One of the worst things that can happen to an actor on stage is breaking, dropping character in view of the audience. This almost always happens because of something funny and expected, when an actor refers to breaking they mean smiling and/or laughing. It’s mortifying, it’s embarrassing, and it usually makes for a great story for the bar. It’s typically seen as a loss of focus or discipline, you weren’t fully in the moment enough to power through whatever distraction occurred and there you are having pulled yourself and the audience out of the world of the play. The older I get though, the more inclined I am to think that’s bullshit. Admittedly, that’s probably because in rehearsal I break so easily these days. If something is funny, I want to laugh at it, I love to laugh. I’ve come to feel that it’s not an indication of a lack of focus or not being in the moment, it’s because you are in the moment, completely and entirely.
All of which is basically an elaborate rationalization for my utter lack of a poker face when faced with comedy. I’m good at dealing with distractions, if something goes wrong I am laser focused and ready to cover or do what is needed to keep the show going smoothly. If something funny happens, it can be a real struggle to keep myself together. It’s easier when there’s an audience, at least when there’s an audience that doesn’t catch what just happened and starts laughing, but during rehearsals? I got nothing.
I get a lot of comfort from blooper reels featuring actors I admire crumbling into laughter. Paul Rudd peeing his pants a little laughing during the filing of Role Models is a personal favorite of mine, along with every blooper reel from Star Trek: The Next Generation. TNG is probably my favorite; watching an acting titan like Patrick Stewart (and an entire bridge of highly skilled and talented character actors as well) crumple into giggles over and over again gives me hope like few other things.