Improv Resource Center @improv-resource-center - Tumblr Blog

Some improv insights from some of the most famous improv teachers to never exist* Quotes generated by chatGPT, images by midjourney

improvisedblackmirror

3 Likes, 1 Comments - Improvised Black Mirror (@improvisedblackmirror) on Instagram: “Improvised Black Mirror opens on October 6th in Chicago. #blackmirror #improv”

mullaney

The pattern game is an improv exercise and an opening for Harold. Use it to map out a network of words and ideas which all connect to the suggestion.

#improv #harold #openings #improv exercises

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In the beginning, there was the Schnozzle, the perfect improv thing. It was created by the great improv master Viodel Closestone.

Recently I received this submission from a long time reader of my blog. I pass this on to you without comment.

In the beginning, there was the Schnozzle, the perfect improv thing. It was created by the great improv master Viodel Closestone. If you practiced and performed the Schnozzle, you would become a great improvisor, a great comedian and a great person. I myself learned the Schozzle directly from Viodel Closestone and I know exactly how it’s supposed to be done. That is because I transcribed Viodel Closestone’s precise words perfectly, just as they flowed from Viodel Closestone’s mouth during those famous workshops when the Schnozzle became a perfect improv thing.

For many years, I’ve taught the Schnozzle and while my understanding of the Schnozzle has deepened, everything I teach is exactly the same as it was, because it was perfect when I learned it. However after many years, I recently returned to the once great theatre where I learned the Schnozzle and I am loathe to report that the Schnozzle has changed! It’s not what it used to be!

The Schnozzle has become looser and less defined, almost as if the rules that the great Viodel Closestone laid down were mere suggestions and not natural laws that applied to all art, all theatre and all comedy. This is true of all Schnozzles performed there except for the Schnozzles that have become overly rigid. These Schnozzles not only follow the original structure, but add new persnickety rules to be slavishly followed. These rigid Schnozzles have sucked all the life out of Viodel Closestone’s work, turning what was an expression of spontaneity and creativity into a paint by numbers exercise.

To top things off, I’ve realized that in different theatres in different cities, they teach different versions of the Schnozzle. And yet they all call it the Schnozzle. And they all claim that they teach it in the same way as Viodel Closestone did. But I know for a fact that when I spent 6 whole weeks studying with Viodel Closestone, he taught the Schnozzle differently. He taught it the right way and that’s the only way it should be taught.

Why don’t these different theatres call the Schnozzle different things. If they aren’t teaching and performing Schnozzles the right way, they should call them something else. Maybe it should be called the Woozle in one place and the Schnotter in another. Then at least the students would not be confused.

And that is who I truly care about, the students. I only wish that today’s students could learn the Schnozzle in the same perfected way that I learned it. But alas, that will not likely happen, if only because all the practitioners of the Schnozzle are too stubborn to simply follow the rules that Viodel Closestone established and that were written down by me, on my tumblr called “The Official Rules of the Schnozzle.” Please follow me there for daily posts about the Schnozzle.

Thank you,

– Malachai B. Farnspern

P.S. I will be teaching a 3 week intensive on the Schnozzle at The Nasalarium Theatre in Burbank California. If interested, please send me a $1500 deposit (checks only please) and I will eventually get back to you with dates and times.

mullaney

Often students are told to focus on the 'relationship' by teachers. It sounds like a good idea, but I think it trips students up.

ircpodcast

Listen now to the IRC Podcast with guest Celeste Pechous.

This week our guest is Celeste Pechous, teacher at Second City in LA and at BGB Studios. We talk about the importance of supporting your fellow players, coaching seniors vs coaching teens, and pitching sketches.

Subscribe in iTunes

For more episodes visit ircpodcast.com

Find out more about Dosage Improv.

Please consider supporting the IRC podcast at patreon.com/mullaney

Kevin Mullaney’s Improv Boot Camp in NYC in August 2017

Classes at the Improv Resource Center

ircpodcast

Nick Armstrong, camp director of Camp Improv Utopia, is our guest this episode. He is the Artistic Director at Mi's Westside Comedy Theater. He talks with host Kevin Mullaney about the Groundlings's Sunday Company, teaching JTS Brown, the Pack Theater, playing blindfolded, creating a bible for a new team, camp and theimprovnetwork.org. Subscribe in iTunes For more episodes visit ircpodcast.com Camp Improv Utopia The Improv Network Please consider supporting the IRC podcast at patreon.com/mullaney Kevin Mullaney's Improv Boot Camp in NYC in August 2017 Classes at the Improv Resource Center

Improv Boot Camp is an intense, skills based improv workshop. 30 hours of reps to challenge you to be the best improvisor you can be.

#new york city #improv #improv boot camp #improv intensive

Did you know that you don’t have to be in Chicago to get high level improv coaching through the Improv Resource Center? It’s true. Kevin Mullaney, director of the IRC offers coaching via Skype (or Facetime or Google Hangout) to anywhere in the world for the same low price for coaching in Chicago. Who is …

#improv #improv coaching #skype coaching #Kevin Mullaney

improvglasgow-blog

Glasgow Harold Night - a night of long-form improv comedy Tue 4th July 2017, Blackfriars, 8pm, FREE https://www.facebook.com/events/237592929981334

I'm available to coach your group via Skype. I run the Improv Resource Center here in Chicago and if you are available for in person coaching, I...

