Gav's comedy workshop 14/01/15

14/01/15

Today one of Daniel's friends Gav came into college to complete a Comedy wok shop with us.
The work shop was all about creating a character.
He told us all about how a comedian can make the audience laugh without even opening their mouth, just by the way that they looks and present themselves.

We started off by having three chairs laid out next to each other. 
The first chair was a level 1 expression- small expression.
The second chair was a level 2 expression- expression gets bigger.
The third chair was a level 3 expression- ecstatic and over the top expression.
Somebody would start in a chair and create an emotion, with the other two chairs empty two people had to figure out what the emotion was which the first person is creating then sit in a chair and copy that emotion with a different level of expression depending on the chair they were sat in. I found this activity really good because it shown me how you can vary the impact on different emotions

We played a game of park bench where each person who sat on the bench had to be a completely different type of character. I thought that the whole class enjoyed this because we all got to use our imagination in creating a character, whether a friendly happy character or a creepy and strange character. I thought be could of carried on with this a lot longer so that other people got to have a turn in creating a different character.

Then played a game where one by one we had to stand up to a microphone and make the rest of the class laugh by the character which we created. We could either use props that we had been given, use our body language, or even use an accent in our speech. This made us use our imagination and also give us an idea on what type of things make the audience laugh. I enjoyed this because it helped to build my confident in stand up performance, however i did find it hard when when thinking of a character to create.

Gav mentions us in a facebook status saying "This morning I delivered a workshop on developing characters for comedy. A level three BTEC Performing Arts module where at the end you have to perform original comedy to an audience. Terrifying enough, there is also the assessment that comes with it...Lots of practical games and exercises some props and a little bit of cajoling. Laughs were had and celebrated but the goods were delivered.Then some time looking at some of my favourite characters in comedy, I always like to make a link to laurel and Hardy. There is nothing wrong with that."

Improvisation session 09/01/2015

09/01/15

So today we made a start on our Improvisation unit.
We started off the session with a warm up set up of a variation of games. The games were mostly reaction games. Having a good reaction can be handy whilst improvising because you will be able to react fast to what somebody else does or says.
One of the games was were the class would stand in a circle and Daniel in the middle. Daniel would ask us questions but the person who he looks at and asks will not answer, the person on their left would answer instead, however they could not say the words "yes" or "no"; If these words were said that person would be out of the game  also if the wrong person answered they would be out. This game was very tricky because it kept your brain active, you had to stay focused the whole time otherwise something would go wrong and you would be out.
We continued on the lesson with Daniel explaining to us what improvisation is.

Improvisational theatre, 
often called improv or impro, is a form of theater where most or all of what is performed is created at the moment it is performed. In its purest form, the dialogue, the action, the story and the characters are created collaboratively by the players as the improvisation unfolds in present time, without use of an already prepared, written script. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Improvisational_theatre

Daniel then explained an improvisation game/task to us all. This task was:
-Two people started off having a conversation about the first thing that comes to mind until the work 'STOP' is shouted and both people have to freeze, 
- From our freezing positions we have to create another scene in juxtaposition to the last.
- Same sequence continues until Daniel shouts another word "SWITCH" and one person out of the scene sits down and another member of the class stands up and joins in.
-This same process continues until Daniel gets bored of the game.  

This game showed us how hard it is to think on the spot and make up something completely different whilst being rushed.
It also taught me that to keep the flow of a scene while imrpovising is not to block another person talking such as;
person 1:hi how are you?
person 2: good
This makes it hard for the conversation to continue because person 2 has blocked person 1 in this convo. Person 1 should have said something like;
person 1:hi how are you?
person 2: I'm good thanks how about you?
This way the conversation can continue and thing could become a lot more interesting.

Voice session 08/01/15

08/01/15

Today for our physical session we had been moved into the dance studio. We made on our voice unit by having a voice work shop with Daniel. We mainly focused on our breathing. A different kind of breathing where you are able to fill your stomach and lungs with oxygen, not just our lungs like on a day to day basis. It was quite tricky as first to get the hand of breathing using different parts of the body but at the end it was very helpful. We completed an exercise were we breathed in for 4 counts, held for 4 counts and then we breathed out for 16, we then repeated but instead of breathing out for 16 we breathed out for 32. Managing to inhale enough oxygen to breath out for 32 was very tricky, however by the end of the session when we had all learnt to fill our stomach and lungs, we could inhale a lot more oxygen there for were able to breath out for longer.

At the start of the session the longest i could breath out for was 25 counts,

At the end of the session i managed to up my breath to 39 counts.

We wrote down our results and throughout the unit we will practice breathing and hopefully by the end our results will of increased.

During the session we also tried out some tongue twisters. I wasn't very good at grasping the tongue twisters therefore need a lot more practice.

Listening to tongue twisters is one way to improve your English pronunciation.  http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/tongue-twisters

Stand up-comedy unit 29 07/01/2015

07/01/2015

Today was our first day back into the new year. New year= new unit. Today we got introduced to our second unit of the year; Stand up comic techniques, unit 29.
Daniel told us about the course, such as when our end of unit performance will be and where, also what the course consists of. He went on to show us some of the different comedy techniques like after telling a joke or finishing a 'bit' if the audience laugh (hopefully they will) to wait until they finish laughing before proceeding onto the next section of the piece. The reason why you wait for the audience to finish laughing is so that they are ready to listen and back paying attention to the next joke and do not miss out on what you say.

"A 'bit' in stand-up comedy is an individual routine on a certain topic; if a comic's set is like a rock album, consider a bit as an individual song. A series of bits add up to a complete set. Also Known As: a routine." http://comedians.about.com/od/glossary/g/bit.htmDaniel also told us some good comic vocabulary and the meanings of the words. Such as a 'bit' (as mentioned above) also shtick. 

A comedian's shtick is something they have which makes them different to other comedians. for example Andi Osho's shtick will be her race and her accent. We watched clips of Andi Osho performing we all enjoyed watching her and the reason to this was because she was obviously funny but also very different to watch because of her shtick Andi has a very strong east London accent with a Nigerian family background. She bases her act around this, around peoples race and nationality; she also bases bits around how she is single and can never find a man. We looked at other comedians and decided what their shticks were also their ways of performance. 

Persona- Your persona is the way you present yourself to the world, the character traits that you let show and the way that people will see you. If you are true to yourself, then your persona should reflect who you actually are. In some cases, however, people present false images or a phony persona. http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-persona.html
Comic timing- is the use of rhythm, tempo and pausing to enhance comedy and humour. The pacing of the delivery of a joke can have a strong impact on its comedic effect, even altering its meaning; the same can also be true of more physical comedy such as slapstick.A beat is a pause taken for the purposes of comic timing, often to allow the audience time to recognize the joke and react, or to heighten the suspense before delivery of the expected punch line. Pauses, sometimes called "dramatic pauses" in this context, can be used to discern subtext or even unconscious content — that is, what the speaker is really thinking about.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_timing