It's 2020, my friends. And my curriculum needed to get with the times. Goodbye, Dukes Of Hazzard. Goodbye, s/he, his/her, him/her, etc. 2020 brings new exercises, new insights, and new clarifications for teaching. Links have been updated on the Class Materials page, but they're also here. Enjoy!
Make a choice the moment you enter stage. Choose to feel. Feel something about something - an imagined object, mimed activity, and/or your scene partner. Allow both you and your scene partner to be dynamic. Here's the final scene from a class building out that progression and its value: [videopress L5WDXzrA] And here's the class' outline […]
Friends, it's 2018! Luckily all the bad stuff from 2017 has been tidied up nicely and we have a brand new start! No? Well,... how about updated improv curricula in lieu of world peace and universal sanity?
It's 2015! About time to update the Improv As Improv Does Best curriculum. Enjoy! Intro to Improv Curriculum 2015 (PDF) Character & Emotion Curriculum 2015 (PDF) Patterns & Games Curriculum 2015 (PDF) Long Form Performance Curriculum 2015 (PDF) For links to individual lessons and activities, go to the full Curriculum page.
The link below will connect to a PDF of an 8 Week course designed to prepare improvisers for a long-form performance as an ensemble. Enjoy! Long Form Performance IAIDB Curriculum Patrick Gantz 2013
Objective: Collaboratively building something out of nothing on stage requires Confidence and Support. An improviser needs to be able to make bold choices and to stand by those choices. An improviser needs to accept and embrace each other’s choices. Make your fellow player “look good” should be an improviser’s guiding principle.
NAME THUMPER – Going around the circle, each person (teacher included) associates their name with an action or adjective – “Punching Patrick,” or “Pouting Patrick.” Go around once more so everyone knows everyone else’s name and action. Then play progresses with an individual doing their name/action and then another person’s name/action; that person then does their […]
PASS “YES” AROUND – A player points at / makes eye contact with another player who accepts by saying “Yes.” The accepted player walks across the circle to stand in the place of the player who said “Yes.” The player who said “Yes” points at / makes eye contact with another player who says “Yes” […]
AWESOME! – Around the circle, students say something about themselves and/or their day to which the rest of class enthusiastically responds, “Awesome!” Lessons: • Acceptance is fun – don’t waste time judging; the audience wants to see you enjoying one another
HOT SPOT (Singing or Monologue) – Players stand in a circle. One player enters the center and begins singing or telling a true, personal story. In no particular order, players enter to take the place of the player in the center to sing a new song or tell their own story. Lessons: • Hesitate and […]