Make 'em laugh!

One of the first steps to create physical humour is to define what expressions, feelings and actions you want to convey.

Good comedy is quite often about how to make the ordinary things seem funny. One way to add humour to a story is to use physical comedy, actions and reactions.

Express the following emotions and reactions using facial gestures and movements from the whole body:

• an unexpected surprise

• trying to lift or move something heavy

• breaking a valuable object

• searching for something lost

• suddenly getting a good idea

• smelling something bad.

Tip: Good comedy is quite often about how to make the ordinary things seem funny. It’s not so much what you say or do but how you say or do it that makes comedy.

To express yourself and convey thoughts and actions to others without words, you need to practise ways of communicating with your body.

Perform the story from Task 2 using physical comedy.

At the start of your performance, show who you are, where you are, what you are doing and where the moments to create comedy might be.

When you are confident with your story, perform it with excitement and conviction for an audience. Make sure you remember to build in physical comedy in your actions and reactions to what is happening.

Extension idea: Think of ways that you could incorporate other performers and props to be part of the setting and mood of your story.