[BiWiccanAndProud]

Okay I'm in a forensics class and I love it! The main thing I do is HS (Humorous Solo) and I am looking foreword to this years season. I have a piece I'm doing already (Open to Interpretation, it's about all the ways you could tell Hansel and Gretel), but it's a bit hard and I'm not sure I could do it well enough in a tournament. Does anyone know some good sites to find HS scripts for schools? I already looked through my coaches supply but found nothing else I like except one thing, but it only has one character (although it's harder to imitate two voices I prefer doing a HS with two or more chars then just one).

Speaking of which, last year I found a piece in my coaches supply called "The Odd Couple" but it was about two girls not guys. It was really funny!! One girl is a neat freak and the other is not, at one point food is thrown, one girl gets threatened with pepper spray, and through the whole thing they argue and one girl ends up leaving. I loved it! But now I can't find it in any of his stuff! Does anyone know this piece and who the author is? Or where I could find it? Your help is much appreciated I only got till next semester to get this ready!

[ScottGem]

Forensics? That's the application of scientific method to solving crimes. Sounds like you are referring to dramatics or theatre.

And the Odd Couple was written by Neil Simon. Its was a popular Broadway show turned into a popular movie (with Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon) and later made into a popular and long running TV show (with Jack Klugman and Tony Randall). I believe a version was rewritten for females rather than males in the main roles.

[BiWiccanAndProud]

No >.< forensics is also the name for a type of drama performing done in high school (I don't know why they named it that but they did). You can perform any two of the following topics at tournaments Humorous solo, Humorous duet, Serious solo, Serious duet, IDA, Prose, Poetry, or Extempt. You only have to memorize Extempt, SS, SD, HS, HD, and IDA, for duets you get two chairs and a table to perform with, solos you get a chair.

The odd couple I'm talking about wasn't by Neil Simon.

[ScottGem]

Hmm, I did find reference to forensics acting, but no explanation of why its called that. It appears to have something to do with competitive performances. Mostly public speaking or debate, but acting as well.

What you found may have been an adaptation of Simon's Odd Couple for female roles (and it would seem a natural for forenisics acting). But I have no doubt it was based on his work. What you described was exactly what Simon wrote; a neatnik and a slob living together. There is even a scene where the slob character throws a plate of spaghetti against a wall.

[BiWiccanAndProud]

Ya, its nothing to do with debate though, it's acting and speaking. It's real fun! This will be my third year doing it and I'm eger to find out if they do it in college as well. What you do is you are put in 2 or 3 rounds and reach round you perform your piece in the room that is for that topic, you perform in front of 1-3 judges. After you go someone else goes. At the end of the rounds posters are put up with the topic at the top. Letters and numbers are listed under each one of who won the rounds and if you win you perform again (at the beginning of the tornament you are giving a letter and number example: A3). It's real exciting and you meet a lot of interesting people. I've placed at only 2 tournaments before and the places I got were 6th and 5th. This year I want it to change! Best part is the best school in my county's coach just got in a lot of trouble (supposedly he was having sex with a student I believe). So that school is either not going to be there this year or they won't be as good.

Yes yes!! The slob does through a plate of pasta against the wall when the neat freak corrects her on the name of the pasta. Like I said at one point they are running around and the neat freak pulls out a fog horn or pepper spray or something. My favorite part is when the neat freak says she's going to tell the slob off (it doesn't even sound like a tell off >.<) and at the end says "There! You have offically been told off!!" and then slob gets up and tells her off! Saying what she thinks of her pans, her crying, her cooking, and her cleanings. It's real funny and I really wanted to do it this year!

[ScottGem]

That's Neil Simon's Odd Couple. I suggest getting a copy of the video (your library should have it). Its definitely one of the top comedies of all time.

Oh, and while your class might not include debate, my research of forensic acting shows that in most places its more about debate.

[BiWiccanAndProud]

No, Forensics has nothing to do with debate. There are Debate tournaments but debate season takes place in the fall and Forensics season starts in late winter and spring.

