Status Games

Bugatti Veyron

This is an incredibly simple concept, once you get it. But tough to write about.

Status is our relationship to the world. Not only to people but to things and to places.

For example: Why are we quiet and reserved (usually) in church?  Movie theaters are similar physical spaces, but treated completely differently.

Could it be because one is “God’s House,” and the other is Jim Carey’s?

Would you eat popcorn in church? Could you watch a movie without it?

How many have noticed that, when you go home,  even if you have become a multi-national billionaire philanthropist, you instantly become the “little brother” AKA “Pizza Face.”

One of the best books on improvisational theatre, is Impro, written by Keith Johnstone. Keith is the founder of the Loose Moose Theatre Company in Calgary, Alberta Canada. And one of the theories that Keith writes about is that every day, in every way, in every interaction, we are all playing, status games.

Depending upon how we feel about ourselves, or about the people we meet or even the places we go, we are attempting to adjust our status to what is comfortable for us. We “play” either higher or lower than the other party. In many cases we are status matching with the other party, trying to maintain an equivalent status with them.

This has relevance for Using Humor, because humor relies upon status to work. Status is what drives classic “Dumb (insert group here)” jokes. We get to feel superior to the country hick/city slicker/blond/brunette/engineer/golfer/etc. Many times when humor doesn’t work it is because the status was not right. And it isn’t as simple as low status making high status comments. It may be because there is nothing funny about high status making high status comments.

Sometimes this is easy to recognize. We all know someone who, no matter what we bring up, they have done it better, faster, or spent more money.

These folks drive me nuts.

So turn the tables on them, using status, Talk about how bad something was. When they reply with something much worse. Lower the stakes even more.

If they don’t catch on, you could progress from talking about a rash, to broken bones, to internal injuries, to dire operations, to tropical diseases. And in rare instances they may end up trying to convince you they were actually dead, and brought back to life.

Next time you attend a party, or social event, it will transform how you view everything.

“Suddenly we understood that every inflection and movement implies a status, and that no action was due to chance, or really ‘motiveless.’ It was hysterically funny, but at the same time very alarming. All our secret manoeuverings were exposed.” – Keith Johnstone

There is no way to be neutral.

In trying to be “neutral’ you adjust your status to those around you, and they will in turn adjust to compensate for your modifications.

Go now and observe. Report back in comments what you overhear or participate in.