Learning the comedy business is starting to get very expensive
June 19, 2009 by vongsundara · 1 Comment
I’m very fortunate to be living in Toronto right now. There are so many resources available here that were not available to me in either Calgary or Winnipeg. Because of this, I have concentrated on getting better at my craft rather than trying to propel my career forward before I am ready. The only trouble I’m running into right now are expenses.
There are many, many great classes and courses to take in Toronto, especially with Second City in town along with many great acting studios like Sears and Switzer. I definitely believe in taking classes, and I have gotten a lot out of each and every class I have taken, though I do have to watch out for how much money I have been spending lately. It’s definitely a difficult balance at times.
The Second City classes have definitely helped me improve my comedic range. Coming from a stand-up background, my character skills were definitely lacking. At least now I feel more comfortable going forward with different types of comedy outside of stand-up such as improv and sketch, making me much more well rounded and marketable.
My next seminar revolves around personal publicity. This is definitely the most important seminar for me in a while. If there’s one thing I need to learn before opening my one-man show early next year, it’s going to be how to promote the show and get people in the seats. Otherwise, I’ll just be performing in front of an empty audience.
I think I can manage my expenses for the time being, and hopefully the dollars coming in from performing will start to balance the expenses going out. Luckily for me, I’ve kept my day job, which is allowing me to overspend a little bit on the comedy side.
The Improvisation Program, Level B with instructor Cary West at Second City Training Centre, Toronto, Improv Class
May 3, 2009 by vongsundara · Leave a Comment
I’m currently taking Level B improv classes at The Second City Toronto Training Centre with instructor Cary West. I’ll be blogging about my experiences below. This post will be updated after each class (as opposed to me writing a new post each class), so bookmark this page if you want to follow along with my experiences.
DAY SIX – Sunday, May 3, 2009: The Improvisation Program, Level B with instructor Cary West at Second City Training Centre, Toronto, Improv Class
My last day at Level B intensive was a great culmination of everything we learned so far. I skipped out on Saturday’s class due to a personal engagement, but I’m happy I made it back for the finale. Our final day was a lot more relaxed and more a review than anything else. We were able to play some games that I saw at Wheel of Improv, so now I hope to be more comfortable when playing along on Mondays.
In all, I’m super happy that I took the Level B intensive and am now caught up with my Level A class so that I can take Level C with them starting next week. The intensive format is definitely different from the weekly class format, and I think that I enjoy both forms.
As for Level B itself, I feel a lot more comfortable with environment, though it’s still not my strong suit. I’ll have to work at it some more for sure in the later levels, but I’m looking forward to it.
DAY FOUR – Friday, May 1, 2009: The Improvisation Program, Level B with instructor Cary West at Second City Training Centre, Toronto, Improv Class
Today’s class was all about environment. I was really tired and a bit beat down from the week, so I had to really pull from all my energy banks to be able to tackle some of our exercises. I still have a long way to go as far as environment, but at least now I know what exercises I can do on my own to improve.
My favourite exercise involved performing the same action in four, eight and 20 steps. I was given the action of getting ready in the morning. Performing this action in four steps was funny and showed how disconnected we can be as performers when we don’t add in the little touches. Expanding to eight steps felt a bit better and is probably closer to where I’m at right now as a performer. Trying to add up to 20 steps was really difficult for me, as I ran out of things to do. Now, getting ready for the morning in real life obviously takes a lot more than 20 steps, so I’ve just got to concentrate more on the little details.
The ultimate goal is to be able to perform any action in 50 steps. I’m a ways away from doing this, but now I know how to move forward. I will definitely practice on my own.
DAY THREE – Sunday, April 26, 2009: The Improvisation Program, Level B with instructor Cary West at Second City Training Centre, Toronto, Improv Class
I had yet another great day at my Second City improv class. I’m really starting to feel more comfortable working with environment, which has been my biggest weakness by far.
