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| Scene from my political play -- with Hudson Long & Cloe Kromwell |
But I guess politics were rattling around in my brain the next day when I participated in the Ruskin Theatre one day-play festival. The idea I came up lent itself to politics, and I figured, as an experiment, I would write a political-themed play.
The writing of it was not that difficult. The current administration is a rather easy target for comedy. I was happy with the finished product although I felt a little distanced from it. Like I said, it’s not the kind of subject matter that really excites me. I was also aware that the shelf-life of topical plays is like eleven minutes. Especially today when every time you turn around Putin’s Puppet is doing something else despicable that you never thought you’d see in your lifetime.
The one thing I didn’t worry about is whether I’d offend anybody. I didn’t care. If you’re going to write a political satire you have to take a stand. And with political plays it seems more important to get your message across than to get laughs. Laughs are a bonus.
The audience response was okay. They laughed where they should have. I suspect I was preaching to the choir. And the cast and direction was excellent so anything that fell flat was on me. But I just didn’t get any real joy out of the experience. I think there is such a dark cloud hanging over the world right now that theatregoers prefer not to be reminded of it. It’s more than available on TV, radio, and the internet – any form you want – satire, anger, false reporting, analysis, whatever.
In a sense I felt a little like I had cheated the audience. There was nothing NEW I was going to present, no issue they weren’t already familiar with, no fresh perspective. It was a comedy with laughs but it wasn’t fun, if that makes any sense.
I’m glad I did it. I’m always looking to try new things. And there are political play festivals so who knows? There may be more productions. That would be great. In the meantime I think I’ll go back to writing about human foibles. I'm way more comfortable celebrating humanity, or what's left of it.
23 comments :
I'm so burnt out on politics. I freely admit that when something political comes up in my entertainment I tend to zone out, even when points that I agree with are being made.
Three thoughts.
1: The late, great Molly Ivins used to write about the fact that most people don't recognize what an intimate impact politics has on their lives. The administration decides not to fund something >here< and someone's kid dies >there<.
2: YES, MINISTER not only managed to write about politics and be funny, but counched it in such human and enduring terms that even today those episodes are relevant and fresh - and FUNNY.
3: In his recent comedy special, KID GORGEOUS, John Mulaney comes up with a terrific and fresh take on the present administration without ever mentioning its head by name (and I say this despite not really caring for most of the rest of the special or Mulaney's general presentation): "A horse in a hospital".
It can be done, but I think you have to have a sideways mind.
wg
Why "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" holds up better decades later than the similarly brilliant "All In The Family." Political discussion is ephemeral; the human condition is eternal.
Even though you were moving out of your comfort zone, I think you were able to carry it off through a basic sense of SCALE. That's a basic writing skill that doesn't get a lot of attention because it's something you have to develop intuitively, and the writing gurus generally aim for customers who operate on a surface level. All the same, beginners frequently bite off more than they can choose conceptually, either trying too hard to be clever or lacking the experience to properly focus their initial premise.
In your case, you knew better than to go the SNL route of having an actor burlesque an actual figure like Sanders or Pruitt, characters who would bring a lot of baggage to the role and require too many specific references for you to write them off the cuff. (Even Michael Curtis, who did the Super-Hero piece that evening, felt he had to do a degree of internet research to properly name-drop characters like Kang the Conquerer or Brainiac). You introduced a seemingly-hapless guy carrying that goofy balancing elephant which would quickly become his pseudo-child. Both the audience and the other character found their reaction to him changing when we learned of his Trump connection. Yet by making this staffer fictional, you gave him a degree of flexibility that we definitely don't see in the entrenched denials of the real-life figures. This gave you room to develop a basic issue rather than get bogged down in personalities.
So you had a point of view, but kept it in control and used that energy in the service of the story and characters instead of turning everything into a set of slogans. Like you, I find the current mess impossible to ignore and would much rather spend all my time on the subjects I prefer, but it seems like we all have to put a word in when necessary.
Ken, I understand what you're saying completely. While I'm sure you put together a quality play in its own right, I agree that that would be "disposable" in that it wouldn't necessarily stand the test of time.
And, yes, you no doubt were preaching to the choir. I don't have the polling in front of me, but I think it's safe to assume that in southern California cockroaches are more popular than Putin's Poodle. Watch Bill Maher's show, especially his monologue...he doesn't lose audience support for a moment. I suspect you might have had a different experience putting your production on in, say, Alabama.
On the other hand, if we stay silent in the face of this cretin, that's exactly what he wants. So the vigorous exercise right now of the First Amendment will keep it from atrophy. So in that sense you did a great service.
