If two minutes is funny, why not ten?

Last fall, I posted here about having a two-minute (yes, two-minute) play, Thinking of Elephants, produced by the Minnesota Shorts Festival. 

 

It was a simple idea for what was essentially a quick skit. Taking place in a laundromat, one person’s discomfort at having the “underthings” in her basket seen by a coworker ends in a kind of “mutually assured destruction” scenario; she demands a peek at his own “unmentionables.”

 

But even for that simple scenario, I wrote too much dialogue and had to throw out many lines to keep it to about two minutes.

 

But after seeing the two-minute production, I wondered if the idea couldn’t sustain the 10-minute length that most short-play competitions request. The key wasn’t just to add back in my excised dialogue, but to find an emotional core to the story that would make it about more than just embarrassment. Pondering this for a while, I realized that the text of the story – feeling exposed before a coworker – could be subtext as well. 

 

With more time to play out the scenario, it seemed to work even better. More jokes to be sure, but now there was a relatable feeling underlying the humor that gave it more impact. 

 

See what you think. The Sell Yourself Short podcast has produced the expanded Thinking of Elephants as an audio play and the production has now been posted. You can also listen to it right here: 

 


After the production, there’s a brief talk between producer/host Gary Bernard DiNardo and myself. For me, this was my main takeaway: You may like what you write, but sharing it with others is showing your vulnerability – a bit like feeling exposed at a laundromat, to reference my own work. 

But when other people are impressed enough to invest their time and talent in bringing it to life, that’s a really great feeling. And to hear words that you wrote professionally performed, that’s even better.


Thank you, Gary, and actors, Melanie Kurstin and Tom Beheler.

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