Today’s class was really well structured. We worked on several smaller exercises leading up to a final exercise that used the skills we learned throughout the day. This is the first time I’ve felt this type of progression in an improv class. The fact that we got to use everything we had learned gave me a great sense of accomplish when we were done.
We started out with free association, kind of similar to when stand-up comedians perform stream of consciousness. I had a great time with this exercise, as I do with most thinking and talking exercises. We built on the free association by introducing an environment. Once we were in our environment, we had to continue talking about an unrelated topic while still continuing our activity. I found this incredibly difficult to do, but I’m sure it will get easier with time. My thoughts were much more muted, and I had difficulty remembering what I was saying.
The new techniques we learned for environment were really helpful. Cary West showed us how to sustain an activity that isn’t overly repetitive. After learning this technique, I was able to try using them during our final exercise. Putting free association, environment and adding an extra improvisor, the final exercise really stretched our improv skills. I was given the environment of a clothing store and had to carry out a conversation while shopping. I think I botched the conversation since I was thinking we were still doing free association and thus spoke way too much.
At the end of the day, though, I felt the most comfortable I’ve ever been while doing environment work. Our instructor Cary is really great with giving us helpful tips and suggestions.
DAY TWO – Saturday, April 25, 2009: The Improvisation Program, Level B with instructor Cary West at Second City Training Centre, Toronto, Improv Class
Today I felt a lot more comfortable than yesterday. A lot of the rust came off, and I was definitely more in the moment.
I was really excited because today we worked a lot on environment, which is my weakest skill for sure tied with character (which will be covered more in Level C). We had an exercise where we had to establish an environment, and the audience had to figure out where we were. I decided to establish a wrestling ring. The good part is that I conveyed the environment well enough that the audience guessed correctly. The bad part is that I have a long way to go as far as committing to a scene.
Now, I fully understand that I have skills that need to be worked on, but I shouldn’t have to work on committing, as that’s something I can do right now whether I have the other skills or not. That’s my takeaway from this week is to always commit fully as much as I can. Cary had some great recommendations after the scene about how I can improve by being more in the moment and adding all the extra little details.
The second part of today concentrated on free association and being generous with our fellow performers. Now this is the part of improv where I feel I shine through much more. Any exercises where it’s about using words and nothing more are where I feel at home. I definitely know I can develop more in this area too, but it’s nice to come back to something I’m good at after spending hours working on my weaknesses. It’s a nice confidence builder for sure.
DAY ONE – Friday, April 24, 2009: The Improvisation Program, Level B with instructor Cary West at Second City Training Centre, Toronto, Improv Class
Ooh, today was definitely a little bit rough. Improv is like a skill that you need to keep sharp, and I definitely was not sharp today as it’s been about three months since my Level A class. This isn’t to say that the class didn’t go well; in fact, it was fantastic and I had a lot of fun.
My instructor for this level is Cary West, an experienced improvisor and actor. Well, instead of describing him, I’ll just paste his bio from the Second City website:
“Cary West has been teaching improvisation since 1996 including the Second City Education Department starting in 2001. A long-time graduate of the Second City Conservatory Program, he has also been involved with the Bad Dog Theatre and the Toronto Film College instructing comedy performance and writing. In 2000, Cary was nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award for Best New Sketch Troupe with the Closet Primadonnas and has appeared in numerous award winning short films.”
What’s interesting about Cary is that he started out in stand-up comedy for a year, which of course intrigues me since stand-up comedy is my first love as far as performing goes. Cary is very different from my last instructor, Natasha Boomer, though they both are incredible improvisors in their own right. Cary loves telling stories, which I love because it gives insight into the improv world outisde of just learning how to perform.
My new classmates are really cool too. It was a little strange, though, because 80 per cent of the class knew each other from Level A, and I was one of only two people who was new to their group. I wasn’t phased for too long, though, because the group was very welcoming.
