“It’s Elementary” is a monthly column that asks comedians to share memories from their elementary school years that have informed their comedic identities. Or are just random anecdotes. Whatever they want, really. This month spotlights the extraordinary Jen Curcio!
by Dave Metter
I have long been fascinated by what has influenced and inspired other comedy writers, especially during their youths when their comedic senses were still so nascent and less judgmental. Be they films or television shows, random anecdotes or funny relatives, I ask comedians to share a few experiences or works they recall notably from their elementary school years. This edition of “It’s Elementary” features Jen Curcio, member of improv troupes Mayor Karen and ApocaLIPS, and a former member of the late Hey Rube.
1st Period: Art
In 5th grade, my 3rd grade status of being hilarious was running out. I wasn’t getting the attention any 10 year old girl craves, so I found an old bottle of AquaNet (they stopped making that in ’91, so, it was old) and bought a bottle of purple Manic Panic hair dye and got some attention! First, I dyed my hair purple. Not like a faint purple tint over my blonde hair, I mean like I was not a blonde I was a purple. Then I held my bangs up in the shape of a wave (think Gwen Stefani circa ’95) and went crazy with the AquaNet until that tsunami of hair would not crash down. My parents just thought it was creative and what they get for leaving a 10 year old home alone for some small (legal) amount of time. Mrs. Graham, my fifth grade teacher’s jaw dropped when I walked in the next day. Susan, who was alphabetically required to sit next to me, refused to because of my new hairdo. A small group of girls (one girl) thought it was awesome and copied my style. It was from this day forward I knew I enjoyed getting attention for doing weird things.
2nd Period: Phys Ed
My cousin Steve lived with my family when I was in elementary school. He recognized my talent for billiards when I was 8, so naturally he started taking me to seedy pool halls in downtown West Chester, PA, to play against (he would place bets on me) large, burly men with long beards. I hate to brag, but I was pretty great at pool. I almost never lost a game. This was the first time I had to face stage fright, or really it was normal fright because I was a little kid in a seedy pool hall.
3rd Period: Indoor Recess
I was always very shy and struggled to make friends in elementary school, but one day in 3rd grade I decided to come out of my turtle shell in a grand way. I was going to go for the gold (as it was the Winter Olympics of ’94 and Tonya Harding was my idol) and make everyone in the class crack up. I walked over to the arts and crafts area in the class room and grabbed some clay to form what resembled human feces. Then I walked into the middle of the play area, surrounded by the other children, and I made a noise to get everyone’s attention. When I was certain everyone was looking at me, I dropped the clay feces from behind my back and announced that I had crapped myself. All the cool kids were rolling on the floor laughing; the teacher immediately scolded me and I acted like I didn’t care because I was a bad ass. I realized that day I could use my brilliant sense of humor to win over the cool kids and look like a rebel.
4th Period: Talent Show!
When I was in kindergarten my grandmother lived with us and would take care of me after school. She was in for a real treat every day, because after school every day I would hop up onto the step in front of our fire place (I don’t know the proper terminology because I am an interior design school drop-out) and put on a talent show. Sometimes I would tell, “Why did the chicken cross the road…” jokes and sometimes I would belt out my rendition of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme song, and other times I would have a live cooking demonstration. God bless that woman for being patient, eating whatever was made during my cooking demonstrations, and for always pretending like it was a great show.
You can see Jen performing with Mayor Karen this Saturday at Philly Improv Theater at The Shubin Theatre (407 Bainbridge Street) at 8PM.
Dave Metter is a comedy writer from the Philly burbs. Check out his show Your News, Philadelphia! on May 22nd at The Shubin Theatre (407 Bainbridge Street), part of PHIT’s Sweeps Weeks. Follow Dave on Twitter @DaveMetter.
I learned improv in a way that wasn’t helpful for me logically or in the moment. Eventually, I boiled it down to a simple, underlying 3-step process.
