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The Role of Comedy in Drum Corps.... a poll and a discussion


Comedy in Drum Corps  

71 members have voted

  1. 1. Which 2009 show is the funniest?

    • Blue Devils
      5
    • Cavaliers
      8
    • Crown
      7
    • Cadets
      1
    • Vanguard
      2
    • Bluecoats
      1
    • Regiment
      4
    • Boston
      5
    • Blue Stars
      1
    • Blue Knights
      3
    • Glassmen
      0
    • Troopers
      2
    • Colts
      0
    • Academy
      0
    • Madison
      24
    • Spirit
      2
    • Crossmen
      2
    • Mandarins
      1
    • Pacific Crest
      0
    • Jersey Surf
      1
    • Pioneer
      1
    • Cascades
      1


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I wanted to start this topic as a poll and a discussion, so please don't just vote if you have any comments. Say something.

I have been recently thinking about how big a role comedy plays in our society and specifically in our entertainment world. Look how many television shows and movies are based on comedy.... even all the late night shows are almost entirely comedy based. It is a common thread that runs through almost everything we do.

So.... How do you feel about the role of comedy in drum corps?

Does it have a place in an activity which spawns from military roots?

Obviously we have had much of this in the past (Bridgemen, Velvet Knights), but it seems like recently, at least in the World Class ranks, corps are not using comedy as an effect as much as they used to. There are a few instances of it this year ("Is anybody in there........... Nooooo..."), but really they are just that.... isolated instances. When is a World Class corps going to come back and use comedy (like VK) as one of the primary effect generators in their show?

Because I think something funny is just that.... an effect.... just like all the other things corps do which fall under the area of "General Effect." If we want the groups to start being more entertaining.... I think this is a great way.

So what do you think? Can a corps come out one year and base their show on comedy, but still have enough musical and visual "meat," and execute well enough to score in the upper levels? Which already established top corps could get away with this and do it really well? What kind of ideas does anyone have about making an entire show genuinely funny? I mean..... there is so many ways this could happen. A show could be a dark comedy... where it is all satirical and "acts" like it takes itself seriously.... or it could simply be slapstick.

Please discuss. :thumbdown:

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So about the poll. Shows I think have funny parts this year are:

Cavaliers - mentioned above

Crown - funny sounds/visuals in Puck

Phantom - the b*tch slap... is that supposed to be funny?

Madison - funny guard costumes

I voted for Cavaliers because it made me laugh the most and is probably the most cleverly funny part of any show.

Who else?

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To answer the question, I'd say Crown because of all of the cool body movement during Puck.

Boston has some funny stuff, too, I think.

But countdown to the first response that sounds something like this:

"It's sure funny that insert corps name here is in insert ordinal hereth place. insert corps name here does more in the first minute of their show than insert corps name here does.

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Nobody.

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I think the hardest part about comedy is just that......IT'S HARD TO PULL OFF. What may be funny to some isn't to others. Is it a effect or a gimick?

Trust me when I tell you, a judge does not always see comedy as an effect. For as hard as it is to pull off, you won't always get the credit for it.

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Like most other things in DC I can take comedy to a certain extant. I'm more of a traditionalist but I'll enjoy a good comic relief moment once in a while.

I voted for Madison simply because their guard is humorous and very entertaining at the same time.

I haven't liked every VK show ever made but their Mystery Tour shows were very entertaining. I mean it was taken tongue in cheek but it came across great because execution was good, and we know what to expect from them.

Comedy is okay for me but it has to be done right. I thought Magic '04 was a little tacky at times. We need to keep this activity legitimate and if corps puts out a product that is humorous but poorly executed then it gives a bad image to the activity.

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I am not aware that anyone other than the Scouts has a section of their show that is designed to be humorous. People laugh at the "hello..hello..hello" and the apple bite but I can't think of anything as long as the Scouts' Clark Kent section.

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I think the hardest part about comedy is just that......IT'S HARD TO PULL OFF. What may be funny to some isn't to others. Is it a effect or a gimick?

Trust me when I tell you, a judge does not always see comedy as an effect. For as hard as it is to pull off, you won't always get the credit for it.

Amen. I loved VK, and I wish that somebody could do that type of show today. But it's #### hard to get comedy to work in a show design, and the corps really has to be willing to stick with it for a while until the performers are able to communicate the joke to the audience. I thought BD 2008 was a rare example of a recent show with a lot of humor that worked.

For comparison, look at how difficult it is to do storytelling well in a drum corps show. For every Spartacus, there are probably two dozen shows where the audience doesn't really notice the supposed lead characters, or the storyline only really exists in the designer's mind, or the plot failed Scriptwriting 101, or...

I think good comedy is even harder than good storytelling in drum corps.

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To answer the question, I'd say Crown because of all of the cool body movement during Puck.

Boston has some funny stuff, too, I think.

But countdown to the first response that sounds something like this:

"It's sure funny that insert corps name here is in insert ordinal hereth place. insert corps name here does more in the first minute of their show than insert corps name here does.

Boston

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