Mastering the Art of Comedy Acting: Tips for Success

“Dying is easy. Comedy is hard” - Edmund Gwenn


This is a well known rhetoric that has long feared even the best dramatic actors in steering well clear of the comedic genre, but it doesn’t have to be true. As an aspiring actor it’s important to have as many skills in your arsenal as possible, comedy is an important tool to have whether its a straight comedy or a kitchen sink drama any piece can have comedic moments. The key to giving a hilarious performance is to understand why it’s funny. “Analysing humour is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies” E. B White.
Breaking down comedy may seem dull however it’s an incredibly important step, the best comedians are like scientists they conduct experiments, theorise and practice until it looks effortless.
In order to master comedic acting you must understand where the humour comes from. Every time anyone has ever laughed it was due to the use of one or a combination of the following principles of comedy.

•  Superiority

Often associated with ‘The dumb’ character the principle of superiority is the theory that if a viewer feels superior to your character’s actions or thoughts they will laugh. An example of this is Kerry from This Country thinking her crumpet doesn’t have holes because it’s upside down. Daisy May Cooper plays this with sincerity, the funny comes from the believability, the character must not be in on the joke.

• Relief

The principle of relief is simply just the building of tension and then the releasing of it. This is a primal instinct we have, we know this because even a baby will laugh at a game of peek-a-boo. It’s also why we are drawn to laughing at dark situations, characters like David Brent shouldn’t be funny but we are shocked into laughing often uncontrollably. Another example of this is in Bad Grandpa when the little boy does an inappropriate dance to Sweet Cherry Pie. The important part of this theory is the build up, as an actor you must make the viewers believe the joke is going one way, the little boy in Bad Grandpa does a sweet dance and then suddenly switches, he had to be as dedicated to being sweet as he was to being inappropriate otherwise the viewers would have seen right through it.

• Incongruity

The principle of putting two opposing things together, the reason why ‘fish out of water’ characters are so prominent in comedic pieces. Examples of this include in the film Airplane! In which a character performs a magic trick, pulling an egg out of another character's mouth and then another one and then a bird.* It works great in slapstick pieces like Airplane! And often involves a great level of physicality, the actor must be willing to fully commit. Comedy is truth! Although this is an incongruous situation it’s important as a performer to find the truth in it and play into that, the ridiculousness will speak for itself, lean into it too much and you will lose the funny.
*This is also an example of the rule of three an important comedy tool, in which you set something up e.g. Pull an egg out of a person's mouth, reinstate the trend e.g. pull another egg out of the person's mouth and then when the viewer think they know what's going to happen, another egg is going to come out, they switch it up e.g. pull a bird out of the person's mouth. This is a reliable joke formula that almost always gets a laugh.


Archetypes are very important in comedy, unlike other genres comedy isn’t necessarily about crafting unique people it’s more about crafting characters that are relatable and easily identifiable. Scott Sedita wrote a great book that talks more in depth about this, but in a nutshell he suggests that there are only 8 different comedic characters:

• Lovable loser - Leslie Knope (Parks and Recreation), Sue Heck (The Middle), Michael Scott (The office US)
•  Logical smart one - Jerry Seinfeld (Seinfeld), Chandler Bing (Friends), Lisa Simpson (The Simpsons)
•  Neurotic - Monica Gellar (Friends), Rachel Berry (Glee), Schmidt (New Girl)
• The Dumb One - Andy Dwyer (Parks and Recreation), Kerry Mucklowe (This Country), Dave Best (The Royle Family)
• The Mean Character - Red Forman (That 70’s Show), Sue Sylvester (Glee), Phil Connors (Groundhog day)
• In Their Own Universe - Phoebe Buffay (Friends), Dwight Schrute (The Office US), Winston Bishop (New Girl)
• Womaniser/Manizer - Lenore (Dirty Grandpa), Austin Powers (The Austin Powers  trilogy), Alice (Stepbrothers)
• The Materialistic One - Cher Horowitz (Clueless), Count Olaf (A Series of  Unfortunate Events), Rachel Green (Friends)
  
  
  These are innately funny traits seen in real people all the time, lean into that, think of someone in your life that fits into these, what quirks do they have? If you are playing a neurotic role, use your real life to inform your performance, perhaps your neighbour is always on your back about the bins, do they have a funny infliction on certain words? Or do they often repeat the same thing, catchphrases can be born this way. Even the smallest of quirks can create a hilarious and unique performance.
  The best comedy actors craft characters that are funny but human, think Robin Williams, all his characters have a redeeming quality something that makes you fall in love with them, even in Flubber when his ‘In their own universe’ character forgets to attend his own wedding Williams plays him not as uncaring but just forgetful. It’s funny because it’s an exaggeration of something that everyone has done, he found the truth even in the silliest of plots.
  It’s important for you to trust the writing. After learning your lines, rehearsing and doing multiple takes, it may lose its effect on you but you shouldn’t lose faith in the material, remember it’s your one-hundredth time hearing the joke but the viewers first. Comedy is a great tool to make viewers fall in love with you, perhaps even securing you a recurring role, so have fun, be playful and lean into what is true. Remember comedy is truth! 

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Author

Ellie Hemingway.