“If You Pretend You Don’t Have Anything To Say You Will Be Much Stronger.”

I presented my Brian Tamaki number today. This time with an ensemble of Bouffons coming on to present the various different items Brian was telling, with laughing, and with some ‘karanga-d’ lines by Hannah Tamaki. I put it together with everybody in the hour before class - because that was the time I could have everyone - and I figured it was worth showing now to test the writing and the general shape before working on it anymore.

Unfortunately it bombed big time. “A big shit.” Philippe said it was not like how I did it before (I fell out of the ‘hoary Maori’ voice and went more into TV personality), and that I didn’t have enough fun. We couldn’t see the Bouffon pleasure to blaspheme in my eyes, and so we believe that I really could be Brian Tamaki. We don’t think I destroy him. We think I am him. Philippe also said “we didn’t see anyone” meaning not me, or Hannah, or the Bouffon ensemble, had a real moment. 

Philippe said we see my idea to destroy, but not my fun. It was “not nasty enough”. “Realist...Observational.” For a while in his feedback I felt like he wasn’t giving me any guidance on where to go, rather he was just telling me it was all bad. Because I asked whether it was an acting problem or a writing problem or what. And he kind of brushed over it saying it was everything. And that’s not so helpful to hear when you’re trying to gauge where to go next. But Philippe eventually said I should go more in the direction of money. To show “his money nightmare.” To make a scene which destroys Tamaki by showing him abuse his church’s money. And he said I need a really strong image. Perhaps create a scene with Brian sitting next to God on a giant pile of money. Or with Brian and Hannah on the glass-bottomed speedboat they own. Or Brian and Hannah counting their money and doing online shopping. I’m not sure yet. But something really nasty! 

I spoke to Philippe after and he said what I presented is not the show. It’s around the show. But it’s not the show. 

“You need to go somewhere [where] we see the Bouffon.”

“If you want to go to money you have to go far to the image of money.”

So that’s good learning. Now to find the show...

~

Ben presented a number in which he mocked Tony Blair and his famous ‘forty five minutes’ scandal. 

It was unclear for the average spectator who he was destroying. “Me, I don’t know it’s Blair and I am a normal spectator.” 

“If you pretend you don’t have anything to say you will be much stronger.”

“If you have something important to say you have to say it really with a filter [of] fun fun fun. If you are not, it’s militant. And if you are militant you are boring.”

In order to help Ben be lighter, and to approach Bouffon less from an actor being a character and more just imitating with fun, Philippe ended up getting four guys to get up and say the 45 minutes text as gays. In this way, with the rhythms and gestures, it starts to make the text ridiculous. A wee way through that exercise Ben started making fart noises to distract Mark whilst he was saying the text. Surprisingly (because usually Philippe says fart jokes are only for dumb Australians) he got each of us to sit centre stage and say the text as a gay whilst another person made fart noises (me) from backstage. 

“It’s an intelligent way to shit on his speech.”

~

Mia, Thomas, Charles and Mark presented their number with the French and Austrian fascists dancing at a ball. He spoke about how we need to see the two tramps dancing in the middle in a non-realist way. 


“When we see them like a realist person it doesn’t work.”

~

Barbara presented a monologue from Philippe’s writing in which Eve calls Mary on the telephone. She did the whole thing, which was a flop (in terms of laughs at least) and then at the end left the stage and didn’t come back. She’s having a hard time at the moment.

~

At the end of class Philippe spoke about the difference between playing as an actor and playing as a Bouffon. 

“As an actor you give life. You don’t mock...But with Bouffon you mock...You judge...You criticise.”

~

By the way: this man, Dieudonne, is doing some amazing Bouffon stuff at the moment: