A few nights ago I was lucky enough to be able to attend an auditioning for comedy workshop at SAG/AFTRA hosted and delivered by Michael D. Cohen. At first, I was interested in attending because I love comedy and I am always interested in hearing what other actors have to say about auditioning for comedy. When I attended the workshop, it turned out to be so much more than I was expecting and I was extremely pleasantly surprised. It was not just an ad for Cohen’s classes (as these things sometimes turn out to be) he took the work that actors in the room came prepared with, watched them perform it, and coached them into perfecting the scene, monologue, or audition piece, and it was actually amazing to see.
     When you think about comedy, thoughts of laugh tracks, multi-camera work, and a slight feeling of uneasiness (which is something that is not uncommon for actors to face when auditioning for comedy) may come to mind. But after doing this workshop, I have actually learned to look at comedy in a slightly different, more proactive way. It was always difficult for me to audition for the one-liner parts in a comedic show. I never knew how to make it funny when the lines just did not seem funny. I watched as other actors struggled with the exact same issues I was having and was extremely excited to see the lines come alive after just a few simple coaching points.
     Something very interesting that was brought up in the workshop was the importance of stillness in acting for comedy. If you are moving, physically, while you are making the joke then people are less likely to respond to the joke because your movement will distract them! Who would have thought! He also brought up the point of waiting for the audience to get the joke. If you steamroll yourself and continue on with the script before people laugh, it will be missed. It was very interesting to hear that because I always knew timing was important in a script, I just wasn’t aware to what extent!
     So if you get a chance to attend one of these workshops held by SAG/AFTRA, I would highly suggest you do. I know that this workshop was very helpful for me and I have already started to apply what I learned! I know that any script can be made funny by finding the great moments in it and using them to my advantage! I am far more certain that I will be booking my next comedic audition!