This game involves a small but noteworthy change to its source of inspiration, Commercial, which is worth a quick review if you’re less familiar with its construction.
The Basics
Players create a slice-of-life commercial for a given (often ridiculous) product. All the dialogue occurs in Gibberish, as if you were watching the ad on a television in a foreign hotel.
Example
Players are challenged to create a commercial for a pair of scissors that can cut tension. Players A and B begin moodily washing dishes at the family sink.
Player A: (slightly irritated) “Paf neely cha canoozi flin takana nee palili.”
Player B: (equally irritated) “Tehaw faniquin canoozi fin gashimy ganoy flatiti.”
Player A: (still riled and holding their ground) “Pafow partoon nee tingaling kava pullayhe snizzlede.”
Player B: (having heard one excuse too many from their husband) “Fanee shaynigh fla dumpah kava pullayhe snizzlede…”
Player C enters the kitchen holding a mimed over-sized pair of scissors much to their parents’ chagrin…
Player A: (turning with skepticism to their entering teenage child) “Cafefe acha ouladib nee snipsnip dashiva ru balugcha, Tyler??”
Player C: (earnestly but lovingly complaining while gesturing to their room upstairs and then their fighting parents) “Pah queto narum zhay tanequ feenene. Do fey kimbibo dumpah faloola faneep…”
Tyler mimes closing the scissors between the couple. The mood quickly dissipates…
Player C: (smiling at the instant results) “Gushena, impali naf oola dahehe…?”
[See my earlier Commercial example here for a loose translation!]
The Focus
Craft a world in which your product might be needed and commit fully to that (potentiality ludicrous) reality.
Traps and Tips
1.) Make big choices. I prefer this version of commercial played as a captured and elevated moment of everyday life, but you’ll want to make sure your given circumstances are clear, communicative, and of an appropriate size to fill your stage. Don’t let the Gibberish become empty or without intention. Hit the various stages of a typical commercial outlined in my connected post but do so with precision and attack. (I’m not against a quick check-in during the “I’ll start” moment to set one or two CROW elements to help get the scene launched: “We’re a couple that’s angry at each other…”)
2.) Make emotional choices. Big choices alone may not prove helpful if they’re not also emotionally enthralling. Make sure your characters have true needs and objectives (that only the product can meet or fulfill). You don’t want to just fill the scene with angry screaming – your emotions shouldn’t be unpolished or unfocused. on the contrary, when you strip away language, it’s critical that the feelings beneath the words (your subtext and desires) remain cogent.
3.) Make grounded choices. Gibberish can invite overtalking and poor give and take in general if you’re not extra vigilant, so in addition to making your own strong choices make sure you’re really listening to and observing the nuances of your teammates. Seek to understand at least the basic premise of information being offered before chiming in with your own addition or embellishment. Bring energy but ground it with receptive calmness just as you would in any improv scene but particularly any Gibberish scene where miscommunications can quickly occur and compound each other.
4.) Make genre-specific choices. Lastly, utilize the slick commercial genre and tropes to guide and unify your play. The need for your assigned product needs to be seen (the scenic introduction and problem), as does the item’s eventual appearance and use (the solution and resolution). Lean into the micro worlds these commercials tend to create and look for markers from your teammates as you’re moving from one structural facet to the next. My companion entry on Commercial offers helpful specifics to further aid you in this regard.
In Performance
As a quick hit challenge with its Gibberish handle, this format can offer an opportunity to really showcase your storytelling, character, and physicality skills.
Cheers, David Charles.
www.improvdr.com
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Photo Credit: James Berkley
© 2024 David Charles/ImprovDr
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