#endgames improv

[courtingcomedy]

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[imprudent-improv-blog]

‘Non-Chalant Papa’ Gives a Harold on “Salami”

I was lucky enough to take class with these folks during one of my Endgames retakes. Their Harold graduation show was not one to miss. While I won’t presume they want to see my notes on their show as I am one of their peers and they are unsolicited, I wrote away furiously because I loved it so much. 

Organic Opening 

started with a scene painting of a sandwich. Judith said something about the # of calories in it, which led to banter about calories. (This portion of opening was only part that was semi-circle of death with little physical movement.) From calories, we went to deficits. And from deficits, we got to “We see a giant hole.” Immediately, everyone becomes higher energy again (yes!) and running around the hole screaming. Finally Billy nearly does a head stand, gyrating on his own head, as though falling through the hole that has been painted. The entire audience applauds at the end of the game. (yes!)

Beat 1

Scene 1 “There’s not enough coconuts. There will never be enough.” This scene was with Billy and Judith, and I think it was inspired by the giant hole (island?). It had lots of strong you and I statements. “I need pineapples!” “You’re gonna put that on your face, aren’t you?” These are great because the I’s make it easier for our partner to know how to play with us, and the you’s gift things to our partners to play as, too. This scene became a duet, with Judith singing about what she wanted from her boyfriend on this island, and Billy singing about why he did the things he did. Beautiful.

Scene 2 This scene featured Emily, Tyler, and “Khaki,” who I later learned is Chris. This scene was probably inspired by the calories and deficit hoop of the opening, and focused on bulking up for sports. It became a conversation about steroids, with a few good gift lines, like “He’s been pretty ragey lately,” after which Tyler acted jittery. Tyler tries to talk Emily and Chris into trying steroids, and they agree just to split one steroid in half. Here the scene starts to feel a little transactiony, as we lose what the subtext is for these characters; why do they want the steroids again? Why is it so important? Emily and Chris don’t seem super into it; are they just trying to impress Tyler? Or are they just going to try to steroids because there’s nothing else to do? Judith does a walk on that helps advance the scene: “Steroids! Getcha steroids right heah!” Emily and Chris finally buy a roid, and then we find out what sport they are roiding up for: “Can we talk about bowling league for a second?” Love it. Meanwhile, Billy sort of almost nearly kind of jumped out to edit several times, when his instincts were right and the scene would have benefited from editing. Finally, 3 people edited simultaneously.

Scene 3 Grace and who my notes named “Beard” but now I know is Skyler, were feuding neighbors. “There’s a hole that’s been growing in my yard. Know anything about that?” Grace responds, “I hear some accusation in your voice. You think I’m seeking revenge for not inviting my kid to your kid’s birthday?” By just stating the plainly obvious, and following it with additional information, the scene continues to really move, and the 2 gave lots of you and I statements in this fashion. This was a wonderful scene to watch.

Game 1 

Judith started with a kind of rigid, standing in place stomping wobbling motion, as she declared “Bowling pins!” (Inspiration: bowling league from B1S2.) Billy supported with matching physicality and “Triangle formation!!” The others followed suit and in no time at all, made a triangle arrangement of bowling pins (oh, mighty Isis!). And then, they split! Nearly everyone slow-mo flies off the stage, except for Judith, who wobbled to the ground, and then spun around sideways on the floor like a spinning pin, while Chris stood beside her as the lone standing pin. What I loved most about this game was the choice to be non-human while still avoiding the typical things like robots, anything that whooshes or beeps, and random chanting. It also had some serious organized, purposeful motion. A thousand times, yes!

Beat 2

Scene 1 Judith and Chris were left on stage from the game. There was a 2 second delay where no one was sure if this was still the game or a new scene. Billy clarified by walking on and said “Help her!” pointing to Judith. She got up, and a reality was quickly established: This is a time hop into the future from B1S1, in which Chris is Judith’s new boyfriend. They tease Billy to go be with his precious coconuts. Judith compares Billy to new Chris, as Billy starts licking and then making out with an open coconut (space object work + physicality = A+++). Skyler walks on and invites Billy to go explore a new coconut grove with him, and the scene ends. 

Scene 2 Emily and Tyler in another time hop talk about bowling. It starts to turn into a teaching scene sort of, and Tyler brings it back with “Can I level with you?” He then tells her about a new app he uses. “This is like Tinder for steroid users!” This invites a tag run playing with steroid Tinder. Not bad.

