Blakelock Improv - December 6th, 2013

Hey Blakelock gang

Thanks for inviting me to join you this afternoon. I had a great time. You're all a swell bunch of improvisers. Here's a summary of what we did, and a few tips for each exercise:

Clap Focus

Everyone stands in a circle. You point and clap at the person you want to send the energy to. Simple enough!

Tips:
 - Make eye contact!
 - Be direct with your points and claps

Circuits

Everyone raises an arm. One by one, each person points at someone else, saying an item under a certain category. This afternoon, we did a 'Countries of the World' circuit, an 'Actors' circuit, and a 'Things you can eat' circuit. When the circuits are established, we mask them all together, and we try to keep them all going at the same time. It gets crazy!

Tips:
 - Make eye contact!
 - If someone doesn't hear your offer, keep saying it until they recognize it.
 - Acknowledge that you have received an offer with a quick nod, or some kind of physical acceptance. (Lots of people make big excited eyes.)

Boom Sha Lack Lack

Everyone loves a good improvised rap. Everyone sings the refrain, and we go around the circle, rhyming with the last word of each lines. For example, "Boom Sha Lack Lack Boom! I walked outside, and sat on the lawn! Boom Sha Lack Lack Boom! I got tired so I started to yawn!" Keep it going until you run out of rhymes, and then start a new one.

Tips:
 - Be loud and be proud!
 - Try to think of a bunch of rhymes ahead of time, in case your choice is pilfered. I go down the alphabet in my head. For 'At' rhymes, I'll think "At, Bat, Brat, Cat, Drat, Ex-pat, Frat, Fat, Flat" etc.

Zulu

Several improvisers stand in a row on the stage. They are given a category, and they must say things in that category until someone repeats an idea, or they hesitate. We played a version today in which screw-ups mean you get to die in a fantastic fashion.

Tips:
- If you screw up, screw up spectacularly! Admit your defeat, and wish those remaining the best of luck.

Rant

You all played this game beautifully. Everyone has a chance to talk about a certain subject. Normally it's a good idea to pick lighthearted subjects. Certainly you could talk about heavier subjects, but leave that choice until you're more experienced improvisers.

Tips:
 - Whatever you begin talking about, that's your 'deal'. When it's your turn to talk again, keep on the same deal you established. If you begin by talking about your obsession with cats, keep talking about that subject when the focus comes back to you. Makes things consistent for the audience, and it makes you look bloody brilliant!
 - The first few times you play this game, pick a character that is close to yourself. When you get more experienced, feel free to make big choices with your characters and opinions.

Yes And

The fundamental idea of improv is 'Yes, And'. You say 'Yes' to an idea, and then you add a little information to the scene. Pretty straightforward, and it makes for exceptional improv. We played a few simple scenes in which every person had to say 'Yes, and' at the beginning of each sentence. As you all saw, it got pretty crazy. Wasn't it exciting, too, though?

Tips:
 - Sometimes you may hesitate, because the scene may be taking you in a bit of a weird, or unanticipated direction. That's okay! Let the scene go where it wants! It's a collaborative thing, and it's beautiful.

Who, What, Where

We did a couple of exercises that focus on the Who, the What and the Where of the scene. These elements are collectively called the 'platform'. If you have a strong, well-established platform, you can get a better, longer lasting scene. If you ever feel as though your scene is falling flat, it may be as a result of a poorly defined platform. Take a second, and see if you can think about your Who, your What, and your Where.

Tips:
 - Try to get your platform established in the first few lines of your scene. If you do it early, you have more time to explore what can happen on your platform! 
 - Don't feel as though you need to personally get each part of the platform out. Remember, improv is collaborative! Your scene partner can add something. If you come out guns a-blazin' and say everything in the first line, that's fine, but it's what we call a 'Heavy offer'. Heavy offers are okay, but they can prevent truly collaborative improv from happening.

Other general tips

Mime a gun and a phone properly, as if you were actually holding them. Don't do those silly finger-based placeholders. If you can add 'ON THIS MOON BASE' to the end of your 'Where' establishing statement, you probably haven't defined your Where well enough. Avoid making cancer jokes.

Thanks again for having me! Post a comment if you have a question.

Cheers,

Cliff 

Holy Trinity Improv - October 3rd

Hey gang

Here is a summary of the things we did yesterday afternoon.

Clap Focus

A lot of improv practices begin with a few rounds of Clap Focus. It's an easy enough game for everyone to get into, and it brings up everyone's focus pretty nicely. You make eye contact with someone, and then you clap in that person's direction. They then clap in another person's direction, and so on. The important thing to remember about this game is the eye contact. Make sure that you are listening and looking at everyone in the circle. The game moves fast; clapping could come from any direction. Be directed with your decisions, and confidently send the energy around the circle.