But, ultimately, I am with you that stories on the human condition ultimately become more timeless and much more satisfying... which is why the television we watch around here largely consists of decades old reruns
I also want to give credit to the director and performers for their strong work on the piece. After the show, my cab didn't show up. While I was stranded outside the theater, I could see your two actors on the other side of the parking lot going over their lines together to make the second show even better than the first. These may be quick productions, but no one takes them casually.
Anything I've ever done that has turned out great has had my heart in it. No "heart" can work, but nothing goes out of the park. If politics is a "meh" topic for you, I get why you might have tried it -- to stretch yourself -- but unless you fell in love with doing it, avoid. Do what you love -- and what you would write a blog for 13 years about.
ALL IN THE FAMILY holds up a lot better today than you would think. Many of the issues Archie and Mike argue about sound like they were written yesterday. Especially scary is the episode where Archie does his TV editorial and says he could end skyjacking in one simple step: give every airline passenger a loaded gun. It's easy to imagine today's GOP and NRA wholly supporting that.
Following through on the comment above, probably what causes Yes, Minister, The Thick of It/Veep, etc, to break the rule of political comedy shelf life is that they're more about people and the constants of beurocracy than about specific issues.
Otherwise, I'm a little curious about Sacha Baron Cohen's upcoming Chris Morris tribute act but in every other sense exhausted. I just hope people are saving their energy for election day, not disengaging totally.
I was rather disappointed.
"...Catch..." was not your best work. It had a "phoned-in" quality to it. It could be that because you were on friendly ground you felt you didn't need to round out the characters more. Granted, there may not have been anything new in the subject matter. But, pardon the cliche, that's where you "separate the men from the boys." You are one of the best writers in the business. If you couldn't bring something unique, or at least interesting to the play then what hope is there for those who are learning the craft. I love topical humor. It really had the potential to be much better than it was. I'm going to e-mail the rest of my thoughts.
And, damn it, E. YARBER. If I had known you were there I would have introduced myself. I've been wanting to meet You since I started reading Ken's blog.
M.B.
Always enjoy reading about the writing process, and appreciate your honesty here, Ken. Thanks for sharing.
E. Yarber - wanted to tell you that something you wrote a couple of days ago really stuck with me. You said that if someone walks around with a 12 page "novel" for years, "it's not a draft, it's a prop". It's a great line, and it highlighted something I've been doing wrong in my own life (not writing related), and how unconstructive my mindset has been. So thanks.
The exception, for me, is the Last Hurrah..
Both as a book and then,in this case, a movie and unseen by me a theatrical production.
Spencer Tracy was spot on for his role.as were all the rest of cast except maybe junior he seemed almost vaudvillian
Instead of being overtly political and topical in your writing, Ken, perhaps you could experiment with universal themes and metaphors. Shakespeare did that all the time and that not only is the reason he's lasted so long but it also enabled him to sneak a lot of things passed his royal patrons while Ben Jonson's more overt plays managed to get him thrown in jail. If MASH were being produced today, for example, I wouldn't be surprised if someone suspected Frank Burns to be a metaphor for Trump! As far as "what's left of humanity," I've always felt that it is just as unrealistic to be overly pessimistic as it is to be overly optimistic. As a history geek I know that this country is much bigger than Trump and we will survive him. We survived Nixon and the seventies, didn't we?
Being from the Bible belt and having seen moderate and even liberal friends and acquaintances become Trump supporters, I'm often reminded of Ionesco's Rhinoceros. If you don't know the play you should check it out.
Sean R. said: “when something political comes up in my entertainment I tend to zone out, even when points that I agree with are being made.”
Politics is creeping closer and closer to being the first node in the “shall I continue with this relationship” decision tree. Howard Schultz of Starbucks wants to sell me cup of coffee and a race relations conversation with my barista. Am I permitted to buy a delicious cake from a baker whose religious views I disagree with? Am I bad person for paying less for tuna that isn't certified dolphin safe? Can I just tune in to Colbert and laugh? It's exhausting.
The beauty of capitalism is that it creates oprtunity for cooperation among people who otherwise wouldn't cooperate. To paraphrase a famous economist: when buying bread you don't know or care whether the wheat was harvested by a white man, transported by a black man, and sold to you by an atheist. You come to the market together and perhaps once together you learn how your differences aren't really that important.
Alas, now with ever increasing frequency, we put the politics up front. “Show me your papers.” Trump supporters here. Hillary supporters there. And so, people are less likely to talk to one another and more likely to be told “go away” and treated as some sort of “other.” Ken noted the decline in All Star ratings. We have fewer shared communal moments. Political narrowcasting exacerbates that problem,
M.B: Just look for the guy in the parking lot at 2 am.
