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