I saw a Russell Brand standup comedy show in a tiny LA theater (capacity: 150) last night. I'd seen him one other time in a similar scenario, so I knew what to expect: the scripted standup wouldn't be good, but I would just have to wait for Russell to get distracted and derailed, and then the real show would begin.
And true to form, Russell came out with a flipboard of newspaper headlines and notecards of factoids and statistics, none of which were terribly fascinating, revealing or funny. But they gave the guy - who I think is a charming, intelligent, and witty linguist - a springboard from which to launch into tangential diatribes and follies including rummaging through an audience member's purse and using another audience member's cell phone to call the psychics and sex workers who advertise in the back of the LA Weekly.
I've been thinking a lot lately about how film and TV scripts have evolved over the last - what - ten years? But I'm not sure it's been as much an evolution as a...disappearance. Ten years from now, will there be any such profession as a screenwriter?
A number of popular comedy films over the last few years - of the Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Bridesmaids variety - have been shot under the guidance of an outline at best, but the final result is typically a result of more than just improv. The filmmakers, especially with actors adept at improv like Melissa McCarthy, essentially wind their cast up and let them run, occasionally giving them a nudge in this or that direction, all the while the cameras rolling, capturing plenty of extra bonus content for the DVD/Blu-Ray release.
I was cast as featured background on the IFC original comedy series Z Rock a couple of years ago, and although I didn't have any lines and therefore no opportunity to improvise in the scene, I witnessed the process of shooting an unscripted script firsthand. Amidst the director proferring, "Maybe say this" or "Maybe say that," the actors might have eked out a few well-delivered lines, a gem or two. But their performances were inconsistent, and in some cases - like that of Marky Ramone who's not exactly a professional actor and wasn't really sure what he was supposed to be doing or saying - bewildered.
Audiences eat it up because it seems real. But although it might be unrehearsed and spontaneous, it's not exactly real. The actors are playing characters. And on Z Rock, I think quality was sacrificed for the artifice of reality.
Was what I witnessed last night the real Russell Brand? Is there any such thing? Or was the derailment a deliberate attempt to not just suspend but eradicate the audience's disbelief, carefully crafted, ritualistically rehearsed, prudently planned?
I mean, don't we go to live shows and movies and don't we watch TV because we want something better than reality? With better lighting, perfect grammar and vocabulary, and more intriguing plot devices?
Otherwise, wouldn't we just...live?
