So the other night was the sixth session of my level one class. As we do at the top of every class period – we briefly talk about what improv shows people saw the previous week – almost always only a handful (today only two of us) have actually gone to see any improv, much less an io Harold team.
This wouldn’t be so surprising except we get into almost all the shows at the theater for free (and one of the best shows in the city is right after our class downstairs (admittedly that’s one of the few we don’t get into for free, but it’s $5). The most shocking thing it’s always the same people who go to see shows – nearly half the class has yet to see an improv show in the city (or at least admit to it) since the class started (6 weeks ago) – which boggles my mind – here you are shelling out hundreds of dollars to take this (and possibly other) classes, yet you don’t want to take advantage of one of the few perks (free admission to most shows) and see how it’s “supposed” to be done.
It’s part of a weird phenomena I’ve started to notice since being up in Chicago – one you’re surrounded by so much improvisation (really theater, the arts, and most things in general) it becomes very easy to take it all for granted.
Anyway we next had a quick round of 8’s (what I secretly call cerebral palsy...if you know the warm-up you understand, but still probably think just as poorly of me for thinking that) and then had half the class picks up where we left off last week.
Last week we learned the Invocation (see above post for details) – and ended the class with half of us performing an invocation then going right into the first two beats of a Harold (so invocation as the opening, three scenes, a group game, three more scenes).
We ran out of time before the second half of the class got to try it though – so they did it this week.
It was very clear a little bit into the invocation, that some of the group either did not fully remember how the opening went or did not understand it the first time around – either the start of it was great…then it got a little messy. The scenes in the first beat were ok, if lacking a little in the relationship department, while the second beat scenes were a little more strained – as with out strong relationships early on, connections between the various scenes were hard to make.
After the shaky repeat of the invocation (due to time) we had to plow forward in order to cover the lesson for today: The Armando. Now for those of you not in the know the Armando (aka Armando Diaz – named after the person who came up with it) is a show format where one individual is set as the Armando for the show – his job is to, based off an audience suggestion, begin a true (meaning a real anecdote from his life experience) monologue at the top of the show which will inspire a random number of scenes (I say random, because the number usually isn’t set beforehand). Then after a number of scenes the Armando feels is right (or after the info from the monologue has been bled dry for inspiration) the Armando steps forward delivers a new monologue (still true – only now inspired from the scenes which just occurred) and a series of scenes happen again (and as the second monologue was inspired itself from the first round of scenes – connections between the first and second beats often happen). The piece ends with either a scene or a final monologue – that really depends on the tech guy/Armando.
Now I love the Armando – it’s format is so lose that there’s an incredible amount of freedom and the standard inspiration is such that getting everyone in the ensemble on the same page is incredibly simple.
Now when I say “standard inspiration” here’s what I mean: the source is a monologue (basically a true anecdote/story from a person’s life – however there’s a standard way to dissect this for scene work (note as with any opening players are actually free (depending on the director) to take whatever inspiration they want (word, tone, theme, phrase, physicality of the presenter, etc): what my level one teacher calls commenting.
A quick tangent here: I learned how to do “long form” based off of the Armando premise (scenes from a monologue), was trained in this idea at the UCB theater in New York in their level one program, and have taught a number of workshops where I’ve talked about how to dissect a monologue for scenes.
The way our teacher described how to do it the first time made me go “whaaaa?” in my head. Now my level one teacher is incredibly nice and very talented and this is the only time in 6 weeks where I almost did a double take at something, but the first attempt at breaking this down was not the most efficient explanation I’ve ever heard.
It was described as such: “basically all the scenes in an Armando are comments about the monologue – in other words you should be commenting on something you heard from the monologue in ever scene.”
Now I can see what she was trying to say (at the time I was a tad confused), but it’s not the best wording. Eventually through a number of question asking on the part of some of the students and some explanation on the part of the teacher we got out the simplified idea: For an Armando, you don’t want to reenact the story (or situations) you heard – you want to figure out what the monologue (stories/situations) are really about/ what they are saying – and do a scene based on that (ok maybe not all that simple).
I language used when I was first taught was: take an idea (dare I say a theme) from the monologue and apply it to a completely different situation.
Where the word Commenting comes from is because in essence the ideal is that your scene will (or should depending on who you ask) probably voice an opinion (comment) about the idea - leading to a deeper message – I’m all for a piece having a message (and that is what teaching it under this method pushes for) though most of the time if you’re doing your job it will have one organically – you just have to be open to it when it pops up.
Honestly I can't really fault them too much for teaching it in terms of calling it commenting on a scene (heck I call crazy 8's or whatever, cerebral palsy in my head - though I'd never teach it that way) I just wonder sometimes about how much is being lost due to the way they have structured their curriculum and the sheer number of people per class, and I think this was a small symptom of it.
The scenes in the Armando were great for the most part (a few were a little rough – but that was mostly due to too many people being on stage at one time). I also did something a haven’t done since the first day – I made sure to go in the last group (those of you reading the post above must be shocked) however what I realized was that by getting up first every time (the way this class is) I ended up playing with the same 10 people almost every time… or at least mainly. I had never worked with almost half the class in the past 6 weeks –so since her are only two classes left I wanted to challenge myself by playing with the others. Overall a fun class and I managed to get in on two really nice character driven scenes in the Armando – and one amusing cluster fuck, which at least was… amusing.
That's all I have for now - told you I'd be more detailed... see
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Friday, September 28, 2007
Could we please get a Location... THUNDER DOME
How about someplace that will fit on the stage?
A tiny Thunder dome.
Anyplace that is not enclosed in a dome.
Thunder living room. Thunder bakery. Thunder court.
Ok I heard courtroom.
Tonight I finally managed to get my butt down to the corner of Belmont and Halstead for the weekly long form jam at the Playground theater: Open Court. Above is the host calling for a suggestion for the part of the show I was in...but before I get to that let me set up the night for you.
Now for those of you not in the know this is how Open Court works.
Basically you show up to the theater a little bit before 10:30pm on Thursday (when the show starts). The cost is $5 and for that they give you a ticket - if you wish to perform that night as part of the jam you take the ticket and write your name on the back of it and return it to them (if you don't just leave it blank and go sit down you freeloading bum).
Once the show starts whoever is hosting comes out and introduces two guest coaches (improvisers with some know how from around town) who then draw the names out of a hat (or whatever) in order to form two random teams.
The teams run back stage (which actually means through a door into the alley behind the theater) and meet with their coach to decide on what format their show will take. Sometimes the coach has a preconceived notion of a new form to try, or sometimes the players just make something up (the key here is every night each team plays with a different format - some simple, some really fucking complex). The coaches then run over the details making sure people understand.
The team then decides on a name - does a super fast warm-up - and runs back in... all in all this should take less than 15 minutes.
The coaches come on stage and flip a coin to see who goes first - each team gets roughly 25 minutes to jam and then at the end of the night those same tickets are used to draw for crazy awesome prizes (like a stop watch, or a flashlight, or whatever has been left in the theater storage area that isn't claimed by a staff member).
All in all this is a pretty interesting idea - it has the potential to be incredibly awesome... Tonight not so much.
I quickly realized the level of awesome for either show is almost entirely in the hands of the coach - who has final word on the format of the team's show (especially considering the usual people at this jam are beginning to mid level improvisers - some from a short form, others from a long form background - who don't know each other and have drastic ranges in performance abilities and styles).
The form our coach came up with for our team - was a bunch of great ideas formed into a less than stellar concoction. He asked us what we liked most about forms we had played (personally I don't give a rats ass about forms - I like relatively open forms where the focus is more on scenes and just improvising instead of worrying about what beat you're in, or whatever gimmick you have come up with).
Here is the list he got from the others of what they like in their forms: Tag outs, time dashes, multiple scenes in the same location, character switching & something else I can't recall.
Now by themselves I'm cool with all of these - hell, done right I'm a hundred percent down to throw all these on together and rock.
Here is what he laid out for us (in parentheses are my thoughts):
We'll get one location for all the scenes to take place in
(cool, I've rocked shows like that before)
New scenes will take place in the same starting location we get from the audience, but in a different time...
(OK that's fairly obvious - unless your locale is like a motel, or ball room and you want to show what's going on in the next room, or in the hall, or across the room - but cool)
period - so we'll be time dashing to other time periods - as many as possible: stone age - future - 16th century - etc, to start every new scene
(... first off that's not the proper use of the term time dash - secondly sounds a bit kitchy & short formy, but whatever I've done worse - though I wish you would've let us discover that possibility organically as we played instead of mandating it)
We sweep edit to change scenes, but can use tag edits to take over another person's character
(kick ass - I've experimented with taking on other people's character mid scene, should be interesting - if potentially a little chaotic)
And be sure and remember the key lines of dialog - as we'll be replaying the first scene each time
(what the fuck? I misheard you right, you're joking....that's funny - cause if we did that it wouldn't really leave all that much room to improvise as we'd basically just be playing a big old game of genres, but with less freedom....son of a bitch you're serious)
So in case you missed it - our format (for what is billed as a long form improv jam) was one scene set in a single location that was to be repeated multiple times in different time periods - with a focus on remembering the original lines - and we could switch characters at the start of every scene. Sigh.
Our location when we went in was courtroom (as mentioned above....oh how I would've loved to do this in a tiny thunder dome...or thunder living room) and we all ended up being in the first scene (the original plan was it would be two person scenes so everyone would play the same scene in a different time period, with two different actors in the original roles) - however one person started off as the judge, then a bailiff entered and the rest of us (7 in all) were called in to be attorneys, defendant, random guy in witness stand - yet the only dialog was between three people...
So yeah - every time the scene ended (on the same line - just sometimes delivered slightly differently - as new time period means silly accents - such as French for Victorian era, pirate? for whenever pirates roamed, vaudeville barker for I guess around the 20's, binary for the future, and dinosaur/caveman for prehistoric) we'd scramble and take on a different character that had already been established.
The other team's form was normal scenes but ever edit just had the person editing telling us a fact which was inspired from the previous scene - and lead to the new one.....so they actually ended up having a lot more freedom. It was still fun to be performing even though it was not what I expected (went in looking to do some open scenes ended playing a slightly altered long ass short form game).
However at the end of it all I won two comic books (one of them being Super Man: Red Son....awesome) in the prize drawing and got to maul someone as a pterodactyl on stage - so not a total loss.
Anyway I definitely plan to go back there - cause the idea has so much potential - I just pray I don't end up on a team with a coach is is confused about the meaning of the term long form (I found out afterward most of the people there that night were either from comedy sports or the early second city classes: non conservatory - so aha).
Thursday, September 27, 2007
iO Level One - Weeks One - Five
Improv class Update the First: Getting you all up to speed.
Backstory
I made the move from good old St. Louis up to Chicago back during the first week of September - and (as of today) am currently in my sixth week of classes at the iO theater. Now for those of you math majors out there that seems nigh impossible - here we are four weeks into the month of Chicago yet I've been taking classes here for two extra weeks.
Well I managed this feat not through the use of a Tardis, tricked out Delorian, or phone booth sent from the future by George Carlin - but by driving up here and sitting in on the classes before I moved (well one of them at least... I called in a favor or two) and was officially enrolled.
Lowdown on the iO theater
Before I begin my recap on the classes up to this point let me begin by giving you a lowdown on the iO Theater (for those of you not in the know).
So the way iO works is that there are 6 main* levels of classes (1,2,3,4,5,& 5b) each class meets once a week for a total of 8 sessions (so eight weeks). Each class lasts 3 hours and has a short (10 minutes or so) break in the middle.
The theater itself has two stages (both with a full bar - hooray) - the Del Close Theater upstairs, then the Cabaret Theater downstairs (the downstairs is where the House or Harold teams perform) - and has multiple shows going every night of the week. Students at the theater can get into almost any show for free.
Recap of the Classes
So here's a quick look back at the past 5 classes of Level One at iO.
