I'm wishy washy about improv class showcases. On the one hand, if the point of going through classes is to learn to do performance-ready-level improv, then it seems sadistic to make 101 students "put it up on its feet." But on the other, nothing informs an improviser like improvising and all it entails - collaborating […]
Learn rigidly. Play loose. The Johnsons are the most dyed-in-the-wool Improv As Improv Does Best group there is. Makes sense. I coach them. They were taught the contents of this website. They learned the mechanics of spontaneous collaboration. But the desire has never been for them to conform to one style of improv as dictated by […]
A Coalition show called Strange Bedfellows pairs an actor with one half of a script with an improviser who ad libs their half. I had the honor of performing one night in the improviser's role. And I have never been more terrified pre-show. In a typical show, I have at least one improv partner. I […]
As a warm-up exercise or a short-form performance game, Four Corners is a fun way to explore two person scenes and subsequent beats. Check out this wonderful example from The Coalition Theater's class showcase. I am particularly fond of the players' choice to enthusiastically agree and trust in the power of emotion alone when met […]
Jive Turkey is Chris Ulrich and Joe Randazzo. They've been working on a two-man format where all the worlds connect. There's certainly a through-line of a plot here - finding one character's spouse, trying to have a threesome with said spouses, etc. - but what I like here is that the worlds are more connected by […]
The Johnsons' suggestion was "Cat Food." Thus, Cat Videos. The whole show is worth watching and is included at the bottom of this post. But first: Mr. Mittens. [wpvideo NdNpnKCD]
Improv AUDIO? That's not a Bat? Yes. It works. Listen.
Watch as the Johnsons' pattern recognition skills bring down the house and the lights. [wpvideo zYVtL4UX]
"Do we have to stick the sequence in Hey Everybody games?" students ask. No. Of course not. Play organically. Follow the game where it goes. Don't ever feel constrained by the pattern. But. There's power in the pattern. Watch the following Hey Everybody game from a Johnsons' show. It ain't pretty, but it's illustrative. Watch […]
Don't be the improver who initiates a scene by running to center stage and delivering a premise. Don't be an improviser in a scene where two players stand shoulder-to-shoulder, cheating-out, and talking about something not in-the-moment. Don't be a point in the arch of a group game where improvisers stand in a semi-circle and discuss […]