Tammy: Glad my remark helped. Best of luck.
I think it's unfortunate that Seth Meyers -- who coined the term "clapter," meaning positive audience response to a joke out of political agreement rather finding it funny -- seems to rely on it so much night after night.
Call this perhaps a Cold Second Civil War we are living through. Red vs Blue. But something--not sure, but likely the increasing effects of climate change at a point they can no longer be ignored--will force us back together I think.
What Sean R., VP81955, and Coram_Loci said.
Ken, this might shock you but at a right-wing blog I visit sometimes, everyone in the comment section has a healthy respect for... Norman Lear. Why? Because he was brilliant enough, while showrunning All In The Family, to make Carroll O'Connor's Archie *far more funny, likable, three-dimensional and interesting* than Rob Reiner's Meathead.
There was a ton of handwringing in 1970s media about viewers rooting for Archie rather than Meathead, but I'd like to think it was no accident. Lear knew you get far more viewers with laughs and halfway real characters, than a sermon. This formula was sort of repeated in The Jeffersons; while lead character George was a tough-minded businessman, he also oftentimes was portrayed with heart.
If I could indulge in an "if I had my way" moment: every conservative would have at least one liberal friend, every liberal would have at least one conservative friend, and every writer would have to write, in three dimensions, at least one work from the POV of someone he wouldn't normally like, agree with OR hang out with. Life (and drama) would be so much healthier if this wish came true, again IMHO.
As for me, I have (or unfortunately had; he hated Trump and thought I wasn't outraged enough about him) a friend who asked me to write an episode for a YouTube puppet series he thought of, "Make America Free Again." I wrote 15 minutes about two "Men In Black" (actually an older man and younger woman) tasked to keep any crazy decision the Prez made from hurting anything in the real world. I was overall happy with my piece; at the conclusion, the team realized they needed, though didn't really like, each other.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna put on my rose-colored glasses, gallop back to my cloud on a unicorn and sing kum-bay-yah on the ukulele for a bit... ;-)
You can still take the political shitshow and apply it to real life. taking some quotes verbatim, actions and activities we're seeing day to day but putting them in a multi national for instance could be interesting. or, a pet shelter. let's call it "Far Fetched" and take it for a (frisbee) spin. Seriously. I think Better Off Ted did the week to week idiocracy well as does Silicon Valley now and even MASH before it. Not to mention All in the Family. Real issues. Relatable situations.
For someone with a very impressive resume, you sure seem to get a lot of advice from your readers lately!
Coram_Loci said...
Sean R. said: “when something political comes up in my entertainment I tend to zone out, even when points that I agree with are being made.”
Politics is creeping closer and closer to being the first node in the “shall I continue with this relationship” decision tree. Howard Schultz of Starbucks wants to sell me cup of coffee and a race relations conversation with my barista. Am I permitted to buy a delicious cake from a baker whose religious views I disagree with? Am I bad person for paying less for tuna that isn't certified dolphin safe? Can I just tune in to Colbert and laugh? It's exhausting.
The beauty of capitalism is that it creates oprtunity for cooperation among people who otherwise wouldn't cooperate. To paraphrase a famous economist: when buying bread you don't know or care whether the wheat was harvested by a white man, transported by a black man, and sold to you by an atheist. You come to the market together and perhaps once together you learn how your differences aren't really that important.
Alas, now with ever increasing frequency, we put the politics up front. “Show me your papers.” Trump supporters here. Hillary supporters there. And so, people are less likely to talk to one another and more likely to be told “go away” and treated as some sort of “other.” Ken noted the decline in All Star ratings. We have fewer shared communal moments. Political narrowcasting exacerbates that problem,
I'm not sure what my statement has to do with any of that, so perhaps I wasn't very clear. I look to my entertainment to be, to the extent that it is possible, an escape from the shitshow that is the current American political climate. Sometimes, I go into an entertainment venue knowing it's going to be political. That's on me to deal with. Othertimes, it comes as a surprise and then it can be a huge turn off for me. I simply mean that I am pretty likely to turn off something on TV or ship a movie or concert if I know I'm going to get bashed over the head with politics. That was the extent of my statement.
Can't do "politics" anymore. It's everywhere and has infested everything. I had to get off PoliticsBook. Had to leave PoliTwitter, turned off cable "news." It's turned into Polititainment and it's starting to feel like a sick addiction people can't rehab from. Everyone wants to argue "politics" and shove their opinions in your face.
...ok...
I'm beyond it. I have more important things to worry about, like why has my garage become a spider timeshare?
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