Over on LinkedIn @Andrew Cory asked this question, and I thought it would warrant answering here. What’s your punchline answer?

In case you don’t know, every February 25 is Commedia Dell’Arte day, commemorating the 1545 registration of Italy’s first professional theater actors and the lasting impact of this influential art form. For those studying clowning and physical comedy, recognizing Commedia dell’Arte remains vital, as it provides foundational principles that continue to shape performance practices today. Originating in 16th-century Italy, Commedia dell’Arte introduced masked stock characters, improvised lazzi, and a focus on physical expression over written scripts. In an era dominated by scripted media, it underscores the value of nonverbal communication, precise timing, and direct audience engagement—elements central to clown performance. Our work is the direct descendants of those performers. Commedia dell’Arte’s archetypal figures—such as the cunning servant Zanni or Arlecchino, the boastful Captain, and the miserly Pantalone—profoundly influenced subsequent theater and arts. William Shakespeare drew on its farcical plots, improvisational style, and character types, as seen in The Taming of the Shrew with figures resembling Pantalone. Molière incorporated its scenarios, rhythmic dialogue, and lover intrigues into satires like Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. The form also shaped ballet through 18th-century dancers who emulated its acrobatic and grotesque movements, advancing ballet d’action. Similarly, the Punch and Judy puppet tradition derives from Commedia’s slapstick violence and the hunchbacked Pulcinella. These patterns extend to sitcoms, where archetypes appear in series like The Simpsons (Mr. Burns as Pantalone, Homer as Arlecchino) and relational dynamics in Friends (Joey is always hungry. Coincidence? And early sitcoms (Three’s Company for example) could have been written in the 1500s! Commedia dell’Arte’s legacy persists in silent films through performers like Charlie Chaplin, who embodied Arlecchino’s agility; in Muppets characters echoing Zanni servants; and even in the banter of Marvel heroes. Its principles of physical comedy inform contemporary clowning, improvisation, and broader media, affirming their relevance in our performance theory and our training.

Was listening to a podcast today and it said something about when you get stuck, you need to return to your creative practice, and it made me think it would be a good topic to start here. I try to do my creative work in two phases-- in the morning just after I have woken up and I am still in the dreamy phase (and I often find that I have great ideas in the shower, so I try to write them down and noodle them. I try to do my business stuff in the afternoon (when it's morning in the states) I also have an afternoon energy burst around 4-6 pm, and I try to get some writing or rehearsing in then. If it's a performance day, that sometimes gets cut into if I have to drive/get ready. And sometimes I don't have that burst, so it doesn't happen. On the weekends, I typically spend Sunday mornings at a cafe writing. So what's your practice? How do you get better at what you do?

Anyone in the bham, al area a comedian?

On Instagram I post something funny everyday and write about why it's funny. I archive it here. If you want to discuss any one of these in particular, start a new topic for it!