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Acting Comedy: in History, Theory and Practice

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Acting Comedy: in History, Theory and Practice ACTING COMEDY: IN HISTORY, THEORY AND PRACTICE By BRIAN RHINEHART A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2002 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT iii CHAPTER 1 CAN COMEDY ACTING BE TAUGHT? 1 2 THE HISTORY OF COMEDIC ACTING THEORY 6 3 CENTRAL PRICIPLES OF COMEDIC ACTING 25 Reality 25 Intensity 33 Incongruity 40 Tension 48 Technique 56 4 PUTTING THEORY INTO PRACTICE 76 “Cheek to Cheek” 77 “Goober’s Descent ” 86 The Middle Ages 94 “Hotline” 113 The Lights 132 People Like Cowboys 153 5 CONCLUSIONS 171 WORKS CITED 173 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 178 ii Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy ACTING COMEDY: IN HISTORY, THEORY AND PRACTICE By Brian Rhinehart December, 2002 Chair/ Advisor: Dr. Sidney Homan Major Department: English The central project of this study is to develop a system of comedic acting that will specifically benefit the intermediate actor of contemporary comedy. It is an attempt to synthesize the subjective techniques of Lee Strasberg’s Method approach to acting, with the objective conventions and technical requirements of comedy acting. Comedy presents special problems for the actor. Identifying those problems and offering solutions for overcoming them are the main purposes of this study. Central to my approach are what I have termed the five requirements for successful comedy acting: Reality, Intensity, Incongruity, Tension, and Technique. These requirements emerged out of research done mainly at the New York Library of the Performing Arts on 2000 years of acting theory and criticism—from IV Aristotle to David Mamet, but also from the many productions that I have directed or performed in, in New York City over the last five years. In chapter 1 of this study, I outline the history of comedic acting theory, citing the ideas and works of commentators and critics of comedic acting throughout the last two-thousand years. In chapter 2 I synthesize the recurring themes and ideas about comedy acting that have been reiterated over the centuries with my own theories and practical techniques—developed out of twenty years of acting comedy. Chapter 3 records the actual results of applying these five tenets, Reality, Intensity, Incongruity, Tension, and Technique, to actual productions of various comedies at the old Circle-in-the-Square (Downtown) in New York City. CHAPTER 1 CAN COMEDY ACTING BE TAUGHT? Does humor depend on an innate, instinctive, “humorous” quality or can it be learned? Does the actor have to have a sense of humor to be funny? Most theorists and comedians say “yes.” In her seminal book on comedy acting, The Craft of Comedy, Athene Seyler asserts: Now if you were to ask me how to induce this point of view [the comic] you would have me rather beat. Because I have to confess that I fear it cannot be induced, that it is a quality of mind which is either bom in one or not. (10) Doug Moston, the actor and Method acting coach who wrote the book Coming to Terms mith Acting: An Instructional Glossary, is of the same opinion as Seyler and Haggard: “The good news is that [comic] timing helps you to focus your actions and intentions so there is no misunderstanding your character. The bad news is, it can’t be taught” (31). In The Method as a System for Today’s Actor the great interpreter of the Method, Lawrence Parke, is a little more optimistic about the benefits of training when he says, “While it’s true that the comic sense can’t be taught, still some of the ingredients can be extrapolated from the whole and worked on” (249). 1 2 It is not only theorists who think that successful comedic acting cannot be taught; many performers are of the same opinion. Lucille Ball has said on several occasions that “comedy is something that if you ain’t got, you ain’t gonna get.” Tony Randall has expressed similar views on the requirements of comedic acting in David Black’s book, The Magic of Theatre: The actors who can play comedy, can play serious because it’s the same thing. The actors who can play serious can’t necessarily play comedy. The simple reason is that you must have a terrific sense of humor. But there are a lot of people with very little humor in them. Either you have a good sense of humor or you don’t. (55) In opposition to this rather fatalistic position, some critics believe (as do I) that there is some positive benefit to training and study, to practicing and rehearsing technique, and that one does not necessarily have to be bom funny to be funny. John Louis Deszeran in his book The Student Actor’s Handbook writes: “If you see yourself exclusively as a dramatic (‘serious’) actor, you are not only underestimating comedy, but you may also be limiting yourself to impressing your audience with emotional feats” (113). Maria Aitken wrote one of the only books solely devoted to comedy acting titled, Style: Acting in High Comedy, in which she gave advice to actors acting in plays such as those written by Noel Coward, John Guare, and Nicky Silver. On the simplicity of comedy acting she argues: 3 “Understand the thoughts behind the witty words, say them and you’ll be witty” (59). Similarly, Stuart Vaughan is adamant about the possibilities of teaching actors in his book Directing Plays: A Working ProfessionaVs Method: “I sometimes think that learning to play comedy is harder than learning to play the piano. But comedy can be learned” (253). Arthur Shurtleff, the great casting director, producer, and writer, in his book Audition, maintains: All things can be learned, that no one was born with the instinct for comedy timing. Of course, any instinct has to be developed, encouraged, nurtured to grow, must be perfected by trial and error. (213) Acting instructors, directors, and even comedic actors themselves are divided on this important issue. I feel that if actors have confidence in themselves, and do not fear being in front of an audience, they can be taught the techniques of comedic acting. But, when actors seem self- conscious, lack confidence, or are fearful of the audience’s judgment, they become singularly unfunny, in most instances. 1 Successful comedy acting is contingent upon confidence and concentration, as well as on the application of certain techniques that enhance comic timing as well as comic characterization. 1 As most of us know, the stage fright of a single actor can be devastating to an entire performance of a play. What happens many times is that the audience can become engaged with the actor and his dilemma, rather than with the character and his. In the meantime, the text is flying by with no one laughing, because the emotional train wreck happening onstage is mesmerizing everyone. Many times there is very little that can be done to help the actor; stage fright is debilitating and sometimes incurable. Comedy acting is in many ways more difficult than serious acting. It requires a divided concentration in the actor. From the most violent slapstick to the bawdiest farce, the actor must attend to the internal realities of the character, 2 while at the same time concentrating on the external requirements of the comedy, which are considerable, as evidenced by this illustrated analysis of a joke and its delivery by Henning Nelms (164): Figure 2-1 This illustration is especially revealing of the somewhat inflexible rules and conventions for telling a joke. With such stringent technical requirements, one can see how comedy places extra demands on the 2 If the actor presents a character with no inner motivation for his actions, he runs the risk of creating a caricature. According to actor/ theorist Henri Szeps, “caricature is a display of outward facets of behavior, without the accompanying inner processes that would normally give rise to them” (13). Without proper, understandable motivation for the character’s behavior, the audience may become confused instead of amused. 5 actor, demands that can be met only with the application of certain principles, which can be learned. Thus, the basic question remains whether successful comedic acting is an innate skill, requiring a certain sensibility in the actor (i.e., a sense of humor) or whether it can be taught, regardless of any , predetermining factors. Both artists and theorists remain divided on the subject. My conclusion is that whether the actor is innately “funny” or not, all actors can benefit from practice and from the application of certain comedic techniques. As the above diagram suggests, comedy has stringent and inflexible rules that must be followed, and a “sense of humor” does not always guarantee the laugh. CHAPTER 2 THE HISTORY OF COMEDIC ACTING THEORY Prior to the latter half of the nineteenth century it is safe to say that very little had been written about the art of acting in general, much less comedic acting. To be sure, tomes have been written since the seventeenth century about the history and the nature of comedy itself, but very seldom has the actual process of performing comedy been discussed. The reason for this imbalance might be traced to the biased attitude toward comedy in general throughout history. It is a fact that most of the early classical Greek comedies are no longer extant, compared to the early tragedies, because they simply were not thought important enough to save.
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