Looking for inspiration to perform an Elf at a kid's Christmas Party

November 28, 2005 11:48 AM

Help me prepare a gig! I will be performing the Fairy Godmother's Elf during an office children's Christmas Party and I'm looking for inspiration.

I will be performing the Fairy Godmother's Elf during the Kid's Gifts Give-Aways at my office and I hope to entertain the kids and parents that will be paying attention (I don't want to completely steal the show, I just want to add my little touch to the proceedings!).

The Fairy Godmother will be played by an older colleague and she will be most likely be playing it straight. Santa Claus will be played by a good-natured office clown from another department. We won't have much time to "rehearse" together, so what I'm looking for now is a little inspiration for my character. I would also like to have a little "comedy routine" ready to go so at least I will have something to do on stage.

I am also looking for material to study. I will check the Will Ferell movie later this week, but I'm interested in any comedic actor's work from which I could take some cues. For now I'm thinking for some reason something along the lines of Buster Keaton (I want to keep my performance pantomime-based), but any suggestions are welcome!

My first idea was to play a "disgruntled" elf (à la "Oncle Georges" for those who are familiar with Daniel Lemire), but I don't want to spoil the fun for the young kids and that probably wouldn't be very funny for anybody anyways.

Thanks!

posted by jchgf to grab bag (5 comments total)

If it's for kids, I'd go for Harpo Marx over Buster Keaton. Rent yourself some Marx Brothers flicks, and pay attention to Harpo's expressions and how he fools people when they're not looking. Kids eat that stuff up.
posted by Robot Johnny at 12:25 PM on November 28, 2005

What is a "Fairy Godmother's Elf"? (Sorry, I googled but got nothing.)
posted by trip and a half at 12:37 PM on November 28, 2005

trip and a half: maybe we have our Christmas mythology wrong here at the office, but this would be an elf working as an assistant to the Fairy Godmother (in french: "la Fée de Étoiles"). Yeah, there is no mention of an elf or Christmas on the Wikipedia link.
posted by jchgf at 2:05 PM on November 28, 2005

Don't wait until later this week. Rent Elf tonight. Seriously.

Now, all you have to do is approach the world with that sort of wonder.
posted by filmgeek at 2:13 PM on November 28, 2005

Rented Elf, Duck Soup, A Night at the Opera and Monkey Business. I'll probably use a few bits from Elf if I see any opportunity, but mostly I'll follow filmgeek's advice and just revert to a childlike wonder and play it pretty much straight.

I wish I could perform Harpo's piano set for the kids in A Night At The Opera, but I foresee some difficulty with the available timeframe.

BTW: I almost cried while watching Elf.
posted by jchgf at 9:19 AM on November 30, 2005