I recall begin very surprised after the first class I attended at iO by one thing in particular: the size of the class (we started out with 23 people...for a 3 hour class - if you work the math out in your head that means each person averages around 7.8 minutes of stage time....less when you factor in the break, warm-ups + discussions).
Luckily in subsequent classes we now average between 18 & 20 (a couple people have just vanished and one or two miss, making up the classes at other times**)
The very first day I we did a short name warm-up (where we "try" to learn people's names and also get some energy up) - with that many people a few people I have only just now learned their names.
Afterwards we quickly jumped into an exercise on listening called cocktail party: http://greenlightwiki.com/improv/Cocktail_Party
From there we worked briefly on short true personal monologues, a few agreement exercises - such as yes and..., and by the end of the 3 hour class we were doing short scenes.
After the first day (a I foolishly did not keep a record of everything we did at the time) it gets a little hazy as to the specifics.
I recall that by the next class we were already doing open scenes - at the beginning of each class so far we always perform one short warm-up and then sometimes will learn a warm-up that is actually a possible show opening.
Some opening we've already covered include:
word association, monologues, and the invocation:
An object is gotten to inspire the opening. The performers then begin with a series of "It is..." statements describing the object and its environment, next a series of "You are..." statements follow where the performers relate to the object in some way, this is followed by a series of "Thou art..." statements which describe the nature of the object (in terms of the personal "you are..." statements) in an almost Shakespearian and epic poem style, next comes the last series of statements: "I am..." simplifying the nature and picking out thematic elements from the descriptions before.
Ex. Spaghetti = object. It is siting in a blue bowl covered with Parmesan cheese. You are the meal my mother served me every time I got sick. Thou art the soothing balm that washes away all pain. I am love.
Big Ideas we have covered in the previous classes:
Relationship, relationship, relationship: The scene is not about dead space hookers, or the fact that you failed chemistry, or digging holes - the scene is about the interaction between the two characters on stage - and how those above things influence it.
Secret wants: Everybody secretly (and sometimes not so secretly) wants something from almost any interaction they have - so why not your character. It can be as epic as wanting your partners undying love, or as simple as wanting a snickers bar or high five - and it never needs to actually be addressed in the scene, however it can be a great tool to find a character.
Main focus of all the first five classes:
Learning some of the basic techniques that will prepare us to tackle the Harold and the iO style of improv.
We've gone over tag outs, walk ons, openings, drawing inspiration from an opening for a scene, group games, and the structure of the first two beats of a Harold.
I plan on going into more detail about these things in later posts - however for now, at least you some idea of what goes into the iO style.
My Thoughts
Some of the classes have been incredibly interesting - though for the most part it is a real struggle to keep the energy up. On a good day you can hope to average maybe 2-3 scenes (or group games or scene-like exercises) and only if you're fast and sitting in the front row (this I think is key in any performance class like this where you have to get up and work - otherwise you'll be one of the last every time).
About 75% (or more) of the class you are sitting and watching other people improvise or listening to other people's notes or explanations about exercises and scenes. As they say, however, you can learn almost as much by watching other people and listening as you can by doing - however, it requires effort on your part to stay focused.
All this down time can make for some rough/off/low energy scenes if you let it - and considering how little stage time you might get - it's incredibly important to maintain your focus.
For me I usually try and be one of the first people up for every round of new exercises - it keeps me on my toes (especially if I'm in the first group, pair up - as usually our instructor doesn't explain the exercise until the first bunch are on stage). Also I've found that the longer you sit and watch other people do the exercise before your turn, the greater tendency you have to get in your head and start thinking way to much about when your turn comes.
As a performer I very rarely get in my head on stage - I just don't worry about it and focus on what's going on in the scenes. But I swear there have been times in these classes (or some workshops) where I end up just completely analyzing an exercise and how to respond or what I'd like to do (This type of scene would be perfect for this exercise.... or If I was in that scene I'd probably...).
I often try to direct this to more constructive thinking (I've played an angry character today..I should try happy or some different emotion - or I started my last character out with a different voice, maybe this time I'll start with a physicality or emotion) - still getting up early and then being able to just sit back watch and absorb the other scenes is much better.
That's all I can recall right now sadly - I promise later posts will have more details about the individual classes (as I'll be writing them either right after, or the next day). Also in last three posts concerning Level One I'll look more in depth to some of the main ideas and exercises above.
So stay tuned.
*There is at least one optional level and also a series of electives available at iO as well. For the full curriculum and descriptions, check here: http://www.iochicago.net/classes/classes_curriculum.php
** Note: you can only miss two of the 8 classes per level, after that you must retake the entire level. It is possible to make-up a missed class by going to another section of the same level on a different day. During my session there were five different sections of level One being taught (so at roughly 20 x 5 that means approx 100 people are taking just level one at iO).
Backstory
I made the move from good old St. Louis up to Chicago back during the first week of September - and (as of today) am currently in my sixth week of classes at the iO theater. Now for those of you math majors out there that seems nigh impossible - here we are four weeks into the month of Chicago yet I've been taking classes here for two extra weeks.
Well I managed this feat not through the use of a Tardis, tricked out Delorian, or phone booth sent from the future by George Carlin - but by driving up here and sitting in on the classes before I moved (well one of them at least... I called in a favor or two) and was officially enrolled.
Lowdown on the iO theater
Before I begin my recap on the classes up to this point let me begin by giving you a lowdown on the iO Theater (for those of you not in the know).
So the way iO works is that there are 6 main* levels of classes (1,2,3,4,5,& 5b) each class meets once a week for a total of 8 sessions (so eight weeks). Each class lasts 3 hours and has a short (10 minutes or so) break in the middle.
The theater itself has two stages (both with a full bar - hooray) - the Del Close Theater upstairs, then the Cabaret Theater downstairs (the downstairs is where the House or Harold teams perform) - and has multiple shows going every night of the week. Students at the theater can get into almost any show for free.
Recap of the Classes
So here's a quick look back at the past 5 classes of Level One at iO.
