My life is a series of awkward moments. Where others, especially my younger counterparts, shy away from tension and embarrassment, I hang ten off waves of shame and potential humour. There is power in this ability. It’s somewhat akin to living theatrically.
During my time in community theater I recall that humour was found in stretching the scene. Does your character have a two minute monologue? Pretend you forgot your lines, stutter, bump into props (break them if you can) and watch the audience react. They will laugh every time.
Sometimes your audience is your better. This is the time to double down. The fool is never the boss. He may be a tramp, or a janitor, but he’s rarely in charge. Why? The fool reflects the truth in all of us. None of us is truly competent. We’re all insecure scaffolding upheld by our egos. The fool is all Id. It’s me aspiring to know myself.
So, I shout out wrong answers. I make esoteric references to forty year old Avant Garde cinema that I have to backtrack and explain to the less cultured. I order off menu. I never sample, double dip, or share from someone’s glass. Yes, there is humour in being an unapologetic germ-phobic asshat.
The humour in the fool is derived from his short-term unpopularity. It’s only afterwards upon the retelling of his awkward adventures that we laugh. He is both welcome and celebrated in the recesses of our memory because he has offered us a glimpse of whimsy. The fool isn’t a single person. He is merely a role we all play at our most confused angst-addled moments.
But don’t worry. That ringing in your ear at the cusp of an anxiety attack is merely laughter extending from the ages. Reminding us that we all live in a series of anecdotes.
—louis hernandez
Flommist Louis Herdandez is obsessed with going Bauhaus and becoming The Machine. Preferably a drill press. Copyright © 2016 Louis Hernandez.
Poster and video from Chaplin’s Modern Times (1936), still from City Lights (1931).
Louis will be part of KABARETT FLommstein, coming this fall … details sooooon!
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