It seems like everyone that studies improv ends up having a stock character that they end up falling on when there isn’t a more obvious character choice available. Often that stock character is an expression of a person’s everyday personality, just taken to the next level. I guess that’s not always the case, but there always seems to be an element of truth to that character, and that’s what makes it easy to pull out as necessary. In my case, my stock character involves me dropping an octave or two and taking on a ridiculously deep voice. I put on a serious face and talk as if I’m a serious guy that’s seen a heck of a lot of shit in his day. Depending on the context of the scene, I’ll throw in a bit of a swagger to the character to amp up the sex factor. I find that it’s a good character to use whenever I need to bring out an authority figure or someone with a no-nonsense attitude. Most of the time, it’s a character that just works. The bad thing about that is that it’s possible for that stock character to become something of a crutch. It’s for this reason that I enjoy bringing out low-status characters into scenes. It’s kind of fun playing the bumbling fool, or the inexperienced fresh-faced lad. Ultimately, the deep-voiced guy is just fun to bring out.
Now, if I said that stock characters tend to have a personal basis but are brought to a higher level, I wonder what my serious character says about me? Loud? Boorish? Take charge-like? Angry?
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