Not Just Unusual, But Foolish
play to the top of your stupidity
A tip for making the comedy in your improv scenes sharper. Make sure the comedy is is not just unusual but also foolish.
I bring this up because I see students learn game of the scene is based on an unusual thing. But then they pick unusual things that are merely interesting but not really funny.
A good test for your unusual thing: is it foolish?
A woman inventing a robot boyfriend because she’s lonely is unusual. Basing her robot boyfriend’s personality on her toxic ex is foolish.
Repeatedly calling a flight attendant over to your airplane seat to get their opinion on the movie you’re watching is unusual, and maybe rude. But doing so in the middle of a storm that’s causing intense turbulence is foolish.
A contestant on the reality show Love Island is probably already foolish, since the show likes to pick outrageous characters. But it needs to be foolish relative to the situation. So what if the contestant on Love Island was not interested in finding a match, and instead just wanted to network their services as a personal chef? Or, like on Tim Robinson’s sketch show “I Think You Should Leave”, obsessed with using the zip line?
It has something to do with losing rather than winning. Being selectively stupid. Being a relatable idiot rather than a witty smart person.
Make It Dumber
Some examples from scenes I’ve seen in class recently where they were something funny going on, but not really foolish. I’ve included the changes that the students did when asked to make the comedy doing something stupid.
These scenes were all funny to start with, I apologize how my descriptions might not translate that!
Someone’s game is that they prefer old technology to new stuff and would rather ride horses than drive a car. Then the person decided they also preferred leeches to antibiotics is better.
Batman has hired a realtor to find a new Batcave. Funny! To be foolish, when the realtor mentions how much something costs, maybe Batman strongly hints that he’s really Bruce Wayne, so money is not an object.
Someone in a writing group, in an effort to “write what you know” has only written stories about the most boring parts of their life. To be foolish, they also added in all the unflattering things they’ve noticed about other people in the group.
Someone hiding in bunker has only brought a small pack of M&Ms to survive the apocalypse because it’s their favorite food. To cause trouble, they decided they WERE gonna bring a case of water, but it was too heavy with the M&Ms so they left the water.
An Exercise: Start with a Base Reality
Two people up. Get a suggestion. Establish a base reality (a who/what/where). Don’t try to do anything funny — just be specific.
After five or six lines — meaning not that far in — stop the scene.
Confirm the base reality. “A customer is looking for a shirt in a store, and asked the salesperson if they have a medium.” Now have each person pitch ways they could be foolish.
You could base your ideas on feelings you might actually have in the situation.
The customer could be overly concerned with not making trouble for the shopkeeper. So much that they don’t buy what they want.
The salesperson could be overly apologetic about not having the right size, and just gives away the shirt for free as an apology.
Or they might be things that were not hinted at yet, but COULD happen in this reality.
The salesperson could be insulted the customer walked right by the “staff suggestions” rack.
The point of the exercise is to practice looking for chances to be foolish. Although it’s not required for every scene — MOST improv scenes involve someone being foolish.
What About “Top Of Your Intelligence?”
Who cares?
Really?
Yeah, really. “Top of your intelligence” doesn’t matter. What matters is “top of your emotional intelligence.” Showing foolish behavior does not conflict with “high emotional intelligence.” Highly emotionally intelligent people are still jealous, insecure, competitive, trapped in bad habits, etc.
The audience will relate MORE to foolish behavior than smart people.
Be Foolish, Not Just Unreasonable
A very common improv move is to say some version of “You are mean to me.” Things like: “You bought us a steak dinner? But you know I’m a vegan!”
It’s a tough position to play from. The accusations are usually mundane. People mistake “being an unreasonable person” with “being an unusual person.”
Although I admit I don’t have a concise way of expressing this, the solution is to promote yourself from “rude jerk” to “deluded fool.”
“Yes, I got you that steak. I think we can beat this vegan thing.” (misunderstanding veganism to be a condition, not a desire.)
“Yes I got you that steak. I’m mad at you and want you to figure out why.”
I have to come back to this topic. Thinking that rude behavior is funny all by itself is a common trap. But so common that we need to learn how to play it.
Foolishness is the key!
Plugs, Fresh
Edinburgh Improv Fest - I’ll be in Edinburgh Improv Fest next weekend with a bunch of UCB stars. Fly to Scotland and join us!
Liverpool Mini Festival - The week after I’ll be in Liverpool as part of a small mini festival! Fly to Liverpool and join us!
The Free Association - Then I’ll be in London for like 10 seconds to do 2 show at the FA, one of my favorite improv theaters on the planet Earth. Fly to London and join us!
Plugs, Ongoing
Screw It, We’re Just Gonna Talk About Comics - Comic book podcast, hosted by my brother Kevin and I. We are getting ready to examine the Bendis/Bagley run of Ultimate Spider-Man.
Clubhouse Fridays - WGIS’ weekly improv show. Fridays 7pm at The Clubhouse. Free!
The World’s Greatest Improv School: The improv school I run with Jim Woods and Sarah Claspell. We’ve got classes online, in LA and even a few in NYC!
How to Be The Greatest Improviser On Earth - My improv book, available at Amazon. Kindle or print. It’s a hodge-podge of advice I wrote in 2016 about doing improv. If you’re broke and want a free PDF version just email me and I’ll send it over.
Great exercise, I'm gonna use it!