Focus Outward: There is a ton of material for us to mine in our improv if we are committed to seeing it, hearing it and embracing it. We don’t need to be in our heads worried about making something happen once we learn how we can follow what’s already happening to a collaborative end. Suggested […]
STORY STEALING – Everyone in a circle. One at a time, players enter the center and tell a true, personal, 30 Second Story. Once everyone has told a story, the teacher tells the class that players now have to enter the center and recreate someone else’s story. Every story should be revisited once by another […]
ONE PERSON WALKING – Students spread out through the room. Without talking, one person has to be walking at any given time. Students have to see each other to know when to give and take focus. Variations: • Now two people are walking at a time. Now three. Build to everyone walking and then work […]
EMOTIONAL REACTION CIRCLE – Around a circle, every player just has an emotional reaction. They don’t need words – they can just make an emotional sound. Have them go around and then go around pushing their emotions to 11.
Emotional Heights/Depths: Committed emotion should be an improviser’s base at all times. We need to be able to exhibit the highest highs and lowest lows on stage so we need to practice emotion at the extremes to become comfortable in that space. EMOTION TO 11 – Teacher gives students an emotion. The class gives a […]
Emotional Context: Committed emotion is all the “what” and “why” a scene needs. What’s extra fun is that, when we do have emotion, that emotion can add/change the meaning of our words and heighten the depth of our scenes. EMOTIONAL NURSERY RHYME – Around a circle, a player recites a common nursery rhyme with an […]
Emotional Character Development: We don’t need it “all figured out” the moment we step on stage. Make one choice and then build other choices on top of that choice. We can start with emotion and build the details of our character around that. Or, we can start with a detail and build an emotional character […]
Emotional Matching: If we agree, we can just be; we don’t have to explain or defend. Have fun just being emotional together, trusting that your commitment to the same emotion is all the context for your relationship that’s needed. EMOTIONAL CHAIR PASS – It’s like hitchhiker, but just two people, and the suggestion is an […]
Emotional Scenes: “How we feel about who we are, where we are and what we’re doing,” and “How we feel about who our scene is, where they are and what they’re doing” should be our focus in improv scenes. Let “How we feel” trump all else, especially plot and “sense.” Suggested Exercises: “I [FEELING] YOU.” […]
MAGIC CLAY – Around a circle, a player builds a mimed object “out of clay” and then hands the object to another player who interacts with it as and then molds the “clay” into a brand new object. And repeat. Variations: • Weaponized Reactions - form a weapon out of the magic clay, attack another […]