Trying to Be Funny

You often hear that a good comedic actor shouldn't try to be funny. There's some truth to this, but how can you learn comedy if you never try to be funny? In fact, that's the very problem with this sentiment, it implies that comedy isn't a skill to be learned, but an innate talent that comes from birth. It locks comedy away in a safe where only a chosen few get the combination.

It may help to separate the work of the actor from the character. I'll agree that the character rarely tries to be funny. (although even that is up for debate in commedia) Just like realistic drama, the comic character has wants/desires and goes about the story trying to fulfill those wants/desires. Actions either are or aren't funny largely based on things outside the control of the character. They are who they are and do what they do, and the audience will judge whether or not they are funny.

The comic ACTOR, however, better try to be funny. Provoking laughter is a skill, although most of us develop the skill without noticing. Now that I'm a father I've watched my daughter tune into what will make me laugh and during her daily "play" she'll go back to what she knows works for her audience as well as catalog new responses. She's using the rehearsal of her daily life to develop her comedic skills. As we've all gone from child to adult, we've all, to varying degrees, developed an instinct as to what makes our "audience" laugh.

Actors need to use rehearsal and performance time as a constant experiment into what makes their audience laugh. Don't think that some people just are funny while some aren't. Pay attention to what makes your partner laugh, what makes the other students laugh, what makes the professor laugh. Just as importantly, pay attention to what doesn't get a laugh when you expected it to. Developing as a comedic actor takes time and will come with a lot of failure. Keep what works, refine what doesn't and never stop paying attention to the audience.