Scene 3 Grace and Chris in a character jump. They are parents at their children’s birthday party. A couple people immediately jump onto the floor to be the kids. The kids are maltreated, mocked, and melon is thrown at them to eat, all in a funny yelling kind of way. Think Lucille Bluth but younger. It’s pretty clear how Grace and Chris feel about the kids and about the world in general. The relationships took a bit long to establish though, and was a little ambiguous since we weren’t sure if Chris was the father of one of these kids, or if he and Grace were the parents of both kids, until near the end when Judith called them mom and dad. 

Game 2 

“Stretch it out” - This one took place mostly in a standing semi-circle. All I wrote for it was “Alright, guys. That’s it for Zumba class!” as the ending. This game felt short and confused, and it probably had a hard time bringing up the energy because B2S3 was already so high energy itself. But in that case, the energy could have at least been maintained. 

Beat 3

Scene 1 Grace and Skyler in a time jump talk about their respective kids’ parties and compare them. We cut to Judith and Billy, the children from B2S3, taking steroids so they can climb out of this hole/pit that their parents threw them into. Felt a liiiitle forced in tying things together, but was not at all out of character; we know Grace is a mean mom, and this scene was high energy.

Scene 2 Emily, Tyler, and Chris in a time jump talking about Tinder for salami eaters. Tyler discovers children on the Tinder for steroids app, and says “I didn’t know I was into kids. Wow, these ones are real melon eaters.” Emily’s character tries to clarify if he is a pedophile, and as soon as Tyler hesitates and gives a vaguely affirmative answer, there is a swift and timely edit.

Scene 3 Judith and Billy in a character jump from coconut island. This scene was almost entirely a singing duet. It turns out, Billy just wanted to impress Judith, and Judith just wanted a boyfriend, so it all works out! Yay needs and wants! Then Chris, her new boyfriend from beat 2, walks on Billy breaks mid-song to shout “Get the fuck out!” at him, then lights. YAAAAS.

Overall

Very high energy throughout. This is largely due to Billy and Judith, and it was infectious. Wow.

Good at gifting and focusing on the relationship most of the time, not on the things.

Good pacing, good balance of crazy/grounded scenes.

While my notes wouldn’t make it seem so, the team was excellent at naming each other’s characters and remembering them.

There was a strong commitment to crazy things.

Lots of call backs.

Mostly good at getting to premise/reality quickly.

Would try to avoid semi-circle of death more.

I hope all these people are auditioning for Harold teams soon, because they are ridiculous. Billy and Judith should be a duo team; they embody the concept of ‘Strong clear moves get results.’ I feel like Tyler has more crazy in him just bubbling under the surface, and I’d like to see that come out. Grace’s characters are like Daria and Lucille Bluth on crack, and Emily is skilled at jerking that bus back onto the road when it’s speeding along at 60 and out of control. Skyler and Chris, get out there more! I would definitely go out of my way to see this team again and they are invited to enter the Endgames Thunderdome anytime.

[imprudent-improv-blog]

Believing in the character lets you become the character and then the character can lead the way, not the actor, the character.

My friend Dwayne McDaniel in his short piece Commitment

[imprudent-improv-blog]

Endgames Level 4 with Jon - Week 4

“Let’s focus on risk taking and enjoying the journey more than just the destination.”

Today = “longer” scenes

What makes a longer scene want to keep going?

Natural ebb and flow of energy variation

Commitment to the reality of the scene

On variation: ride out the fear when things dip, trust it to go somewhere. This lends to good variation of energy

Specifics

Stand in a semi-circle together and interject at any time to give a short, specific statement or memory that stems from the most previous offer.

This is like asking why we said or chose things in scenes and what that says about our characters.

Each offer triggers other ideas so we don’t feel “I got nothin”

Later send an energy up and down the line, heightening, thus creating a character. Then deliver statements as before, but as that character.

Note: It’s OK to be coworkers or friends, but what degree of coworkers/friends? Make it clear.

Longer 2 Person Scenes

Interact physically with something in the environment without that becoming what the scene is about.

Can use that action when characters get nervous; the way the action is performed can also communicate the overall attitude and mood in a nonverbal way

Avoid conflict/negotiation territory. Focus on how scene partners feel about each other. Remind the audience and yourselves why you’re there. Show why the characters care about each other.

Let’s focus on simplicity. Can it be enjoyable to just watch _______?

Rest the Verbage

Spend the first minute or so doing physical scene work with nonverbal scene painting. 

Take frequent pauses (resuming the physical scene work) to think about the last line and let it sink in and affect your character.

Not just about surprises. The whole of improv is surprise (but is it? back to that another time). Anyway, let the simple keep the scene driving. Pedal the bike at normal speed. Only pedal faster if/when it’s called for.

Today’s focus = stillness and reality.

