Going Blue

vine311 · Post by **vine311** » April 6th, 2009, 5:08 pm

I have a tendency to "go blue" in a lot of my scenework. I know, you're saying to yourself "no shit, really?". Consider this as me admitting that I have a problem. This used to be a huge problem with pretty much every scene I was in. Nowadays when I'm in a nice, comfortable two person scene with IFE I almost never do it. But I do find myself going there in shows like Maestro quite a bit. Part of it is because the audience rewards this type of behavior and I feel like I can get away with anything. The other part is just laziness and fear on my part. It's my default thing that I fall back on. (especially while singing)

My fear is that I'm making my fellow players and perhaps even some audience members feel very uncomfortable with this type of scenework. I want to rise above it and have good, solid scenework trump dirty jokes and unnecessary innuendo. So, if I've ever made you cringe or feel uncomfortable in a scene where I was playing dirty for no good reason, I apologize. I'm challenging myself to keep it PG-13 from here on out. I need to know that I can achieve a higher level of play and play to the top of my intelligence...not just the bottom of my gutter.

When Blue Maestro rolls around again...all bets are off though.

TexasImprovMassacre · Post by **TexasImprovMassacre** » April 6th, 2009, 6:03 pm

I've got mixed feelings about this topic. I think that you should be able to go anywhere you want. Its kind of funny that this comes after ratliff's realistic sex on stage post a month or so ago...

I think it depends on the intent. If you're doing it out of fear, then I understand your concern. I know it can be a crutch...an easy go to, as you have stated. However, I don't think limiting the pl.aces you're "allowed to go" is going to be too beneficial. Sure, you probably don't want that to be your thing. "oh, here comes vines, better get ready to get my mind jizzed on".

Still, if that's what is fun for you, and the scene takes a blue turn I believe you can still play in that subject matter with intelligence.

Isn't it fun to get reactions that aren't always laughs? Being made somewhat uncomfortable is, for me at least, within the range of emotions i'm willing to let the audience feel. It should be handled carefully though, lets you violate their trust. On saturday I saw a show where a troupe was doing a meta scene and someone said "Wasn't that the show we did on Sept, 11th 2007?"
"Yeah, it was. On that glorious 6 year anniversary of sept 11"
"If I remember correctly, that was the gayest show we ever did"
"It was the gayest, and the most respectfully done gay show I think i've ever been a part of"

then they proceed to recreate that show for a few scenes. It started with 2 closeted gay arab dudes in a cab making discoveries about their sexuality. Someone came out after a few uncomfortable lines and said to the audience "If this were a scene between a man and a woman you'd have no problem with it". The scene ended with someone saying "two towers rise", and indicated their boners. Then one of the dudes made a little airplane with his fingers and started his approach to crash it into the other dude's boner...So...yeah...they chose to go into gay bits-ville, but did so in a fun intelligent way.

That's a long example, but I think the awkward tension and slight discomfort added to the moment. It made what was funny funnier by creating tension to be broken. If they had all decided against going blue before the show, I wonder what they would be limiting themselves from being able to discover.

...so, more power to you vines if you wish to clean up your act. But I think never going blue is just as much of a "thing" as going blue all the time. Find the balance? clink clink. that's the sound of my two cents.

vine311 · Post by **vine311** » April 6th, 2009, 6:31 pm

Thanks for chiming in, Cody. I doubt I'll ever be able to go 100% non-blue, but I want to see what happens when I force myself to make different choices. Going blue is too easy and, as I said, often a choice out of fear or laziness for me. I'm just trying to step up my game and this is one thing I'd personally like to work on.

DollarBill · Post by **DollarBill** » April 7th, 2009, 11:31 am

I know this is just scratching the surface of a much bigger issue, but there's a show where Ricky Gervais interviews Larry David and they get on the topic of cursing. They agreed that swearing just makes things funnier, but it's too easy to just make those taboo words the whole crux of the joke. I think that was the basic point they were making. It ought to be funny without naughty language, but it'll almost always make it funnier if you add one.... if you've earned it... I guess... I don't know. Shit.

vine311 · Post by **vine311** » April 7th, 2009, 11:43 am

I wasn't even really thinking of curse words. I was thinking of being overtly sexual. I love curse words and believe that sometimes they are the only words that can truly convey how you feel. Plus, that still falls in with my arbitrary PG-13 rule.

DollarBill · Post by **DollarBill** » April 7th, 2009, 12:29 pm

Maybe extend the curse word thing as a metaphor. For example... A scene that envolves anal sex, butt it's really about a dysfunctional relationship:
If the dysfunctional relationship scene was about tennis, butt it was still good and funny and all that, then making it about anal (which most people find taboo or funny or edgy) just takes it that much further and might make it that much funnier. But be careful or you could cheapen your sweet relationship scene.

Butt if you're just telling a bunch of butt jokes with no other redeeming value, then maybe it's not as good. Butt if you're really good at butt jokes you still might get a win. You just have to be really good at butt jokes. Butt that's really hard... Like an erect penis sliding into a butt.

