Costume AND play: How to brainstorm performance ideas for cosplay skits

The first report of a costume at a convention was the 1939 World Science Fiction Convention, now known an WorldCon, and modern cosplay as we know it probably sprung from the Star Trek fandom. Wherever we decide it began, we can all agree that the word itself is a portmanteau of ‘costume’ and ‘play’ – but, for some of us, one discipline often comes easier than the other. 

I call myself a theatrical competitive cosplayer, which means I prefer competitions where a percentage of my overall score is based on my stage performance. Longing to play the princess or the superhero on stage or screen is how I found cosplay in the first place, and living out my fantasies for those precious two minutes in a competition in front of an audience is what keeps me going!

The #1 question I’m asked is how do you come up with a skit?

Inspiration can strike anywhere and everywhere, and I have an ongoing list on my phone of half-baked thoughts, potential song choices, moments from theatre shows, and even lines of dialogue that I’m keeping for a rainy day – but how did they even get there in the first place?

Be inspired…

…by the character.

Tape six sheets of paper together (or use Canva) and write your character’s name in the centre. Start to write down all your favourite things about them, why you decided to cosplay them, and what about their story appeals to you. Write down any moments, scenes, and quotes that come to mind, colours, shapes, and songs that remind you of them, and the plot arcs and decisions that define them. You should end up with a massive spider diagram of the most important beats of their story, and the reasons you fell in love with them.

Go back to the source, and map your character’s journey through their media, eg. from their earliest appearance to their very last. It might be their whole life, or just a snapshot of it. Focus on their unique character traits, and their changing motivations throughout their journey. Literally sit there and take notes while you watch or play! Pinpoint lines of dialogue you can steal (don’t forget to note the timestamp) and gestures you can perfect, like Loki’s hair flick, Doflamingo’s walk, or Elsa’s eyebrow raise, for later.

What do you like about your character? What do you not like? What are their three most iconic lines? What would you say is the most defining thing about them? What’s their motivation, and how does that change throughout?

Work backwards from the end of your character’s story. Which part of their journey do you find most impactful, or emotional? How are they a different person now than who they were at the beginning? What note does the media end on – is it positive, negative, wistful, hopeful, desperate, or something different entirely?

Within this is the heart of your skit – you just need to pull it out.

…by the media.

It’s only an option for film, TV, games, etc., but one of my favourite tricks is to listen to the soundtracks of my character’s media on repeat. There are banks of OSTs in my Spotify likes! While listening, think about how the character behaved at specific musical beats, and how the music makes you feel. If there are character motifs, eg. the Avengers theme, make a note of the timestamp for when you cut your backing track together. Stand in a room by yourself, wearing headphones, and move to the music to get a feel for the story it’s telling. 

If you’re considering a comedy skit, is there a fandom joke you can lean on that’s popular enough that most people will understand? It’s difficult to get an audience on-side if not all of them understand a very specific reference, but some jokes and references, eg. Skyrim’s ‘taking an arrow to the knee’, have made it far enough into mainstream media that you could be safe. Try it out on friends who don’t know your media to see whether it’s still entertaining, even if they’re not ‘in on it’.

One of my favourite writing strategies is ‘what if?’. What if the story had gone differently? What if the character hadn’t betrayed their friend, or died, or stolen a different artifact, or received a different power, or been adopted by a different parent?

Copying skits is never okay, but stealing like a writer, ie. Taking inspiration from so many sources that you can’t clearly identify even one of them, is how new stories are created. If there are videos of previous performances on the stage, or from the same competition, watch and assess them like a judge to see what works and what doesn’t.

…by the costume.

Does the character have a signature prop or weapon that you plan to build as part of your costume? Consider theming the performance around that, eg. learning to fight with a sword, bow, or lightsaber, or looking for the missing treasure. If you have personal skills, like martial arts, poi, or musical instruments, think about how you might incorporate them into the costume and therefore the performance.

