Remember this Simpsons bit with Krusty about hemorrhoids and riding bikes? That "I can ride a bike again!" idea jumps into my head a lot (more often than a person should really think about hemorrhoids...probably). I think about it in conjunction with that "It's just like riding a bike" expression used to refer to an […]
Detective, a house team at The Coalition Theater, created an Opening inspired by this scene from Black Dynamite where wild associative leaps serve to solve a crime. [wpvideo 2f2vbo0R] The Opening generates a lot of Details for them to inspire future scenes. The big jumps showcase individual's humor and building on one another showcases their […]
Tonight pre-show The Coalition taught me three new warm-up games. I loved them. I don't know who came up with them but thank you whoever you are. Here's The Deal. Yes, And. I Know, Right?! I Need Three Things Chain. Hype People Here's the evolving list of Warm-up exercises.
We want to avoid conflict, debate and negotiation in our improv scenes. The audience knows we're making it up - building something from nothing - they don't want to see us arguing over imagined reality; they want to see us react to an accepted reality. What's the best way to avoid arguing? Acceptance! Agreeing to […]
Like the 5 Things warm-up? You'll love this one. Or so you will if you're like I was when exposed to this warm-up tonight by Matt Newman. Looking for a nice in-your-head out-of-your-head patterns-on-patterns warm-up?
Whatever we have to say on an improv stage can be spun into gold with enthusiastic agreement. So we shouldn't feel like we have to deliver some killer creative line to start a scene. We should remember, in fact, that what we bring authenticity - what we care about - however mundane - is rich […]
Getting synced with your teammates is why we warm up. Give this activity a try! Everyone in a circle. One by one, in no particular order, we enter the circle. "Tonight I'm..." First we share our current mindset with the group. For example, "Tonight I'm feeling tired. I stayed up too late and woke up […]
It's all about the Set move. Remember: Anything's an Offer. A group of improvisers gather pre-show. They take off excess clothes. They empty their pockets. They ask about each other's day. One guy tells a story about an out-of-the-blue run-in with an old friend that happened that day. Another improviser tells her own story about […]
Looking for a fun improv warm-up with some character-building tools?
"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!