After you get the eye thing try this:

1^st look with your eyes, then turn your head, then the upper-body then the lower body. Lean away with all of you then walk to the person, place or thing.

To get a better understanding of takes and comic movement, watch cartoons. Often they look, double take, eyes bulge out of their head, body turns and then they run for it. Cartoons are a great source for ideas as well, so now you have a good excuse.

If you want your audience to look at a particular thing, you should focus your eyes, body and attention on that thing. When there are a lot of people moving and doing activities at the same time, the audience does not know what to look at. There are times when that is what we want. There are times when we want the audience to see a particular thing; we need to look at that thing. It is funny when several performers look at something all at the same time fast, or double-take together, or cascade, one after the other. Try all 3 ways

After you get the concept, exaggerate the takes. The bigger the better. As you turn your head, draw a half circle, like you are drawing a smiley face with your chin. Then try a half circle with the top of your head. Draw a big frown. Then stand with feet apart and add a knee bend and sway from one side to the other. Start by standing up straight as you turn your head; bend your knees and sway. By the time you have finished making the smiley face you should be standing up again. The deeper the bend the funnier. Try the same thing by drawing a half circle with your upper body. Draw the half circle with your chest and shoulders as you turn. Now try a frown with your shoulders and torso.

Try a full body turn. Move all of you toward the object. You can pivot your feet. Just lift up your heels slightly, turn on your toes, and then lower the heels.

If you do a stage trip, do a double take to the imaginary object you tripped on.

To make these things really work the best, make sure you are always having internal dialogue. When you are not talking out loud during a performance you must be talking to your self. What I mean by that is:

You should not be directing yourself, but the character should have internal dialogue commenting on the moment.

Ex: When you do a stage trip and look back at the object you might say to self: “What was that?” Look back “What?” Double take “That stupid banana.” When we believe it so will observers.

Ex. in silence: You drop a real or imaginary object on your foot. (1^st Take) Look at the audience, say to self “What” (the bigger the better). (2^nd Take) Look down at your foot. “Oh No”. (3^rd Take) Look at the audience say to self “XXXXX “. Let your body feel the pain.

Ex. in silence: Take to an idea: Think of something in pictures. (An ice cream store with a cone for you.) If you’re normal, you will look up. Experience the joy. Take to the audience, say to self “your own words(what would you say?)”

Take again to the idea. Then move to complete the idea.

I recently corrected a move by the players in my company after viewing a video taping of our show. I always wondered why we did not get a laugh on this one move. I could not see the move during performance. The takes were right, but the knee-bend and leg straighten was left out.

The physical punctuation or what I call the body take was not done correctly. In our last performance, after the changes, we got the laugh I was looking for.

In conclusion: Takes

Focus on the thing you are looking at, with punctuation & continually talk to your self.

Questions?