Thursday, October 16, 2008

Teaching Idea--Faster, Faster, Faster


Last week Ande and I (along with several extended family members) attended Comic Frenzy on her college campus. Oh ho. It was funny. The kids were quick, the ideas original and the humor very laughable. It wasn't stand-up comedy, but rather interactive comedy of eight or ten comedians (I have no idea if interactive comedy is the correct term, all I know is the program reminded me of Whose Line Is It Anyway? where everyone interacts).

One strategy the comedians used was to act out a skit in 45 seconds, then speed it up and act it out in 22 seconds, and then in 11 seconds and finally in 5. Predictably, it got funnier and funnier.

I thought the idea lent itself well to a learning activity for a family or in a classroom. Impromptu skits, rehearsed skits or actual stories may be used. The benefit of using actual stories is that since it is acted out repeatedly teaching is reinforced. Faster, faster, faster is a fun way to teach and learn a subject that involves everyone.

5 comments:

Jill said...

I'd like to see this in person, it sounds hilarious.

michelle said...

Great idea, and great photo, too. That does sound like a funny experience!

Amy said...

I've seen comedy groups do that and it is hilarious. I never thought of it as a teaching idea, but it would focus more & more on the most important parts of the story. What a great idea.

Lucy said...

This kind of idea just stresses me out. The thought of improv makes my heart beat faster. But I'd love to watch others do it.

Kim Sue said...

doing, teaching...reminds me of your newsletter today which I really enjoyed by the way!