1. Creative Writing 1 and 2—May 2, 2016 Journal #1—Why do people laugh at comedic characters? Who are some of your favorite comedic characters? Why? Do you find slapstick comedy humorous? Why or why not? Is slapstick a necessary part of a comedy routine? Why or why not?

2. Slapstick A style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity which exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. The term arises from a device developed during the broad, physical comedy style known as Commedia dell'arte in 16th Century Italy.

3. Answer the ?s Based on the Reading 1. Who is the “he” referred to in the first sentence of this article? 2. What does the author mean when she writes “buffoon was the fool’s first name”? 3. What medieval superstition surrounded jesters? 4. How did the word “slapstick” come into use? 5. In what way is Pantalone a stereotype? 6. What common character trait or behavior do most “fools” share, whether they are Greek buffoons, court jesters, village idiots, or a cartoon coyote? 7. Explain the meaning of the last sentence. How is Wile E. Coyote like the Coventry idiot? 8. Create a timeline showing the history of slapstick humor using the information from the article.

4. Instructions: With your group, complete the chart for each of the everyday situations below. Identify three steps involved in completing the activity. Then for each step decide what goes wrong and a zany, illogical but creative solution to the problem. The first one is done for you. Once you’ve completed the chart, pick one of the scenarios and perform it with your group.

5. Characters Try and make your characters as exact as possible. Give them an “attitude” – which is a bit like an emotion, or an outlook on the world. eg. excited, sad, suspicious. Good “attitude” words often end in “-ful”. Such as playful, careful, bashful. In the sitcom Friends, the characters are superbly drawn. For example, Ross Geller is gloomy, dispondent and pessimistic. He often walks into the room and says “Hi-ii” in a gloomy way. The clearer the character’s attitude, the better. Attitudes are emotional words – so “shy”, “tense” and “enthusiastic” are good. Words that aren’t so helpful are judgemental words like stupid, clumsy or wrong as they are not about the character’s feelings. Also, descriptive words like heavy, tall or well-dressed don’t give any information about the character’s feelings, so they aren’t as useful either. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G53OR6YdFEU&feature=youtu.be

6. Plan and Problem Each character must be trying to do something in a scene. So if your character is entering a room, give them a definite reason – eg. looking for his lost keys, coming in to get changed, hiding from someone outside. You could get the “plan” from his or her attitude. So a shy man could be coming in to escape from a noisy party in the next room. Or an angry mother could come in looking for their naughty teenage son. Something happens that hinders the character’s plans. The problem might arise from the characters conflicting “plans”. eg one might be trying to put clothes away, while the other might be taking clothes out to try on. In the following scene, we see Chandler planning to eat a cheesecake. Rachel causes the problem by pointing out to him that it is immoral to eat it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdYy_7rsLKk&feature=youtu.be

7. Reaction Comedy scenes really get going when the characters start reacting. When they react, their attitudes change. And they try to do something to solve the problem. These reactions and attempts to solve the problem will result in further reactions and further attempts to solve the problem. And this is the core of your comic scene. Using the clothes example again: – Betty is excited about going out. (Attitude) – She wants to wear exactly the right clothes. (Plan) – Betty’s mum, Mrs. Crocker, is cross because of the mess. (Attitude) – Mrs. Crocker tidies up the clothes. (Plan and Problem!) – Betty gets cross. (Reaction) – Betty grabs the dress from Mrs Croker. (Trying to solve problem) – The dress gets ripped. – Betty starts crying. (Reaction) – Mrs. Crocker starts laughing. (Reaction) – Betty gets cross at Mrs. Crocker’s reaction. (Reaction) – Mrs. Crocker teases Betty for getting angry. (Reaction) – etc…

8. Re-incorporation To keep the audience interested, the writer must keep everything within the bounds of credibility. But to really excite an audience, the writer should try to re- incorporate as many ideas as possible. In other words, keep using objects, phrases or ideas that have been mentioned or noticed earlier. In the Betty and Mrs. Crocker scene, it would be great to re- incorporate the ripped dress. There’s other things to re-visit too – where is Betty going this evening (to meet her estranged father?) Why is Mrs. Crocker so stressed out about keeping the place tidy (a lover coming round while Betty’s out?) So many options! So much fun!