Christopher Guest is an American comedy writer, actor, musician and director. Throughout his career he has participated in a variety of comedic creations, which include theater, film and television. He has become well known for his documentary style films known as “mocumentaries”. This term is one that Guest himself does not like. Mocumentaries are defined as a docucomedy, which is a type of film in which fictional events are presented as a documentary style to create a parody. (Mocumentary) Through the years he has perfected the improvised style of comedy that started in the film he co-wrote and starred in titled This is Spinal Tap.
Christopher Hayden Guest was born on February 5, 1948 in New York City. His mother was American and his father was British who worked at the United Nations, and was a member of the House of Lords. (Christopher Guest) During his childhood, Guest spent a lot of time between London and New York. He attended The High School of Music and Art in New York. He then went on to attend college at NYU. (Christopher Guest) He shortened his name to Christopher Guest when he went to an audition in which the director scoffed at his fake sounding name. (KPCS)
Among his many talents, Guest has a knack for impersonations. In all of his films, he is able to accurately depict each character by changing his voice and accent with ease. He was able to perfect this skill by practicing since childhood. He credits this ability to his geographically diverse childhood. (Christopher Guest) “When he acts, Guest creates a character starting with the voice, an obsession he honed growing up in New York City, where he spent his free time in the bathroom. ‘There was some echo with the tile, so I could practice voices,’ he said. When his parents took him out to dinner, he would listen to a waiter recite the specials, then order in the waiter’s voice, to the dismay of his father…and his mother.” (Witchel)
While studying at NYU Guest was able to perform in some theater productions including Moonchildren, Room Service and Little Murders. There Guest met Michael McKean who would later appear in many of his films specifically in his mocumentaries. They played in a band together while in college. (IMDB) Guest is a musician who is well trained in a variety of instruments. He has also generated music and lyrics for various projects including his films. He started by writing both the script and music for National Lampoons Lemmings at the Village Gate Theater. (Christopher Guest Biography)
He continued to develop his career when he met up with Rob Reiner to co-write the script and create the music for This is Spinal Tap. The film follows a heavy metal band while they tour North America. It covers their sometimes-complex relationships and their history including numerous changes within the group. It becomes apparent that the band is longer as relevant as they used to be as they find themselves playing in front of smaller audiences, even headlining at one point with a puppet show. The film features Christopher Guest as somewhat dimwitted Nigel, Michael McKean as David along with Harry Shearer as Derek. Throughout the film they are interviewed and filmed by filmmaker Marty Di Bergi who is played by Rob Reiner.
This project launched a filmmaking style that Guest would build upon in future years. He describes how the script was written for This is Spinal Tap stating; “We were given money to write a script, and we realized about a week later that we couldn’t really write what we needed to do — it needed to be done in a more spontaneous way. And so we took the money they gave us, and we started actually making the movie.” (Bailey) He also states that while the scenes were mostly improvised, there was an outline and other information that the actors could go off of. “There are no rehearsals, and there were no lines written.” (Bailey)
Using this style of improvising produced a unique and unexpected amount of film. The characters interacted in a spontaneous way that resulted in 50 hours of film. All of this footage needed to be condensed down to a film that lasted 82 minutes. (Bailey) Guest wrote the music for the film and the actors actually were able to perform and play as if they were a real band. They have since performed in concert as Spinal Tap. Rob Reiner who directed the film describes how some people believed that the band was real. He states, “When Spinal Tap initially came out, everybody thought it was a real band, everyone said, ‘Why would you make a movie about a band that no one has heard of?’ The reason it did go over everybody’s head was it was very close to the bone.” (Wood)
After This is Spinal Tap concluded, Guest went on to perform and write for Saturday Night Live. He was hired as a one-year cast member for the 1984-1985 season. (Christopher Guest Wikipedia) During his year at SNL he took an interest in directing, and went on to direct a few shorts for SNL. After his year at SNL he went on to act in various films including The Princess Bride. He also directed a few Television episodes and a film he co-wrote titled The Big Picture. (Christopher Guest Wikipedia)
