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.

Filed under: Performing
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Second City’s Level A improv class, week two, proves worth every penny

January 18, 2009 by vongsundara · 2 Comments 

I’m only two weeks into my improv class at Second City, and already I’ve gotten my money’s worth. Sunday night improv is starting to become a big highlight of my week.

This week, we focused on specific techniques to help flesh out an improv scene. The biggest challenge was about identifying the what, where and who of the scene. For instance, the first person up establishes what the activity is. The second person establishes where the scene takes place, and the third person establishes the relationship between the three people.

We were also given some great tips on what not to do in improv. One of the big no-no’s is entering a scene with a question.

It was funny, though, that no matter how many times I was told, it was a habit I could not shake. Whenever I came into a scene, I’d ask the person who started the scene a question instead of making a statement. I suppose it’s just human tendency.

I absolutely love how improv is pushing me in new directions creatively. It’s given me lots of ideas for my stand-up, which is why I joined the class in the first place. Unexpectedly, though, it’s also given me a love and appreciation of improv that kind of makes me want to push forward and learn more and more. I haven’t felt this excited since I first discovered stand-up.

Filed under: Performing
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Second City’s Level A improv class, week one, packed with great info

January 13, 2009 by vongsundara · 1 Comment 

My first-ever improv class at Second City’s training centre went extremely well. I had a lot of fun, and it’s gotten my creative juices flowing again, which is why I took this class in the first place.

You see, improv is quite the opposite of stand-up comedy. Improv is all about feeding off of an ensemble and going beyond yourself with multiple characters (think Mike Myers) while stand-up is about working on your own to be as believable as yourself as possible.

My class is made up of a dozen students. My teacher is quite hilarious and almost exactly like I’d imagine an improv teacher to be like. She’s very outgoing, talkative and agressive in the best ways possible. There are a couple of students who have already shown a lot of potential, and I’m looking forward to seeing how they develop.

Our first class was made up of a series of improv exercises. We kind of went through all the improv techniques in one day. Over the next six weeks, we’ll be going deeper into each of the techniques, and on our final day we’ll go through all of them again.

My favourite exercise consisted of having to answer questions in tune with a partner, speaking at the same time. My team decided to speak very slowly to try and figure out what the other person was saying. We ended up veering off in interesting directions, and some of our answers ended up being quite funny.

Filed under: Performing
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Improv class at Second City has taken over my Sundays, goodbye football

January 10, 2009 by vongsundara · Leave a Comment 

I’m excited to start a new chapter of my comedy life this week. Today, I went to take a tour of the Second City training centre, where I’ll be taking improv classes for the next year. My classes will be on Sunday, which is perfect timing since NFL football is coming to an end and my Sundays will soon be open.

At first, I was hesitant to take a class on improv, since it seems to be the polar opposite of what my stage style is. Stand-up is generally about being able to portray yourself and make it believable. Improv and sketch are more about suspension of disbelief and playing many different characters.

I’m still definitely a stand-up at heart, but with my creative juices stagnating as of late, I’m hoping the challenges brought about by improv will help get some ideas flowing through my head and get me excited about comedy again.

Today was orientation day, so I was able to meet the artistic director, Kevin Frank. I thought it was a nice touch that it was someone important as Kevin Frank to be the person leading orientation day.

I’m looking forward to meeting my instructor tomorrow, and I’ll give weekly updates on how my improv training is going. Who knows? Maybe improv will add a whole new dimension that I can bring to stage during my stand-up performances.

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Clint Eastwood’s performance is the backbone of Gran Torino, a stellar movie

December 29, 2008 by vongsundara · Leave a Comment 

Prior to yesterday, I’d only ever seen one Clint Eastwood movie, Million Dollar Baby. I didn’t know quite what to expect going into Gran Torino, but I shouldn’t have been too surprised that Clint Eastwood once again delivers a stellar lead performance as Walt Kowalski, a Korean War veteran.

There are plenty of sites out there to give summaries, so I’ll jump into my generally feelings about the film.

Surrounding Clint Eastwood’s rock-solid performance are some unknown Asian actors. They do a good job for the most part, though their inexperience shows through in a number of scenes unfortunately, and they are not always believable in their roles.
Read more

Filed under: Watching
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Learning through videogames can be effective if done right

December 25, 2008 by vongsundara · Leave a Comment 

I’ve been playing Rock Band 2 a lot recently, and it’s really helped my rhythm and has basically taught me how to play drums much more quickly than any other method I can of. This experience got me thinking about learning through videogames in general.

I’ve spent most of my life playing videogames. I think videogames are a great way to learn and can help children use parts of their mind that they normally wouldn’t use. It’s unfortunate that there’s a group out there who feel videogames can only rot minds. Quite the opposite is true; it all depends on the games you play.

My first big game was Tetris. I was absolutely addicted and played multiple versions on my NES and then my Gameboy (and eventually every other system known to man including my DS and Wii). Tetris is a great way to teach kids about spacial relations.