I recall begin very surprised after the first class I attended at iO by one thing in particular: the size of the class (we started out with 23 people...for a 3 hour class - if you work the math out in your head that means each person averages around 7.8 minutes of stage time....less when you factor in the break, warm-ups + discussions).
Luckily in subsequent classes we now average between 18 & 20 (a couple people have just vanished and one or two miss, making up the classes at other times**)
The very first day I we did a short name warm-up (where we "try" to learn people's names and also get some energy up) - with that many people a few people I have only just now learned their names.
Afterwards we quickly jumped into an exercise on listening called cocktail party: http://greenlightwiki.com/improv/Cocktail_Party
From there we worked briefly on short true personal monologues, a few agreement exercises - such as yes and..., and by the end of the 3 hour class we were doing short scenes.
After the first day (a I foolishly did not keep a record of everything we did at the time) it gets a little hazy as to the specifics.
I recall that by the next class we were already doing open scenes - at the beginning of each class so far we always perform one short warm-up and then sometimes will learn a warm-up that is actually a possible show opening.
Some opening we've already covered include:
word association, monologues, and the invocation:
An object is gotten to inspire the opening. The performers then begin with a series of "It is..." statements describing the object and its environment, next a series of "You are..." statements follow where the performers relate to the object in some way, this is followed by a series of "Thou art..." statements which describe the nature of the object (in terms of the personal "you are..." statements) in an almost Shakespearian and epic poem style, next comes the last series of statements: "I am..." simplifying the nature and picking out thematic elements from the descriptions before.
Ex. Spaghetti = object. It is siting in a blue bowl covered with Parmesan cheese. You are the meal my mother served me every time I got sick. Thou art the soothing balm that washes away all pain. I am love.
Big Ideas we have covered in the previous classes:
Relationship, relationship, relationship: The scene is not about dead space hookers, or the fact that you failed chemistry, or digging holes - the scene is about the interaction between the two characters on stage - and how those above things influence it.
Secret wants: Everybody secretly (and sometimes not so secretly) wants something from almost any interaction they have - so why not your character. It can be as epic as wanting your partners undying love, or as simple as wanting a snickers bar or high five - and it never needs to actually be addressed in the scene, however it can be a great tool to find a character.
Main focus of all the first five classes:
Learning some of the basic techniques that will prepare us to tackle the Harold and the iO style of improv.
We've gone over tag outs, walk ons, openings, drawing inspiration from an opening for a scene, group games, and the structure of the first two beats of a Harold.
I plan on going into more detail about these things in later posts - however for now, at least you some idea of what goes into the iO style.
My Thoughts
Some of the classes have been incredibly interesting - though for the most part it is a real struggle to keep the energy up. On a good day you can hope to average maybe 2-3 scenes (or group games or scene-like exercises) and only if you're fast and sitting in the front row (this I think is key in any performance class like this where you have to get up and work - otherwise you'll be one of the last every time).
About 75% (or more) of the class you are sitting and watching other people improvise or listening to other people's notes or explanations about exercises and scenes. As they say, however, you can learn almost as much by watching other people and listening as you can by doing - however, it requires effort on your part to stay focused.
All this down time can make for some rough/off/low energy scenes if you let it - and considering how little stage time you might get - it's incredibly important to maintain your focus.
For me I usually try and be one of the first people up for every round of new exercises - it keeps me on my toes (especially if I'm in the first group, pair up - as usually our instructor doesn't explain the exercise until the first bunch are on stage). Also I've found that the longer you sit and watch other people do the exercise before your turn, the greater tendency you have to get in your head and start thinking way to much about when your turn comes.
As a performer I very rarely get in my head on stage - I just don't worry about it and focus on what's going on in the scenes. But I swear there have been times in these classes (or some workshops) where I end up just completely analyzing an exercise and how to respond or what I'd like to do (This type of scene would be perfect for this exercise.... or If I was in that scene I'd probably...).
I often try to direct this to more constructive thinking (I've played an angry character today..I should try happy or some different emotion - or I started my last character out with a different voice, maybe this time I'll start with a physicality or emotion) - still getting up early and then being able to just sit back watch and absorb the other scenes is much better.
That's all I can recall right now sadly - I promise later posts will have more details about the individual classes (as I'll be writing them either right after, or the next day). Also in last three posts concerning Level One I'll look more in depth to some of the main ideas and exercises above.
So stay tuned.
*There is at least one optional level and also a series of electives available at iO as well. For the full curriculum and descriptions, check here: http://www.iochicago.net/classes/classes_curriculum.php
** Note: you can only miss two of the 8 classes per level, after that you must retake the entire level. It is possible to make-up a missed class by going to another section of the same level on a different day. During my session there were five different sections of level One being taught (so at roughly 20 x 5 that means approx 100 people are taking just level one at iO).
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Can I get a suggestion please...
Vagina.
This was actually a suggestion thrown out at an improv show I saw not too long ago at the iO Theater in Chicago. Actually, for those of you not in the "know", suggestions like this (dirty words that drunk people think will be funny to shout out in public) are actually offered up with a frightening frequency at improv shows. What's not all that frequent however, is when an improv troupe not only takes such a 'potty mouth" suggestion right off the bat, but also delivers a show inspired from it that rocks (as was the case that night).
Now since moving to Chicago I've seen a fair number of improv shows (I'm an improviser myself within walking distance of a major theater, that actually allows me into most of their shows for free... go figure) - some have been fan-fucking-tastic (like the one I mention above), others not quite so much. Probably not all that surprising to most people (even in the "mecca" of improvisation) given logic and all, everyone can't be amazing. What is surprising to me however, is that in the shows that tank (and some might as well have had Lori Petty driving them - NB if you get this reference I can really only feel sad for you...but probably not as sad as you feel for me for making it) I notice the same things happening (or not happening) all the time.
Now I could go ahead list off a number of things that, if you ever pick up any decent book on improv they'll mention (hell some list them as the "rules" of improv) and they would all be things that I saw and lead to less than stellar scene work - however, they are really just a symptom of the true problems (at least the ones that I've noticed) not the cause.
