Monday, May 9, 2011

A comedian allows their audience to be surprised by their own common sense

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To me, Comedy is a very creative art. It amazes me how agile the comic mind can be.
It's the art of being one step ahead for the audience, but at the same time, giving the audience the idea that they are one step ahead of the character.
Comedy lets the audience sense that the character is going to slip up, yet not able to predict exactly what will happen.
The audience sees the character climbing an old ladder. The audience knows it can't end well. They think he will just fall off, but something unexpected happens. He falls in a way no one predicted.
So allow the audience to imagine solutions before the character figures it out, But NEVER let the audience predict how he manages to escape. It's rarely funny if the audience can predict the outcome.
Keep them surprised but give them plenty of opportunities to imagine ways to surprise themselves by their own common sense.

(For the comedy & Comedians series)
Note: I'm not a Comedian but I wanted to understand what makes good comedy work. So I hope this will help inspire aspiring comedians (& communicators) to develop this very creative craft.
-Your comments are very welcome.

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development
You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

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