Sprezzatura!

Sprezzatura: “Effortlessness”, as in the appearance of; “Practice in all things a certain sprezzatura ...so as to conceal art, and make whatever is done or said appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it.”

I was sitting listening to the Master talk about comedy a couple weeks ago when he told me, “I like the fact that you rehearse, ...a lot of comics don’t, and it shows, but, perhaps you over rehearse. The audience can sense this, and thinks that your act lacks spontaneity.” I kinda’ like the irony in that statement, an “act that lacks spontaneity”, but, I always appreciate the Masters’ insights, and try to put them to good use. I suppose that, ‘lacking spontaneity’, is preferable to lacking anything to say on stage, or, at least, lacking anything funny to say, but, I see what he means.

When I first began this quest for 100 appearances on a stand up stage, I was terrified of being in the spotlight with nothing to say; ...that does not rank very high on the scale of pleasant experiences! So, I made sure that I had my set memorized to the word; not just, ‘to the word’, but to how I wished to express each word, and I would do my act that way no matter what the make-up of the audience was. But then, in entertainment, the word ‘act’ presupposes a lot of rehearsal.

Now I’m trying to loosen up a bit, and add a little spontaneity to my act. The other night I went on after another fellow talked about the difficulties he had dealing with his girlfriend on what he called her, ‘happy time’. He was talking about when she was on her period, and, while I knew exactly what he meant, I thought his choice of term a misnomer! As soon as I was introduced I addressed that issue:

“We don’t call it, ‘Happy Time’,
At my place.
‘Cause Momma ain’t happy!
When I met my Bride,
She couldn’t say, “Pecker”,
If her mouth was full of it!
So I got her elocution lessons!
She still can’t say it!
But, she can hum a few bars!
So I call it, “Hummer Week!”
That doesn’t do anything for her moods,
...But I’m Happy!”

Spontaneous? Well, ...it appeared that way, and the audience responded well to it. But spontaneity demands more than making, or at least, ‘appearing to make’ lines up on the spot. Every audience is different; for example, you might not want to address an audience of 20 with the same level of enthusiasm and energy that would work well with an audience of 300. The same goes for an audience of paying comedy enthusiasts in a Comedy club, as compared to a small crowd in a local bar. The former are there to see a show, the latter are perhaps there for a variety of reasons, of which comedy may or may not be one.

This last week I had the opportunity to share a Comedy stage with Tommy Savitt, a Pro from Brooklyn, NY, now residing in Los Angeles; I’d shared a stage with him before, but, had not been able to watch his act. Tommy is fairly soft spoken for a comic, and talks with the right corner of his mouth curled down. He’s not very animated on stage; he doesn’t need to be, his words do the talking for him, so to speak. It was, a demonstration in, “Sprezztura”.

His delivery brought me in mind of a pro Boxer working a speed bag; each, ‘punch’ line launched and delivered perfectly, apparently without much effort on his part, but, ...they had impact. Not just that, but he set up a rhythm that was mesmerizing, his jokes unencumbered by excessive verbiage! The rhythm, established immediately, brought a positive audience response with clockwork precision; ...laughter every 15 seconds, or, about every twenty words. He maintained that same rhythm for forty minutes!

I watched him again later in the week; the exact same rhythm, and the exact same words, before a similar audience. I’d love to see him perform in front of a huge crowd, where, if anything, his material would do even better. Tommy Savitt has the luxury of always performing to comedy club audiences, and it’s a luxury he deserves, ...he’s certainly worked for it!

At the same time, I’d like to see how he’d modify it to capture a rowdy bar audience. I don’t think it would work as well before a diverse audience, attending for a variety of reasons, and all at different levels of intoxication, with, perhaps, a hockey game playing loudly on the wall above the bar. I’m sure he’d handle it professionally, but, I’m just as sure he’d have to modify his delivery.

As it stands, I’m to appear at Ally Katz tonight, and I’ll be doing old material, but I’ll attempt to do it in a toned down, conversational manner! Sprezzatura? Not likely, but I’m working on it! Wish me luck!