#improv notes

[exploringimprov]

Matt Besser Workshop Notes

These are my notes from the Matt Besser workshop at The Improv Shop St. Louis on 10-19-19.

The workshop dealt entirely with premise style improv. Premise improv scenes are inspired by an opening such as a monologue. This is in contrast to organic improv, which are scenes that start directly from a simple suggestion. All of these notes apply specifically to premise, and not necessarily to organic. 

Please note that these are not direct quotes. They're transcribed from my notebook, and edited, expanded, and organized for clarity.

 MONOLOGUES / OPENINGS:

A true story is the easiest thing to pull a premise from. If someone remembers a story from their life, there must be something inherently interesting about it.

A monologue doesn't have to be funny. It just has to be true.

A monologue should be 3-5 minutes long. Less than 3 minutes won't provide enough information, and more than 5 minutes creates too much information.

The specific way a monologist tells their story reveals things about their personality. The details they use and the way they say things can end up being scene ideas.

  The more ideas there are, the less ideas we will remember together. For this reason, too many ideas in an opening can hurt group mind.

 PULLING IDEAS FROM AN OPENING:

We should aim to find full premises or at least half ideas.

A half idea is when you know something in the monologue is funny, but you're not sure why. A full idea (premise) is when you know why a detail from the monologue was funny.

  Try to pull 3 ideas from the opening. That way you have a backup idea if someone takes yours.

During an opening, remember your premise ideas and half ideas by "sticking flags" in them. "Sticking flags" means saying 1-3 words in your head that will help you remember your idea.

  Pulling details from the opening is NOT the goal. The goal is to pull COMEDY from the opening. The details you bring should serve the comedy.

It's not enough to pull something specific from the opening. It should be a specific funny thing.

  Try to understand specifically why something in the monologue is funny, and stay true to it.

If you understand specifically why something in the opening was funny, you will have a much better chance at connecting with your partner (and the audience).

  If you're listening to a monologue and think "That makes me think of this other thing", beware. If an initiation comes from a thought only YOU had, it will make the scene needlessly difficult.

  If you're not trying to pull a clear idea from the opening, then why do an opening at all?

  INITIATING:

It's okay to initiate if you only have a half idea. But we want to aim for full ideas (premises).

To initiate a half idea, initiate in the general area of the thing you found funny.

  Different people will initiate the same premise with slightly different angles. This is because everyone sees the world in a unique way.

  The comedy in your initiation should be the same as the comedy in the opening.

If you change the comedy or put a different spin on it, you're being a bad ensemble member.

Clever ideas from your head will confuse your partners.

Work with the comedy that everyone saw. This is so crucial to group mind.

  The further away your initiation is from the opening, the more confusing the scene will be, and the less group mind you will have.

  The first line of a premise should express what you found funny in the opening and why you found it funny (or unusual). You have to clearly express why it's not normal.

  Complicated ideas will confuse your partner.

  Give your partner clues. Don't make them guess how your initiation is tied to the opening. Be totally clear.

There can be a lot of funny things even about one detail in the opening. That's part of why we have to be very clear and specific.

  You can start the scene with the exact same who, what, where as the opening. This can be an easy way to stay true to the comedy in the opening.

Get rid of the note that you can't hit the nail on the idea with an idea. Hit the nail on the head. It's easier, and it works.

You can initiate with a who, what, where that's different from the monologue/opening, but don't change the specific thing that made it funny. Don't let your analogy take away the thing that made the monologue funny.

Be comfortable hitting the nail on the head before you practice analogous scenes.

We want our initiations to stay as close to the monologue as possible, except for the things we change for the sake of comedy.

  Initiations should only draw from one part of the monologue.

  If you step out first, you are the initiator.

  In a show with a group opening, don’t initiate from your ideas you pitched in the opening. The reason: You might be the only person who remembers or understands it. Initiating from someone else's idea is more conducive to group mind.

 RESPONDING TO INITIATONS

The goal when listening to an initiation: Listen for clues. Try to understand where from the opening your partner is coming from.

The responder has to be in the mindset of, "Where are they coming from?"

  When you respond to the initiation, DO NOT bring another idea. Support THEIR idea.

