Using Gimmicks in Writing

Video Transcript

In this clip we're covering how to use gimmicks. Now let's say a theater group has ten scripts in front of them, yours is one of them. They love all of the scripts. What makes yours really stand out? And one option might be to use a gimmick, or maybe a better word would be a hook. Now one element could be the use of music. Now obviously if you're writing a musical comedy that'll be a part of it, but whatever style you have drama, comedy, if you can incorporate music in it, either recorded, or even a live performance, that can make your play very unique and, and special. Another option is a slide show right before the play starts, or a video. I saw a great play that started out with a video, and it was sort of an avant-garde type video with smoke and very impressionistic, and it was a woman being convicted to prison, and then the play opens with her actually in the cell, so we got, we took care of some of the exposition through that video. I saw a very clever play about a young man and a young woman who made videotapes for each other, and sent them through the mail, and they were living thousands of miles apart. Now the woman is putting on her makeup, getting ready for the shoot because her friend Suzy is coming over to do the camera work. Now Suzy is not another character in the play. Suzy is actually someone just sitting right there in the front row, a, just someone from the audience. And so the young woman brings up Suzy, who could be a woman, or man, or anything from, from the audience and has them actually videotape her, her special tape for her lover across the miles away, and there's of course a lot of comedy, in not only what she's doing, but that this audience character is videotaping, and you can actually see on the monitor what he or she is taping. Yet you really have to be careful in a case like that, because you never know how the audience member is going to react. But it was very innovative and it worked so well. Now another really exciting element to explore is magic. I saw a ballet actually of Nutcracker, where when Clara is dreaming, a magician has come out on stage and she actually levitates. Now in my play "Ticket to Paradise" I have the host write out the winning lottery numbers, seal it in an envelope, and it isn't until the very end of the play when some of the characters have audience volunteers shout out some numbers arbitrarily. Then when the host opens his sealed envelope, it matches the numbers that the audience has called out, and it's basically a very simple envelope switch, but the audience feels involved and they're completely amazed. In my play "Love, Lasagna, and Nuclear War", I had my character Arnie, who is the janitor, come in, and he's going to fix a coffeemaker cord that's been chewed through by a rat. Now he doesn't realize that it's plugged in, so he chews on it, trying to flirt with the girl, and he gets electrocuted, the lights start to go down, and a big spark comes out as he bites down on the cord, and it got the biggest laugh of the play. Not just because of this sparks coming out, but because he was such a funny character, and this magic trick really made a difference. That spark was not any kind of special fire or fancy special effect. It was a simple sparking ring, just called sparking ring or funkin ring, f-u-n-k-i-n ring, and these are available at magic outlets for under ten dollars. So anything you can do to enhance your play, that's really wonderful. Now another element is the element of nudity. That of course, you know your play and you know what is going to be appropriate for your audience, but it's considered very cutting-edge today and done more and more. The first nudity I saw on stage was in the production Equus, where a young man and young woman are, it's theater of the round and, they're like literally six feet from the audience, standing there totally naked, and the play is about this boy's intimidation because the horses are staring at them, and it was a very dramatic moment really heightened with the nudity. Now another element you might incorporate is improvisation, and that usually involves the audience members. So be careful not to arbitrarily throw gimmicks in because they'll really stand out and take away from the play. But incorporate them within the story, and something believable for the characters to be dealing with, and you can add an incredible element to your play.

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