You Can’t Make It Happen…
When we try to do something funny, or try to say something funny, it’s almost never funny… I’m sure you’ve had that experience, right? Maybe people laugh, but not at what we wanted them to laugh at! And it’s because what they see is the effort. Not the funny. They see us working too hard for the laugh.
So how does comedy happen? How do funny people, from Lucille Ball to Tina Fey to Taylor Tomlinson have careers where they seem to be funny on command, at the drop of a hat, whenever the lights and cameras go on and it’s go time?
They get out of the way and let it happen.
They know, through their own life experiences and everything they’ve observed and learned, that life is funny. The whole world is funny. And human beings, in particular, are absolutely ridiculous. No one has to make any effort to make it happen.
What those women, along with all the other great comedians in history, have learned how to do on command, when the lights go up, is: use language and physicality to direct your attention to what’s funny in the world. How to command your attention. And how to eliminate all the things that could distract you from what they want you to see. They create the conditions under which you’re probably going to laugh. But they don’t try to make it happen.
All those things they do — language, physicality, articulation, earning your attention — are skills that they learned through patient study and persistent work. And those are all skills that you can learn, too.
“But what about talent?!?!” Well, you’ve probably already noticed that hard work and skill beat “natural talent” most of the time, because those are the things we can turn on and off like a tap. And this is the most controversial thing I often say: talent, if it exists at all, isn’t necessary. In fact, the ego games that surround our whole culture around talent can make it seem to disappear at all the wrong times… seemingly at the drop of a hat.
The improv games and exercises we teach can make people who consider themselves “uncreative” or even “boring” reveal themselves as wildly creative and original. Because what we really teach is just getting out of the way. Relax, get into the flow, execute simple rules and goals… and you’ll be amazed at how natural a comedian you are. How articulate, how thoughtful, how full of original perspectives and meaningful stories you are. What we teach are how to create the conditions. Because you can’t make any of that happen. It’s already here.
Of course, it can be really daunting, especially when we want to be laughed with and not laughed at. But for this, there is no better example than Lucille Ball. She once said, “I’m not funny. I’m brave.”
It’s risky to put your ideas out there. It’s risky to try something new. But it’s also risky to cross the street, or drive a car. We just learn the skills to take care of ourselves in those situations. And the same can be true for comedy, or creativity, or trusting a group of coworkers.
It’s my job to teach those skills that help you take care of yourself, help you see and create the conditions for group mind and even comedy. I do ask my clients to take risks — but I also know I can’t make them do it! By keeping the risks incremental, by making the skills clear and concrete, I’ve helped my clients “transform” into captivating storytellers, wild clowns, tragic heroes, and even freestyle rappers!
But all I’m really telling them to do is click their heels together. They already have everything they need.