The biggest thing I noticed in my first class back was that I was holding back way too much. I tend to be a little too caught up in my thoughts when performing instead of projecting outward. Hopefully I can start to learn a bit more and get better as the course goes on.
Second City Toronto Training Centre Available Improv Courses
http://secondcity.com/?id=training-education/training/toronto/course_descriptions
The Second City Toronto Training Centre
Ricky Gervais in HBO Out of England The Stand-Up Special, Review and Analysis
April 3, 2009 by vongsundara · Leave a Comment
Official Poster: Ricky Gervais in HBO Out of London The Stand-Up Comedy Special
It’s interesting to note that Ricky Gervais did not start out as a stand-up comedian. In fact, he considers stand-up as the final frontier to his comedy. It’s kind of like me in reverse, where stand-up was my first style and I’m venturing into improv. Because Ricky Gervais comes more from a writing background, his style of comedy is very different from most stand-up comedians. I definitely relate to Ricky’s style, as I come from a writing background as well.
Ricky is definitely brilliant, and I can learn a lot from his style. Let’s delve into what I feel makes Ricky Gervais a great stand-up comedian beginning with his stage attire and then going deeper into his mechanics.
Shooting video is very much different than performing stand-up comedy
March 26, 2009 by vongsundara · Leave a Comment
I went into the studio to tape my first video production today, and oh boy did it not go as well as I expected. Luckily, we had a number of takes, so once they are spliced together, there should be one good performance.
Maybe I’m being too hard on myself. I’m used to single takes being perfect, because in stand-up comedy you only get one take. You can’t hit rewind when you’re on stage.
At first I thought it should be easy to record a video since I should be able to do single takes the entire way through the same way I do it on stage. I even resisted using the teleprompter for the first few takes because I didn’t know if I would come off as too robotic. Strangely, the opposite happened.
Minus the teleprompter, I had zero personality as I was trying to remember my lines. Once we switched over to the teleprompter, I at least showed some signs of life. Hopefully it was enough.
The other trouble I felt now that I think about it, is that I didn’t have the right timing on my delivery. I spoke quite a bit quicker than I normally do in stand-up. I haven’t watched the video back yet, so I’m not sure how easily my words will be understood.
I’m not really sure why I had so much trouble today, but I’ll chalk it down as a learning experience. Hopefully next time, I can be a little bit smoother.
Now comes the second part of the video, the actual production. I’ve got to decide how I want to take the video footage and make it into a complete package with sound and images. I went with my video producer because I believe in his talent, so I don’t want to step on his creativity too much, but I think he may be looking for some direction given the subject matter is a bit specific to me.
I’m really excited to show everyone the video once it’s ready, so please stay tuned.
I’m not sure if this comedy is allowed, but I’m going to try it anyway
March 24, 2009 by vongsundara · 1 Comment
One more day before I film my first video production. On the great advice of a great friend, I have decided to film my comedy set about the SuperPowerBottoms, my gay volleyball team and not-so-subtle stab at promoting rights for bottoms everywhere. Haha, talk about the opposite of mainstream. The video will be targeted to a very specific demographic, but I’m hoping that that demographic will really appreciate it.
The big news of the week, though, is that I have found my own comedy muse: hot blonde actress and improv student Holly. While doing improv, I discovered how much I love collaboration which isn’t something I get to do at all in stand-up. While brainstorming with my muse, I’ve decided to try something off-the-wall and maybe even against the rules.
I’m going to write a stand-up for someone else. I will be the Tina Fey to her Amy Poehler (check Saturday Night Live). Writing stand-up for Holly is actually kind of exciting because of her great acting ability. She has a uniqueness to her look and great timing on her delivery, but at this point in time she is more of a performance artist than a writer. Writing for Holly will allow me to really push myself creatively. I’ve written for my own stand-up persona for so long, that I think writing from the perspective of a young, hot blonde will be very interesting.
