Corpsing
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Corpsing is a British theatrical slang term used to describe when an actor breaks character during a scene by laughing[1] or by causing another cast member to laugh. A BBC TV programme on 18 November 2006 stated that the term "corpsing" originated when a living actor played a corpse on stage; there was sometimes a tendency to try to make that actor laugh.[citation needed]
In American comedy "corpsing" is more commonly known as "breaking face".[citation needed]
Corpsing is not a term exclusive to the theatre, but is also used to describe actions designed to cause hysteria in live television or radio. One of the most famous examples of this is on Test Match Special in the famous "Leg-over" incident [2] and another cricket commentary in which it was noted that "...the bowler's Holding, the batsman's Willey."[3]
Another example is in the sitcom Green Wing. In it, footage is sped-up and slowed down partly for comic effect, but is also used to hide corpsing.[citation needed] Green Wing actress Tamsin Greig (Dr Caroline Todd) has admitted to a tendency to corpse.[4]
Corpsing is also a common event on the BBC Radio 2 Wake Up to Wogan breakfast slot with the show's presenter, Sir Terry Wogan, often breaking into fits of uncontrollable giggles and taking the rest of his team with him, such as Alan Dedicoat ("Deadly"), Fran Godfrey ("Mimi"), Lynne Bowles ("The Totty from Splotty") traffic reporter, and John Marsh ("Boggy"), with these occasions often lasting several minutes.
During the "Pete and Dud" sketches in the BBC comedy series Not Only... But Also, Peter Cook would deliberately ad lib in an attempt to make Dudley Moore corpse—and invariably succeeded.[5] The comedian Spike Milligan often succeeded in making fellow cast members laugh during his BBC TV series Q through exaggerated characterisations.
A notable example in cinema is in a scene of Dr. Strangelove, whereby Peter Sellers, delivering a satirical monologue in the character of Dr. Strangelove, causes Russian Ambassador Alexi de Sadesky (played by Peter Bull) to visibly corpse, with the scene making the final cut unedited. In Monty Python's Life of Brian, a stuttering Pontius Pilate (Michael Palin) admirably smirked to a minimum while staring up close to more-corpsing (partly intentionally) actors while enquiring if there was anything funny about the name "Biggus Dickus".
In a feature called "The Art of Corpsing" on the series two DVD of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's sitcom Extras, the phenomenon of corpsing is discussed by the cast members, including several one-time guests. Among the opinions they give are that it's very easy to be distracted on a set, where "you're never not aware of your surroundings" and of "the absurdity of what you're doing"; that there's no predicting what will set someone off; that "by the time you're laughing during the sixth take, no one else is laughing anymore," because "from the outside, it looks like you're indulging yourselves"; and that once an actor corpses it can be nearly impossible to get back on track. The actors tell stories about incidents of corpsing while filming the show, such as Ashley Jensen running around the set to try to to "get it out of her system" when she was having trouble finishing a scene, and Daniel Radcliffe being unable to hear Warwick Davis say the word "flute" in an elf voice without laughing. Gervais also tells about a time when he intentionally made Jensen corpse by telling her before doing a scene that he was going to "add a word" to the end of the line "I'm going to the Ivy." The word turned out to be simply "restaurant." Jensen, prepared for something ridiculous, laughed at the anticlimax, while Gervais pretended to be bewildered as to what could be funny about the line "I'm going to the Ivy Restaurant" and it looked to the crew as though Jensen was laughing at nothing at all. "The Art of Corpsing" also contains many outtakes of moments that had to be shot multiple times due to the actors' corpsing, with Gervais apparently being the worst culprit when faced with situations like Keith Chegwin using hand gestures to illustrate his opinion that heterosexual sex is superior to homosexual sex or Patrick Stewart telling him about an idea for a movie whose "plot" revolves entirely around women's clothes falling off when they're around him. Gervais cites the long silences following funny lines as being particularly hard to act, as well as scenes where he has to stand closer than normal to another actor.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ arts.guardian.co.uk: "A greasepaint glossary", article on theatrical terms
- ^ BBC Radio Five Live: Greatest Ever Commentary
- ^ Sport Gaffes quotes and quotations
- ^ Channel 4: interview with Tamsin Greig
- ^ Peter Cook: A Biography, Harry Thompson, Hodder and Stoughton, 1997
