Comedy is a funny thing, if you excuse the pun. Considering the ultimate result is to bring joy and laughter to others, it is incredible how painful, gut-wrenching and excruciating the creative process can be. Sometimes it feels like panning for gold – grabbing a bunch of promising looking stuff and gradually washing it away until you discover those little nuggets of delight than can be carefully moulded and woven artfully into a tapestry of hilarity. But all too often, you are not too sure exactly how those nuggets will be received by others.
Sure, you think they are clever, witty and have a marvellous turn of phrase, but until they are in the ears of another, you just do not know where they will go. The testing of new material has to be up there with asking someone to marry you. It may go well and you’ll be floating on a cloud of butterflies, or it may bomb.
But, as luck would have it, there is a new Funny Women event in Brighton town – the Funny Women Time of the Month at the Marlborough, which aims to tackle just this issue – testing and discussing of material with other human beings and not just your mirror. And so, I trotted along to the first Brighton TOTM night at the Marlborough Theatre, armed with my little black book of comedy stuff, ready to chat it through.
The format of the Time of the Month nights is pretty different from anything I have attended before, with the first two hours being dedicated to a bit of group and focussed work, and the second half being a ‘supportive show’ where you can test out the stuff you’ve worked through earlier.
With a mix of seasoned performers and real newbies, we all started with a few improv warm up exercises and chatted about who we were and why we were there. A few observational and action based exercises were thrown in the mix then we broke into smaller groups which discussed the two general specialisms of the attendees on the night – character building and stand up. Joining the stand up group with a few others and guided by Funny Women founder Lynne Parker, we were given free rein to discuss anything we liked.
The second half of the TOTM nights is dedicated to a show, where attendees are welcome, but not forced, to get up on the stage and try out some of their act. Some new stuff, reworded stuff, stage craft – or even completely new, spontaneous acts that have never been aired before. This was really exciting – to be the first to see a new character or a piece of material that just worked so well, or equally, support someone through the development of an act. Having done a fair bit of design tutoring in my time, this was great – to be able to chat through something that might not be fully formed, but has real promise.
And judgement free.
Warmed by the laughter of each other and the audience, we all left the night with a few more nuggets, sieved from our wads of promise, or perhaps some that were just a bit more refined than before – nearly ready to go on public show.
Don’t miss the next Time of the Month in Brighton on Tuesday 11th August!