In 1996 he went on to write, direct and perform in his documentary style films. This started with the film Waiting for Guffman. It is about a director Corky St. Clair (played by Christopher Guest) who puts together a group of local somewhat talented performers to put on a musical performance. They learn that a Broadway producer will be attending the performance, and attempt to put on an amazing show. It was all improvised. In an interview with Kevin Pollack, Guest indicates why he likes this style of filmmaking so much. He states, “On film you never get to see people take real time.” He goes on to state that he prefers the long pauses, or the stuff that takes way too long, this being a way to watch real behavior. (KPCS)
Guest describes how he and Eugene Levy co-wrote the script for Waiting for Guffman. He describes the process of writing as solely creating a backstory, but no dialogue. (KPCS) “As in all Guest films, the parts were created with each actor in mind. When the outlines were finished, the actors offered input into their characters’ costumes, cars, even the set designs for their homes. Then they improvised their dialogue.”(Witchel)
Guest went on to direct the comedy Almost Heroes in 1998. After this project, he went on to write and direct another mocumentary titled Best in Show. It was released in 2000 and made 20.8 million in the box office. (Best in Show) This film follows numerous dogs and their somewhat eccentric owners who are on their way to the Mayflower Dog Show in Philadelphia. Many of the characters take this dog show and their dogs very seriously. This film features many of the actors who would become a staple within Guest’s films. This group includes Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Fred Willard, Parker Posey, Michael McKean and Catherine O’Hara to name a few.
His next two projects followed along in the mocumentary format. A Mighty Wind follows various folk bands as they come together to perform in a concert. It was released in 2003 and made 18.7 million in the box office. (A Mighty Wind) This film featured many songs, which were written by Guest. He even won a Grammy Award for the song “A Mighty Wind” in 2004. (Christopher Guest Biography) He then went on to make For you Consideration, which is about a group of actors who are in the midst of a competitive awards season.
His latest work is a Netflix original movie titled Mascots that is set to come out this year. While there is not a lot of information about the film yet, it is assumed that it will follow Guest’s signature mokumentary style he is best know for. This film is said to be about various mascots who are competing in a world mascot competition. (McNary)
Christopher Guest has been able to make his mark within the comedy genre by honing in on what he believes is funny. Mockumentaries have had great success among viewers and have influenced the format of other films and television shows. As a director and writer, Guest has been able to find ideal actors to perform in his films. He is a man who wears many hats and his experience and talents have played an important role in the success of his career.
Works Cited:
"A Mighty Wind." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 03 May 2016. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Mighty_Wind>.
Bailey, Jason. "Christopher Guest on the Real Inspiration Behind ‘This Is Spinal Tap’." Flavorwire. N.p., 09 Oct. 2014. Web. 02 May 2016. <http://flavorwire.com/481555/christopher-guest-on-the-real-inspiration-behind-this-is-spinal-tap>.
"Best in Show (film)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 03 May 2016. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_in_Show_(film)>.
"Christopher Guest." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 01 May 2016. <http://www.biography.com/people/christopher-guest-17175752#synopsis>.
"Christopher Guest." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 02 May 2016. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Guest>.
"Christopher Guest Biography." Encyclopedia of World Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2016. <http://www.notablebiographies.com/newsmakers2/2004-Di-Ko/Guest-Christopher.html>.
IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 02 May 2016. <http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0068582/>.
"KPCS: Christopher Guest #113." YouTube. YouTube, 30 May 2011. Web. 02 May 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CncBFKdL70Q>.
McNary, Dave. "Netflix Acquires Christopher Guest’s ‘Mascots’ Mockumentary." Variety. N.p., 11 Aug. 2015. Web. 03 May 2016. <http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/christopher-guest-netflix-movie-mascots-1201567417/>.
"Mockumentary." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 02 May 2016. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mockumentary>.
Witchel, Alex. "The Shape-Shifter." The New York Times. The New York Times, 11 Nov. 2006. Web. 02 May 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/12/magazine/12guest.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0>.
Wood, Jennifer M. "15 Things You Might Not Know About This Is Spinal Tap." Mental Floss. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2016. <http://mentalfloss.com/article/55369/15-things-you-might-not-know-about-spinal-tap>.
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