If you don't know what your partner's idea is, play to the top of your intelligence until you do (playing at the top of your intelligence means acting like a real person).

  ALWAYS give the person who comes out first a chance to get their idea out. Listen to them.

If you are not the initiator, label nothing until you're sure what they're going for.

It's easier not to guess what the other person is going for. Let them say it first.

 SCENES:

Scenes should start grounded in reality. This will help everyone see exactly why the thing in the opening was funny.

  Talking fast in a scene is a sign of nerves. Take your time. Breathe. Don't be afraid of dead space. Silence is fine.

  Justify why your character does an absurd thing. Give an honest, truthful reason.

Don't make your justification silly or funny. Get into the head of your character and give a logical reason. How would a real person rationalize this behavior?

The game will provide the silliness. Justification makes your scene sustainable.

When justifying, go to your real life experience. Have you ever done anything like this before? Do you know anyone who has? What was the reason? There's no right answer. It just has to come from real life and be believable.

Just be real. What is the reality of this situation?

  Whenever possible, interact with the environment.

You (and the audience) should be able to "see" the environment of the scene.

By "seeing" the environment, you are seeing details. You can use those details, rather than inventing things.

  A scene can get as absurd as you want as long as you earn it. Stick to only one absurd thing in the scene and give it a believable logic.

 GROUP OPENINGS:

The goal of openings should be to create comedic premises. Everything you do in the opening should be done with that goal in mind.

Approach a group opening like a sketch comedy writer's room.

In a group opening, go to your personal experience about the topic at hand. Then everyone can build off that anecdote.

Look for and build on observations about what's funny about the topic at hand.

In group openings, improvisers often go to tropes and archetypes. Things they've only seen on TV and in movies. Aim for truth in comedy. Be inspired by your real life, and the lives of people you know.

In group openings, make eye contact.

  When you get a suggestion for a group opening, your first thought should be, "What about [the suggestion]?". If the suggestion were "popcorn", your first thought would be, "What about popcorn? What in my life do I know about popcorn?". Start with real stuff that the group would recognize as true. For example, "Popcorn smells good". From there, another person should build directly on that. The thought process for this is, "Oh yeah, popcorn does smell good. What about that?". Then we keep building directly on the last thing said until we find a premise.

Once we've found a premise, different people give different pitches on that premise. Do at least 3. This is like pitching sketch ideas in a writer's room. The pitch that feels the funniest should be the one you make a scene out of.

 OTHER

Improv training won't make you funny. What it CAN do is show you how to work with other people.

Knowing how to work with others doesn’t come naturally. That's why we teach it in improv class.

Improv training is about learning techniques that unlock group mind.

To build group mind, you must analyze comedy together as a group. For example, watching sketch videos as a group. Everyone says why they thought it was funny. Everyone says what they think the game of the scene is, and the group decides which definition best nailed it.

It's good to analyze comedy, because that's basically what you're doing in an opening.

Analyzing comedy together is just as important as rehearsing scenes.

  You want to work with people that use your ideas. Be that person for others. Honor the opening. Honor your teammates.

Selfishness leads to bad improv. It's not about your clever ideas. Improv is about building a shared idea, together.

Improv is a shared thought bubble between you and your partner.

Ideas that come from group mind are so much more fun, and so much easier.

  If you know why an idea is funny, you can fuel it.

  It's also important for the backline to understand the premise, so they can support it.

  The premise is just the start of the scene. All a premise does is tell us what the comedy is. There's so much left to discover. It's just like having an idea for a sketch; you still have to sit down and write it.

  Second beats don't lie. To do them successfully, you have to know what the game of the scene was. Otherwise, you're probably just doing silly narratives with the characters.

  One of Besser's biggest beefs: starting scenes too large. Instead, play to the top of your intelligence.

  Get rid of the idea that for improv shows "you had to be there". The comedy should stand on its own as good, whether it's improvised or written.

  When improvising with new people, aim to get your premise out in the first line. If you've improvised with someone for a long time and trust them, you can take a few lines to get to the premise.

  Trust that you will learn this stuff if you practice.

  The big lesson for the day is listening. Are you hearing all the details your partner is saying? Listen so you can be an improviser that your partners trust.

