I was watching improv the other day - a funny and good team. And I saw again and again the men be REALLY different characters all over but when they got on stage they would automatically limit the women to one of four things. (I also saw a moment where a woman was on all fours and then quickly got up and start talking like a human rather than just BE a cat or an animal and COMMIT to being something different... which is SO frustrating - because that was THE MOMENT- THE SWEET SPOT when she could have BEEN SOMETHING POWERFUL).
And it is the frustrating thing in comedy where people (often men) will attribute you a role or character of lesser and it is often wife, daughter, mother, whore (and cannot even FATHOM letting you play a man, or a more powerful character like a boss or a scientist or a researcher or a surgeon)...
What's more than that? What's bigger?
I TRY during these moments to just seek the relationship and commit to YES... if I am this WHAT THEN.. what's more than that. What's bigger or more powerful than the sex, the blue, the quick laugh? What's more powerful? What cuts deep?
But it is SO EASY to go for the funny easy than to go for the REAL, the deep, the awkward, the CHARACTER'S REAL... and I see it all the time and I've seen it for YEARS.
It is frustrating because it is the EASY way out. And it is the easy way out in LIFE too.
What's more than that? What's bigger?
I'm still seeking answers because at one point someone said, "OMG, you don't like to go blue on stage Melissa?" And I laughed and said, "No- that's EASY, I'd prefer to find the REAL human connections and get people to laugh because they RECOGNIZE themselves in THAT." And someone said, "Well someone dropped a baby already." And I got mad at that and said, "Well- she was already a wife, a mom, a whore, a sister, and a girlfriend tonight. When that happens and a woman never gets to be ANYTHING ELSE on stage, sooner or later she's gonna drop the baby."
I don't think they got it. They just walked away. And when I was on stage the moment I sat down to play atari with someone in character (I was playing as age old combat and looking for RELATIONSHIP but I'm rusty- I was seeking connection but I've never jammed with this team before), immediately he said, "You're pretty, too bad you're not pixels." Of course, that's FUNNY. It's standup materials. BOOM BOOM SNAP. hahaha. But that's not IMPROVISED CHARACTER DRIVEN NARRATIVE. He could have been playing with anyone.
And yes- I get whored out on stage ALL THE TIME - especially compared to the past teams I've been on where we were TRAINED not to do that. I've been on well trained teams with coaches that made us dig deeper. I want more. I want people to look for more.
And this reflects LIFE, not just improv. Improv reflects life and it reflects connections and it reflects our fears of not letting our scene partner/life partner/ the people we meet BE anything more than someone stupid and pretty and dumb without REAL SELFNESS. It reflects FEAR of emotion. (And here is MY question: WHY are you on STAGE if you aren't willing to GO THERE?)
GO BIG. OR GO HOME.
LIFE is full of real human emotions.
Explore them. They're brilliantly amazingly beautifully hilarious.
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Thought #1: Who told you these are lesser roles? My mom has an MBA. Hillary Clinton is a wife. Indira Ghandi was a daughter. Mary Magdelene was a whore.
ReplyDeleteThought #2: Don't play with these boys anymore and don't go see their shows. Invite the women to come play with you.
Thank you so much Jill. YES. Yes squared. These are not, "lesser roles" to be sure... unless we are playing them as such. Archetype not stereotype. I didn't WANT to "do my own thing" in a new city- but I am willing and I HAVE considered it. It is time.
ReplyDeleteI want REAL connections and REAL relationship centered, character driven improv. I WILL invite women (and men who play REAL and play and do AWESOME IMPROV) to play with ME.
Thanks for the advice.
x
M