Mo Daviau · Post by **Mo Daviau** » April 7th, 2009, 1:17 pm

My class at Annoyance last night was all about improvising characters and asking them about licking pussy and buttfucking and if a fat man shits all over himself because he can't find his own asshole. I think the instructor generally goes out of his way to be as blue as possible and the class follows suit. I guess that's an Annoyance thing, but Jason, you're a little old lady in church compared to what I see here all the time.

Matt · Post by **Matt** » April 7th, 2009, 1:19 pm

Mo Daviau wrote:Jason, you're a little old lady in church compared to what I see here all the time.

This terrifies me

kbadr · Post by **kbadr** » April 7th, 2009, 1:59 pm

I rarely go blue. I don't know if I ever have, to be honest. I've done horrible, horrible things on stage, though, but given the right weight, a terrible thing on stage can be something very compelling.

I think the thing that bothers me about how most people "go blue" on stage is that it's all verbal. It's sort of a cop out, and it's done as a gag for a laugh or shock value. It goes against showing and not telling. If you're not comfortable actually acting out something "blue" on stage, you should equally uncomfortable talking about doing it.

hujhax · Post by **hujhax** » April 7th, 2009, 2:01 pm

Matt wrote:
Mo Daviau wrote:Jason, you're a little old lady in church compared to what I see here all the time.
This terrifies me

... the prospect of what improv in Chicago must be like, or the prospect of Vines as a little old church lady?

--
peter rogers @ work | http://hujhax.livejournal.com

To me, the only people that are complaining are the people that are so rich I don't understand why they ever need to be paid again.
-- Jeff Tweedy, on copyright violations

ratliff · Post by **ratliff** » April 7th, 2009, 2:17 pm

kbadr wrote: I think the thing that bothers me about how most people "go blue" on stage is that it's all verbal. It's sort of a cop out, and it's done as a gag for a laugh or shock value. It goes against showing and not telling. If you're not comfortable actually acting out something "blue" on stage, you should equally uncomfortable talking about doing it.

YES! I would distinguish between making a joke about picking up a stranger in a park bathroom and playing a realistic, grounded scene about picking up a stranger in a park bathroom.

One of the things that defines a gag is that the improviser isn't really willing to commit to it. This can happen in lots of contexts, as when an improviser endowed as, say, a Republican or a preacher chooses to play an absurd stereotype instead of a real character, because he doesn't want to identify with who he's playing. But it happens most often with sexual situations.

If a scene is funny with two guys humping in a cartoony, exaggerated way, it's almost sure to be funnier with them realistically having sex. At least, funnier to me.

Jessica · Post by **Jessica** » April 7th, 2009, 5:50 pm

I once did a scene with Bob A. where we started out having sex, then Mo (as our daughter) walked in on us. I remember it as being a grounded and realistic scene with most of the laughs coming from the relationships. But, yeah, I remember it 4 years later because that awkward relationship was heightened by the realistic sex that started the scene.

(I think it was Mo, God, I she doesn't kick my ass now!)

Asaf · Post by **Asaf** » April 7th, 2009, 11:43 pm

Mo, that is not an Annoyance thing. That is a that instructor thing. I am curious who it is that you are training with.

Vines, I have seen you do plenty of grounded, non-sexual scenework so it is of course easily accessible for you.

My question is always if not that, then what. What are you going to make happen in scenes instead of sexuality? Maybe if you aimed for lower status characters, you would play out that kind of boldness or if you played a certain genre of characters that would make it harder for you to go blue.

Also, I always coach people who are aware of what their defaults are to balance them out with something. Sometimes it is easier to do that then to eliminate a habit completely. For instance, I had one student who would ask questions for their scene partner to clarify what they were saying (i.e. "When you say that, do you mean CHOICE A or CHOICE B?"). They were aware they were doing it. It was a stall tactic. So now whenever they ask one of those questions they immediately follow it with "Because if it is CHOICE A, I would OVEREMPHASIZED EXPRESSION OF FEELING."

So maybe there is something you could immediately follow the sexual line with that would offset it enough to not make it about the sexual line.

ratliff · Post by **ratliff** » April 8th, 2009, 12:04 am

Asaf wrote: So maybe there is something you could immediately follow the sexual line with that would offset it enough to not make it about the sexual line.

But then you're backing off a choice you've already made.

Not to beat a dead (expletive), but I'd be willing to bet that whenever you go blue, you're not playing real.

I wonder what would happen if you backed up whatever just came out of your mouth by playing it completely real, responding emotionally and realistically? You've already gotten your laugh, and you'll keep getting it whenever the dirty bit comes up (sorry), so why not take advantage of the situation and do a real scene? You can play real in any circumstance, even if it means getting embarrassed and saying, "I don't believe I just said that."

TexasImprovMassacre · April 8th, 2009, 12:58 am

I was in a show tonight that started with some who farted questioning. It turned into everyone having cancer. Which turned into there being a reality show where one person is tricked into thinking they've got cancer. This happened over the course of the scene being revisited 3 times in the show. If we had backed off initially, we wouldn't have gotten to the end which I personally was satisfied with.

So...I guess I'm saying that I support ratliff's opinion of sticking to your guns and playing it real and asking yourself the old "if that is true, then what else is true". just because an offer is blue, doesn't mean there is nothing to it. Explore your blue offers and find meaning in them instead of just leaving them as a joke.

**secret pumps: thanks to bill stern for taping the show tonight!!!**