Event

Comic Devices

Improvisors tend to unknowingly create scenes with a similar dynamic to ones theyve done before, especially ones deemed successful. And those hungry for laughs will abandon scene-work and story telling in favor of the comic moment of funny character. A truly comic scene that really resonates with audiences and allows for laughs to build throughout a scene takes an understanding of comedic structures that help tell a comedic story. The Comic Devices workshop introduces the comic structures that will help improvisers go beyond their usual comic premises towards hilarious scenes and continuous comedy. The goal of the course is to provide a common language for improvisers to reference off stage and to follow while playing onstage. Learning these comic devices will help improvisers go beyond the usual comic premises, sometimes referred to as the 'game' of the scene or the 'comic engine'. This workshop includes comic devices participants may not have recognized before and gives a name to ones they may already know. Participants will leave the workshop with a lexicon of comic terms which they can use with their scene partners to analyze their improvisations after performances as well as the experience of playing in new ways with new perspectives.