The lectorial this week (8) focused on audiences, which was actually quite fitting considering my interview with Josh Ladgrove was centred on the role an audience plays in comedy. Josh had a rather different view of audiences than the norm. In regular shows, the audience is a passive entity, watching the TV/live performance/whatever media they are consuming in full, and then reflecting upon it afterwards. However, much like the concept of “the people formally known as the audience”, the boundaries shift in his comedic shows. He uses the audience as an active participant in his productions. Similarly to the fandom audience, how they write fan fiction, enter contests etc etc, this goes even further. The audience actually becomes part of the show.
The lecture suggests that media practitioners accept that the “people formally known as the audience” new role. That they should welcome and integrate them into their content. I completely agree, having been to see Josh Ladgrove perform, being an active participant in the show as an audience member is thrilling.
Moving forward, I would attempt to think of a way to harness this active audience role in various other forms of media. Though to be honest, its hard to think of a way a big budget show could rely on such a variable concept. The show can be bad if an audience doesn’t bring it that night, and if there is a lot of money invested in this particular content, how willing are the producers/investors going to be to let the show ride on what kind of audience you have.