By Brynne Ramella
When I learned that 33rd & State, the new comedy sketch group, was meeting to cover character development, I knew that group member Chris O’Reilly would be the perfect subject for an interview. With his knack for accents, dead-on impressions and Chris Farleyesque mannerisms, he often seems like he is already in character.
Co-president of 33rd & State, Bill Lacy, urged members of the group to write backstories for characters they created. Chris, a junior English major at Marquette University, has experience developing characters, but he has never written a backstory before. For his first shot, he brought his character Nnarles Kaplin to the group.
Chris got the idea to create silent film documentary star Nnarles Kaplin while watching a Charlie Chaplin movie. After developing the idea for the character, Chris used his own process to give the character a voice.
“You need quirky characteristics and go-to habits,” Chris said. “I think the more you establish that, the funnier it will be. If you have a voice in mind, you can hear them saying it – I think that’s huge.”
Chris and Charlie Mohl, the group’s other co-president, brainstormed some more, and Nnarles turned into what Chris describes as a “silent Forrest Gump with a ruthlessly optimistic outlook on life.” He is a German that stars in documentaries that become unintentionally relevant in history. For example, he stars in a documentary about fiscal responsibility that would be released on Black Tuesday. Of course, Chris slipped into a German accent when describing aspects of Nnarles’s life.
Once a character exists on paper, the final step is breathing life into that character. For Chris, who also is a member of Marquette’s improv troupe, the Studio 013 Refugees, the next step involves combining both forms of comedy.
“That’s where improvising can be kind of fun,” Chris said. “I think Robin Williams said it’s like legal insanity.”
Chris uses this portion of the process to find a literal voice for the character. He says that he talks to himself over and over as the character. Sometimes, he will even talk to himself as a friend of the character. Chris says it’s tedious, but the easiest kind of tedious there is.
“I think the most important thing is to be as realistic as you can,” Chris said. “Because if you don’t believe what you’re doing, then why should anyone else?”
Brynne Ramella, a journalism student at Marquette University, is a guest blogger for MilwaukeeComedy, documenting the start-up of Marquette’s sketch comedy troupe, 33rd & State. This is the third in her series of reports.