Do you particularly want to make your costume in a certain way, eg. hidden pockets to pull magic tricks from, or do you want to work in a costume change? Look at Alice: Madness Returns performances for some great ideas here. If you are planning a costume change, ensure that it’s part of your storytelling rather than just a random moment. My latest skit was a ‘reverse’ costume change where I took off, ‘broke’, and replaced parts of my costume during the performance to show the character becoming comfortable in herself.

Consider the costume itself: how much movement and flexibility do you have in it? If you struggle to lift your arms above your shoulders, or you have to walk with your knees wide apart, that will inherently limit the types of performances that you can do. In these cases, focus on the ‘still’ elements of the character, eg. can you give a rousing battle speech instead of doing fight choreography?

…by the event.

If you’ve got your heart set on entering a specific event, eg. the MegaCon Live London show in January (I’ll be judging!), read and re-read the rules regarding what different stage elements are allowed – and don’t break them, or you’ll be instantly disqualified.

If you can find the information, consider the size of the stage and the AV (audio-visual) technical elements you have access to. Do you know if you have a screen, the opportunity to change your lighting colours, or the audience sitting in a specific place? When Kerritcos and I were working on our Clone Wars/Kenobi skit, we choreographed it specifically for the 10mx10m stage we had, and, even then, I nearly fell off the edge!

Who else are you competing with – are you an individual or a group? How much time do you have to put this together? Will you be travelling by car, train, or plane? Is it a local event, so you can try more things out because you only have a short distance to travel, or an international event, where your suitcases will have a weight allowance? At MegaCon Live, you’re encouraged to use stage props and a stage ninja to enhance your performance; what stage tricks might you be able to accomplish with a second pair of hands? All of these answers will vary from event to event and need to be taken into consideration when coming up with your performance, because it will change what you’re able to do.

The general guidance for how much time and energy you should be spending on your performance is to consider the weighting of the competition. Some examples:

• MegaCon Live is 70% costume/30% performance;
• MCM is 100% costume OR 100% performance;
• Insomnia is a very exciting 40% costume/40% performance/5% character concept/15% progress book.

For a very rough, not-scientific-at-all, sum, aim to spend around the same percentage of your time on your performance as the weighting suggests, eg. if you spend 10 hours on your project for MegaCon Live, spend 7 hours on your costume and 3 hours on your performance.

…by the hobby.

I’m never more inspired to work on my next project when I’m sitting in the audience, watching a cosplay competition. If you don’t have the chance to attend another convention before the show you want to enter, there are a bunch on YouTube! Try DavePlays videos from MegaCon Live and Insomnia, and the European Cosplay Gathering and World Cosplay Summit playlists for some incredible international performances on an epic scale. Similarly, try and watch some theatre! The production value hits completely differently. If you can’t see it live, try National Theatre at Home, the Globe Player, or filmed musical productions like Hamilton or Newsies.

Even just engaging more within the genre of your media will give you more source material to draw inspiration from and keep you thinking about the stories you can tell. Try superhero films, science fiction movies, or dance performances to broaden your theatrical horizons.

If you’re stuck in a rut, desperate to enter the next masquerade but without a clue what to perform, I here are some quick ‘do’s and ‘don’t’s:

Don’t:

• Feel like you have to retell the entire story of your media. Keep it simple for an audience who might not be familiar with your character;
• Copy another cosplayer’s skit. No one wants to see the same performance twenty times, and it’s disrespectful to other creatives;
• Feel limited to the music or vibe of your source media. The beauty of a cosplay performance is that you’re the director!
• Think you have to be funny if it doesn’t come easily. The word ‘skit’ doesn’t just mean a comedic performance anymore, it covers so many different types of performance.

Do:

• Focus on a specific moment, storyline, or plot point. Honing in tightly on a character’s emotions help you to better understand their story, and play them on stage;
• Remember there are people in the audience who have never seen your media. If you can, show your skit to an oblivious friend to get an idea of how much sense it makes;
• Rehearse a lot if you’re developing new skills, eg. stage fighting. Send rehearsal videos with your application to prove you’re going to be safe.
• Make notes throughout your rehearsal process. It’s both fun and helpful to see how your thoughts and approaches to the character and their story change over time.

I hope inspiration finds you. Break a leg!