[thinkingaboutimprov]

Playing “believable”

Ever had a teacher tell you they don’t believe you? Or that you need to be more believable?

They are asking you to be more truthful. Believability is on them... it’s up to them to believe something, just as it’s up to them to find something funny, or sad, or whatever. 

You don’t have control over what they believe. But you do have control over your own authenticity and the truth of the scene. 

This goes for your dialogue, your emotions, your character work, etc etc. 

Teachers... stop telling student’s you don’t believe them. I can’t act on that note... tell them you felt they weren’t being truthful. 

[exploringimprov]

Improv Shop KC Level 2 Intensive Notes- Day 4

These are my notes for the final day of the Improv Shop Level 2 Intensive. All in all, this class was one of the most unique and impactful improv classes I’ve ever taken. Rather than focus on techniques for scenes or formats, this class drilled into me the power of the ensemble, and how crucial it really is. I’ve never experienced anything quite like it. I’ve never even heard of an improv class quite like this. The Improv Shop really has something amazing to offer. If you have the opportunity, I can’t recommend it enough.

EXERCISE: Facing away from each other in a circle, everyone makes complimentary abstract noises.

Connecting to each other through compliments and "feel good"stuff is vital to the work.

The real goal of improv is connection. Comedy is a red herring.

 EXERCISE: Hold hands. Everyone voices an anxiety about the class. 

Tasks that seem difficult to do alone are made easy with group mind. This is because you have the power of everyone's mind working together. Your mind is just one fraction of the whole.

You have to trust the group.

 EXERCISE:

PT. 1: Group says the alphabet backwards, one letter at a time, one person at a time.

PT. 2: Group counts to twenty. One number at a time, one person at a time. If two or more people speak at the same time, the group starts over.

The group is not in the way of your ideas.

Overplanning an idea is ego.

Ego is how you protect yourself.

Moves are made out of either ego or group mind.

The "bony finger of ego" will often manifest as a snarky voice in your head.

Moves made from ego immediately feel terrible.

Ego pays too much attention to the audience.

When you feel ego, resist it by staying put, breathing, and focusing on your teammates.

The "bony finger of group mind" directs you in short bursts.

When group mind impulses hit you, it's fast, and action based. "Go. Now. Do this"

Group mind feels empathy for others.

BF of group mind pushes generosity.

Group mind knows when something is needed. It makes you act on instinct.

Knowing about ego and group mind lets us know when each is affecting us.

 EXERCISE: Everyone is always touching in some way, and constantly moves. While doing this, they tell an unconducted story. Point is to do a bunch of BS to distract us from ego while we tell the story.

You're doing it right as long as it's what the group wants.

 EXERCISE:

PT. 1:  Two people sitting at a restaurant, one person is the waiter. The focus is on the two people at the table, and the waiter plays an auxiliary role. They should not steal any focus at all.

PT. 2: The waiter does a new scene with a new character. Avoid referencing the previous scene or the fact that they're a waiter. We want to see another dimension to this character.

PT. 3: Repeat parts 1 and 2 with different players playing different characters. Can have other scenarios, like a movie theater.

Because improv isn't beholden to narrative, it's especially great at spotlighting characters, and seeing them in different situations, and in other lights. Leverage this strength in longforms.

Longform improv is great for showing depth of characters. For instance, you can bring back a comedic character and show them in a more serious light.

We can take a one-dimensional character and make them three dimensional in a later scene.

 When you trust a group, you feel liberated to do more experimental ideas.

Playing a background character can make the scene feel more real, but they should NOT steal focus.

Using specific names helps us call back characters.

Create opportunities for callbacks early in the longform by creating memorable specifics.

When bringing back a background character, you don't have to do a bunch of exposition to explain the connection. Don't be beholden. Be liberated.

In a longform, be in the  mindset of constantly recycling previous ideas. 

Talking about how you feel helps to ground a scene.

 In a class, you have to lay groundwork before getting to more vulnerable stuff.

Classes should be front-loaded by the teacher with expectations and what to expect.

 Playing broadly may be a sign that you don't trust the audience to pick up on subtlety.

 Play with an attitude of helping everyone get to the next fun thing.

 Never be limited by conventions. For example, if a scene doesn't need to be two minutes long, don't be afraid to edit it.

