A wonderful conceit about Seinfeld, explicit in the meta-dealings with Jerry's and George's sitcom pitch within the sitcom, was that it was a "show about nothing." Yet of course the truth is that, while maybe an episode is not be driven by plot, it is about "something" - every episode revolves around the way known […]
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?
I sat with across from an executive. It was a benign conversation - a check-in meeting. Neither of us was all that engaged. Looking down at his desk, I noticed he'd arrayed files on his desk in the order of a rainbow - Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple (though Roy G. Biv forever, squad). I […]
Here's an annoying song my baby likes: Herman The Worm Here's the thing... It makes for one fun group warm-up with echos of One Person, To The Ether, Help Desk and Hey Everybody game patterns. Give it a try!
Everyone in a circle. Starting Player starts with a Self Contained Emotional Statement through the filter of being a "crazy" character-type (a pirate, a monster, a nun.. see nonMECE list HERE.). For example, (proudly) "The full moon's rising and with it my transformation." The Player to their right interacts through the lens of a "normal" […]
"Silver." "Eclipse." "Model." Not a Word Association that would pass muster. How does the second move build on the first? How does the third Cement the pattern? What's the progression?
I love World Building in improvisation. With World Building in mind we can bring focus to our Organic Formats. The first scene of a show starts in a train; the rest of the show exists in that same train. The first scene of a show starts with Little League players. The next scene focuses on […]
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 […]
"World Building" is a noble pursuit in long form improvisation. It can focus our creativity to try to link our scenes to a single location, time or conceit. The Chicago-based People of Earth, for example, placed all of their scenes on the same train. Horse Apples set an entire long-form in a future where everyone […]
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 […]