Idioteex

Posts Tagged ‘Face’

One of the reasons I love to tune in to the TV show “Saturday Night Live” is to see if one of the actors will crack up in the middle of a performance. Watching someone else try to stifle a laugh is one of the funniest things in the world. But in Humorous Interpretation, if you laugh at yourself while performing, you might as well hold up a sign that says “Game Over.”

H.I. is typically treated more like a recorded movie and less like live theatre. Your performance, while side-splitting, should also be disciplined and polished. Some competitors can’t help laughing in the middle of a piece, and that’s understandable – it’s natural to be pleased with yourself if you are receiving immediate feedback from your audience that you are doing well. But if you smile or laugh when you are supposed to be playing a bewildered or angry character, it ruins the effect of your characterization, and it makes you seem conceited and unprepared.

Here are a few suggestions for how to keep yourself from laughing during an H.I. round:

1. Purse your lips slightly. Bring the corners of your mouth into a small “O” shape, pushing your lips forward. This will help to hide the smile spreading across your face. Raising your eyebrows can also help with this, although contorting your face in such a way might actually make matters worse if your audience finds it amusing.

2. Go with it. If you can’t make yourself stop laughing, work it into the piece. Find a way to make it correlate with whatever is happening in the piece. If you’re playing an antagonist who is supposed to be very angry, make that character suddenly snap and become a diabolical evil genius – translate your giggles into maniacal laughter. If you’re playing a sad character, pretend to be crying instead of laughing.  Read more...

Honest Face