Being trustful of each other means we don't need to play overly politely.

Super groups feel empowered and have a blast with each-other.

 EXERCISE: 20 minute montage. No swipe edits. Always edit from within.

Usually feels clunky, but it shows what's possible.

 Teams that are consistently mediocre often try too hard to follow conventions.

A group in sync with each other can do anything.

 The idea of making group mind the focus of level 2: gets people working together ASAP before moving on to more complex techniques.

If you’re interested in taking classes at the Improv Shop in Kansas City or Saint Louis, check out: https://theimprovshop.com/

[exploringimprov]

Improv Shop KC Level 2 Intensive Notes- Day 3

Day 3 focused largely on reinvesting in what you've already created, with an emphasis on how that applies to longforms. As always, I wish I could say my notes were more comprehensive, but I think what I do have gives a good general idea of the class, and contains some great nuggets.

It's all about everybody else.

Always be thinking about the other person.

The best starting point is focusing on group mind.

EXERCISE: Chairs in a circle, facing away. PT. 1: Focus on letting go of your shit. PT. 2: The classic count to twenty exercise. PT. 3: Shared character monologue. PT. 4: Shared character monologue, but after three lines, start recycling the lines by repeating them, combining them, and only slightly tweaking them. The point: we don't need to keep adding content unnecessarily. Double down and dig deeper with what you already have.

Repeat what you already have.

We tend to think that adding more is better. Dig deeper.

The more you double down, the richer it will be.

You don't need more. You have all you need.

EXERCISE: Two characters talking out to the audience (can be framed as them talking to a therapist, documentarian, etc). PT. 1: Two scenes in this style. PT. 2: Different students try to replicate the original scenes. Even if you weren't listening, own it completely. Don't wink at the audience. PT. 3: Different students repeat one of the scenes, but with the emotional energy of the other scene.

There are so many ways we can create more without adding more content.

Reinvest in scenes; find new ways to invest in what you already have.

EXERCISE: PT. 1: Three person scene. One person is an inanimate object. No need to talk about or reference the object. PT. 2: Someone does a scene with the object from the previous scene. They play the same type of object. PT. 3: Two different people do a scene as objects from different scenes.

Always stuff to mine.

Why create a brand new world with every scene?

A way to think about longform: find what's yet to be defined in your friend's painting.

Rather than planning an idea for a scene/callback, bring one thing and trust-fall.

Don't overthink callbacks. Bring back a character and trust that your partner will take care of you. Focus on characters more than ideas and concepts.

Don't do callbacks just to do them, or just for their own sake. Use callbacks as a way to create more depth in the show.

The simplest way to approach group scenes: Max 2 points of view. This is the easiest way, especially if you don't regularly work with everyone.

Bad improv scenes often boil down to each person having a slightly different agenda, and each line being an attempt to sway the scene in the direction of one agenda.

The topics can morph in a group scene, but the characters who share their POV need to jump on board when new info is added. Group scenes run into trouble when a new piece of info is added, and we argue or change the subject instead of jumping on board. This is a crucial moment to navigate.

Playing simply frees you up to have fun.

Nothing matters beyond doing it together.

The mechanics of a form matter far less than the group working together.

Teaching note: when things get clunky, don't push harder- give people the space and opportunity to connect.

EXERCISE: In turn, we give each person in the class genuine compliments.

Thank you to instructor Kevin McKernan, and The Improv Shop KC!

[exploringimprov]

Improv Shop KC Level 2 Intensive Notes- Day 2

There was so much great info on this day. We were up and moving a lot. It made for an awesome class, but it also made it much harder to take fully comprehensive notes. Here’s what I was able to write down:

Shift your mindset to "we".

There is a "bony finger of ego" and a "bony finger of group mind"

The "bony fingers" tap us on the shoulder to do things.

Check in to understand what motivated the moves you make. Were the moves motivated by ego or group mind?

Ego isn't inherently bad, just don't let it get in the way.

The 3 things that fuel group mind: specificity, appreciation, and vulnerability.

As a group, you have to feel like you can do anything as long as you do it together.

Class structure: do mentally exhausting exercises first so we're more out of our heads when we start doing scenes.

Warmups should be taxing so that it clears our head for scenes.

