DRAMA 259 B: Performance Practicum

This course is open to all - actors and non-actors. No audition needed.

Pratfalls, double-takes, slow-burns, and overblown expressions of the panoply of human emotions are the stock-in-trade of the physical comedian, but what elevates the greatest artists of the genre is the humanity of their characters and the genius of their storytelling. In this short course we will catch a quick glimpse of physical comedy's historical highlights from Commedia dell'arte to the Keystone Cops to present day sitcoms and clowns. But mostly we will be learning on our feet, trying out classic bits, creating new routines, and practicing a full-bodied style of storytelling aimed directly at the laugh-switch in your audience's belly.

This class will meet Tues/Thurs, 6:00-9:00, July 2-July 16