iO Level Two – Week Five

We started off the class with a rousing repeat of the name game that has become our staple. Alternating from passing the focus by saying someone’s name and making their sign (though now we don’t even repeat our own sign, we just immediately pass the focus along) – to just making their sign with out saying anything – and finally (a new version today) looking at one person while saying their name and making another person’s sign (the focus goes to whoever’s sign you made).

Next Susan had everyone hop up on stage and simply start walking around. She urged us that for this exercise we were to use as much of the space as possible – don’t just stay on the stage, run around the room, back stage, in the audience, by the bar, wherever.
She then let us know that we were basically going to play a big old game of follow the leader – we would have to copy whatever movement, sounds, everything, the leader did – after a decent amount of time (at least a couple of minutes) whoever was the current leader could pass along leadership to someone else by making prolonged eye contact, until they took over. Susan then designated a leader and the shenanigans began.

We ended up running all over the Del Close theater – up in the chairs, behind the bar & stage. We ran, we jumped, we crawled, and we sat. I’m sure we probably looked & acted like an insane pre-school class during recess where the teacher had foolishly handed out foot long pixie sticks 15 minutes before. Still even though we all ended up completely out of breath & covered with sweat with our muscles burning by the end of it, we had a blast.

After everyone had a turn leading (and about half the class had passed) Susan had us grab a seat (well actually it was really more like Susan said enough and we collapsed on stage). She then asked us a simple question: (unlike most entries I’m going to be paraphrasing her, as I forgot my notebook): You like everyone else doing your shit didn’t you?
And she was right we did. It brought up a wonderfully fundamental part of improvisation – every ridiculous little thing we did (be it howling like a dog while twirling like a ballerina across the space, picking lice out of people’s hair, frolicking about, or whatever) didn’t feel weird at all when everyone else was doing the same thing. Hell it felt great.


After this little pow wow we had (our much needed) break – where we all to recover some of our energy.

After the break Susan had us all grab a seat in the front row only to deliver a dire warning about the next exercise.
She let us know that this was week five, and where things started to matter – she knew we knew in our heads what we “should” be doing on stage & in scenes to be “great”, our big problem was just getting to the place where we were doing it – so she warned us we’d better not fuck up this exercise (she was very adamant about that). Then with this bit of encouragement she let us know what we would be doing for the rest of the class:
Two at a time we were to get up on stage and do a scene where the focus was to do the worst improv we possibly could – ever.

Oh it was fun – I ended up going second and continually denied as much of the reality my partner created as I could, ignored him half the time, and got to break the fourth wall – asking advice of Susan, and “not being comfortable with that offer” – though my partner as well plenty of vulgarity and ridiculous stereotypes came out as well ( a little bit afterwards I wished I had gotten the chance to go again as I would’ve simply walked in and shot my scene partner before taking my own life – which would’ve either lead to my partner having to do a one man scene – if he denied my shotgun blast to his chest – or two minutes of us just lying there).
Other notable moments were when one person left the stage to go behind the bar and pour himself a glass of water mid conversation – one person leaving the building during a scene – a very white (pale, red hair) started off his scene with the line: “Where is that nigger…”, and a score of meh premises, denials, pimping, vulgarity, etc. etc.

Afterwards we all sat down and Susan dropped a bombshell on us. She said that we had all pretty much failed the exercise – every scene people the rest of us were laughing and enjoying it (some parts of it at least) – and what was the reason for that? Because we were in a way protected by the umbrella that we were doing bad improvisation. Again we were all doing the same thing – (although not all at once on stage – but all the scenes shared that theme). She even mentioned that I specifically in order to do “bad improv” had taken on a character of an insecure improviser, not been insecure myself – and cited other such examples.

Basically even though we were deliberately trying to sabotage ourselves it still worked because both people in each scene were on the exact same page and went with whatever was thrown at them, working together – even if what was thrown was terrible and in fact the idea of not working together. And that was merely reinforced by the whole class doing the same thing. We had protected each other by mirroring each other basically – if one group had done a slow patient really focused and great scene somewhere in there it wouldn’t have worked out as well.

In the end we left the class with these ideas:
One person acting like an idiot on stage is just that - an entire group acting like idiots together is art.
Treat everyone’s offers like they are brilliant and perfect in scenes & they will be – though be careful of abandoning your own offers for the sake of others.
Beware of catching NIDS & FIDS: Nice Improvisers Disease & Frustrated Improvisers Disease