One of the best tools to use when you’re on stage is your body. It’s such a simple thing to use. You use it every day but somehow it’s completely negated when we go up on stage. We feel that we need to demonstrate our wit and comedic prowess through our words when our bodies can do it more quickly and easily many times. Physical practitioners such as The Three Stooges, Lucille Ball, Jerry Lewis, Charlie Chaplin, John Ritter, Penny Marshall, Rowan Atkins, and Michael Richards made a living being physical in their work and they’re now immortalized in pop culture for it. So, how do we get to join the pantheon of physical comedic masters?
Make sure you take care of yourself when getting physical. Warm up your muscles and bones, make sure you’re well hydrated, and avoid exacerbating any known injuries or issues. Just because this is performance-based comedy fuel, it doesn’t mean you need to hurt yourself in the process. We ain’t liable for you hurting yourself (although we would hate to see that truly happen).
Pick a body part – any body part (on yourself, silly). Let that part of your body feel heavy. Make it feel even heavier. Make it so heavy that it’s going to fall off. Let your body almost collapse into that body part. Notice how that makes you feel emotionally. Are you sad? Happy? Bored? Nervous? Livid? Keep that feeling with you. Now try to move across the stage with that body part having the focus. How do you walk? What kind of character does this evoke in your mind walking this way with this body part leading? What does this character sound like as a result of this feeling and posture? Are the boisterous? Do they sound like a mouse when speaking? Do they have an accent? Taking all of this in takes practice because there is a lot to consider when using your body for character development so practice doing this constantly until you can do this quickly without almost not thinking about it and relying on instinct to put you in character in an instant.
Some of the best characters are made just by using your body to establish them. Think of Dana Carvey as SNL’s Church Lady. He hunches over, purses his lips, and walks with a very tight stride. The character just comes naturally for him. Another example would be Kosmo Kramer from Seinfeld; Michael Richards just leans back as if he’s wary of all things, drops jaw, widens his eyes, and constantly looks bewildered (the hair also helps 😉 ) which then informs the way he walks, talks, and acts. Having distinctive characters in your toolbox is essential in the pursuit of comedy and theatre.
This is something that can really make a scene come alive. The physical act of making contact with your scene partner can convey a lot of information to the audience about who you are, what you’re feeling, and what is going on between you and your scene partner(s). A simple act of grabbing someone’s hand and looking longingly into their eyes or someone giving you a hug when you told them you were quitting your job can really add a lot of depth to the scene. Find out what your scene partner’s are comfortable with prior to playing with them by saying to them, “Hey Team. I like to connect physically with my fellow actors on stage. Are there any guidelines I need to follow personally so you feel safe while playing?” Trust me. Not asking this question can cause drama off the stage that you may never had anticipated even if you felt you were trying to serve what was going on in the scene. Just get in the habit of asking before you play even if you know your fellow actors quite well.
Justify moving about the stage with a reason to do so. If you need to sit down after standing for a bit, justify the reason for needing to sit down. If you’re going to cross the stage, tell us why you’re doing so. One of the simple ways to do so it let your emotions dictate how to move next.
Let’s say that in your scene you’ve established you are a parent. You’re doing the obligatory washing of dishes at the top of the scene and your scene partner walks with the dialog, “Surprise! I’m home from school! It was too hard so I dropped out!” Your initial emotional response is shock. You stop washing dishes, look at your child across the stage, dry your hands, and slowly walk over to a chair and slowly sit down. The next line you utter in disbelief is, “You weren’t supposed to ever come back!”