Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Great American Comedy Festival - Youth Comedy Camp - Day 2

Wow! I can not believe the level of talented kids we have participating in the comedy camp this week. Simply amazing!

First, I watched part of the stand up class. Each student presented a basic routine and then was given a critique by Dave Reinitz who is serving as the class instructor. Students will now take the knowledge they learned about joke structure and add details to the routines they will present at the Youth Comedy Showcase.

The improv class just gets better and better! Today's activities included the freeze game and the ladder. Brave New Workshop talked quite a bit about building a scene by saying yes, and then letting the sketch grow from that point. I like that the kids are up and moving. They were good yesterday, but today, there was a new energy.

And in sketch writing/sketch comedy, the students had completed outlines. The group brainstormed and offered ideas for each sketch based on the five elements of a sketch:
  • satirical point
  • characters
  • setting
  • scene of action
  • the "funny"

Following the discussion, the groups began pounding the keyboards and spent approximately 45 minutes writing the sketch. BNW instructors read the scenes in front of the students and once again, the group mind brainstormed ideas.

Tonight, we ventured to the Johnny Carson Theater at Norfolk Senior High for the amateur night. Twenty comedians from across the nation signed up for the competition. In fact, my inside informers tell me that when it was time to register for tonight's performances, the 20 slots were filled within 5 minutes. Amazing!

The young man who won ended with a bit about why reality TV needs to end and we need to return to original programming. Hilarious! Simply truthful.

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