In this game, clapping is an offer. In improv, an offer is any idea or suggestion made that can add to or advance the scene. You need to be paying close attention while performing improv, as offers are made continuously, and with varying degrees of subtlety.

Yes Circle

To be honest, I don't really know what to call this game. 'Yes Circle' will work just as well as any other title, I suppose. During this game, an improviser will start by pointing at someone else. The person being pointed to has to say 'Yes', at which time the person pointing will begin to walk across the circle to their position. The person who just said 'Yes' must now point at a new person, getting permission before being allowed to move across the circle.

It's a simple enough game, though it can get a bit messy. It's important to remember not to move until you have been given permission to move. You need to know that your scene partners have noticed your offer of movement, and that they are agreeing to proceed. Again, it's a metaphor for improv in general. Make sure your offers are being heard!

This game gets trickier when you aren't allowed to speak. Offers aren't always verbal, so keep your ears and eyes open!

Coon-Jah

Ah, how do I explain this game? What a wacky time. Everyone pats their legs and chants 'Coon-Jah, Coon-Jah, Coon-Jah'. One person begins by moving their hands in front of their face and saying 'Bunny Bunny', and then directing their hands to another person and saying 'Bunny Bunny' again. The person who receives the energy also says 'Bunny Bunny, Bunny Bunny', and keeps sending the energy around the circle. It gets more confusing when the people beside 'Bunny Bunny' are asked to dance and yell 'Toki Toki, Toki Toki'. It gets wild.

How do we relate this game to improv in general? In scenes, lots of offers are being thrown around continually. You have to pay attention to lots of different things at the same time, which can be overwhelming initially, but you'll all become more accustomed to paying attention to as much as you can. So, this game helps practice listening, acceptance, and generally being silly.

Association Circles

One person says a word. The next person says the first thing that comes to mind when they hear that word. The third person says the first thing that comes to mind when they hear the second person's word. And so on.

The important thing to remember about this game is that every responses is absolutely, 100% correct. No matter what comes to mind when you're free associating, you are correct! The only way to be incorrect is to avoid saying anything at all. When you are playing this game, be grateful when people give responses. Don't think (or say!) 'Ugh, what a bad word. I'm much more clever.' Every answer is the correct one! It's a liberating philosophy, wouldn't you agree?

Yes, And

In improv, the biggest concept we reference is 'Yes, And'. We say 'Yes' to an idea, and then we add a little bit. You don't need to add a wealth of information, just a little bit will advance the scene and add more to the reality of the world you're creating. Try running scenes in which every line has to begin with the words 'Yes, And'. Take this example:

1: I am going to pick strawberries.
2: Yes, and I would like to come with you!
1: Yes, and I would love to invite you!
2: Yes, and we can tell our friends we went on a date!
1: Yes, and I can tell my friends I went out with the prettiest girl in the school!

And so on. You can honestly go in any direction with your scenes, as long as you're accepting offers by saying 'Yes', and you're adding just a little bit. In the example, I went from picking strawberries to going on a date with someone in five lines simply by saying 'Yes'. Granted, I could have taken the scene in a complete different route, but this is what happened here. There you have it!

In summary:
 - Pay attention to your scene partners
 - Make eye contact
 - Say 'Yes' to the offers that are made
 - Try to add just a little bit to the scene you're in

Next time, we'll talk more about the concept of the Platform, which will help you to create more realistic scenes with many more options to draw creativity from.

Cheers,

Cliff

On Truthfulness

Hey gang

I've been thinking about character development, and inspiration, and making the obvious choices. Certainly, it's one thing to pick a physical trait you exhibit and heighten it to make a character. This choice is a perfectly acceptable means of creating a character, as is any other character creation strategy. However, this strategy may lead to creating superficial characters, or characters that are hinged on one or two simple traits or ideas.

Now, this result isn't necessarily a bad thing. Creating a simple character is an easy way to jump right into a scene while making offers. We can try, however, to create more real and truthful characters, which will ultimately lead to a more satisfying experience for the audience.

