The Silly Factor

How a sprinkle of silly can revive a scene

Today I want to talk about one of the most imprecise directions I give to improvisers. It’s not one I have seen in books or learned on a course and it’s not one that is easily quantifiable (although I’m going to attempt to do so). However, most times when I use it, it works.

“Try again, but this time be a bit silly”

I usually give this direction when folks are getting up in their heads or trying too hard to get a format right, find a game or follow a piece of technical direction. That’s because when improvisers are doing any of those over-thinking behaviours, they are often sucking the fun out of the scene. I could just say “loosen up” but I find that even less precise than “be a bit silly”.

The thing with the word “silly” is that, in the UK at least, it is well understood. For most of us growing up, we were told at some point by parents or teachers to “stop being silly”. We can all be “silly” in different ways and in different circumstances. Silly is contextual. The great thing about being silly is that it brings out foolishness, absurdity and playfulness. These are all things that can be useful in a comedic improv scene.

I’m running to be mayor of this town. Photo by Will Myers on Unsplash

The other great thing about “being silly” is that different people do it in different ways. We were all told slightly different behaviours were silly while growing up. Some of us were told that taking things literally was silly, some of us were told that overcommitting to something was silly, some of us were told being pedantic was silly. We all have our own version of silly in our heads, and that silly usually gives us character options and something slightly askew or unusual for our scenes.

There is also something very liberating about being silly. Just the permission to be in a state that we were conditioned to think grownups didn’t ever go into can be freeing. Silly is a natural state. We know this not simply because children sometimes gravitate to being silly, but also because we know adults often do when they think no one is looking (like Hugh Grant’s scene where he dances to The Pointer Sisters in Love Actually).

And here’s the other element to it: audiences find it infectious. There is a joy to it that they respond to because I suspect that, secretly, they want to be silly too.

Do we still need to be grounded? Yes (I do only ask for “a bit” of silly). Do we still need to be mindful of our other improv training? Of course. But if we have drilled all those things enough, much of that will be an unconscious process and it will be coming out in our work anyway. A sprinkling of silliness is sometimes the way to breathe some comedic life into your otherwise technically proficient scene.

Stuff I’m Involved In

Courses:
Want to learn improv in Nottingham? The longest continuously running improv courses in the city are back for another term after Easter and places are already going fast.
If you are relatively new to improv, book on the Core Skills programme here
If you have significant improv experience, details of how to apply for the Advanced programme are here

And for more details on what’s going on in Nottingham’s improv scene check out littlejohnimprov.co.uk

Workshop:
I’m in Belfast on Sat 11th April teaching “Noticing The Small Things” with Liam Webber. If you’re in town and want to book, there are just a few spots left on this workshop.
Places here

Shows:
While in Belfast, Liam and I will also be performing at “The Clones” on Sun 12th April. Come see us perform a two person improvised play as part of Sunday Night Improv at Lavery’s.
Tickets here

On Saturday 18th April I’ll be performing with The Secret Show in Nottingham. Come see us plus another great visiting act.
Tickets here

Thanks for reading. If you think someone you know might appreciate this week’s newsletter? Feel free to forward it on!

Have a great week,

Lloydie