Personal Engagement: If you were all by yourself on stage, how would you feel about who you are, where you are and/or what you’re doing? Finding an emotion and an active scene element to feel that emotion toward can be the continued catalyst for a successful scene. If I say, “I love cats,” I’m […]
Situational Stakes: Our “What” is emotional reactions to active elements. Commitment and repetition are the only “why” we need. But “Because” can elevate the emotional stakes of a scene with context. “Stakes” come in many forms – and we want to apply emotion to all of them. These exercises focus on endowing premises and […]
IMPRESSIONS - Impressions are a fun way to get into a fully formed character Variations: • Go around in a circle, have everyone say a person they do an impression of • Move everyone to the right one spot, they do the impression of the person next to them • Get two people up, they […]
Remember what you like; Repeat: We have to listen and retain so we can return to and heighten established information. Memory is a muscle to exercise. But the exercise can be fun – focus on what makes you laugh, what engages you. Suggested Exercises: STORY STEALING – Everyone in a circle. One at a time, […]
Heightening Through Tag-Outs: A “tag out” allows the audience to see how a character from a previous scene will react to another character/scenario/etc. We want to execute tag-outs in service of heightening the emotional stakes. TAG OUTS –To perform a tag out, a player enters a scene in progress and literally tags the player that […]
Subsequent Beats: The stakes of one scene can be used as inspiration for initiating new scenes. SUBSEQUENT BEATS – Two players do a scene (edited early by the teacher). These two original players go to the wings. A Player Three initiates a new scene, explicitly soliciting the participation of Player One, Player Two, Both Players […]
Group Mind: Having Group Mind is about immediate, enthusiastic acceptance. You need to show your fellow players that you respect and love their ideas, and trust that you can make a bold move and have your group respect and love it. “I trust you – I’m going to follow your ideas whatever they are, wherever […]
Having Group Mind is about immediate, enthusiastic acceptance. You need to show your fellow players that you respect and love their ideas, and trust that you can make a bold move and have your group respect and love it. “I trust you – I’m going to follow your ideas whatever they are, wherever they go, […]
Having Group Mind is about immediate, enthusiastic acceptance. You need to show your fellow players that you respect and love their ideas, and trust that you can make a bold move and have your group respect and love it. “I trust you – I’m going to follow your ideas whatever they are, wherever they go, […]
Self Contained Emotional Statements: Emotion should be the base of all the improv we do. A “Self Contained Emotional Statement” establishes a stable starting point without dictating a direction and therefore is the initiation most conducive to patterns’ possibilities. Suggested Exercises: SCES CIRCLE I – Around a circle, everyone makes a Self Contained Emotional Statement. […]