Improv Lessons I gleaned from Chris Farley. Or, how to be securely insecure.
I finished the biographical “Chris Farley Show” last week with watery eyes. It was a roller coaster of emotion to say the least. As you may know, Saturday Night Live’s pudgy poster-boy’s story is fucking heartbreaking.
The book is a compilation of quotes about Chris from people who knew him well throughout his relatively short life. A point that almost every person made in the book (Lorne Michaels, David Spade, friends from home to name a few) was how consistently giving Chris was. According to Chris, his purpose in life was to make others laugh.
We can learn a whole lot from Chris Farley’s life on and off stage. On stage, Chris was known for being an outstandingly physical and reactionary performer. One of my favorite anecdotes from the book was a story from his brief stint at iO. A member of his improv team had gone onstage rambling. Nobody knew what she was talking about or how to initiate a scene with her. After about a minute, Chris piped up with “Sweet Jesus Elaine would you just bowl already?” Instantly the scene was saved at no one’s expense.
Chris was not afraid to make fun of himself on and off stage. A good chunk of his early days at SNL were fueled by a “fatty falls down” mentality. This worked insofar as it made people laugh.
As Chris got older, his humor matured a bit too. The best Farley bit in my opinion was “The Chris Farley Show”, wherein Chris would interview very famous celebrities (Paul McCartney, Martin Scorsese, Jeff Daniels). The joke was that Chris was a terribly shy and insecure host. His questions often went something like this “Hey Mr. McCartney, do you remember Beatlemania? Yeah, that was cool.” It was hilarious because it was actually Chris. In real life, Chris was just as insecure and shy around people he admired.
Chris Farley and Jeff Daniels on “The Chris Farley Show – Photo Credit: ShareTV/SNL
When Chris’ true insecurity was revealed onstage, it was truly funny because it was true. While his weight almost always wrote his parts for him, the “funny” didn’t come from the weight itself. It came from how Chris honestly grappled with it in absurd situations.
So far it seems as if I’m telling you to gain weight, do too many drugs, and become securely insecure on stage. Scratch the first two ingredients and try the rest.
His habit of giving is what drove Chris’ career to Saturday Night Live. Unfortunately, it also drove him to his death. Chris’ life was plagued with addiction. Addiction to food, to alcohol, to drugs was only a portion of it. Chris was addicted to pleasing others; note his self-proclaimed life goal of making people laugh mentioned above.
After three years of sobriety, and attempting rehabilitation hundreds of times, our own Midwestern Chris Farley relapsed hard in 1997. He died after overdosing on cocaine in his John Hancock building apartment.
Watch Chris in action. You’ll learn a lot.