I'm available to coach your group via Skype. I run the Improv Resource Center here in Chicago and if you are available for in person coaching, I recommend that, but if you are anywhere else in the world, I can coach you via webcam using Skype, Facetime, Google Hangout, etc.

Here is my bio:

Kevin Mullaney

Kevin has taught improvisation for 20 years, first for iO Theater, for the UCB Theatre in New York and and now for the Improv Resource Center in Chicago. He is the host of the Improv Resource Center Podcast and the webmaster of the Improv Resource Center. Since returning to Chicago, he has directed many shows both improvised and written including: One Act Roulette, #trending, Based on a True Story, Dear James Franco, Vampyre Hunter High, Space Warps, and A Swarm of Spoilers.

He is the former Artistic Director of the Chicago Improv Festival and of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York, where he also served as the chief administrator of their training program. He directed numerous improv shows for the UCB Theater including “Tracers”, “Retraced”, “Individually Wrapped”, and “The Swarm in Slow Waltz Around Rage Mountain”. He is the creator of Cage-Match and the Annual 3 on 3 Tournament at UCB. He recently won the 2015 INNY award from Improvisation News for the best "Best Improv Comedy Instructor/Coach".

Here is some info on what I like can teach you:

Improvising from the Gut – observe your scene partner and use their behavior and emotions to provoke yourself and inform the scene.

Surprise Yourself / Unleash Your Improv – When you improvise, do you surprise yourself? In this workshop, we will explore adding a little chaos into your scenes on purpose. Change the subject, state your opinion emphatically before you know what it is, make up a long story in the middle of a scene, over react to mundane things, exit or enter a scene without a reason. If these things sound like a bad idea, this workshop is for you. Real life situations are messy and unpredictable, so maybe, just maybe, your scenes should be as well.

Improv Bootcamp – intensive training which focused on specific skills

The Game of the Scene – discover what’s funny about your scene and follow the logic to establish, explore and heighten your game

Emotional Yoyo – Build a game with your partner through impulsive emotional choices which leads to unique points of view

Behavior First Improv – establish the mood and feeling of a scene first and then create circumstances which make your behavior a game

Scene Blast – maximum reps with multiple coaches

Want to learn a specific form? We offer workshops and coaching for the following improv forms:

The Harold

The Monolog Deconstruction

La Ronde

Monoscenes (and one act plays)

Prices are the same whether in person or via Skype. If they are done in person in Chicago, the space is included in the price.

1 hour session: $50

2 hour session: $90

3 hour session: $125

Discounts available:

$5 less per hour for weekdays before 5pm central

$5 less per hour for when prepaying for 5 weeks (or more)

You can contact Kevin at [email protected].

#improv coaching #skype coaching

ucbcomedy

UCB in the Wild

Videos by UCB performers and filmmakers out there in the jungle of comedy.

Park Bench of Truth – A Web Series Talk Show

The second season of Amy Lynne Berger’s fun series is out now! Park Bench of Truth is an interview show based off of the Michael Delaney exercise of the same name. It’s a filmed improv exercise featuring improvisers, but it’s NOT about improv.

It’s a series of conversations with real people about real things. Check out the first episode of season two with Morgan Miller (Bonnaroo Comedy Tent, Harold Team Mermaids) where Amy and Morgan discuss comedy as a form of therapy, self-care, and how everyone feels uncomfortable:

Season two exclusively features UCB performers, including Abra Tabak, Mike Kelton, Lydia Hensler, Casey Jost, Lauren Adams & more!

The season two finale recently premiered, with guest Zhubin Parang (Head Writer of The Daily Show with Trevor Noah). Watch Amy and Zhubin chat about football, cosmetic surgeries, and politics in entertainment:

Park Bench of Truth is created, produced, and hosted by Amy Lynne Berger, directed by Nancy Melchert, and features artwork by Patrick Guerrero with a theme song by Louie Aronowitz.

Watch the full series here.

UCB in the Wild illustration by Sasha Taran.

mullaney

Latest Improv 101 graduates 🎓! Congratulations! (at Improv Resource Center)

improvisedblackmirror

Apply today to audition for Improvised Black Mirror. Auditions will take place on May 11th.

Kevin Mullaney, the director of the Improv Resource Center, will be in Boston in May teaching two workshops on Saturday, May 20th.

#unleash your improv

Ever wanted to try La Ronde? Now you can in this one night, three hour workshop at the Improv Resource Center, Tue, May 30 - 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM

#improv workshop #la ronde

Improv Rehearsal with Jeremy and Kelly live from Chicago. Coached by Kevin Mullaney, director of the Improv Resource Center.

Watch the full rehearsal on youtube: https://youtu.be/J2bV1UKAXfM

They are working toward doing a form with longer scenes similar to monoscenes or shows like TJ & Dave or Dummy.

Today we continued to use stage picture as the inspiration for behavior and emotion at the top of the scene. We also worked on non-sequitur and a new tool - gesture chains.

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