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To Start with a Situation
Let’s take a situation and build it into a
skit: a taxi ride. What could be funny about
three or four clowns taking a taxi?
Brainstorm. Write down everything that
comes to mind. Later you can take out what
you don’t like and what you think doesn’t
work.
At a clown session, a group took four
chairs and set them up to represent taxi seats.
They set the chairs up on a diagonal so that
all the clowns could be seen clearly by the
audience. When you plan a skit, remember
where your audience will be.
Back to the taxi. The first thing a person
might do is flag down the taxi. The driver
stops, gets out and opens the door. The riders
enter. Then the driver wants to know where
to? They point the way. But wait a minute—
the riders are all pointing in opposite
directions. They try again, pointing in
opposite directions again.
The driver shrugs his shoulders and
pantomimes starting up and taking off.
He goes around sharp curves, everyone
leans. Another sharp curve dumps out a
clown, who spills the contents of his suitcase.
But, the driver doesn’t notice. The other
clowns stop him and make him back up the
taxi. They help the unfortunate clown pick up
the contents (which can be gag items) and
put them back into the suitcase.
Back into the taxi. This time the driver
speeds around a corner and hits a very bumpy
road. The clowns bounce up and down and all
over. Now they want out. The driver goes
through the motions of stopping the car. The
passengers get out and pay the driver. “Hey,
where’s my tip?” yells the driver. Comes the
reply, “My tip to you is take some more
driving lessons.” They exit still bouncing up
and down as they walk. Another ending
might be with the driver chasing the
passengers off the stage.
In practicing the correct pantomime
moves for this, get into a car and go through
each of the moves needed for the skit. Learn
where the shift, keys, steering wheel, doors,
and so on are located. What positions are
your hands in when you steer? How do you
get into a vehicle? You have to bend down or
hit your head.
When you speak, speak toward the
audience or you won’t be heard. Usually, you
must turn toward the audience. The only time
your back should be to the audience is when it
is part of the skit.
Try other situations like crossing a busy
street, eating in a restaurant, or walking a
dog. List ten of your own situation ideas right
now.
“Slop Jokes”
Sooner or later, the subject of slop jokes comes up. These are jokes that use water, pies, etc.
Give this subject careful consideration. Is it really appropriate? What kind of a mess would you
create for the janitor? (You may want to use the building again.) If you’re outdoors, will your
partner catch cold? All such jokes are carefully preplanned. The “victims” are other clowns or
“plants” in the audience who know ahead of time that they are going to receive a pie, for
example. Slop jokes come at the very end of the show, because they cause a mess and ruin clown
makeup. Pies are not real. They are made from shaving cream (not menthol, it hurts) so that
no one’s costume or clothing will be ruined.