How to Answer The first lesson I learned for improv was “Yes And.” You agree (saying Yes) and add (starting with And). This made sense; you can’t waste time arguing about invisible stuff, and you can’t have a scene without moving forward.
This had some problems, though. The theory was all about responding. This was step two. What do you do first? I, and my partner, needed something to agree with. Plus, it was so verbal. We were just standing there talking and agreeing.
Also, this led to a lot of concern and pressure about being agreeable. I was worried that I might be doing it wrong; it almost felt like I was a bad person or “didn’t play well with others.”
Saying “Yes And” to everything and anything led to a lot of starts that didn’t go anywhere and tangents that either derailed or fizzled out.
Accepting the facts of the situation is important, but I wanted to know how to begin, and I wanted to get somewhere with it.
First What to Say Then I learned to get the Who, What, and Where in the first three lines, including names and relationships and a kernel of conflict. This made sense, too. It was a checklist, a to-do list.
The problem for me was the pressure of getting all those details right away. Plus, the end result was a lot of awkward exposition, and I still wasn’t sure what to do next.
It felt like the whole scene was puked out in the first three lines and I was still stranded, but now with a lot of facts nobody cared about. A lot of the information seemed unimportant, too. Sometimes, the location doesn’t really matter. Sometimes, it doesn’t really matter whether you’re playing sisters or just best friends.
I went from “What do I do?” to “What do I do now that we’re twin pirates at the DMV?”
Thinking about Playing
Then I learned “Finding the Game.” How you find it and what exactly a game is were both a bit mysterious.
Jumping on the first unusual thing that happened and asking, “If this is true, what else is also true?” worked and led to some really clear-cut scenes. It was almost like sketch comedy that we made up on the spot.
I had something for the scene to be about and stuff to do based on that premise. I learned that plot was bad and game was good, because plot got people “in their heads.”
The only problem was that I still got stuck in my head thinking about what was also true and what to do next; only now I was confused by the mystic nature of the theory. Plus, I found that every scene was about an usual thing.
It still felt like scenes worked just by luck. I knew what a game was and why to play it, but it was always a challenge to create the rules and play them.
What’s my Motivation?
Then I learned about some real acting. I tried to give my characters a “deal” or a “want” and figure out what my partners were giving their characters. I tried to play real people with back stories and core characteristics.
It was confusing. I was thinking too much. In improv, there’s no time for secrets, especially ones that never get divulged.
This might be helpful for working with a script or improvising to develop one, but if your technique in every improv scene is focused on a want, then that’s what every scene will be about. It’s a good exercise, but it’s not a technique to use every time.
So what do you do to do it?
I boiled down all these elements into three simple steps that I could follow.
1. Do something.
It doesn’t matter what. You can choose to be witty or physical or emotional. You can come up with an idea or just be a character. You can purposefully decide specifics or let them emerge later.You, and your partner, and the audience all just need
something.Start the scene and keep it going. It’s okay if it feels vague and uncertain. The audience doesn’t need every detail right away, and they’re more patient than you’d think.
2. Do it more.
In improv, you start with a blank slate and draw in some details. When we all have some idea of what’s going on, then we just want to invest in it and get something back.
If you start over or shift gears, it’s like reading the first page from a few different books instead of getting through one story.
3. Do it bigger.
Even when something is working and making sense and getting laughs, it needs to go somewhere. Comedy is built on surprise. You can stay on track, but change it up a bit. Grab people by doing what you’re already doing, but bigger in some way. Go to the Nth degree with whatever it is.
Improv can be trivial and ephemeral. Part of the show, even a really good one, is the aspect that it’s being made up in the moment. You give improv a point and a purpose by picking out something to explore and use.
Imagine if Beethoven only did one “dah-dah da-DAH!” You’d want more.
Imagine if he did it exactly the same way ten times. You’d want it a little different, bigger, softer, played on a flute; not exactly repeated again and again.
