Games Summary for October 20th/27th

Hey Improvisers

My arm hurts from drumming (‘Call Me’ Expert, ladies), but here we go anyway.

Last Week (October 20th, 2008)

Freeze
- Same as before
Tips
- Give the who, what or where in the first line of the scene. If you’re going to start with an action, which is fine, make sure the action is very apparent, and not ambiguous.
- Clap when you feel that the scene has run its course, or if you observe that the who/what/where have been established, and have had some time to play out.

Hitchhiker
- Same as before
Tips
- Remember to pick a strong character right from the beginning. Even if your goals or personality aren’t explicit from the beginning, everyone should be able to pick up on your physicality.
- If you’re observing, take note of all the actions done by the hitchhiker, and do your best to emulate them. If you all try to outdo each other, that’s great. It’ll be hilarious

Good, Bad and Ugly
- Three ‘experts’ on an Advice-style talk show. One gives good advice, the next bad advice, and the third person terrible advice.
Tips
- Pick a strong character from the beginning. Introduce yourself with your name and your profession. (i.e. ‘Hey there, I’m Mac Fleetwood from the Institute of Delaware Cutlery…’ etc).
- Keep your responses short; let’s say under a minute in length. It keeps the game moving, and it prevents people from getting bored.

ABCs
- Same as before
Tips
- Start with conflict! Whatever the conflict is, try to stick with it for the entire scene. It’s alright to raise the stakes, so long as the original conflict is preserved. This will prevent the scene from becoming too convoluted.
- You only have 26 lines to wrap up the scene. Make what you say count! Try to avoid saying things like “Alright” or “Okay!”

Genres
- Three people play out a scene. Occasionally, a genre of film, theatre or television will be shouted, and the scene will continue in that genre.
Tips
- It’s a good idea to pick out the ‘Flags’ that occur within each genre. Harking back to easily identifiable trends in that particular genre will allow the audience to connect with the performance more, and probably provide more direction for the scene.(i.e. in a Horror movie, the group always goes towards the danger/spooky mansion, the group decides to split up, characters are killed off, the house is built on some kind of graveyard/burial ground/radioactive waste facility, etc).
- Remember to preserve the original conflict/relationships, just with the new genre layered in over top. Don’t forget the problem just because you’re suddenly a cartoon, or a detective with a shady past.

As far as I can remember, that was it for last week.

21
- Players stand in a circle. With eyes closed, they attempt to count from 1 to 21 one at a time. If players speak at the same time, the whole circle starts from the beginning.
Tips
- Take your time. Someone else will say a number. There’s no need to rush.
- Calm down, don’t get overexcited.

'Yes’
- Players stand in a circle. One person makes eye-contact with another. That person says ‘Yes’ and the first player can start moving towards the second player’s position. The second player then must make eye-contact with another player, and play continues.
Tips
- EYE-CONTACT. ‘Nuff said.
- You can’t move until you’ve been given permission. If you say ‘Yes’, you stay put.

Character Interviews
- One player assumes a character, and undergoes an interview.
Tips
- Don’t worry about prefabricating all of your answers. If you’re caught off guard, just say the first thing that rolls into your head. It’ll often lead to really interesting characters (like Martin’s bodybuilder who has an elderly father in the home).

Special Freeze
- Two people are called into a scene at a time. They each enter with their own ideas, and attempt to ‘marry’ their ideas together into a scene.
Tips
- It doesn’t matter if your ideas are completely different, to you, they are perfectly normal.
- Try to use each other’s suggestions to solve whatever problems arise. It’s best not to start with ‘What are you doing? I thought we were…’

The Dating Game
- Three players are the sexy Bachelorettes, each with their own interesting character trait. One player is the eligible Bachelor. The Bachelor asks the Bachelorettes questions with the ultimate goal of figuring out who the Bachelorettes are supposed to be.
Tips
- If you’re a Bachelorette, try to drop hints, but don’t be too, too apparent. The fun comes from seeing how bizarre the characters are.
- Be physical. If your character trait calls for physicality, then go for it. You’re not confined to your chair.
- Remember, the Bachelor is a character too. Feel free to play it up.

I believe that is everything. Some general things to remember:

- Opportunities for promotion? If you guys have any ideas, let us know. It’d be cool to stage some big ordeal in the middle of the Student Centre.
- More shows? The best place to do Improv is in front of an audience. If you know that your Residence is interested in performers, let us know. We want to get everyone in a show at least once.
- It looks like we’ll be having our final show at Bridges. Maybe we’ll do a couple nights. I’ll look into it.

That’s it for me. Great work today, gang. You’re all wonderful.

Cheers,

Cliff

PS – I find you all physically attractive.

October 6th, 2008 - Games and Summary

Hey Improvisers

Great session last night. I had a blast. You're all wonderful.

Games:

Not really a game, but we started by going around the circle and asking people to say their name and something interesting that happened to them over the week.

Freeze
- Similar to last week.
Things to remember:
- Be strong with your Freezing and Clapping.
- Try to establish either the Who (i.e. your relationship), the What (i.e. the problem), or the Where (i.e. where you at) in your first line.
- Make sure that the Who/What/Where are established before you Freeze.
- Be FAST when you come into the scene, and take the EXACT POSITION that the person your replace had.

Questions Only
- Players attempt to play a scene by only speaking in questions.
Things to remember:
- Start your sentences with a question word. It'll pretty much always ensure you say a question.
- There's no shame in intentionally failing. Sometimes it helps the scene move along. And after all, you'll get a chance to be back in soon.
- Keep the strong character choices.

ABCs
- A scene for three people. Every sentence has to begin with the next letter of the alphabet.
Things to remember:
- You only have 26 lines to go through an entire story. Make the very first sentence about the problem you have to resolve. That way, you can use the rest of the sentences to solve the problem.
- If you can't think of a word, then go to the environment. As long as you're doing something interesting, no one will notice that you're stalling for time.
- Save the tricky letters for names. No point in wasting an easy letter like 'B' on 'Bob', when you have K, X, and Z coming up, too.
- X words: Xaiver, Xylophone, X-Ray, Xerxes, Xena, Xanadu.

Serious Scene
- A game for 8 players. The scene revolves around a very serious subject. Players must remain sincere and serious. If they make the audience, other performers, or themself laugh, then they're out. They must find a reason to leave.
Things to remember:
- Take chances! This game is only interesting when people are talking to each other. Don't remain silent for the purpose of staying in the scene longer.
- Try to keep the focus on one conversation at a time. Everyone talking at the same time gets a little confusing, as we saw. :)
- If you die, try to bring people down with you. Use that last line to great effect. Bring up the puns and jokes that came to you when you heard the suggestion. You have nothing to lose, so why not?


I think that's about all we did. If I missed something, let me know.

Also, a few of us (myself, Martin, Ben, Herman, Kaylan, Hisham, Colin) are performing Improv at Whidden on wednesday. You're all welcome to come and watch. We're meeting in front of Whidden at 8 PM. It should be a good time.

Cheers,

Cliff

Improv Analysis - Maverick Improv All-Stars "Questions Only"

Hey gang

Here's some new Improv to critique. Don't worry though, this one isn't as horrendous as the last one.



Comments. You. Post them.

Cheers,

Cliff