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!
GUS, the delightful and talented team from The Baltimore Improv Group, opens its sets these days by asking the audience for "Three non-geographic locations." Asked to come up and lead a practice, I brought this exercise with me. We had a lot of fun with it. You will, too. Have you ever been in The […]
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 […]
When asked for a desired focus for a scheduled coaching session, a Duo sent me the following: Mainly character stuff, fleshing them out versus building out more plot. Getting better at finding and sticking to the game of the scene. What follows is some didactic and exercises that filled two hours. DIDACTIC: How do You […]
Objective: Players entering a scene in progress should always seek to heighten the games already in play. Heightening those games with concentrated pattern mechanics will increase the impact of those tertiary moves. The following outlines Tertiary and Polish moves with supporting video of me actually teaching a class those moves: Walking On and Walking Off […]
Watch an improv teacher adroitly introduce an objective to students, explain an exercise they'll do in service of that objective, provide side-coaching, and wrap it all up in the end. The clip comes from a Teacher & Coach Training Session at The Coalition Theater. Want to learn what they learned? Want to lead a similar […]
I recorded the session of my Patterns & Games class at The Coalition Theater in which we tackled the My 3 Rules game I've previously presented as a warm-up. One, the camera's distance makes it hard for the viewer to really track the game in play. Two, oh, man, looking for a drinking game? Watch […]
Gretchen Glaeser introduced me to Zane Adickes' "Damn, they call it like they see it!" warm-up tonight. And, well, I see it as a damn fine warm-up. Looking for an activity to practice individual silo-building through an emotional perspective as well as the pacing between individual contributions and group agreement? Try "They call it like […]
One Person Scene. Two Person Scene. Three Person Scene. Four Person Scene. Five Person Scene. Six Person Scene. Five Person Scene. Four Person Scene. Three Person Scene. Two Person Scene. One Person Scene. Or... One Person Scene. One Person Scene. One Person Scene. One Person Scene. One Person Scene. One Person Scene. One Person Scene. One Person Scene. One Person Scene. One Person […]
Repetition of relationship mechanics (“This” then “That”) establishes expectations for the audience. These expectations can be played to and against for fun effect. Looking for a warm-up to practice playing with expectations? Try Foreign Dubbing! [wpvideo O7SmvMk9] Performers are: David Adams, Guy Chapman, Patrice Deveaux, Micah Head, Alan Hopkinson, Nick Lawton, Megan Lemay, Jillian MacDougall, […]