EXERCISE: Walk around the space. PART 1: One person stops. When you notice someone has stopped, you stop as well. PART 2: Everyone pick one other person to watch. If they stop walking, you also stop walking. Once everyone has stopped, once one person starts walking, you can only start walking when your partner does.

Sell it. Never undersell something out of self preservation. Don't act like a high schooler making excuses for work they know is subpar. It's a defense mechanism. Own whatever you're doing. Commit fully.

Listen to your teammates. Treat it like a friend called you and seriously needed you to do something very important for them. They're depending on you. Listening is your duty.

Frame listening as truly being there for your friend.

Bad shows happen when you're in your own head, unable to listen to your friends.

You can never be done re-investing in a scene. There's always more in the well.

Even though the lines are improvised, improvisers still memorize. They must remember details from scenes.

At a certain point, it's not up to the teacher to tell you to take care of each other.

It's more about a mindset than it is about specific rules.

Always be sharpening your ability to tell if a choice is made out of ego or out of group mind.

You can do anything. You don't even need to make people laugh. You don't even need to talk. Everything and everyone will be fine if we trust each other.

EXERCISE: Two people up at a time doing timed scenes. no one but the instructor knows how long the scenes will be. Caveat: One of the characters is unconscious.

Not knowing how long the scene is helps us let go and not panic.

Scenes are always shared. Each person is entitled to create whatever they feel is right. And whatever they feel is right IS right.

You have to be able to constantly surrender your own ideas.

People often do better in rehearsals than shows. This is because rehearsals have exercises that set us up for certain outcomes. In this way classes/rehearsals are a safety net compared to shows. We can get similar results in shows by remembering exercises, and mapping the ideas from the exercises onto our scenes.

A common thread for truly great teams is that they genuinely feel like they can do absolutely anything together.

Scene technique is still important. But it's groupmind that propels teams to true excellence.

Classes are almost structured like a longform, with the warmups as the opener, etc.

EXERCISE: Everyone touches at least one other person at all times. No speaking in English. Can go on for as long as the group chooses. It's over when everyone says in unison, "we are done".

The group makes its own meaning. It decides what's important. It decides what has meaning. We're in charge. The group can do anything.

Accept and absorb all information.

What does it actually mean to make your partner look good? There are 2 ways: Copy, and Compliment.

Anything your partner does is enough to copy and/or compliment.

Stop thinking that your way is correct. Adjust to everyone else.

EXERCISE: PART 1: One person makes pose, then everyone copies it. PART 2: Pose, then everyone compliments the pose in some way. Try to go one-by-one.

Everyone's job is to make their friend's thing look brilliant.

Everything works if we integrate mistakes.

No need to rush. Only go as fast as you need to go to support the group.

Attitude to have: "I'm just here to help. i don't need to be funny or clever"

EXERCISE: Different people in different groups in different parts of the room. Works like the Cocktail Party game, but with full scenic characters. PART 2: Everyone switches characters. PART 3: Everyone on stage does callbacks to anything in the exercise.

Clarifying questions are good if they need to be asked.

"Whale's Mouth Technique" [I could be wrong about the name]: Everyone does a tag-run around one person in order to call back other characters. Examples include a store clerk or psychiatrist that different characters tag in to interact with.

Thank you to instructor Kevin McKernan, and The Improv Shop KC!

[exploringimprov]

Improv Shop KC Level 2 Intensive Notes- Day 1

I am sold on The Improv Shop.

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to study with Kevin McKernan. Kevin is the guy behind The Improv Shop St. Louis, and is currently helping to facilitate a new branch in Kansas City. When I heard that Kevin would be teaching an intensive version of their Level 2 curriculum in KC, I jumped at the chance.

The class is split into four, four-hour classes (as opposed to the normal 8, two-hour classes). Here are my notes for the first day, taken to the best of my and my fiance Katy’s ability:

INTRO:

You don't have to do anything in an improv class that you don't want to do.

This class will have some exercises designed to help us feel vulnerable, but if anything ever crosses a line or is too much, you can opt out of anything at any time for any reason.

This curriculum was written in collaboration with legendary improviser Liz Allen.

 There's no focus on being funny in learning group mind.