One of the things I've been noticing is either ensembles or individuals within an ensemble not meshing. Some of this (from what I've seen) stems from when players make judgments about other people's offers or even worst other players. If you watch enough (or play enough) improv after a while you'll come across this phenomena, it's human nature (though you never see it in the best teams) - but some one will let their ego into the picture and start to get the "I'm carrying this team mentality" or people within a group will start looking at one player thinking "they're holding us/me back" - sometimes it's not even that clear cut.
Often it'll be in mid scene - one player gives up a perfectly good offer - but it's not as good as their partner with this problem would've liked and it shows) - or it doesn't jive with what they were thinking and so it gets overlooked deliberately.
Or perhaps it's right after the scene and you see the player head to the back line and sigh - already judging what they or their partner did (or the back line themselves).
Most often it's a player judging their own offers though and that's the hardest one to recover from sometimes.
This kind of judgment (either of one's own offers/actions or of others) can lead to hesitation, lack of listening, and terrible improv. Sometimes the players themselves don;t even know they are judging anyone, much less themselves - however whenever you try and think of the funniest thing to say, hesitate before making an offer, ignore something cause it seems out of place, etc it stems from an internal judgement - and fear.
The best groups I've ever seen all have a sense of play about them. They don;t ever judge what their partners or themselves offer (at least not while on stage) whatever is said, whatever is done, is perfectly right in that moment. They seem not to care about what the audience thinks - and are just up there playing with each other.
Also they almost never commit the sin of omission (this is one specific thing I'll talk about - as I've seen it so much). If some one's name is accidentally changed, or a person walks through a wall, or any other "mistake" happens, they don't ignore it and pretend it didn't happen (silently cursing the person who did it) they use it - and make it seem like it belongs.
I almost never see anymore someone just flat out telling their scene partner that their offer is wrong, or that the world they've built is wrong/crazy - but I see all the times offers being ignored, or brushed aside - which in fact does the exact same thing.
Ok, I've got to run as this is longer than I meant it to be - later I'll probably clean it up for coherency. Btw - if you only take one thing away from this rant as an improviser - have fun while you're performing (if you aren't having fun, figure out why and change it asap or do something else). If you only take two things - it doesn't matter what you do or say in an improv scene, just do or say something (there's no right or wrong) - and don't ever judge what is done or said.
This was actually a suggestion thrown out at an improv show I saw not too long ago at the iO Theater in Chicago. Actually, for those of you not in the "know", suggestions like this (dirty words that drunk people think will be funny to shout out in public) are actually offered up with a frightening frequency at improv shows. What's not all that frequent however, is when an improv troupe not only takes such a 'potty mouth" suggestion right off the bat, but also delivers a show inspired from it that rocks (as was the case that night).
Now since moving to Chicago I've seen a fair number of improv shows (I'm an improviser myself within walking distance of a major theater, that actually allows me into most of their shows for free... go figure) - some have been fan-fucking-tastic (like the one I mention above), others not quite so much. Probably not all that surprising to most people (even in the "mecca" of improvisation) given logic and all, everyone can't be amazing. What is surprising to me however, is that in the shows that tank (and some might as well have had Lori Petty driving them - NB if you get this reference I can really only feel sad for you...but probably not as sad as you feel for me for making it) I notice the same things happening (or not happening) all the time.
Now I could go ahead list off a number of things that, if you ever pick up any decent book on improv they'll mention (hell some list them as the "rules" of improv) and they would all be things that I saw and lead to less than stellar scene work - however, they are really just a symptom of the true problems (at least the ones that I've noticed) not the cause.
One of the things I've been noticing is either ensembles or individuals within an ensemble not meshing. Some of this (from what I've seen) stems from when players make judgments about other people's offers or even worst other players. If you watch enough (or play enough) improv after a while you'll come across this phenomena, it's human nature (though you never see it in the best teams) - but some one will let their ego into the picture and start to get the "I'm carrying this team mentality" or people within a group will start looking at one player thinking "they're holding us/me back" - sometimes it's not even that clear cut.
Often it'll be in mid scene - one player gives up a perfectly good offer - but it's not as good as their partner with this problem would've liked and it shows) - or it doesn't jive with what they were thinking and so it gets overlooked deliberately.
Or perhaps it's right after the scene and you see the player head to the back line and sigh - already judging what they or their partner did (or the back line themselves).
Most often it's a player judging their own offers though and that's the hardest one to recover from sometimes.
This kind of judgment (either of one's own offers/actions or of others) can lead to hesitation, lack of listening, and terrible improv. Sometimes the players themselves don;t even know they are judging anyone, much less themselves - however whenever you try and think of the funniest thing to say, hesitate before making an offer, ignore something cause it seems out of place, etc it stems from an internal judgement - and fear.
The best groups I've ever seen all have a sense of play about them. They don;t ever judge what their partners or themselves offer (at least not while on stage) whatever is said, whatever is done, is perfectly right in that moment. They seem not to care about what the audience thinks - and are just up there playing with each other.
Also they almost never commit the sin of omission (this is one specific thing I'll talk about - as I've seen it so much). If some one's name is accidentally changed, or a person walks through a wall, or any other "mistake" happens, they don't ignore it and pretend it didn't happen (silently cursing the person who did it) they use it - and make it seem like it belongs.
I almost never see anymore someone just flat out telling their scene partner that their offer is wrong, or that the world they've built is wrong/crazy - but I see all the times offers being ignored, or brushed aside - which in fact does the exact same thing.
Ok, I've got to run as this is longer than I meant it to be - later I'll probably clean it up for coherency. Btw - if you only take one thing away from this rant as an improviser - have fun while you're performing (if you aren't having fun, figure out why and change it asap or do something else). If you only take two things - it doesn't matter what you do or say in an improv scene, just do or say something (there's no right or wrong) - and don't ever judge what is done or said.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Matchmaker, matchmaker make me a match...
Fine me a find, catch me a.... job.
I stole this from a friend (my apologies):
The career meme...