It's been observed that I have a tendency to create superficial characters, so I'd like to try my hand at creating characters based on who I am

So, how can we do this? Consider again the 'physical trait' aspect of character creation. You take a trait and heighten it a little to make a unique character. Maybe you notice that you lead with your shoulders, so you heighten that trait a little and you end up with a character who hunches over and lurches about. There you have it! A new character. What if, though, instead of accentuating physical aspects, we pick personal aspects, such as opinions or views or abilities, and heighten those. Perhaps you view yourself as being very attractive, and you heighten that view to create a character who is self-centered and proud. Maybe you're uncertain of yourself, so you heighten your uncertainty to create an apprehensive, nervous character. Perhaps you know you take a little while to understand instructions, despite your best efforts. In this case, you could end up with a character who tries to learn and succeed, but takes a while. These characters are much more real and interesting, as they stem from a truthful core.

Here's the tricky part: it's tough to perform in front of people, demonstrating characters that are based on your own views, opinions, or even insecurities. I mean, damn, how much more real can you get? It's worthwhile, though, and can lead to better Improv.

Catch you all soon!

Cheers,

Cliff

Robert Bateman Improv Team - November 14th, 2011

Hey gang

Hope you're all profiting gloriously in your lives. Apologies for not posting about last week. Here's what we did last week. (I think.)

Status

Last week's practice involved a lot of status interactions. We played with the Pecking Order, and got into some rounds of 'Taking the Hat'. In general, these exercises were used to allow everyone to experience feelings of high and low status. For 'Taking the Hat', remember to throw hats at each other's feet. The game isn't about watching improvisers scramble across the room to get hats. The hats merely provide some physical reminders of status and pecking order offences. Ya dig?

Now, here's what we did today.

Association Circle 

Today, we began things with a simple Association Circle. We begin with a word, and travel around the circle associating each word with a new word, until we naturally reach the first word again. It's a simple exercise that places a focus on acceptance. What's interesting is that you can select a word that is completely obvious to you, but will seem wildly original to someone else. This game speaks well to the notion of being obvious. In improv, try to stay with the obvious choice. Things look silly and uninteresting when everyone is trying to be witty and clever. Immediately, you may think 'If I'm making the obvious choice, won't that make me uninteresting?' Not so! As I said earlier, what's obvious to you isn't obvious to everyone. Be yourself and make the choices that are obvious to you, and the audience will be thrilled. Trying to be original and witty by saying what you think the audience wants to hear isn't a great strategy. You may get a cheap laugh from a few people, but they'll leave feeling disconnected from you as a performer.

The catch, however, is that by making the obvious choices, you'll reveal who you are as a person. That's certainly an intimidating prospect. (Though, really, improv is at its best when you feel a connection to the performers.)

Theatresports

Theatresports is a style of Improv performance developed by Keith Johnstone. It's a form of competitive Improv, though everybody involved is on the same team. Improvisers are split into two teams, with three improvisers being selected as the Judges. There is also a Referee (Initially, this role will be played by me) who keeps everything moving and serves as a connection between the improvisers and the Judges.

Teams take turns challenging each other to games or scenes involving particular aspects. For example, a scene involving the audience, or a scene involving words, or a scene involving numbers, or a scene involving love/hate/other emotions, etc. Challenges can be specific, or weird or whatever. Always accept the challenge, even if it's a little weird. The audience wants to see something happen. That something is happening tends to be more important than what is happening. (And, no, 'denying challenges' doesn't count as something happening.)

After scenes are performed, the Judges award points, and teams boo or applaud in response. After two or three challenges are issued, the Judges declare a winner, and everyone celebrates. (Everyone wins because everyone plays together.) The next time a Theatresports game happens, different people may be on different teams, and there may be different Judges. Everyone will have a chance to play in different roles, and everyone will have a good time.

In the weeks to come, we'll brainstorm types of challenges and practice games that can be used to play these challenges. We'll get a nice, hefty list going, and then we can start performing for the Friday group, and then ultimately the general school population. Boom.

Great practice today, gang!

Cheers,

Cliff

October 31st, 2011 - Environment and Platforming

Hey improvisers

I've decided to continue updating the Improg. As we progress throughout the year, I'll post summaries of what we've done alongside my reflections on the process. If you have any questions, or wish to post a thought of your own, then by all means please leave a comment.

That said, here we go!

Where, Who, What

The 'Who What Where' of the scene establishes who you are (and what your relationship is), what you're doing (or what the scene is about), and where the scene is taking place. They're the three essential components of most shortform scenes. (I say most, as I've seen some shortform scenes that have been successful without one or two of these components.) In a lot of amateur improv, you'll observe improvisers who perform scenes with a focus exclusively on the 'What'. They'll spend the entire time making a sandwich, or building a robot, or something along those lines. That's all fine and dandy, but the problem arises when the improvisers run out of ideas on that subject. When the 'What' stops, there's nothing to fall back on if nothing else has been established. That's the reason why so many amateur improv scenes leave the audience feeling unsatisfied: there's less for the audience to connect to.

