Augmented Aliki is an Augmented Reality stand up comedy experience which was born in the meeting point between my comedy practise and my investigation of new media. We are still working on this, prototyping it several times until I figure how my performance has to be altered in order to create an effect similar to the live stand-up.
One of the exciting factors of this experience was the possibility of placing my performance anywhere -especially in places that are not meant for such performance. Augmented Aliki is exactly revealing the comedy value of stand up comedy in spaces where it is not meant to be.
Working in between different formats and practices, one needs to put on different "costumes" and see their content change its shape in each format. The way I am communicating with the audience in a performance of in a pre-recorded piece is fundamentally different but still has to be precise, in order to have a communication with the audience. This adaptation of language, across formats, seems to be a current theme as artists are trying to communicate their work through online platforms because of coronavirus, the global pandemic that the world is facing right now. Theatre plays are being video recorded and uploaded. Comedians and performers are moving from live to live streaming. Institutions and organizations are publishing calls and trying out ideas, about ways to deal with this new situation. My research is not directly aiming to contribute to this discussion, it is a personal investigation and I started having those questions long ago, but I feel the need to acknowledge this historical context and invite my peers to read my research in whatever way it helps and serves them. It would be delightful to contribute to some colleague's attempt to re-format their work.
The storytelling monologue, is pointing at themes I am generally gravitating towards: Challenges we face when going through rites of passage, as we transition into adulthood, as we try to learn the world around us and become part of it, and especially when our expectations about it are not met. Something fascinating is happening in the glitch between fantasy and reality. This glitch is also apparent in our behaviour as we wear different masks during our lifetime. What are the roles we accept and how do we perform them, how do we perform our life and what happens when we fail to perform the role we were given. As Erving Goffman (1956) explains, what we think of as the expression of self, is often monitored, voluntarily or involuntarily, by us, in order to create a particular impression. Possibly because of my experience with performing arts, I have become interested in everyday life "performances". The way we act on several roles, such as being a woman, a father, a teacher, all the things that we do while trying to keep this role and the moments when the performance fails.
The idea of placing stand up comedy in unexpected locations inspired me the thought of playing with placing my stand up directly in places where it is not meant to be and filming it. (Comedy in a very cold climate - trees, fish and dead)
The art practice across different formats though feels like an enriching process. It can be a fantastic way to work and exist as an artist. Moving across formats and expressing oneself while learning and transferring what she has learnt. For example, I believe that stand up comedy offered me much more than the skill of writing jokes or punching-up scripts. It can offer an experience of direct communication with an audience. This vague idea of "how people perceive my work", that I had as a filmmaker, became less vague when I went on stage to do stand up. I could see their face reacting to every single thing I was saying, even just to my very presence on stage. This feeling of immediacy followed me even when I was writing for the screen or shooting a film. A film is a collection of moments, a constant dialogue back and forth with the audience, happening every second. Without underestimating the tremendous power of a medium and of being a medium's expert, I would like to acknowledge and nourish the cross-fertilization between formats and practices.
