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
Friday, October 4, 2013
Monday, December 19, 2011
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
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
Monday, November 14, 2011
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
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
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
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
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
Friday, March 4, 2011
Robert Bateman Improv Team - Friday, March 4th
Hey gang
Here are the letters you wrote earlier today:
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
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
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
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
Monday, February 21, 2011
Robert Bateman Improv Team - Friday, February 18th
Hey gang
Here's a quick summary of some of the things we tried on Friday. Essentially, I wanted to provide you with a few strategies for group scenes that will make them more successful. (In this case, group scenes involve more than two people.)
In general, it is best to keep the idea of 'dynamics' in mind when thinking about group scenes. For our purposes, the term 'dynamics' will refer to the interactions happening between two people, groups, or ideas. In a two-person scene, there is only one dynamic to follow: the dynamic between the two people on stage. Even if person one shouts 'I am eating papayas!' and person two begins to mime assembling a model airplane, there is only one dynamic to follow (however weird this example may be). The audience can follow along no matter what you throw at them. (Remember, in the situation with papayas and airplanes, it's far more important that you do something than what you do).
In a group scene, there are naturally more dynamics to follow as there are simply more people on stage. In this situation, though, which dynamic does the audience follow? More than likely, one improviser will either become dominant, controlling the entire progression of the scene, or be ignored entirely. This trend occurs because there are too many dynamics present. Basically, there's too much going on. Improvisers will become confused and worse yet, the audience will become confused. Recall the example I gave during practice: Who are you going to pay attention to? The dynamic between the strawberry picker and the prisoner, the dragon and the barbeque dad, the barbeque dad and the strawberry picker? In any of those situations, something will be lost. So, what do you do?
You can mirror each other!
Mirroring, as you recall, refers to the act of becoming the exact same character as somebody else. You take on their physical traits, their voice, their actions and their perspective. It is important to try to mimic everything that the other person does. The minute you do something that differentiates your character from theirs, you've stopped mirroring and you've create a schism that the audience will detect.
When you are mirroring, if somebody says a line, you say that line back heightened a little bit. If one of you says 'It's a beautiful day today', then the other person could say 'This is the most gorgeous day I've seen all week'. Strangely enough, even though you're basically saying the exact same thing, the very fact that you have heightened it a touch makes the audience think things are moving forward.
Bear in mind that while mirroring, you will have to add things to the conversation as well. You can't merely wait for the first person to say and do everything. It will make you all look like much better improvisers if you can give and take freely. Take turns leading and following. If one of you begins a train of thought, then let somebody else begin a train of thought.
"Why does this technique work?" You may be thinking. "Isn't there still a new dynamic to follow for each additional character on stage?" I'm glad you asked that question, hypothetical other person! There certainly is a new dynamic between a new character and each character on stage, but if they're mirroring, then it's the same dynamic! Instead of having to watch the dynamic between the prisoner and the barbeque dad, the dragon and the strawberry picker, the prisoner and the dragon, etc, you're watching the dynamic between the waiter and the waiter, the waiter and the waiter, the waiter and the waiter, and so on. It's easier to follow because the audience understands exactly what is going on.
Furthermore, (and this is pretty dang cool) you can show how good of an improviser you are by creating the same character four times over. Could you imagine? A whole stage of unique people, doing the same brilliant character? All the agreement and heightening would be a joy to watch. You'll know exactly what you're doing ("I'm just copying what the first person did, and adding a little to each line they're saying") and the audience will think that you're brilliant.
Alliances
Four people sit around a table. The lights go down, they laugh comfortably, and the lights go up. The first three people to speak have an 'alliance' (they will mirror each other throughout the scene). The final person to speak gets to be the wildcard. They don't have to mirror, and they can basically say what they want, though in general it will likely work if they say something different than the people with the alliance.
This type of mirroring exercise works on the same principles as the scenes in which everybody mirrors each other. There is still only one dynamic to follow. (In this case, it is alliance and wildcard, alliance and wildcard, alliance and wildcard). I could see there being another dynamic between the members of the alliance, but if everybody in the alliance is mirroring each other, then there shouldn't be a new dynamic there.
Summary
If you're uncertain what to do in a scene, try mirroring the other person. That action will create the game of the scene for you. If you mirror and heighten, mirror and heighten, the audience will be delighted. If you find yourself in a group scene, mirror one of the other players. It will make your groups scenes much more cohesive and far more entertaining for the audience. You'll look mad professional, too. What a better way to show your support for your teammates than by saying "That character is so awesome that I'm going to do it too. I am going to heighten it with you and make it even more awesome."
