Develop A Stage Character Like Rodney Dangerfield or Woody Allen
The brilliance of developing a stage character or persona is that you become a brand.
Everything about you -- clothing, delivery, joke material - revolves around your defined character.
Rodney Dangerfield was one of comedy's most recognized character acts, framed around the simple catch phrase "I get no respect.
" All he had to do was step on stage, tug once at his tie, and already the crowd would be in hysterics.
Yet if any other comic did this there would only be silence.
And that, in a nut, is what makes character acts so effective - the crowd already knows what to expect, creating instantaneous connection.
Developing a Stage Character There is no blueprint for developing a defined stage character.
If one existed, every comic would be using it.
Stage characters usually evolve from several years of trying to figure things out on stage (with Andy Kaufman being the exception).
Fruition usually comes from a combination of luck, vision and guts.
In Rodney Dangerfield's case he had quit comedy for 12 years only to come back as his get-no-respect character.
George Carlin originally began as a straight-lace act with Jack Burns, appearing on stage in a jacket and tie.
But his true fame came when he changed his persona by growing his hair, wearing t-shirts instead of ties, and adopting an anti-establishment act.
And Dan Whitney (a.
k.
a.
Larry the Cable Guy) had been performing stand-up comedy for six years when he began doing his Larry the Cable Guy character on call-in radio shows.
So if you have an angle that's unique, try developing it.
Write material that specifically fits this persona.
Consider stage personality.
Is your character shy, dumb, smart, loud, quiet, quirky? How will he or she dress? And what about catch phrases? Woody Allen developed his neurotic stage character by asking himself, "How would his character behave at a party?" So during this development stage, make sure that everything is consistent and works together in defining the character and establishing your brand.
Everything about you -- clothing, delivery, joke material - revolves around your defined character.
Rodney Dangerfield was one of comedy's most recognized character acts, framed around the simple catch phrase "I get no respect.
" All he had to do was step on stage, tug once at his tie, and already the crowd would be in hysterics.
Yet if any other comic did this there would only be silence.
And that, in a nut, is what makes character acts so effective - the crowd already knows what to expect, creating instantaneous connection.
Developing a Stage Character There is no blueprint for developing a defined stage character.
If one existed, every comic would be using it.
Stage characters usually evolve from several years of trying to figure things out on stage (with Andy Kaufman being the exception).
Fruition usually comes from a combination of luck, vision and guts.
In Rodney Dangerfield's case he had quit comedy for 12 years only to come back as his get-no-respect character.
George Carlin originally began as a straight-lace act with Jack Burns, appearing on stage in a jacket and tie.
But his true fame came when he changed his persona by growing his hair, wearing t-shirts instead of ties, and adopting an anti-establishment act.
And Dan Whitney (a.
k.
a.
Larry the Cable Guy) had been performing stand-up comedy for six years when he began doing his Larry the Cable Guy character on call-in radio shows.
So if you have an angle that's unique, try developing it.
Write material that specifically fits this persona.
Consider stage personality.
Is your character shy, dumb, smart, loud, quiet, quirky? How will he or she dress? And what about catch phrases? Woody Allen developed his neurotic stage character by asking himself, "How would his character behave at a party?" So during this development stage, make sure that everything is consistent and works together in defining the character and establishing your brand.
Source...