3 is Funny, Conclusive, & Ingrained “Omne trium perfectum” means every set of three is complete. In comedy, we just say that things are funny in threes: the rule of three. Thrice is nice.Two is the smallest number of points needed to establish a pattern with an expectation to follow. Doing something more and then “bigger” satisfies that expectation while still being some kind of surprise.
This is the ‘how.’ The ‘what’ is up to you.
You can follow this technique at any level, no matter who your partners are, no matter your energy level or mood, and it’ll work.
These are the underlying basics. Everything else is personal taste and preference. You can still “Yes, And.” You can still find the game. You can play real or clever or silly or whatever you like, but you can do it with a plan for how.
What you choose to play becomes the game, without having to think about it. You don’t have to find something or hope for anything. You can actively create, just by repeating any choice.Any details missing from the scene aren’t necessary or can be added in later as clarification or a reveal.
Sometimes, you don’t need stakes or emotions or a setting or names, so long as something else is strong enough to fill that void.Sometimes, improvisers patiently explore, listen, agree, and add until they get a good idea. Then, on that good laugh, they edit and start over, grasping at straws again. It’s so much easier to make the first thing that happens into something great and stick with it. There’s less dead air, less to keep track of, and fewer dead ends.
In a story, the plot is created by having characters do something more and bigger. In a game, the moves are repeated (done more) and heightened (done bigger). Even when a scene or sketch takes a turn, that’s just something else that’ll be done more and bigger also.
In improv, you might only see pieces of a larger narrative. If the show doesn’t complete a traditional structure, wrapping up a climax and resolution, the audience won’t care too much, as long as the pieces they saw were good. By repeating and heightening something, you create the slices of a larger pie.Plot asks, “What happens next?” Game asks, “If this is true, what else is true?” Deal asks “Who are these characters, what do they want, and how do they try to get it?” I think this 3-step framework answers all these questions in a pragmatic, practical way so improvisers can relax and play.
You’re not lost; you have a map. Take a step in any direction and keep going.
Matt Holmes is an improviser in Philly. He performs a full improv comedy set with a complete stranger from the audience in Matt& (“playful and winning” –TimeOut Chicago). He also teaches improv, coaches improv groups, and co-founded Rare Bird Show (“Top Shelf Improv” –The Apiary, “arguably the best improv group Philly has ever produced” –AV Club).
Look for the next installment of “Discussing a Bit,” Matt’s monthly WitOut column, on June 1st.
Have a comedy issue or theory you’d like Matt to examine? Email alison@witout.net.
Rogues Gallery – 7:30pm (signups at 7:00) at Rogues Gallery, 11 S. 21st St., Philadelphia
Chaos Comedy – 11:00pm (signups at 9:00) at The Adobe Cafe, 1919 E. Passyunk Ave., Philadelphia
Northeast Comedy Cabaret - 8:00pm (signups at 7:30) at The Comedy Caberet, 11580 Roosevelt Blvd., Philadelphia
High Note Humor - 8:00pm (signups at 7:30) at The Taproom Grill, 427 W Crystal Lake Ave., Haddonfield, NJ
Comedy is Liberty – 7:30pm (signups at 7:30) at Liberties Bar & Grill, 705 N. 2nd St., Philadelphia
If you run a Philadelphia-area comedy show or open mic let us know so we can share it on our calendar and in our daily show round-ups by sending us the information from our submit a show page to contact@witout.net.
If you are a Philadelphia comedy performer that produces a podcast, web series, sketch video, humor column, or any other online content let us know by emailing us at contact@witout.net so we can share it!
Helium Comedy Club – 8:00pm (online signups) at Helium Comedy Club, 2031 Sansom St., Philadelphia
The Headhouse Cafe – 8:00pm (signups at 7:30) at The Headhouse Cafe, 122 Lombard St., Philadelphia
No.2 (#2)(Number 2) – 8:00pm (signups at 7:30) at St. Stephen’s Green, 1701 Green St., Philadelphia
LawnBoys Comedy – 8:00pm (signups at 7:00) at Puck, 1 Printers Alley Doylestown, PA
The M Room – 9:00pm (signups at 8:30) at The M Room, 15 W. Girard Ave., Philadelphia
If you run a Philadelphia-area comedy show or open mic let us know so we can share it on our calendar and in our daily show round-ups by sending us the information from our submit a show page to contact@witout.net.
