Studying What's Funny

A comedy workshop directed by Austin Tichenor, parent of lower Quincy Tichenor, attracted a great crowd to Fisher Theater last Saturday.There, students learned skills that included improvisation, stand-up, physical comedy, clown work, stage combat skill, classical acting, general acting and contemporary acting. "I definitely loved Mr. Tichenor’s talk on Wednesday," senior Marilyn Vaccaro said. "For one, he was hilarious—he swears like a sailor and although he tried to curb it for the younger ones in the audience, he was mostly unsuccessful."Tichenor decided to come to Exeter because of his relationship with Mr. Richards, the enrollment of his son and the "beautiful" campus. "Why wouldn’t I want to come here?" he said.Tichenor has been making his living in the theater for nearly 30 years and is currently one of the members in the Reduced Shakespeare Company, a comedy trio that reduces long subjects into short, sharp comedies. The group has been performing around the world and has created seven stage shows, two television specials and radio pieces, according to its website.Tichenor was thoroughly impressed with the performances Exonians gave at the workshop. "They [the students] did really well and I was amazed at the turnout," he said. "The only guaranteed way to fail is to not try. Everybody got up and everybody participated. There was a great vibe in the room. It was really fun."The vibrant and open atmosphere helped to accent the tone of the workshop. "I really enjoyed the active part, where we actually got to get up and have him help us with stage combat and improvisation," lower Sadie Gregory said. "He had a lot of good tips, and I think the fact that he didn’t make it ‘just a lecture’ showed how well he knew audiences. His candid descriptions of comedy stereotyping were really fresh, and made me feel more open to saying and doing things that were more funny."Vaccaro shared similar sentiments as to the way material was presented. "He always adds in the innuendos that of course appeal to high schoolers. However, he didn't ‘talk’ or ‘teach’ for that long."Prep Peace Kabari particularly enjoyed the style in which the material was presented. "I really liked how hands-on it was. Getting to go up on-stage and play out a scene that we made ourselves was an experience." She continued, "I learned how to properly ‘fight’ on-stage and that actors don’t just act, they perform."Tichenor has been involved in theater production since kindergarten, where he performed puppet shows and classroom plays. This soon evolved into movies with friends and musicals in high school. He said, "I like telling stories and sometimes I like to write the stories, sometimes I like to act the stories and sometimes I like to take a story that someone has written and direct it using other actors. Because I’m not right for every part. Every actor thinks they’re right for every part, but they’re not. But writing and directing allows me to act every role even if I’m not right for every part."Instead of attending law school like he planned, Tichenor ended up continuing his involvement with the theater. He said, "I had that lucky kid who had the father who said, ‘Don’t go to law school. You’ll hate it. Do something you love.’ So, I went to grad school and went to Boston University and got my MFA in directing, and I’ve been very lucky."Tichenor hopes to come back in the near future and continue his work. He said, "The only thing is now that I’ve done this, I want to do this again. I want to get better at it, but also there were so many things that these kids were doing where I thought, ‘Oh, I love what they’re doing.’ I would love the time to expand on that and it would be fun to come back and do it again."