The Last Class and Elf
a tall elf, a short giant, and some December improv inspo
I don’t always draw improv inspiration from what I’m watching, but this month, two movies resonated with my improv bell.
Elf
I’ve only seen Elf once. It was over 10 years ago so I’d forgotten a lot of it. The movie is great, a true Christmas and comedy classic. You likely know that already, but it was news to me. Here are my improv-specific thoughts (all spoilers).
Be as smart as your character- Will Ferrell plays Buddy the Elf. He’s essentially a child, the pinnacle of innocence, landed in New York City. Ferrell never winks at the camera. He never says anything trying to play dumb or innocent. Performance-wise, there is a complete 1:1 match with how sweet and hopeful Buddy is and how he’s being played.
Make things true- We see Buddy leave the North Pole on a small glacier, then land on a shore dotted with giant candy canes. So when he repeatedly tells his story about how he got to New York traveling through “the seven levels of the candy cane forest, past the sea of swirly-twirly gumdrops” we know that he’s telling the truth. The movie shows us talking animals and a sentient snowman. We see the world of magic, so we know Buddy is a reliable narrator.
If a Buddy character showed up in an improv show, I would be so delighted by the team bringing the magical world to life. So often, I feel like we’d focus on straight-manning to so hard that it would make his character delusional. I much prefer the world where we see the candy cane forest.
A bemused voice of reason- Much of the success of this movie comes from a world of bemused voices of reason. Jovie, the mall Santa’s helper, Emily, Buddy’s would-be stepmom, Buddy’s dad and even Papa Elf largely react to Buddy with a shrug of the shoulders or a delighted smile. These moves let Buddy be Buddy which is ultimately the most fun thing.
A particularly astounding example of this shrug-and-move-on comes when Buddy sees lingerie with a sign that says “For that special someone”. Later in the movie, Buddy gives his Dad a present and when Walter privately opens the box, the lingerie is inside. In most movies, I feel like this would become a plot point. One of Walter’s employees would find the lingerie and think Walter is having an affair or wearing the lingerie himself, but in the scene, Walter opens the gift, makes a face, then shoves it in a drawer and moves on. We never see the lingerie again.
Delight in the toy- I’m thinking about game as the toy lately. If we had two and a half minutes to play with a hula hoop onstage, the audience would want to see us play with the hula hoop. What happens a lot is we label the hula hoop, then talk about why the hula hoop is a problem. In Elf, Buddy is the toy. Whether he’s in the North Pole, at the dinner table, or in a department store, this movie plays with the toy that is Buddy.
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The Last Class
This is a documentary about Robert Reich’s last semester at UC Berkley. It’s largely a love letter to teaching. If you teach improv, or anything else, I think you’ll love this one. I’m so impressed by Reich’s joy, creativity and resilience. He distills complex ideas in simple terms. He works so hard to connect with students and imbue them with a responsibility to make the world better. It is a joy to watch anyone happily do their work and it is a bittersweet reality, watching them chose to stop.
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I suppose both of these movies are about happy warriors moving through the world. These will be my December improv inspirations; happy, plucky, resilient, magic.
Upcoming Shows:
Old Yorkers at Second City Saturday, December 13 at 7pm
Asssscat at UCB Saturday, December 20 at 7pm Livestream
Asssscat at UCB Saturday, December 26 at 7pm Livestream
Teacher Feature at UCB Tuesday, December 30 at 9:30pm Livestream
Upcoming Classes and Workshops:
UCB Improv 101 starting Monday, January 26 7-10pm