TO THE ETHER Games I like Frisbee. I like hacky sack. I like hitting this one stick I wrapped in ribbons with these other two sticks I wrapped in different ribbons. I like the Grateful Dead. I like acoustic guitar around a beach bonfire. I like blowing into this diggerydoo I crafted in the company […]
HELP DESK Two players meet in the middle of the stage and focus on figuring out the scene together. I want to return this vacuum. What’s wrong with it? Or... I want to see a manager. Ma’am, he’s on a break. Or... I bought this and it won’t work. I’m going to need to see […]
HELP DESK HELP YOU Through the progression of a Help Desk game’s dialogues, we heighten the participants’ personal games. Two players swapping opinions on a piece of art can be a pretty funny scene. But, with Help Desk game mechanics, we can heighten personal games to make the characters’ emotional perspective more important than the […]
HEY EVERYBODY! How do you focus a Ten Person game? Step right up. Step right up. I want to ride the roller coaster. You’re too short to ride this ride. See the two-headed boy for two dollars. I’m afraid of clowns. I ate too much cotton candy. Where can I buy beer? I’m on mushrooms. […]
HEY EVERYBODY! START SOMETHING! “Hey Everybody” initiations can lead to some pretty stilted scenes wherein the initiator forces the role of facilitator. If you’ve seen improvisational performance, you’ve seen these scenes. “Ladies and gentlemen, [important person] is ready for your questions.” “I gathered you all here today because...” “Class! Class, pay attention (to me).” Players […]
ALL TOGETHER NOW Using To The Ether mechanics we can build a pattern from a progression of personal games, establishing and heightening a scenic game in the pattern’s evolving repetition. Using Help Desk mechanics, we can establish a pattern out of a scenic game, and repeat that pattern to heighten a personal game or theme. […]
When we whine that we don’t want to do group game work anymore, we ask, “Can we just do some two person scenes?” We want to breathe. And we equate “two person scene” with “time to breathe up top.” There’re just two of us; there’s less impetus to force our voice into the scene. We’re […]
How do we build our two person scenes after the initiating sequences? Practice. Let's review the components of strong two person scene initiations: 1. From the moment you enter the stage, actively engage either your environment or your scene partner with an emotional perspective dialed up to 11. That is all. With that, or those, […]
Pop quiz, hotshot. When do you add on to a two person scene in progress? A. When you have a funny idea B. When the scene needs to be saved C. When there are holes in the information on stage D. When you want to get in on the fun E. When you can heighten […]
Pop quiz, hotshot. What do you take as inspiration in initiating subsequent beats of a scene during a long-form show? A. This makes me think of that B. If this then what C. If first beat is "a day in the life," then second beat is "the day when X happens" D. If a character […]