Day Four

Thursday's at Ecole Philippe Gaulier are Philippe's "Garage Day" - he basically takes the day off every week for his health - so class today was led by another teacher called Tom Tom. It was a really different environment to be in, and I think it really compliments the classes we have with Philippe and works well as a structure. Tom Tom is very laid back and approachable, and probably a bit more generous in the chances he gives you to work and rework something than Philippe is, but he still is able to let you know if what you're doing is bad. It makes for a class where everyone is just a little bit more relaxed and can probably play a little bit more, and take a risk in applying what they've learnt from Philippe or to try something new.

We started with a game of Mr Hit (very different to the version we play in NZ, but good for getting you focused but also kind of relaxed). Then into another deformity: the Fat Ass. The defining characteristic of this one, as you might have guessed, is just a really massive ass. And unlike the others, there are no nubs or legs tied together, so other than a massive ass and whatever costume elements you have you're comparatively very free to move. I got up with the second group of four, and the first thing we have to do is make an entrance as a group to some really loud hip hop music. Then we basically let loose and dance and the idea is to mock celebrity culture, to mock superficial people, to mock superstars and people who are really "cool". I had a great time. I really went to town with my dancing and got quite a few laughs from the audience. I think the freedom with my body compared to the other deformities allowed me the chance to be really large and kind of spastic and I found that comparatively easy to do and to enjoy. The hip hop music and the joy of dancing outrageously to that really helped too. Then into a section where the music would be lowered and one by one we keep our hip hop dancing but also have to make up a rap for the audience. This was ok and I got a couple of laughs, but again I could feel myself pushing at certain moments and trying too hard to be funny. Then into a section where we take turns swearing at the audience, then a section inventing our own swear words, then one of dirty laughter at the audience. And I really struggled through these sections. The swearing was ok, because I do genuinely enjoy swearing, but still it was a little bit off. 

Looking back, the decline started from the rapping section and I only got worse from there. I think that I can attribute this crappening to my brain and intellect beginning to engage in what I was doing, and fun and impulse being slowly dominated by ideas and thinking. Uuuuurgh! To work at my best I have to be working at a rate and in a way in which my mind can't plan or anticipate what I'm about to do or what is about to happen and just has to engage and respond moment by moment. Oh right, that seems like a pretty basic tenet of all acting... I keep thinking about the Commedia work we did at Toi last year and how I was able find many moments of this kind of feeling playing Doctore and working off the audience. I have to find a way to work so that my mind can't cope. Or can only just cope. I think the key is in working in response to something else.

Anyway, we finished that exercise after about four groups had been up, and then Tom Tom asked us to group together in our nationalities to take turns getting up and mocking our own countries. You could choose your own deformity to perform with. First up were two poms to mock Mother England. Most of their act was a bit of a flop, until they got to a really winning formula with their impersonations of Posh and Becks - Posh as a talky know-it-all upper class snobby Queen-type, and Becks as an intellectually handicapped child only capable of a word at a time. It was hilarious. They were having fun, we were having fun, and it was really simple. Next were the Australians, and they found the most gold when they really broadened their accents and got really trashy and just basically swore a hell of a lot. Hilarious. Then us kiwis got up - Taylor, Kura and me. We all had big bellies and bad wigs and we came out as a group singing the national anthem (with a bit of wiri-ing for good measure). It went down really well. We were really loud and with thick accents, and we didn't let ourselves be stopped until we got through the Maori and English renditions. The crowd loved it, and the fact that it took ages only made it funnier. Then we went straight into a haka led by Kura. Again, the audience responded extremely well and found it very funny. And it was because we were having FUN. Lots of it. Then we went into parodying some bros, some politically correct and well-intentioned Pakeha and some tangata whenua. It was a blast and more or less the whole thing went down really well with the audience. I found a character that Tom Tom siad worked really well for me, and I could feel it too, and he said I should continue to explore it (I won't say here who the character was based on). All in all it was really great. I really found something and had a great time for the first time here. Yes!

We then got through the Canadians, a Japanese and Singaporean combo, and an Italian. The highlight was the armless Japanese dwarf as a samurai finding endless ways to kill the Singaporean - everybody was in fits of laughter. That was all we had time for and then class was over.

So now my focus is on finding ways to bring the joy and pleasure that I found today into the next work that I do. There was something about mocking something very close to home, something that I know very well, that really allowed me to just go there and really enjoy it. So then how does that translate to everything else? Hopefully I'll find out and fill you in. First step is tomorrow with our Auto Cours presentations, to try and bring a little bit of it in when Taylor and I get up. We still don't really know if what we're doing is any good or even what Philippe wants, but we've both agreed to just get up and go to town with it and have as much fun as we can. Let's see how we go.