Wednesday, November 13, 2019

EP149: Keeping it Real: a lesson in comedy


Ken discusses the importance of reality in comedy and shares a one act play to serve as an example. 


Listen to the Hollywood & Levine podcast!

3 comments :

Stephen Marks said...

I enjoyed that ten-minute play by Ken

scottmc said...

The musical version of Tootsie will close on Broadway at the end of the year. The show's inability to keep it real was felt by some to be the reason the show failed to be the hit it was expected to be. The show's Book writer changed the source of Dorothy's success from a soap opera to a Broadway musical. People pointed out that while Michael/Dorothy could plausibly get away with rewriting dialogue in an episode of a soap opera she could not get away with the same behavior acting in a Broadway show. There were other examples of jokes at the expense of the reality of the situation. The show won the Tony for Best Book. Critics praised the large number of one-liners. But it appears that failure to 'keep it real' cost the musical a chance for a longer run.

Jeff Boice said...

Is it just a coincidence you co-wrote "Out of Sight, Out of Mind"?

Never heard of this concept, but I see it now on a computer search. Closest thing in my experience was the old Stuart Anderson Black Angus restaurant which was a high volume budget steakhouses- Black Angus used smoked glass partitions and directional lighting to give you the illusion of privacy- so if you dropped your napkin it was hard to find. Gave the place a class that separated it from the competition. That and the cheesy garlic bread.

first thing that would come to my mind was "but what if I have to use the Men's room?"