My son, Nick, just turned 14, and one of his gang's traditions on such occasions is to produce a brief comic video for YouTube. The vids are really funny, but listening to six teenage boys collaborate on a comedy feature is a riot in itself.
They start with a loose script and each shot has a scenario, but what stood out to me this time is the way in which they don't just own, but embrace their mistakes. Here are the top three reasons why that helps the process.
1. Make it right, but keep it light. When shots break down because of a mistake, the first response is laughter. Then there is a re-group and another try.
2. Accidents lead to discovery. Frequently the breakdown will give them a new idea, which they add to the scene as the process goes on. Sometimes a mistake will give them a totally different idea for dialogue, or for the entire scene.
3. Disasters bring delight. When a scene goes completely belly up, everyone cracks up. Someone will say, "That'll be great for the blooper reel." Everyone knows the blooper reel is the best part of the comedy. Since the advent of DVD extra features, a commercial movie will sometimes even include them in the credits. The boys take for granted that exposing their mistakes is great comedy, and that the audience expects it.
Sports and fine arts know this process well. Practice and rehearsal, if not always funny, are always a process of attempts, reflection, and repetition. Academic classrooms need to remember this, too.
1. When we are relaxed or amused, our minds are open.
2. Frequently a wrong answer yields an insight into how we think, or how the concept is structured. Good questions lead to better questions.
3. From Corn Flakes to dynamite to X-rays, the history of game-changing discoveries is a history of fortunate accidents. Click here to read about some of them. A dead end sometimes means we are just facing the wrong direction.
As we learn to learn, we want to embrace mistakes, keep our sense of humor through frustrating processes, try again, and re-imagine the world.