1. Go to Career Cruising, www.careercruising.com.
2. Put in Username: nycareers and Password: landmark.
3. Take their "Career Matchmaker" quiz.
4. Post the top twenty results.
5. Put the careers you have seriously considered in bold.
6. Italicize any that are part of your current job/career.
1. Director of Photography
2. Special Effects Technician
3. Actor
4. Director
5. Set Designer
6. Costume Designer
7. Comedian
8. Casting Director
9. Composer
10. Musician
11. Producer
12. Magician
13. Photographer
14. Arts Administrator
15. Politician
16. Lobbyist
17. Corporate / Commercial Lawyer
18. Website Designer
19. Animator
20. Foreign Language Instructor
Now usually I would be incredibly opposed to adding a whatever the hell these traditional blog quizzes are now called (meme? What the fuck does that mean?) - however a few things struck me about this one:
First it offers up a few very cool career opportunities and actually covers quite a few things I'm doing with my life right now (I started up an independent production company a few years ago - for all you less than superb stalkers out of the loop - which is why most of the production/film/web based stuff is italicized and the improv takes care of the others).
Secondly one of these option is clearly not like the others (and would cause a high school teacher of mine to drop down dead of surprise). Can you guess which one I'm talking about? If you said Foreign Language instructor, you'd be right. I find this one particularly amusing since (except for 3 years of Spanish in 6th-8th grade - and fyi I ended up in the "fuck up" Spanish class god how I hated it towards the end) the only foreign language I know is Latin (four years of it in high school baby).
The reason I took Latin was because it was the only language offered that was not spoken in class after the second year (because it's a dead language technically -so it's never spoken - woohoo) - I knew there would be no way to bullshit my way out of learning either Spanish, French, Russian or whatever seeing as after the first year the classes were only taught in those languages (and in my high school you had to take 3 years of a language) - thus Latin was the best option. Admittedly my freshman year of college I started out as a Classics major though actually it was the subsection Ancient Studies, since that required no knowledge of either Latin or Greek - which I chose deliberately.
Still other than that option I can see where the derived all the rest from. In fact I'd love to be able to combine a few: A magician, lobbyist/politician for example would be loads of fun (really magician + any job would probably be amusing though).
I stole this from a friend (my apologies):
The career meme...
1. Go to Career Cruising, www.careercruising.com.
2. Put in Username: nycareers and Password: landmark.
3. Take their "Career Matchmaker" quiz.
4. Post the top twenty results.
5. Put the careers you have seriously considered in bold.
6. Italicize any that are part of your current job/career.
1. Director of Photography
2. Special Effects Technician
3. Actor
4. Director
5. Set Designer
6. Costume Designer
7. Comedian
8. Casting Director
9. Composer
10. Musician
11. Producer
12. Magician
13. Photographer
14. Arts Administrator
15. Politician
16. Lobbyist
17. Corporate / Commercial Lawyer
18. Website Designer
19. Animator
20. Foreign Language Instructor
Now usually I would be incredibly opposed to adding a whatever the hell these traditional blog quizzes are now called (meme? What the fuck does that mean?) - however a few things struck me about this one:
First it offers up a few very cool career opportunities and actually covers quite a few things I'm doing with my life right now (I started up an independent production company a few years ago - for all you less than superb stalkers out of the loop - which is why most of the production/film/web based stuff is italicized and the improv takes care of the others).
Secondly one of these option is clearly not like the others (and would cause a high school teacher of mine to drop down dead of surprise). Can you guess which one I'm talking about? If you said Foreign Language instructor, you'd be right. I find this one particularly amusing since (except for 3 years of Spanish in 6th-8th grade - and fyi I ended up in the "fuck up" Spanish class god how I hated it towards the end) the only foreign language I know is Latin (four years of it in high school baby).
The reason I took Latin was because it was the only language offered that was not spoken in class after the second year (because it's a dead language technically -so it's never spoken - woohoo) - I knew there would be no way to bullshit my way out of learning either Spanish, French, Russian or whatever seeing as after the first year the classes were only taught in those languages (and in my high school you had to take 3 years of a language) - thus Latin was the best option. Admittedly my freshman year of college I started out as a Classics major though actually it was the subsection Ancient Studies, since that required no knowledge of either Latin or Greek - which I chose deliberately.
Still other than that option I can see where the derived all the rest from. In fact I'd love to be able to combine a few: A magician, lobbyist/politician for example would be loads of fun (really magician + any job would probably be amusing though).
Monday, September 10, 2007
Finally I feel like an official resident of Chicago...
Cause tonight I filled out my first Police Report (Booyah).
Before I get to the specifics of this incident (oooh suspense - go me) let me regale you with what went on in my life this weekend (it's filled with near death experiences, drunken tom foolery, sex, gun play, & even more police - I shit you not).
So this weekend I took a road trip down to St. Louis, MO in order to film some sketch comedy and part of the pilot episode for a web based TV show I'm working on with some people (more details I'm sure will be in later posts).
Anyway the drive down there was fairly uneventful until I stopped to get gas at a rest stop along I-55. I pull into this crummy little exit shantytown about 100 miles or so outside of St. Louis. There's an Arby's, a shitty BP gas station, and not much else (though you can see more buildings including a sketchy motel a little ways down the road).
I pump my gas and run into to grab a coke as I'm seriously contemplating snagging some curly fries from Arby's on the way out, and would prefer a beverage with a secure lid to wash it down with - when suddenly the grungy old guy behind the counter starts cursing up a storm and leaps toward the front door. I turn and watch him go - only to see through the glass some yuppie SUV parked two pumps over from mine with a fucking river of gasoline flowing out from below it (and heading in the direction of two good ole boys around a beat up old truck who had a pack of cigarettes in their hands). Luckily the crazed yelling old man managed to keep them from lighting up long enough for the gas to be turned off and tragedy was averted (apparently the douche bag in the SUV turned on the pump and then ran over to grab some food from the Arby's....sigh).
