Oh, man, this organic group game made me laugh. It's simple and fun. All Chapman has to do accept each addition with his character's garbled, "That's my thing..." The audience loves him for it! They know he's getting put upon by his fellow players (literally by the end!) and they reward his acceptance and commitment […]
I love World Building in improvisation. With World Building in mind we can bring focus to our Organic Formats. The first scene of a show starts in a train; the rest of the show exists in that same train. The first scene of a show starts with Little League players. The next scene focuses on […]
The first time it's random. The second time it's purposeful. The third time it's expected. This progression informs how we build collaboratively in improv, be it in service of a pattern of emotional behavior, a relationship dynamic, a group game, or forging an organic format. What is necessary to elevate a random occurence into a shared […]
The Johnsons hosted a BBQ and everyone came. But they spaced out their arrival to allow time to heighten the sequence between new entries. Check it out. [wpvideo jJJTjvrC] To clarify: That last line out of Jonathan is "I brought the hounds of hell." The Johnsons are: Scott Beckett, Shawn Hambright, Townsend Hart, John Hilowitz, […]
"Welcome to Crappy Car Mountain." "The mountain's top is held on with duct tape." "Cellophane bushes rustle in the wind." "This one side is a different color than all the rest of it." Looking for a fun warm-up to get your ensemble playfully building a world together? Here's one!
I get excited every time Alan Volmer and Jonathan Nelson start a scene together. They're able to create rich character with rich worlds expressed through rich reactions on a dime. This scene begins beautifully, with Alan establishing some physical business and Jonathan establishing a Personal Game for himself. When Alan references his prediliction for spider […]
There are no mistakes in patterns. If a progression builds A, B, C and Z, "Z" is not a mistake, it's just something to be acknowledged and made part of the pattern. If A, B, C, and Z, then D, E, F and Y. There are no mistakes in patterns. The clearer and cleaner a pattern […]