3 Lines

2 person scenes, ~5min. Between the 2 scene partners, only 3 lines may be delivered in total. All scenes were highly entertaining and powerful.

Examples from class:

Billy and Tam were making a ship in a bottle. Tam was a high energy, hyper, constantly moving character with a high need for physical touch. Billy was calm, trying to get her character to focus on the ship. The lines were something like “Alright, look.” / “Yes?..... Okay!” Billy ran around trying to get Tam to follow to wear her out so she would be calm. They ended up rolling the giant bottle around the floor for fun. It was amusing to watch Billy’s character keep himself from getting angry.

Patrick and Peter were throwing darts. Peter was good at it, and Patrick poor at it. The best line was when Peter said, “Now try,” after adjusting Patrick’s posture and stance. He then scored a bull’s eye. Scene.

Ajay and Billy discovered a box on a shelf in a closet. They opened it to find some super snazzy, important, and powerful bowties. They did some emotional mirror-viewing as they dressed themselves in the bowties, then did an improvised dance before ceremoniously putting the bowties away. They shook hands and said “same time next year?” 

[imprudent-improv-blog]

Endgames Level 4 with Jon - Week 3 - Second Beats - “Friend Date”

Pretty straightforward week.

Warm-Ups

ZZZ and word association, which led to character creation and word/phrase association with the physicality of the created characters. We heightened various behaviors as we went around the circle. 

We played “Frogs” (1 frog. 2 eyes. 4 legs. Kerplunk. In a puddle. 2 frogs. 4 eyes. 8 legs. Kerplunk. Kerplunk. In a puddle. Etc.) around the circle, which requires listening. 

And, a Jon favorite, “21,” in which we stand in a tight circle with our eyes down or closed, and take turns offering a number in sequence one person at a time as we count to 21. If 2 people speak the next number at the same time, we must start over at 1. Only one person may offer a number at a time. People speak in no particular order.

2 person scenes in 60 seconds, 45, 15, 7, and 3 seconds.

Gradually decrease the time for scenes as pairs are called out to play. 

Also tried having 2 people repeat as exactly as they can the most previous scene.

Both the time constraints and the repeating demonstrate that strong moves get remembered.

2 person scenes of “You” and “I”

One side starts all of their lines with “you,” and the other starts all of their lines with “I.”

Gift each other; find the wants of the characters.

Remember: when a scene is floundering, instill it with some humanity to give it direction.

I did this exercise at iO with Craig Uhler. From my notes that day:

If your scene partner picks on you, don’t be defensive and don’t turn it into a scene fight. Instead, pretend the person saying it is your friend. They’re just saying it like it is, because they’re your buddy. Own it (”yeah, I did use all the toilet paper.”) and move on. if your partner tells your character that you suck, then suck! For the whole scene.

“You” = giving gifts. Supplement them with “yes, because...”

Start with simple, calm, neutral emotions.

“You” is often an indictment, but it doesn’t have to be, and it’s better if it isn’t.

“I” makes clear statements.

Being confused, weird, etc. are generally poor choices.

By making strong choices for our characters, it is easier for our scene partners to know what we’re about and to play with us. It also makes it clearer how we can make a 2nd beat out of it. I say it all the time, but

(^from notes with Rance Rizzutto on 7/27/15)

See also:

Gifting Your Scene Partner

iO intensive: 1st and 2nd Beats

[imprudent-improv-blog]

Endgames Level 4 with Jon - Weeks 1 & 2

Retaking level 4 (in addition to level 5) because I like the people in it, I like the teacher, and it helps appease some of the improv-withdrawal I’ve been having from not doing it 4-6 days a week. 

Week 1

I was late an hour because of work. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

When I arrived, we were doing pairs of physical mirroring, alternating who was leading (similar to the Messing/Higbee curriculum of level 2 at iO). 

Find an ending together

Learn to focus on and read scene partner’s physicality

Increase connection

Let it affect the relationship

Use lots of / near constant eye contact

We then did group mirroring in a circle. (Many applications for Harold group games/opening.) This led to finding a physicality for a character together as a group, and then beginning a word-by-word story.

Week 2 - Heightening (”in a non-UCB way”) 

Ex. 1 = Give Me Back My Son

Done a few times over, some runs choosing something (just 1 thing) from the previous person and heightening/exaggerating it.

Repeated going from a 1 to a 10 in just one circle lap around.

Ex. 2 = Zip Zap Zop

Done without the usual rules. Just pass a noise or motion of any kind. After awhile, we came to a natural ending together when it became a circle clapping in a unified beat like a hoedown while the “it” person doesy-doed with the next person. 