Anyway I leave (sans curly fries) and make it into the city around 10:30pm. I immediately call up some friends and we head out at 11 to our favorite spot - the 3am bowling alley. While there
I overhear this gem of a conversation from three rather tipsy ladies on a girl's night out:
Sunday Morning I hopped down town in order to film - got to watch a very old man nearly die on the way as he tried to pull a U-turn on a very busy road and failed miserably, only to end up with his car perpendicular to the flow of traffic across two lanes waiting for the lanes on the other side of a rather large median to clear so he could drive across it and head back the way he came. When his car stopped like that I thought for sure he was dead as I had to slam on my breaks and I was pretty far back. Though watching him drive across the median later was amusing.
Later that night I went out again with friends - this time to famous Blueberry Hill where we drank and played darts (apparently I'm not bad). I got to almost witness a fight break out due to the drunk ape of a man next to us hurling darts at the boards like he was pitching major league baseball (though most of them missed and either embedded in the wall or bounced off due to an angle and almost hit people). The line that summed him and his crew up perfectly:
Anyway a few miles later I find out - I drive by an off ramp where I see around 10 state trooper cars surrounding two semi trailer trucks, that look to have been run off the road, with all the cops out of their cars, using them for cover with their guns in hand and pointed at the trucks. I only get to see it for a minute before I'm over a hill, but some serious shit was clearly going down.
Anyway to the reason for the Police Report - when I finally got back to Chicago it was around 5pm (and raining). I parked out side my apartment and went up to open my front door - got in the first door to the building no problem, but my apartment door was jammed - I couldn't open it (mind you it looked perfectly normal from the outside). So I trek around back through an alley, a wooden gate, into the fenced in back yard, and through a series of heavy dead bolted doors (guarded by dragons) and finally got into my apartment.
I walk to the front only to find that the wood paneling of the wall has been split - and is seriously fucked up - apparently while I was gone someone tried to break into my place by kicking in the front door. Thankfully the deadbolt on this thing is a monster and the door is heavy wood so it held and they didn't get in and all my stuff was fine.
Called my landlords, called the cops and then sat and chilled with my cat. In the end I found out there's a rumor that someone has stolen and copied the postal keys, which would allow them (and explain their) entrance through the main building door with out breaking it. Ahhh, what a wonderful end to a fun weekend.
Before I get to the specifics of this incident (oooh suspense - go me) let me regale you with what went on in my life this weekend (it's filled with near death experiences, drunken tom foolery, sex, gun play, & even more police - I shit you not).
So this weekend I took a road trip down to St. Louis, MO in order to film some sketch comedy and part of the pilot episode for a web based TV show I'm working on with some people (more details I'm sure will be in later posts).
Anyway the drive down there was fairly uneventful until I stopped to get gas at a rest stop along I-55. I pull into this crummy little exit shantytown about 100 miles or so outside of St. Louis. There's an Arby's, a shitty BP gas station, and not much else (though you can see more buildings including a sketchy motel a little ways down the road).
I pump my gas and run into to grab a coke as I'm seriously contemplating snagging some curly fries from Arby's on the way out, and would prefer a beverage with a secure lid to wash it down with - when suddenly the grungy old guy behind the counter starts cursing up a storm and leaps toward the front door. I turn and watch him go - only to see through the glass some yuppie SUV parked two pumps over from mine with a fucking river of gasoline flowing out from below it (and heading in the direction of two good ole boys around a beat up old truck who had a pack of cigarettes in their hands). Luckily the crazed yelling old man managed to keep them from lighting up long enough for the gas to be turned off and tragedy was averted (apparently the douche bag in the SUV turned on the pump and then ran over to grab some food from the Arby's....sigh).
Anyway I leave (sans curly fries) and make it into the city around 10:30pm. I immediately call up some friends and we head out at 11 to our favorite spot - the 3am bowling alley. While there
I overhear this gem of a conversation from three rather tipsy ladies on a girl's night out:
"Like oh my gawd - we were totally having phone sex, but we have video phones so we could totally see each other..."I then had to silent my friends as their inane questions about my life caused me to miss a bit though I picked it up again quickly:
"I was like moaning and he told me to find my vibe - and I was like yeah... but I totally couldn't find it anywhere. Still we totally managed to finish anyway thank gawd."This right here is proof on not only how technology is improving our lives (remember the dark ages when you could only describe how you were diddling yourself to your partner instead of showing him during phone sex), but also how dependent we have become on technology (with out their vibrators or detachable shower heads a lot of women would have Popeye forearms - or there would be more sexual assaults against men).
Sunday Morning I hopped down town in order to film - got to watch a very old man nearly die on the way as he tried to pull a U-turn on a very busy road and failed miserably, only to end up with his car perpendicular to the flow of traffic across two lanes waiting for the lanes on the other side of a rather large median to clear so he could drive across it and head back the way he came. When his car stopped like that I thought for sure he was dead as I had to slam on my breaks and I was pretty far back. Though watching him drive across the median later was amusing.
Later that night I went out again with friends - this time to famous Blueberry Hill where we drank and played darts (apparently I'm not bad). I got to almost witness a fight break out due to the drunk ape of a man next to us hurling darts at the boards like he was pitching major league baseball (though most of them missed and either embedded in the wall or bounced off due to an angle and almost hit people). The line that summed him and his crew up perfectly:
"Stop being a dick-bag Todd, you're just pissed cause you lost the bet last night and had to shave your head."The last bit of excitement came on my way back to Chicago. I was maybe halfway or so between the two cities when all of a sudden I see two cop cars - lights a blazing - hauling ass coming up behind me on the highway. Now I'm going like 85 (20 miles over) so my first thought is that I'm fucked and move to pull over - they shoot by me and quickly disappear. I thank my lucky stars and keep on trucking only to glance in my review mirror a few minutes later and see three of the bastards barreling down on me (at this point I think I might have run across some officers who got a hard on watching Super Troopers) and I move to pull over again. The three buzz by me like I don’t exist and I'm left wondering what the fuck is up ahead of me.
Anyway a few miles later I find out - I drive by an off ramp where I see around 10 state trooper cars surrounding two semi trailer trucks, that look to have been run off the road, with all the cops out of their cars, using them for cover with their guns in hand and pointed at the trucks. I only get to see it for a minute before I'm over a hill, but some serious shit was clearly going down.