The only thing is I have not found a FEMALE odd couple, and I really don't think it was by Neil Simons cause I've looked up and I haven't seen that he made one. I also recall that a watermark was on the back of the script that said "for school use only" so I think it was made specifially for forensics (they do that alot). Getting a copy of the vid from my library or anyplace would not help me. I have to have a script! And I have to have the author! It is against the rules to preform any part of a movie or show, it has to be a published script (there are some scripts that are from movies like I have a friend who in the past did a couple scenes from the Godfather, but those were open to schools). Point is I can't just memorize words off a movie and perform it. I have to find the script online and print it off or find it in a book and copy it.

[Emland]

I loved Tony Randle in the Odd Couple!

Thanks for explaining the dual meaning to forensics. For a minute I thought your thespian club coach had OD'd on CSI.

[ScottGem]

What you have described is clearly based on Simon's play.

The suggestion to get the video was so you could see that it clearly was based on Simon's play.

As for finding it, you clearly didn't look very hard:

The Odd Couple was also revised by Neil Simon in 1985 for a female cast (Sally Struthers and Rita Moreno starred). It was based on the same story line and same lead characters, now called Florence Ungar and Olive Madison, the Poker game becoming Trivial Pursuit and the Pigeon sisters becoming the Costazuela Brothers (played in the original cast by Lewis J. Stadlen and Tony Shalhoub in his broadway debut). The play ran on Broadway for 295 performances and was directed by Gene Saks.

I also found this (after a minute of searching):

A copy of the script is on reserve at the Winchester Public Library. Scripts can be purchased from Samuel French, Inc 45 West 25th Street, New York, NY 10010 or via their website at www.samuelfrench.com .

Please try not to argue with people who really know what they are talking about.

[BiWiccanAndProud]

Lol! Don't worry a lot of people think that. You bring up forensics and people automatically think of dead bodies. Though dead bodies are brought up a lot in this we do not work on them we act them XD. Seriously though it's great! One year my friend charlie performed "Rinse the blood off my toga" for a HS! He was a private eye trying to find out who killed Julius Ceaser. It was funny as heck!!

[BiWiccanAndProud]

OMG SCOTT I COULD KISS YOU!! *huggles!! *

For the record I wasn't arguing and I did realize it was based off Neil's "The Odd Couple" I knew it was based off his but I didn't think he wrote it. I searched forever trying to find it! I must have just been searching wrong! AGAIN THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!! Anychance you can find me the shorter version though? It was only a small clip from it, I only have 7 minutes to perform, and I don't want my coach to have to buy the whole script for 7 dollars when we don't need it. Our drama department only has so much money.

P.S if anyone else can find any good sites that carry Forensics scripts for schools let me know!

[ScottGem]

All I did was plug in odd couple female version into a search engine. I did find some used scripts for less than $4 on amazon.com. That samuelfrench site seems to be a leading provider of scripts for amateur productions, they may be able to help more.

[BiWiccanAndProud]

I did too but I kept getting stuff that wasn't anything like the script. When I think about it I may have been looking at parts from the rest of the play. The one that my coach had starts with the neatfreak coming home, they argue, and then the neat freak leaves. It was only 6 and a half minutes long. So I might have been finding it without realizing it. I didn't realize it was a broadway production, so I was just looking for that short script.

[4N6freak23]

First of all the events are dramatic interpritation (DI) humorous interp. (HI) humorous duo, Dramatic Duo, prose, poetry, and storytelling and duet acting depending on the tournaments attended. The only one that has props is duet which is I think two chairs and a table. I competed DI this year and did pretty well. If you are in forensics (4N6) at your school and are not in the NFL (national forensics league) you should talk to your coach!
If your looking for a humorous piece novice or varsity you always want charecters. No more than 4 or 5 but the more humorous they are the better. You can really make anything humorous. Another tip is not to do well known pieces like harry potter or any movie script unless you are extremely good at it because you could be compared to the actual thing.
And if you are doing dramatic cancer and rape pieces may sound good until your in a room with 5 other cancer pieces look outside the box not just for typical. 4N6 is all about being original.:)

[Clough]

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Thread is now CLOSED.