Ex. 3 = Heighten a Noise Down the Line

First person initiates any noise/expression. Pass it down the line heightening it to a 10. Move the noise and energy down the line quickly.

Person at the end of the line who did the 10 then uses that energy to start a scene (~5-15 seconds), joined by the person who created the noise at level 1. 

Only needs a tiny bit of justification. First line comes from the 1.

Most successful strategy = peas in a pod, mirroring. 

Keep eye contact with scene partner until the first line is spoken. Use the energy to be in your head less. Avoid looking into the audience or to the floor; they do not have the answers.

Ex. 4 = Zip Zap Zop Animals

When the game of ZZZ hits a “10,” someone can enter the center of the circle alone, and do a distinctive noise and physicality. Make a bold choice. 

Let the person be in the middle alone, making this noise and moving around, for just a little too long. 

Then start supporting it, at first one person entering the circle to join, then everyone else. Mirror energy, sound, and motion. Move around together. 

Gradually re-form circle and spontaneously re-start ZZZ when the idea has been exhausted and it feels right.

This is about commitment, trust, and group dynamic. “We got it, we trust each other. We’ll figure this out.”

Ex. 5a - 2 person heightening

2 person scenes, with 2 additional people standing near the scene. The bystanders add context to make the scene “worse” in a series of tag-out runs. Give a character something big to react to. Follow the fun. Heighten each tag out.

Jon-ism: Just say the thing. Be clunky. That way, it’s clear who you are, what’s happening, and there’s no wasted time floundering being aimless and having everyone (scene partners and audience alike) wondering what’s going on.

Ex. 5b - be your clunky self

2 person scenes, have a normal conversation as your normal selves. About 15 seconds into it, start an action so as not to be talking heads. Doing some action makes the scene more real, which also heightens it.

Ex. 5c

Like 5b but the next 2 person scene does the same conversation as the previous one, heightening what you saw in the previous iteration that the actual improvisors themselves might not have seen. 

In this repeat of the scene, we do rapid tag outs, in which each character has a line of people rotating in and out with the tags, playing the same character just heightening with each tag in. (5 people playing character A, 5 playing character B, just one person at a time.)

Tag out when you sense it’s needed, not when you have an idea.

Builds up from a normal conversation to hyperbole and silliness.

Ex. 5d 

Like 5c, but entire scene done while performing a mundane action, like putting away groceries or folding laundry. 

When tension needs release from the heightening, go back to the action and talk about it to reset the scene. 

Then repeat, heightening something new.

[imprudent-improv-blog]

Endgames - Harold Week 2

While talking about last week’s FFF show, a few principles came up:

Harold forces callbacks and world creation.

It’s easy to get into ruts that lack creation or callbacks.

Justify the “screw ups.”

Warm Up

A few rounds of Mindfuck

Word association based on the single most previous thing said. Created a string of maybe 50 words. Then unraveled it by tracing it backwards and saying back the word that was said to you.

Openings

A Cocktail Party / Christopher Guest variation of an opening 

3 pairs on stage. We focus on one pair at a time, jumping from pair to pair. They exist in the same world. Each player knows their partner, but may or may not know the other pairs. 

Follow 1 theme, 3 different ways. This is not as though we are following 3 different scenes. The conversations may popcorn off each other and incorporate ideas heard from another pair.

Organic Openings

Performance Artsy

A few openings we did were based on “poppyseed” (popcorn), “tumbleweed,” and “slip n slide (r).”

Generally last 1-4min. 

Can be hard.

A few things to remember:

Allow them to transition and flow.

Allow energy shifts, but try to keep energy up mostly.

Avoid the semi-circle of death! 

If stuck in a scene in which your scene partner is a nonverbal character, get philosophical. Be the audience and what they are thinking. 

Remember to let Beat 1 breathe. Be grounded in reality here. We can get crazy later.

SEE ALSO: Harold Openings from iO instruction with Rance Rizzutto

[imprudent-improv-blog]

Endgames - Harold Week 1

66 weeks after I took my first improv class, I have finally, finally! begun the final course in the Endgames curriculum - The Harold. Taught by Scott Meyer, one of my previous instructors, the Harold was one of my favorite courses from the iO intensive, and I am doubly excited because I will finally be “legit” on paper in the Endgames community upon completion of level 5. 

In my first year of improv, I never took notes, despite its encouragement from a couple of instructors. After iO, it has become a habit that I love and which serves a utility that I cannot eschew. Rather than the style of note documentation that I took for level 4 (see: previous post), I will attempt to write my notes from this course in succession as they happen weekly.

