The Global Media Site for Entertainment.
Menu
Tess Barker is a Los Angeles-based writer and nationally touring comedian who has appeared at the Comedy Central Stage, Meltdown Comics, UCB, and at clubs and colleges throughout the country. She has written for TVLand’s “Throwing Shade,” TruTV’s “Billy on the Street,” and is regularly published on a number of outlets, including Vice, The Guardian, Vox, MTV News, Jezebel, and LA Weekly, where her work has ranged from investigative pieces about wage inequity in professional cheerleading to profiles of icons like Charo and Betsey Jonson. She was one of the hosts of Ovation TV’s “Broadway Bash,” — a talk show devoted to the television show Smash.
Playscripts is proud to license Showdown at Palm Tree Pines, Barker’s warm and quirky comedy about drama within a retirement community. Our Content Manager, Nik Sorocenski, caught up with Ms. Barker to discuss her work.
I am a life-long theater kid, but as an adult writer, I’d primarily intended to focus on narrative non-fiction and writing for film and television. Around ten years ago, though, I co-wrote a two person musical with my friend Brett Schrier, who is a brilliant writer and composer. The show, Time Between Us premiered at the New York Musical Festival and has had some beautiful regional productions since. Getting to sit in the audience in New York and watch talented actors bring my writing to life was a uniquely thrilling experience, and I guess that was my first taste of being a playwright. I think a play is the most alive something you write can be. Everything else will eventually have a final, published form, but a play changes, not just with each cast that does it, but every night, depending on what the actors are doing.
In addition to being a playwright, I am a stand up comedian, journalist, screenwriter, and podcaster. I realize externally those may seem like disparate ventures, but to me, there’s a continuity. I think I’m a storyteller with slightly different instruments. I don’t really look at it as “What kind of writer am I?” so much as “What kind of story is this? What form does it want to take?” I’m curious about the world, so I really enjoy talking to people and just looking around to see where the stories are. Some of what I write is fictional, some not. I think good fiction is just non-fiction with a wig on anyway.
Thank you for saying it seems easy for me! (My secret is that it is not.) I think a lot of writing comedy is letting go and trusting that if you can get your brain quiet enough, you’ll hear the jokes. The easiest way to do this, in my experience, is to make strong choices for your characters and get to know them before it’s time to start writing. Then, when you’re actually putting dialogue down, sit still and let them tell you what they want to say, and hope that their point of view will be funny. If it’s not, though, don’t let yourself get too stuck. Just write “Joke here” and come back to it. Also, whenever possible, give your characters something physical to do.
I write for actors, because if the actors are having fun, so is the audience. I always loved playing old people when I was younger, I think because it was a chance to make big comedic choices with my physicality, voice, and makeup. I thought if I wrote an ensemble comedy where most of the characters were big characters who happened to be old, it would be an opportunity for a bunch of different performers to showcase their comedic chops in a playful kind of jazz-like way.
Read every day. If you want to write comedy, read everything by Neil Simon. See as many plays as you can. Keep Legos or Silly Putty on your desk so you have something besides the Internet to distract yourself with when you’re feeling fidgety. Finish what you start.
Interview with a Playwright: Mora V Harris
Taryn Temple – Playwright Of The Hit Comedy “The Princess Capers”
Playscripts, Inc. brings new plays and musicals to professional, school, community, and college theaters to perform, read and enjoy. These plays represent a great diversity of voices, styles, and stories and offer a fresh perspective on the human experience. Playscripts, Inc. understands the extraordinary role of a playwright as artist, business person, and marketer. We operate under the idea that, "What is good for the playwright, is good for Playscripts." Playscripts, Inc. strives to curate a catalog of plays that meets the needs of theater makers, and exceeds the expectations of audiences. We are at the forefront of play publishing, providing a unique and extensive suite of services for playwrights and customers alike. Using technology, innovation and creativity, Playscripts, Inc. forges connections between playwrights and new audiences. Nik Sorocenski from Playscripts regularly interviews playwrights about their writing and has kindly shared his work with TheatreArtLife.
Read Full Profile
© 2021 TheatreArtLife. All rights reserved.
Thank you so much for reading, but you have now reached your free article limit for this month.
Our contributors are currently writing more articles for you to enjoy.
To keep reading, all you have to do is become a subscriber and then you can read unlimited articles anytime.
Your investment will help us continue to ignite connections across the globe in live entertainment and build this community for industry professionals.
