<aside> đź’ˇ Please note this post is part of the Seven habits of highly effective improvisers series. Please click here for an overview.
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I live in the UK. That means I’m British. And British people are proud of our comedy.
Let me be clear, there is a lot about being British of which we shouldn’t be proud - but when conditions are right, we have the wind behind us and all our better angels are shining brightly - I truly believe we have a great sense of humour.
And nowhere is that more apparent than in our TV comedy output. Just off the top of my head - Spaced, Smack the Pony, Big Train, The Day Today, Brass Eye, Jam, The Young Ones, Blackadder, Bottom, Mum, Monty Python, Fleabag, This Country, Catastrophe, People Just Do Nothing, Absolutely Fabulous, W1A, The Trip, Alan Partridge, The Royle Family, Coupling, Green Wing, The Fast Show, This Way Up, Porridge, Fawlty Towers, Red Dwarf, The Office, Not the Nine O’Clock News, Phoenix Nights, The League of Gentlemen, Inside No. 9, Black Books, Detectorists, Garth Marenghi, Nathan Barley, Peep Show, The Thick of It, Marion & Geoff, Human Remains, The Mighty Boosh - even with a list like that I know I’m going to have left out someone’s favourite. And that person is going to be angry because comedy is important to them.
And talking of anger - it seems like that emotion is a pivotal comedy engine for British humour. Look back at that list above and you’ll see many could easily be described in similar terms:
Awful people being awful to each other.
(I’ve helpfully italicised the ones I think fall into that category - it’s a lot - I guess, hand on heart a better description is “Flawed people being awful to each other” but that wasn’t as pithy)
It’s interesting, this obsession we have with broken people. At least here in the UK, comedy is inextricably linked with negative emotions - with jealousy and sadness, petty arguments and, yes, anger.
In improv classes, I see it all the time. Students seem to think that conflict is a surefire shortcut to comedy gold. They step into a scene and immediately have a problem with their scene partner. Insults are fun, I get that, but negativity isn’t a magic lever you can pull to create insta-laughter.
As an audience member, I don’t care about your argument. If the curtain comes up on a scene where two people are screaming at each other I would, firstly, congratulate you on having an improv theatre fancy enough to have a curtain and, secondly, let you know that you haven’t done the work for me to have any kind of emotional investment in your characters.
Conversely, if your welcoming indoor firework spectacular fizzles away to reveal a couple who are really in synch and having a good time with each other - I’m going to start warming to them immediately. And then you can break my heart later on with the conflict and the anger if you so wish.
But the key here is positivity - let your default position be one of play - delighted, accepting and joyful. It goes a long way to win the audience over. And obviously a show needs texture and changes in emotional intensity - but lead with joy, my friends. It’s almost always the best choice from a storytelling point of view*.