Intro: Fhqwhgads 

(a game also known as “big black dick;” re-named by Scott, for its less offensive and more gibberish nature, per the Homestar Runner e-mail signature)

Group chooses a subject. Replaced that subject word with the gibberish “fhqwhgads” in speech. The next person to enter the room then receives several lines, trying to guess what “fhqwhgads” is a name placer for. 

Ex: The Mission, a SF neighborhood. “I’ve lived in SF for 10 years, and Fhqwhgads has become the place to be.” “Other American cities’ equivalents of Fhqwhgads might be Chicago’s Wicker Park or New York’s Williamsburg.” “If you want the best burrito in SF, you have to head to Fhqwhgads.”

Disclaimer/Descriptor

“My style is very cerebral and academic and we’ll do a lot of isolation exercises that we’ll put all together by week 4.”

Yes-And the group mind.

Whoosh-Bang (an energy-passing game) Revised

Round 1, with normal rules. 

Round 2, we can add new unspoken rules that manifest themselves as they are instigated and unfold. 

Purpose: support fuck ups. Make them look intentional. Fight the fear.

Control the amount of deviation from the normal whoosh-bang rules, otherwise there’s nothing to deviate from. (I imagine this will be important when we get to beats in the Harold, because if there are too many threads going, no one will remember the specifics of each thread and thus how to tie them together in beat 3). 

Round 3, an energy game mash up: everyone picks an energy passing game they’ve learned before and plays by their own game’s rules. Eventually, you find new rules together and make them up as you go.

Purpose: 1) SUPPORT. If someone establishes a new “rule,” follow it and perform it likewise. 2) If too much chaos is going on, there is nothing cohesive to fall back on and no one knows what’s going on, especially not the audience.

Shared Rant Isolation Exercise

Stand in a circle. Receive suggestion. Someone starts talking about a topic. Anytime, someone else can interject, “That’s exactly what I wanted to talk about...” and continue the topic. 

Rant continues almost as a multi-logue.

Exhaust a single topic.

At first, the rants were broad and had tangents. Eventually, we were directed to become very specific, limiting the topic to its own pattern. (Ex: When I was a kid, ____ scared me so much that I did ______.)

Probably helpful because learning how to take a suggestion and exhaust exploring it in an opening.

A to Z

Start with a suggestion. Someone starts with a single line offered. The next person builds on it, in one line, expanding on a smaller, specific level in some way. 

Putting parentheses inside of previous parentheses inside of previous parentheses.

Zooming in more and more, with each line.

Not a story, more of an examination of something and what it’s like or how it came to be.

Ex: There is a broadcast. The broadcast is a pilot of a show by Joey Ramon. Joey Ramon wrote the pilot based on fart jokes. The fart jokes were inspired by the anxiety Joey Ramon felt while eating burritos and listening to The Clash. / We see a messy floor. There is a bread crumb on the floor. On the breadcrumb there is mold. The mold is made up of spores. The spores are green. The green molecules of mold give off an odor. The odor spreads. 

Organic Openings

Explore a suggestion together as a team.

Not going into the Harold with plotty or choreographed method of generating ideas. 

At iO, Rance talked about how in “the old days,” all Harolds had a pre-determined opening method. “One day,” that all changed when someone was inspired and a new opening idea exploration method was discovered during a show. No one knew what was happening, but the scene partners all supported it and began to explore and lead it together, and the organic opening was born. (Read: Truth In Comedy, by Del and Charna)

UCB is a very premise-heavy improv house. iO and Endgames focus on organic openings and organic scenes. You don’t have to (and shouldn’t here!) have the idea before hand. Make it up. All of it. As you go. Together.

Try to keep the audience on board.

Sense flow and change.

Quadrant Clusters

Each quadrant of the stage is a place for one of 4 characters. 

Function as a group. Take turns being lead, follow when one person moves to another quad or starts describing or performing an action. 

Support in your actions and physicality when you’re not the speaker. 

One person speaks at a time, but anyone can shove in and continue to be that character in that quadrant, or to lead the group to another quadrant and one of the other 3 characters that you will create and be together. 

Commit. No fear.

Gradually turns into clusters telling a story together without the limits of quadrants.

Ex: “parachute.” Q1 “I love parachute day at school!” - Q2 Afraid to pull chute before jumping out of a plane - Q3 Thrill seeker who loves skydiving. - Q4 “I hate parachute day at school!” -> Songs became incorporated, “I love parachutes,” “Amazing Grace,” “Highway to Hell,” “All By Myself” -> In this universe, if we were to do scenes off of this opening, if a character were to sing, it would be indicative of their inner feelings.

Scene Painting

Specifics, details, etc.

All of these exercises I think are meant to prep us for openings, and in fact, some of them are and could be openings. See Harold Openings.