![]() It won’t be perfect–some jokes will work, some won’t–and you can revise after each show. (Comedy 101: Wait for laughter–if you start the next line too soon they won’t laugh again, for fear of missing something.) Print key phrases in bold to jog your memory.ĭon’t gun it–if you wrote it correctly you can deliver it, with proper accent and dramatic timing, in less than three minutes. If your character is doing anything resembling announcements, you can glance at the paper–but you can’t read it. I memorize the intro (barely), refresh my memory just before the show, and carry a copy onstage. A “spot” with house lights to one-half makes it easier to see and connect with the crowd. ![]() Get your walk-on cue into the lighting board. It’s not the play, so it doesn’t have to be perfect–suggest enough to get the idea across, and you’re done. The costume can be simple, like a French waiter’s bow tie and menu, or a fisherman’s waders and flannel shirt. Once you’re in character, it’s jarring to become an ordinary announcer for even one item. )īe consistent work everything into the theme. (The accent can be lots of fun! A great audio resource for world accents is. ![]() But keep it tight and short - under three minutes delivered naturally, including any accent. Make it flow if needed, add material to set up jokes or segue between segments. Once you’ve picked the best jokes for each announcement, write the actual lines. Or make up something new carry a pocket memo recorder and note potential jokes whenever you think of them.ĭon’t be afraid to aim high or low. For each announcement topic, write down something from your angle list (“…oral fixation goes with smoking…”). (Keep this as a template for every show, and soon you’ll have a standard, easily remembered sequence to follow.) Then list things relating to the angle - for my group therapist, I listed well-known psychological disorders.Ī standard joke-writing technique is to combine two unrelated things–like your announcements and your angle. List the items to announce, a phrase each. ![]() Whatever you come up with, clear it with the director, who is trying to deliver the best possible experience of the play, and doesn’t want your intro to ruin it. Use what everyone knows coming in - the title, the brief publicity blurb, the time and place, the set if it’s visible when you go on. Don’t steal jokes, give away surprises, or add confusing information to the world your audience is about to enter. Serious plays deserve muted humor for All My Sons, we pretended it was the 1947 premiere, predicting future success for “young playwright Arthur Miller.” For a hilarious comedy like I Hate Hamlet, go all out with jokes like “to pee or not to pee.”īe careful not to upstage the play. The tone depends on the show and your audience. The angle should use common cultural knowledge, and create a recognizable character. Start with the angle, based on the show: lifeguard for a beach show, doctor for a hospital show. PlanningĬreating themed announcements is easy and quick - just a few hours spread over a few weeks. And you or a few local playwright wannabees will enjoy writing funny monologues, seeing them performed, and hearing the applause. The actors will pay attention too, gauging the crowd by the reaction to the skit. The humor will warm them up and the theme will help them enter the world of the play. But you’re tempted to cut back on the marketing to avoid putting everyone to sleep.ĭon’t skimp or bore - entertain and inform! Your audience will pay attention because it’s fun. It’s good business to push your concession stand, raffle, and other fund-raisers, plug upcoming events, and invite them to join your mailing/email list. ![]() You should tell your audience about fire exits, smoking, restrooms, and cell phones, and warn them about strobes, gunshots, and actors in the aisles. How about yours? Here’s why, and how, to make your curtain speech something special. Our audience loves it, and now expects it. Before I Hate Hamlet, in tunic and tights, I implored the audience to “draw forth thy cell phones, and with a stroke, silence them” - then pointed out the restrooms, such that “To pee or not to pee is never the question.” For Getting Away with Murder, a group therapist invited amnesiacs to “take a program home for future reference. (Originally published in the American Association of Community Theatre’s Spotlight Magazine, Sep 2011) Creativity at the Curtainĭoes your producer read a laundry list of announcements before each show? Want to have more fun? The Milford Area Players do humorous monologues, delivered by a costumed, often accented character, in theme for the play. ![]()
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