Keep up the great stuff, gang!
Cheers,
Cliff
Here's a quick summary of some of the things we tried on Friday. Essentially, I wanted to provide you with a few strategies for group scenes that will make them more successful. (In this case, group scenes involve more than two people.)
In general, it is best to keep the idea of 'dynamics' in mind when thinking about group scenes. For our purposes, the term 'dynamics' will refer to the interactions happening between two people, groups, or ideas. In a two-person scene, there is only one dynamic to follow: the dynamic between the two people on stage. Even if person one shouts 'I am eating papayas!' and person two begins to mime assembling a model airplane, there is only one dynamic to follow (however weird this example may be). The audience can follow along no matter what you throw at them. (Remember, in the situation with papayas and airplanes, it's far more important that you do something than what you do).
In a group scene, there are naturally more dynamics to follow as there are simply more people on stage. In this situation, though, which dynamic does the audience follow? More than likely, one improviser will either become dominant, controlling the entire progression of the scene, or be ignored entirely. This trend occurs because there are too many dynamics present. Basically, there's too much going on. Improvisers will become confused and worse yet, the audience will become confused. Recall the example I gave during practice: Who are you going to pay attention to? The dynamic between the strawberry picker and the prisoner, the dragon and the barbeque dad, the barbeque dad and the strawberry picker? In any of those situations, something will be lost. So, what do you do?
You can mirror each other!
Mirroring, as you recall, refers to the act of becoming the exact same character as somebody else. You take on their physical traits, their voice, their actions and their perspective. It is important to try to mimic everything that the other person does. The minute you do something that differentiates your character from theirs, you've stopped mirroring and you've create a schism that the audience will detect.
When you are mirroring, if somebody says a line, you say that line back heightened a little bit. If one of you says 'It's a beautiful day today', then the other person could say 'This is the most gorgeous day I've seen all week'. Strangely enough, even though you're basically saying the exact same thing, the very fact that you have heightened it a touch makes the audience think things are moving forward.
Bear in mind that while mirroring, you will have to add things to the conversation as well. You can't merely wait for the first person to say and do everything. It will make you all look like much better improvisers if you can give and take freely. Take turns leading and following. If one of you begins a train of thought, then let somebody else begin a train of thought.
"Why does this technique work?" You may be thinking. "Isn't there still a new dynamic to follow for each additional character on stage?" I'm glad you asked that question, hypothetical other person! There certainly is a new dynamic between a new character and each character on stage, but if they're mirroring, then it's the same dynamic! Instead of having to watch the dynamic between the prisoner and the barbeque dad, the dragon and the strawberry picker, the prisoner and the dragon, etc, you're watching the dynamic between the waiter and the waiter, the waiter and the waiter, the waiter and the waiter, and so on. It's easier to follow because the audience understands exactly what is going on.
Furthermore, (and this is pretty dang cool) you can show how good of an improviser you are by creating the same character four times over. Could you imagine? A whole stage of unique people, doing the same brilliant character? All the agreement and heightening would be a joy to watch. You'll know exactly what you're doing ("I'm just copying what the first person did, and adding a little to each line they're saying") and the audience will think that you're brilliant.
Alliances
Four people sit around a table. The lights go down, they laugh comfortably, and the lights go up. The first three people to speak have an 'alliance' (they will mirror each other throughout the scene). The final person to speak gets to be the wildcard. They don't have to mirror, and they can basically say what they want, though in general it will likely work if they say something different than the people with the alliance.
This type of mirroring exercise works on the same principles as the scenes in which everybody mirrors each other. There is still only one dynamic to follow. (In this case, it is alliance and wildcard, alliance and wildcard, alliance and wildcard). I could see there being another dynamic between the members of the alliance, but if everybody in the alliance is mirroring each other, then there shouldn't be a new dynamic there.
Summary
If you're uncertain what to do in a scene, try mirroring the other person. That action will create the game of the scene for you. If you mirror and heighten, mirror and heighten, the audience will be delighted. If you find yourself in a group scene, mirror one of the other players. It will make your groups scenes much more cohesive and far more entertaining for the audience. You'll look mad professional, too. What a better way to show your support for your teammates than by saying "That character is so awesome that I'm going to do it too. I am going to heighten it with you and make it even more awesome."
Keep up the great stuff, gang!
Cheers,
Cliff
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