I was a huge role-playing game fan ever since playing Final Fantasy II on the SNES. RPGs are a great way to get kids to read. I’ve never read so much in my life than I’ve read while playing RPGs. On my way to becoming the Winnipeg Typing Champion, I learned to type mainly through typing videogames that my friend coded for MS-DOS and later perfected my style playing Typing of the Dead for Dreamcast.

I could bring out many more great examples of how videogames are a great way to learn, but the latest and greatest examples are music games. Sure, some of the instruments such as in Guitar Hero don’t really teach you much other than finger dexterity and rhythm, though those are important, but some games are so close to reality that they can really help you learn before taking professional lessons.

Playing drums is so close to reality that it’s a good jump start. Nothing takes the place of professional lessons, but now at least when you are at a point to take lessons, you are already fairly up to speed with the basics. I’ve also recently purchased Keyboardmania II for PlayStation 2. I’ve always wanted to learn piano, and now I can learn a few things before moving on to real lessons.

Maybe videogames aren’t the best way for everyone to learn, but it meshes quite well with my learning style. You see, I always avoid getting lessons or being trained when I start something new. I like to have the chance to figure things out for myself and develop my own style before later taking lessons and polishing up my act.

Two clear examples of this philosophy are my typing and my comedy. When becoming Winnipeg Typing Champion, I developed my own style of typing that would not have happened if I followed the standard conventions. I use different fingers for keys than are recommended, and I think it’s because my hands are different than anyone else’s hands, which is true of everyone. There is no one correct way to type, depending on the size of your fingers and the strength of your hands, it can vary from person to person.

The same is true of my comedy act. I took great care in carving out my own style before seeking out feedback from other comedians. I think it’s really helped me shape my own style.

Filed under: Performing
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Being a leader is more difficult than I imagined, I have lots to learn

December 4, 2008 by vongsundara · Leave a Comment 

The recent leadership struggle in Canada’s Parliament between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives and the coalition of Stephane Dion, Liberals, Jack Layton, NDP, and Gilles Duceppe, Bloc Quebecois, has come to a standstill and won’t be resolved for another seven weeks. All this talk of leadership has gotten me thinking about my own leadership abilities.

I’ve always personally thought that I was a natural-born leader, though recent developments have led me to question my abilities. Both at work and in my personal life, I’ve always been thrust into positions of leadership. From a young age, I have always led or been very near the leadership position in every group I have been a part of. At times, the leadership has been thrust upon me and at other times I have sought leadership.

In some ways, I am not a very natural leader at all, but I am often placed in positions of leadership because of my ability to gain trust and belief from others. The trust is often gained through observations of my ability to inspire others through my actions and initiatives and my ability to work well on my own and overcome obstacles. Unfortunately, it is this very nature that makes it difficult for me to lead in the traditional sense.

In the volunteer world, I have found that I am better served as a secondary leader or co-leader whose purpose is to inspire through action, leaving the world of traditional leadership to those more capable. I have recently found the same at work, where I didn’t fare so well at directly managing and supervising staff but have fared much better when managing people as resources, meaning those I am in charge of have separate supervisors to deal with everyday managing while I deal with the bigger picture.

Unfortunately for me, there are times where I have to step up and lead in both ways, as the option to co-lead is not always there. With the SuperPowerBottoms, I am fortunate enough to have a great group of players to lead: They are hard working, show up early and are motivated to practice. In fact, they are so great a team that I have to question my leadership as the main reason to why we haven’t improved sooner. I suppose I can only do my best, and perhaps things will turn around soon enough.

Filed under: Gaying
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Why am I so boring at my dayjob when I’m paid to be funny at night?

November 24, 2008 by vongsundara · Leave a Comment 

I went to a work outing tonight at a local pub, and I was incredibly boring. I mean, totally, completely no personality at all. It was almost exactly like I was at my dayjob. It’s strange, because I know that having personality can be quite helpful at work, and it’s not like I don’t have personality (otherwise, why would I be a stand-up comedian?).

I think my mindset comes from my inclination to compartmentalise different aspects of my life. The way I am at work is similar to how I am around my parents. The way I am on stage is similar to how I am with my friends. It would be helpful if I could find some middle ground between my ghetto personality and my boringness at work. In fact, more than a few people at work have said I need to come out of my shell (these people of course did not know much about my night life).

When I’m in a party situation, and also when I’m on stage, I have enough personality to take over an entire room. It’s basically my job to do so, and it comes rather naturally. My nickname in university was “The Vong Show,” because I basically brought the party with me wherever I went.

It’s a shame then that working in media where there are a ton of personalities, I can’t seem to express myself other than being 100 per cent business-like at all times. There’s no easy fix, as my behaviours are ingrained, but I do hope that someday I can come off as something in the middle: not boring and not the centre of attention but someone who’s interesting.

Filed under: Living, Performing, Working
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