotter..sometimes my brain analyzes and "says" that was funny without any overt response... Usually somewhere in between.. Thanks for the food for thought..hope more play this type of "game" Harris
Harris Deutsch aka dr laugh
drlaugh4u@gmail.com music, magic and marvelous toys http://magician.org/member/drlaugh4u |
Pizpor Elite user 476 Posts |
I can't say that I've had to deal with a non responsive person, only because I always engage people who are making eye contact and having a good time. My suggestion would be to focus on who you pick, rather than trying to figure out how to involve people who would rather not be part of the show. If 100 people are having a good time, why waste your energy on the one or two duds? Just my two cents worth.
|
noble1 Special user 651 Posts |
Sealegs I agree with Pizpor, but IF I was in that situation I might say, "this could run longer than anticpated," or maybe "we close at 2am," or... you get the idea. Better to pick more carefully.
|
Sealegs Inner circle The UK, Portsmouth 2596 Posts |
Good start guys.
Pizpor, of course you're right that you'd do best to avoid these people and there's all sorts of ways of doing that. But my premise was that on this occassion you havent. The object isn't to try and figure out how to involve someone who's not interested it's to figure out how you handle the situation when you find yourself confronted by someone who's not interested so as to let the audience know that you're on top of the situation. I'll offer some contributions: "Although he's looking this way I think he's actually watching a different show." "I think he's still stuck on the thing I did with the... (add whatever effect you've already done)" "Hold on folks this sometimes happens with my computer, we're going to have to unplug and reboot him." "This is like talking to outsourced customer services... it seems like they know what you're saying but you're getting nothing intelligible back." (needs to be said with a smile ) Cheers Neal.
Neal Austin
"The golden rule is that there are no golden rules." G.B. Shaw |
Pizpor Elite user 476 Posts |
Got it - thanks for the clarification. Those are good ideas for questions. Should be a fun discussion.
|
magicgeorge Inner circle Belfast 4299 Posts |
"Hurry up, I've potatoes that need harvesting on farmville"
Take out a remote "oops, I had him on pause" "It's OK, take your time, it's not like I'm doing anything at the moment" "He's just collecting his thoughts, can someone lend him some tweezers and a matchbox" |
Sealegs Inner circle The UK, Portsmouth 2596 Posts |
For British audiences of a certain age and said with one's best Worzel Gummidge voice::
"Oh dear... he hasn't got his thinking head on" Posted: May 15, 2010 6:53pm Interestingly I'm just back from seeing a magic act who was confronted by the very situation I posed in the initial post of this thread. He handled the moment very well.
Neal Austin
"The golden rule is that there are no golden rules." G.B. Shaw |
Floyd Collins Inner circle Ohio 1633 Posts |
I call him Mr. Skeptical and throughout the show I refer to him as my judge. Example: See how all these cards are different, WAIT (run down off stage to the guy) they are all different right? Basically I make this person a part of my show as Mr. Skeptical. I look at it this way if you come to a magic show and you want to sit there with your hands crossed then I need you!!and you become an instant cast member in my books.
No one said it would be easy, or did they?
Check out my all new book "Chicken Scratches" visit my lulu store for more information. http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/thecenterstage http://www.collinscomedymagic.com |
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Now that’s funny! » » Leaving you hanging (0 Likes) |
[ Top of Page ] |
All content & postings Copyright © 2001-2024 Steve Brooks. All Rights Reserved. This page was created in 0.02 seconds requiring 5 database queries. |
The views and comments expressed on The Magic Café are not necessarily those of The Magic Café, Steve Brooks, or Steve Brooks Magic. > Privacy Statement < |