After you have mastered the basic steps, there are several ways to improve a performance.

• Pratfalling with live drinks: learn how to fall, roll on the floor and stand up again while holding a drink. Half full is a good compromise between art and reality.

• The use of other objects: the more stuff moving, set on fire, or clanging and crashing around, the better the performance. Try kicking an empty chair on your way down, or tossing your beer bottle along the floor. Whether it's full or empty depends on who's in charge of cleaning up the next day.

• Multiple-person pratfalls: Choreograph a routine involving 2, 3, or more people in the pratfall, either simultaneously in different corners of the room, or all in one pile. See video clip for an example.