So, what can we do? We can establish a solid platform for our scenes to take place upon. The 'Where' and the 'Who' often go disregarded, but they provide a wealth of interesting opportunities and lead to better, more real scenes in general.

First, take some time to establish the 'Where'. Where the heck is this scene taking place? The 'Where' involves more than merely stating where you are: you can interact with things in the environment as well. Even beginning by miming interactions with the environment, and then stating where you are, can build the 'Where' of the scene. As you saw in the Environment Creation exercise (remember the Antique Shop?), you can get big laughs out of the audience just by interacting with your environment. Establish a defined environment and you'll always have a wide variety of material to fall back on.

(On this note, remember the concept of Object Permanence. If someone creates a table, or mimes opening a cabinet, don't walk through the table or cabinet later on in the scene. If you take a small amount of time to remember where everything is, then the audience will be all the more impressed by your scene.)  

Next, establish who you are. More importantly, what is your relationship to each other? Do you like the other person or do you hate them? We can see two very different scenes occur between a boss and employee that hate each other, and a boss and employee that love each other. It's a simple choice, but it'll add a huge layer of depth to your scene. As well, if you make the decision to feel a certain way about the other person in the scene, then your scene is practically developed for you. Even if you run out of ideas for the 'What', you will have a wonderfully established 'Who' to fall back on.

(On that note, if you're looking to add something else to the scene, just establish something else about your character. Pull out a yo-yo or something. Who knows!)

As a summary, amateur improv scenes tend to stagnate as there isn't an established 'Who' or 'Where' to fall back on. Take time at the beginning of the scene to establish the 'Where' and then the 'Who', and your scenes will become more real and interesting.

There you go, gang! See you all on Friday!

Cheers,

Cliff

Robert Bateman Improv Team - Friday, March 4th

Hey gang

Here are the letters you wrote earlier today:

(Arlene and Graeme)

Dear Mother

I am here because I am missing my pet rabbit. He is very very very sick. And going to die. If I don’t resuscitate his brain. He is not going to make his appearance look good unless I feed him other kinds of rabbits. Unfortunately I can’t find any more rabbits. Do you know if there are pet rabbits at your store because I can’t find other rabbits. I’ve being attempting to use snakes to resuscitate his brain but it doesn’t have any effect. He is not going to be alive for long unless I get more rabbits. Do you know if parakeets will work on my rabbit because I am desperate to resuscitate his brain. Please inform.

Prince Charles’ rabbit is going to be dead if I want to save my own rabbit.

Sincerely,

Queen Elizabeth II

(Priya and Jenn)

Dear John and Mary

We got a dragon for you! So enjoy your new dragon because it is a dragon. Don’t kill the dragon or I will kill you. Please feed him one rabbit a day or he will die. Don’t feed him dogs because he will barf and die. Please refrain the dragon from eating dogs. Due to his actions. The dragon also blows bubbles and fire so beware of evil dragon bubbles and fire.

Sincerely,

David and Jigsaw

(Peter and Eugene)

Dear James

Hi! It’s been a long time. How are you? I’ve been really sad because my wife has gone to Burma. It’s been very very hard to cope with the absence of my wife. She always bakes delicious muffins with sprinkles and icing. These muffins have brought much joy to my village. You would love these muffins. They bring much ecstasy to my local people. Once she placed three muffins on the altar and sacrificed a lamb then ate the muffins while pulling the intestines of the lamb. The village children danced gracefully around the altar as she squirted the lamb’s intestinal fluid on them.

Anyway, what is the haps?

Sincerely,

John

(Sarah and Liam)

Dear Ghost!

I cannot see anymore. This is because you are crashing my parties. I wish you wouldn’t crash my parties because I am very hurt by this action. It makes me very upset! I can no longer bear this pain and I cannot see any longer. I need to sleep now because you keep being so evil! And I desperately need to eat because I cannot eat! There is a very large mouse in my throat! I cannot speak or eat or eat! See indeed. This is very very unfortunate. I wish I need kill mouse the the mouse because he is very scratchy. My mother is so so very very sickly sickly unfortunately. So, I cannot write this letter any longer. So please do not crash my parties.

Sincerely,

Window

~

There you have it.

Cheers,

Cliff

Re: CIG

Hey gang

You were successful this evening. You were courteous and respectful while keeping a focus on the group and sharing the stage. You listened and heightened and played a wide variety of fun games. I was thoroughly entertained throughout your performance.

You were successful and don't let anybody tell you differently.

So there.

Cheers,

Cliff