I had never seen anyone use a chair before—in the middle of a standup set, to sit down in a chair, in the middle of the stage. Sometimes youd have so-called Beat comedians, they would sit on a stool—maybe Lenny [Bruce] would do that. In fact Im thinking theres probably some scenes in the Dustin Hoffman movie where hes in some little smoky coffeehouse in the Village and hes sitting on a stool in that Beat style. But this is not that. This is a stage in a theater, and to sit down on a chair was an incredibly confident move. Most comedians would say that standing up and performing to a seated audience is 90 percent of the advantage you have over them! That, and the fact that you have a microphone. Of course it did not diminish his power in the slightest. In fact it seemed to add to it. Just imagine yourself in a living room at a gathering of people and everyones sitting around, and one person in the living room stands up and says, Ill tell you this— Well, everyones gonna suddenly be quiet and turn and listen to that person because theyre standing and everyone else is sitting. Im sure even in the Paleozoic Era, that worked: Standing has power. Sitting does not. ---- Jerry Sienfeld on Bill Cosby https://youtube/watch?v=uNRzq-DcDzg
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 06:05:39 +0000