ABOUT
DRIBBLE FUNK
WHAT
IS "DRiBBLE FUNK?"
Dribble
Funk is a completely improvised (i.e. NOT scripted) solo performance
format developed by Brad
McEntire, originally in early 2005. The piece lasts anywhere
from 20 to 50 minutes, and starts with either a short, informal Q
and A with an audience member or a one-word suggestion. This chat
or suggestion becomes the fodder for a spontaneous act of theatre.
During the Dribble Funk, the solo performer portrays multiple
characters in a cascading, interrelated network of improvised scenes,
songs, monologues, abstractions and audience interactions that evolve
into an unexpected multi-arc storyline. The structure and techniques
of the format continue to evolve with each performance, but the Dribble
Funk essentially surfaces in that crossroads between traditional
theatre, long-form improvisation and storytelling.
A
HISTORY (of sorts)...
Before
I performed improv, I did a great deal of sketch comedy. Booking sketch
groups into festivals and venues around the country became, I noticed,
a pain in the ass. Sketch involved coordinating rehearsals with everyone,
supplying travel and lodging for multiple troop members, including
transporting and storing props, setting up tech rehearsals, and a
hundred other logistics that had nothing to do with the actual performance.
Improv groups were the same (except for the props). People inevitably
complained or became upset and the shows suffered.
I
began searching for a very portable alternative
that would also offer more challenge for me personally. What could
I do with no props, and for that matter, nobody else on stage. I began
doing traditional scripted solo theatre work around this time. I'd
heard of Andy
Eninger and his Sybil format in 2003 or 2004 (I
later directed one of his plays). I never saw him perform solo, but
I figured hey, if someone is doing it... About this same time, my
friend Bearded
Lamb also began doing solo improv. Then, a few years later
I stumbled upon Jill
Bernard and her wonderful format Drum Machine. I
discovered the actual sub-arcana of solo improvisation is pretty scarce.
After all, who'd be crazy enough to actually do this stuff? Improv
is rough enough with a whole group of people. But to do it alone?!
Solo
improv brought with it lots of technique/performance problems regular
actors/improvisers never have to deal with. I figured the best thing
to do was workshop it. I believe in process and experimentation and
by running the beast in front of live audiences I could constantly
tweak, rearrange, re-develope and whittle away at it. I had the opportunity
to work on DRiBBLE FUNK in order to create a completely
original solo-improvised format. This format includes multiple
characters, multi-pronged story arcs, unique interactions with the
audience, live music, and interactive artworks. The goal was to develop
a fast-paced, utterly original hybrid theatrical event: a unique celebration
that is an abstraction of ordinary long-form improvisation and traditional
static (i.e. storyteller sits in chair) storytelling. This
new hybrid would be a pure and true act of theatre!
For
a time, in late 2005 and early 2006, I teamed up with a kick-ass guitarist,
Mr. Jaymes Gregory (who's a performer in his own right). Mr.
Gregory accompanied the performance with an improvised score as I
unfolded a refracted, cascading improvisation. Mr. Gregory and I took
this version of the Dribble Funk to various venues in the Dallas
area. Then, Mr. Gregory bailed on a show and I realized in order for
it to be truly solo improvisation I'd have to keep developing
the format. The addition of live music, especially as an opener to
the evening, however, proved fortunate.
In
the summer of 2008 I finally had a chance to work with Andy Eninger
at Chicago's The Second City and absorb some of the techniques
of his format Sybil. Sybil shares some performance techniques
with the Dribble Funk. There seems to be some necessary overlap,
though enough differences to make them each distinct formats (Dribble
Funk for example, uses a Narrator/Presenter character that is
seperate from the other characters or the performer in the piece,
while Sybil focuses exclusively on the characters themselves
relaying the incidents of the scenes).
I
have had the pleasure to perform Dribble Funk in places as
disparate as Tulsa, Oklahoma and Hong Kong, with many venues in between.
As
of autumn 2008 development of Dribble Funk has slowed considerably
as other projects filled my plate. A concentrated focus on Dribble
Funk re-emerged and has been sustained since mid-2010. Visit the
MEDIA page to see examples of actual performances.
