Live or Online ?
a study by David Konyot
Prologue.
Good clowns open their heart and soul to the public, To free them from the stresses and strains of life they gives the gift of laughter, allowing themselves to be mocked, ridiculed, soaked, tripped, humiliated and thwarted in romance
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This offering of their innocence to the crowd is the greatest love.
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To ask a clown to perform to an empty room is an anathema, we live for and thrive on public approval, they are our mirror, take them away and we are a shadow.
Buildings don't smile or laugh and bare seats don't giggle like children
The arrival of the pandemic presented us with a challenge, adapt and learn or be forgotten or worse, to be brought back when it's all over but thought less of and in a diminished role.
So the first rule was -forget the rules,
The audience is now behind the small lens of a camera and not only can't we see them , we can't hear them.
Of all the problems that faced us that was the hardest, the volume and length of a laugh is our metronome, It dictates everything and can add or subtract time from the performance.
There were laugh tracks added to the online video but a laugh at the push of a button in a sound room is no substitute in either volume or length for the real thing.
Ref (a)
If memory serves there were 6 cameras filming the online shows A,B,C,D plus the Gala musor in January, so we had to concentrate on working to those 6 spots imagining that behind each of those lenses were hundreds of people, this restricted our normal movement and choreography.
Ref (b)
Having to discipline ourselves to 6 spots in the Fovarosi Building was not easy , as I said the natural instinct is to move around trying to make eye contact with as many of the audience as possible , My wife's situation was a little easier, as the 'Authority' figure against which I combat, creating the conflict that is the basis of all comedy, she was in one position in the ring but still has to connect with the cameras to portray her frustration at my antics.
The first major change we did was reposition our microphone to a place further forward in the ring, normally I would have it about 3m from the ring entrance, this gives us a view of the majority of the audience, every 1m forward from there means that 2/300 people are looking at your backside , not good for comedy ! So we worked more than halfway into the ring and being nearer the cameras gave us a better chance to display the emotions and expressions needed .
I have to admit that I found it hard for a couple of days, looking for the cameras, getting frustrated at the laugh tracks which could be too early, too late or sometimes not at all, finishing the act without that sense of satisfaction that comes with genuine applause.
That last one never went away but I solved the rest by resorting to what is called 'Institutional memory', When I did anything that I knew always got a laugh I let my instinct take over and judge the timing before I carried on, it worked and life got easier, The only drawback is in the long term it's not possible to try out new gags or routines with no audience as your barometer.
PS I have added 2 references to further illustrate the importance of timing and choreography to comedy.
After 4 months of online shows we were back live and to my surprise for the first time in my career I was nervous, I don't think anyone noticed but it took a couple of shows before I was completely relaxed,
The 4 months of online shows was a new experience for me and as always you have to learn from everything, I did.
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(a) The length and depth of laughs is different at every performance depending on how many in the audience, % of children is important because they have no inhibitions so they giggle and laugh longer, Adults are more reserved, so less time.
(b) The choreography of a comedy routine is vital and changes depending on the venue and how many in the act.
if you are on your own you have freedom of the ring.
Two - A perimeter and a distance, too close and there's no conflict, too far and it's impersonal.
