10 Comments

  1. I am never interested enough in the Oscars to watch the ceremony, so I didn’t see it, nor have I bothered to read anything about it, other than a few cryptic tweets yesterday which made me suspect that the wrong film had been named at the end. Even so, I was still not interested enough to find out what happened – someone else told me about it today. So I can’t comment on Kimmel’s success in the role of MC, but your analysis of why comedians are far better at hosting than actors sounds pretty spot on to me! Confident improvisation is a life skill that can be learned in theatre classes – who knows when that dreaded day may come when you are chosen to be the MC at the Oscars!

    • You’re right that actors CAN learn the skill in class–I think the issue is that they underestimate how much improvisation the MC role demands. That amount of riffing takes so much practice, and they’ve rarely been put to the test that much unless they have a Christopher Guest-style director who expects it. Oh yes, it’s a terrible curse to be chosen. I just always hope some comedian is generous enough to ignore all the criticism leveled at him/her, and realize that we need him/her!!

      • I didn’t mean to sound like I was defending actors against comedians for the role of hosting! I suspect those who are comedians have a natural talent for improvisation which makes them stronger contenders. Also, for the kinds of actors who get those gigs, it’s a long time since they did any impro!!

        • I didn’t think you were—just saying that actors do have the option of improv in their training, which is true. And you’re right. It can be a long gap between training and practice, and we all get rusty. Mainly I just feel sorry for them. Like you say, comedians do it naturally and look relaxed. Actors do not, and look very, very pained!:)

  2. I didn’t see the Oscars either, but I did catch up on all the hubub the next morning via YouTube. I COMPLETELY AGREE that comedians are better at hosting the Oscars than actors are, for the reasons you mentioned.

    I heard the other day that no one has hosted the Oscars more times than Bob Hope.

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