The end goal for this writing project is to have Holly perform her material as an opening act when my one-man show debuts (now with a bonus woman!) at the end of this year or early next year. The fact that I’ll be writing both acts will lend itself to some great continuity and some comedy tricks that I’ve been meaning to try and which I don’t think have been done before, as a headliner generally doesn’t write material for their opening act.
Anyhow, with my two current projects progressing well, I’m getting excited and more inspired than ever. It feels great to be pushing the boundaries of an art form that I love so dearly.
Deciding which set will work best on video is more difficult than I thought
March 22, 2009 by vongsundara · 2 Comments
My spring and summer comedy schedule is starting to get really full, which is a great thing and not something I could have said about my comedy life last year. I end each of April, May and June off with a relatively big show and I have a bunch of off-stage projects on the go, the biggest of which is my comedy video production starting this week.
I have studio time booked with my video producer for this Thursday. The final video will consist of me performing one of my stand-up sets that will then be enhanced with animation and sound effects. It’s difficult to describe, but I’m excited that the project is moving forward.
The biggest difficulty for me is deciding which set will work best in a video format accompanied by graphics and sound effects. Some of my sets definitely lend themselves more to a visual format but may not be the best for a debut video, as I’d like the first video to skew more mainstream (otherwise I’d start the first video off on a skit about the SuperPowerBottoms volleyball team).
I think I’m down to two choices: the set about my sister Anne, which has never yet been performed, and the set about my time as an obituary writer, which has never been filmed or uploaded online. Both sets of their merit for sure.
The set about my sister Anne would probably be the clear choice in terms of what would work for this project, but it is in an unfinished state and hasn’t really been tested for kinks. The obituary skit works well too but isn’t as representative of my comedy style as a whole.
I’ll think about it some more tonight, and I’ll have to make up my mind by Tuesday, as I’ll need all of Wednesday to rehearse and memorise.
How To Stand-Up Comedy: Margaret Cho in I’m The One That I Want, Review and Analysis
March 16, 2009 by vongsundara · Leave a Comment
I’ll be examining the ins and outs of stand-up comedy in my new series of articles titled How To Stand-Up Comedy (and yes, I’m aware the title is grammatically incorrect).
For this opening article, I decided to dissect Margaret Cho’s first feature, I’m The One That I Want, to try and gauge what it is that makes Margaret Cho so damn successful and applying those elements to my own comedy.
I first saw I’m The One That I Want during its initial run through independent theatres across North America. I was instantly drawn to Margaret Cho’s brand of humour, as I was a huge fan of her network television show, All-American Girl. If you haven’t already seen “I’m The One That I Want,” then you need to go down to your local video store and rent it immediately. If it’s not at the major video stores then try the video store in the gay village, I guarantee they’ll have a copy.
Comedy is king on the Las Vegas Boulevard Strip, Louie Anderson Rita Rudner
March 14, 2009 by vongsundara · Leave a Comment
I’m back in Toronto after a week-long trip to Las Vegas. It’s my second time visiting Las Vegas, though it’s my first time there without my parents and minus the wheelchair I was in last time.
To me, Las Vegas is all about freedom. I found myself singing while walking down the streets. When at home, I sing all the time, but I usually don’t sing on the streets of Toronto. It’s kind of like Las Vegas is great for getting rid of mental blocks and worrying about what other people think.
The best part of Las Vegas are the shows. This is especially true for me since I don’t drink, smoke or do drugs (plus I’m celebate), so there’s not much sinning for me to do in Sin City. Las Vegas is completely dominated by Cirque du Soleil, which is amazing since that outfit started and it run out of Montreal, PQ. There are also a variety of music concerts and magic shows available.
What impressed me the most, though, was the abundance of stand-up comedy acts being featured on the Las Vegas Boulevard strip. Rita Rudner and Louie Anderson’s faces were plastered on billboards and buses across town. It’s great to see that stand-up comedy can stand toe-to-toe with music and theatre. It shows me that audiences find great value in laughter and are willing to pay to see great comedy. The best part is that of all the different types of shows, comedy has the least overheard as far as production costs.