Helium Comedy Club has been busy producing some original web videos lately. Last week, they brought us The Up-and-Comer, in which local comedian Aaron Nevins sat down to interview Gilbert Gottfried. Today, they debut Hey, Real Quick with Chip Chantry: a minute-long video of the comedian telling topical jokes, some straight from his must-follow Twitter account.
If you are a Philadelphia comedy performer that produces a podcast, web series, sketch video, humor column, or any other online content let us know by emailing us at contact@witout.net so we can share it!
Martin Hopper of The Hopper Brothers emailed WitOut today to let us know the band’s new comedy album, The Hoppers’ Holiday Classics, is now available for $FREE.99 on Bandcamp:
“Dear Regional-Niche-Enthusiast-Web-Publication,
My name is Martin Hopper and I am 379 months old. Me and my little brother Benny made a band and since we are the Hoppers and we are brothers we called this band The Hopper Brothers Band (“Family friendly fun for fun with your family and friends.”)
We like holidays because you don’t have to go to work and sometimes you get to wear silly costumes (last St. Patty’s day Benny and I dressed as the C-cups in an over-sized, papier-mache “Erin go bra”). We picked 16 of our favorite holidays and wrote songs about them for our new album: The Hoppers’ Holiday Classics. There’s a song for Valentine’s Day and Christmas and Ramadan and Tax Day and a whole bunch more. They are so very much fun and we worked so very much hard on them and we would so very much appreciate it if you gave them a listen at this link:
And guess what! Some bands charge you a kabillion dollars for their albums. We are charging the opposite of a kabillion. You can download our album for absolutely zero dollars. It’s FREE (of course, you can name your price so if you did feel like throwing us a couple of bucks, we would think you’re awesome)!
And double guess what! On May 8th we will be performing as part of PHIT’s Variety Sweeps Week. A whole bunch of cool acts will be producing shows and the best one will get a regular gig at PHIT. Our show is again about the holidays. The one on May 8th is going to be all about Mother’s Day! So come to the Shubin and bring your mom!
Thanks so much, Regional-Niche-Enthusiast-Web-Publication. We hope you come to our show and download our album!
The seventh annual Troika Tournament, presented by Figment Theater in partnership with The Sideshow came to a conclusion this Saturday with Law and Order: LOL (Alex Newman, Andrew Stanton, and Nicole Labrecque) taking home the title, along with a cash prize. The group performed a show with scenes and characters stylized after the popular television franchise including detectives, assistant district attorneys and CSI personnel.
The group bested efforts from Round One winners Improv Against Humanity (Alli Soowal, JP Boudwin, and Kevin Pettit) and Round Two champs Craft (Jason Grimley, Marc Reber, and Sue Jay)
If you have any Philly comedy news for us to mention – send it our way with an email to contact@witout.net
Laughs on Fairmount - 8:00pm (signups at 7:15) at The Urban Saloon, 2120 Fairmount Ave., Philadelphia
The Irish Times – 7:30pm (signups at 7:00) at The Irish Times, 629 S 2nd St., Philadelphia
Joe Murdock Has Created an Event – 9:00pm (signups at 8:30) at Connie’s Ric Rac, 1132 S. 9th St., Philadelphia
RP McMurphy’s – 8:00pm (signups at 7:45) at RP McMurphy’s, 2623 MacDade Blvd., Ridley,PA
If you run a Philadelphia-area comedy show or open mic let us know so we can share it on our calendar and in our daily show round-ups by sending us the information from our submit a show page to contact@witout.net.
