The Joker Channel
Observing Desire

by Ronald Matthijssen, Formaat

Bárbara Santos (see "Who Is the Joker?) sums up the necessary skills of a Joker in a nutshell. At Formaat, we tried to crack the nut and came up with myriads of mosaic pieces of what makes up a Joker. There seems to be only one viable way of looking at it: a Joker is a virtual channel between the spect-actors and the stage, or to put it in other words: the Joker is the link between the aesthetic spaces.

Observation
In order to be able to connect the aesthetic spaces in a way that the obvious conflict is handled in the most productive way, the Joker must be aware of the desires behind the conflict. This requires not only a deep insight in the possible motivations of both the characters on stage as well as of the spect-actors, but also a high level of observation. Sometimes the conflict we project on stage is not the actual conflict the spect-actors want to address. An example:

A year ago we presented a Forum about bullying to a large group of Junior High School students. I noticed that the spect-actors had split completely into boys to the left and girls to the right. After the play, they seemed very hasty about resolving the bullying image. Within mere 20 minutes they had created an ideal image they seemed to be satisfied about. But they didn't stop. They started to examine relationships, dating and sexuality and our actresses and actors were faced with images they hadn't imagined to be part of the play. As a joker, I sensed high motivation and let the students lead the way, trying to understand what they were heading for. The final image was full of beauty: one of the boys came on stage to show the other boys "How to get a girl". In the play, the boyfriend of the bullied girl had become very physical and had touched her breast while kissing her. Instead, the boy asked the baffled actrice to stand by his side. The other kids yelled, in eager expectation of an erotic scene. The boy smiled, looked the actrice into the eyes and said: "Shall we go and see a movie?", took her hand and together they went backstage. As he returned, the girls in the audience gave him a standing ovation. "This is how you treat a girl" he said with a grin on his face and sat down between his puzzled classmates.

In search for collective desire
The collective desire of a large part of the spect-actors had become visible. To them, the only way to overcome bullying was by creating friendships and to treat each other with respect. Of course, I could have stuck with the prepared scenes in the play, but we would never have come this far. This doesn't always work; often collective desired is blocked by prejudice, shame and group pressure. Good observation, starting with the sitting order of the spect-actors and culminating in "listening between the lines" is a key factor in joking. We are looking for a way to channel the collective desire in an audience. In our Joker Training Programme, which starts next month, much attention will be given to this aspect of the Art of Joking.

Under Pressure 7, August 2001