The only downside I saw was that the comedy acts being featured weren’t exactly current. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love Louie Anderson, but it would have been nice to see some comedians from this past decade performing. I suppose it’s a Las Vegas thing since the big musical acts are also decades old like Donnie and Marie.
All in all, I had a fantastic time in Las Vegas. I’ve come back with several new ideas for my writing.
Back at the Eton House, Standing at the Danforth hosted by JoAnna Downey
February 25, 2009 by vongsundara · Leave a Comment
One of the great parts about moving to Greektown, Toronto, is that I’m right around the corner from Eton House, home of one of the best open mic comedy nights in Toronto. Standing at the Danforth, as the show is called, is one of two fantastic weekly shows produced by long-time comedy pro JoAnna Downey.
Standing at the Danforth is the second show I ever performed at when I moved to Toronto last year, so it will always have a special place in my heart. I wish I had recorded that performance, as it was one of my favourites. In fact, all my top performances in Toronto so far have coincidentally been hosted by JoAnna Downey.
Yesterday’s show was a special show produced for Mike McQueen, and his dad was in town. I was lucky enough to get to see three of my favourite Toronto comedians: Ted Morris, Nikki Payne and Debra DiGiovanni.
Ted Morris is incredibly likable on stage, and I hope to see a full set of his sometime soon. I’d love to see where his comedy goes when he has more time to expand his stories on stage. Nikki Payne, well, what can I say? Her aggression and energy on stage are absolutely unmatched.
Debra DiGiovanni is an interesting one. It took me a while to warm up to her style, but in the long run I think that’s a good thing as I appreciate her more for it. Debra is very wordy on stage and speaks very quickly. She also leaves no pauses for audiences to applaud. In fact, she’ll talk straight through laughter in a way that I’ve never seen before.
Now that I’ve gotten used to it, though, I think it’s quite amazing. With the speed that Debra speaks, she has to write probably double or triple the material to cover the same amount of time. I also quite enjoy her material.
Anyhow, that was my week at the Eton House. I can’t wait to be back on the stage, probably sometime in April. I’ll post the date once it’s confirmed.
Dangers and rewards of taking a break from Toronto comedy shows
February 4, 2009 by vongsundara · 1 Comment
Today was the first full day I’ve spent writing comedy in the past six months, and boy was it rough going. For all my hard work, I ended up with half a page of mostly unusable material. There may be a few reasons for this, though.
The first being that I decided to write about my sister and my life back in Winnipeg. I may actually have to shelve all my Winnipeg material for a while until I spend some good hard time in Winnipeg and get reacquainted with how life used to be for me.
The second reason could be that I’ve forgotten how to write. Now, I definitely don’t want to over-analyse it, as that could lead down to an even bigger mental roadblock, but I think six months is definitely enough time to forget some very important fundamentals of writing, especially comedy writing, especially when I was using techniques unique to myself since I combined my knowledge of comedy with my previous knowledge of classical narrative structure. It’s difficult to find that combination again after so long. So basically all the dangers I was worried about have come true. There are, however, some positive effects that I’m hoping will kick in shortly.
A part of my writing that I did purposely want to purge from my comedic style was my bitter viewpoint from my Calgary days. When I tried to write after moving to Toronto, I found my jokes were still too bitter, and it wasn’t the direction I wanted my comedy to take. This is a huge part of the reason why I wanted to absorb myself in Toronto life before writing any further. Considering that I couldn’t put anything on to paper at all, I would say that I have successfully purged my old viewpoints.
So here I am, starting with basically a blank slate. It’s both scary and exciting to think where my comedy will go from here. Don’t get me wrong, I am extremely proud of the writing I have accomplished in my year in Calgary, but now I’m in a totally different space emotionally. I’m going to workshop my material some more, but I should be ready to debut my new material in the next couple of weeks or so.
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