Anyway to the reason for the Police Report - when I finally got back to Chicago it was around 5pm (and raining). I parked out side my apartment and went up to open my front door - got in the first door to the building no problem, but my apartment door was jammed - I couldn't open it (mind you it looked perfectly normal from the outside). So I trek around back through an alley, a wooden gate, into the fenced in back yard, and through a series of heavy dead bolted doors (guarded by dragons) and finally got into my apartment.
I walk to the front only to find that the wood paneling of the wall has been split - and is seriously fucked up - apparently while I was gone someone tried to break into my place by kicking in the front door. Thankfully the deadbolt on this thing is a monster and the door is heavy wood so it held and they didn't get in and all my stuff was fine.
Called my landlords, called the cops and then sat and chilled with my cat. In the end I found out there's a rumor that someone has stolen and copied the postal keys, which would allow them (and explain their) entrance through the main building door with out breaking it. Ahhh, what a wonderful end to a fun weekend.
Friday, September 7, 2007
"Hey, do you know where the gays hang out?"
"Cause we want to go party someplace where people are wearing cellophane and jacking off."This entire statement (including the title - I swear to god) was the question posed to me in a slurred, high pitched, & shaky voice earlier this evening as I was just about to take another bite of a delicious Double Bacon Burger (aka: the cause of my future heart attack) at the bar next to the iO Theater.
Needless to say, with a question of this nature posed to me, I had no choice but to temporarily abandon my meal and turn to address it. A dozen or so possible answers raced through my mind as I turned - none involving the locale of said cellophane wearing masturbators - but all were silenced when I saw who was asking.
It was a tiny hammered woman in her late 40's - early 50's sporting a Cubs hat and hanging on to the bar (yeah I was eating at the actual bar - closer to the beer) for dear life. All the while her two friends - a couple also in their late 40's - early 50's - were leaning against the wall behind her making out furiously - they were also sporting Cubs hats.
The conversation which proceeded this introduction was one of the more bizarre I've had in a while - and, if the other participants had been slightly closer to my own age (ok - really if they had just aged a tad bit better and been less creepy), might have ended with a story I could tell my grand kids about if I ever wanted to gross them out.
These three drunk and affectionate Cubs fans were apparently swingers who'd been having an off & on three-way since they met back in college (the on part was whenever the lady talking to me visited as she lived in Indiana) and tonight they were looking for a fourth (or more) for their post game celebrations - ideally, as I found out, a young bi-male as the ladies wanted to watch...*Shudder*.
To be honest part of me still regrets walking out of that bar so quickly after this conversation...
As I still had about a quarter of that Burger left and was slightly hungry the rest of the night.
I also heard this lovely tidbit the other day as I was getting off the El to go see a show:
"You know what we really need to do before we make a decision - we need to check to see if there are any Puerto Ricans living in that neighborhood, because you really don't want to live around those people."Two little blond girls who were walking arm in arm together heading on to the platform as I was coming down the stairs said it. I'm not sure what became of them, but I like to think they ended sitting next a friendly Puerto Rican man - who perhaps through his kindness on that train ride taught them a lesson - or they were mugged by a couple of white kids later night.
Ahhhhh, Wrigleyville on a Cubs game day - truly an entertaining place to be.
Monday, September 3, 2007
I Warned You...
That I probably would end up apologizing for not posting all that often and thus I deliver. I decided to take the month of August off, because I'm lazy and forgot (So OK not so much an active decision, but eh shit happens).
Ironically enough, (actually probably pretty ronically if you think about it) August was a fairly busy month for me. My next post might be a slightly longer recap of the important/interesting events - but for now here's a brief list of what you missed in the life of me:
I actually just got moved into my apartment last week (but have been up here off and on since the 21st - looking for apartments and taking classes at iO).
My verdict so far on the city: Love it (but despise at home game days for the Cubs) living near Wrigley field certainly has it's ups and downs (mostly downs when Cubs game just let out and you are foolish enough to find yourself outside foraging for food, or god forbid trying to use public transportation.
Still all in all it's all gravy (mmmmm ... gravy) I keep running into people I pseudo know (and even a few I actually know) at random places. Expect more updates about the windy city in the future and hopefully tomorrow or so I'll post an actual recap about the lost month.
For now I must run grab some dinner then catch a friend's show over at iO. Ciao.
Ironically enough, (actually probably pretty ronically if you think about it) August was a fairly busy month for me. My next post might be a slightly longer recap of the important/interesting events - but for now here's a brief list of what you missed in the life of me:
- Had a Birthday (where were my presents you heartless bastards?)
- Filmed some short sketches (soon to be on YouTube, if I ever get around to it)
- Found the meaning of life (then promptly forgot it after a night of drinking)
- A few nights of Debauchery (fairly standard - except for one night, check my next entry for the gory details... if I remember to write about it - hooray suspense)
- Road trip up to Chicago, Il for improv and silliness (and apartment hunting)
- An actual and permanent move to the lovely city of Chicago, Il (I live somewhere in the vicinity of Wrigley Field and the iO Theater now - stalkers, begin the hunt)
- Goodbye parties (so many bartenders in St. Louis were so sad to see me leave)
- Enrollment in classes at the iO Theater (yay improv)
- Lot's of awesome shows and other random things I've probably forgotten
I actually just got moved into my apartment last week (but have been up here off and on since the 21st - looking for apartments and taking classes at iO).
My verdict so far on the city: Love it (but despise at home game days for the Cubs) living near Wrigley field certainly has it's ups and downs (mostly downs when Cubs game just let out and you are foolish enough to find yourself outside foraging for food, or god forbid trying to use public transportation.
Still all in all it's all gravy (mmmmm ... gravy) I keep running into people I pseudo know (and even a few I actually know) at random places. Expect more updates about the windy city in the future and hopefully tomorrow or so I'll post an actual recap about the lost month.
For now I must run grab some dinner then catch a friend's show over at iO. Ciao.
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