Group mind is the collective subconscious we share as human beings. To achieve it we must trust and let go. We must collaborate as one.

 EXERCISE: Walk Around Space

Walk around the space. The instructor asks everyone to try to be in the moment, and really be present for the class.

Try to leave your problems at the door for the duration of the class, so that you can be fully here for your teammates.

Everyone is here to play make-believe and have fun, so it's important to support that by being  positive and not bringing your personal negativity in.

Think about how grateful you are.

Eventually, make eye contact with people. Smile. Be grateful for this time you get to spend with them.

 EXERCISE: Form a circle and hold hands in silence for a moment.

This helps us build trust and feel vulnerable with each other.

 EXERCISE: "Red Ball"

In a circle, we pass around a red ball, then add two other objects.

Easy to treat this as just a silly warm up, but it has a very specific purpose.

Goal is to hyper focus on our teammates, and keep the objects as consistent as possible.

If the objects lose their consistency, embrace it. Go with what the last person did. Make them look good.

Fuck the judgmental voice that says, "the ball got bigger when that person had it".

Pay close attention, and love everything your partner is doing.

You make your partner look good when you watch with laser focus and use what you see. DON'T JUDGE.

Honor everything, including mistakes.

Mistakes become the new reality.

 Judgement comes from ego. You don't want it. Surrender your ego.

It's insane to judge someone because of their make-believe.

It's not that we want everything to go wrong. It's just that we need to embrace mistakes when they happen.

We have two options: judge what our partners are doing, or love what they're doing. Even if the choices made could be intellectually considered "bad", it doesn't matter in the moment. It truly does not help to judge.

The only choice that will help the scene is loving what your partner is doing.

You don't have to believe that everything happens for a reason, but it helps to act as if it does.

 EXERCISE: "Shared Monologue"

PART 1: One person begins a character monologue, and each other person tags them out at some point and continue as the same character.

PART 2: Second group does same thing.

PART 3: First group does the first group's character.

PART 4: Second group does first group's character.

Based on opening to the JTS Brown format.

Do everything you possibly can to honor the monologing character. Even accidents should be embraced as idiosyncrasies. This character is truly shared.

With this exercise, students tend to get the idea/game and have fun with it, but they miss the idiosyncrasies of the character.

Watch the character like a hawk.

Pay attention to what no one else is paying attention to.

We know how to sustain the character. We can do it automatically if we just pay close attention and trust. We instinctively know how people behave- we see it all the time in our everyday life.

Our ego gets in the way of paying close attention, and just wants to keep the joke going.

Study EVERYTHING about the character. Posture, gestures, mannerisms.

Accept tiny changes that happen. Never judge them. Celebrate them. Make them part of the character.

You're trying to unpack who the character is as a person.

 Rule of thumb: Do whatever it takes to make other people look good. Even if it means breaking rules. Making your partners look good trumps everything else.

Gotta remember how easy this is. Biggest laughs come from repeating things. Humans love patterns.

Content DOES. NOT. MATTER. Don't worry about the things you're saying. It will happen automatically if you get out of your own way and honor what's already there.

Game and character worldview are similar concepts.

Avoid judging characters and spinning them negatively. You can't honor a character while being judgmental about them.

The best improv teams always listen intently on the side . They're not thinking about what to do, they’re just intently observing.

 Get into the mindset of "this is perfect. Everything is perfect. No matter what". Because there's no re-do's in improv. We must choose to see things as perfect, because it simply works better than being judgmental.

 You can't be too specific.

 Worrying and panicking (like when you realize you missed something) is all ego.

If someone forgets something, we can make them look good by helping them out.

Anything  that happens is a gift that belongs to everyone.

Treat mistakes as gifts, and the audience will love it, especially when you bring it back.

 EXERCISE: "Conducted Story"

PART 1: Normal Conducted Story.

PART 2: 2nd group does un-conducted story, trying to do the same story as Group 1.

PART3:  Group 1 tries to replicated Group 2's version of the story.

Do your best to mimic the narrative style of everyone else.

You don't need to make up new shit. Dig into what we already have. It's all you need.

Honor the audience. Don't non-verbally say to the audience "we're fucking this up".

Get over winking at the audience that you're getting it wrong. Focus on having fun as a group. The goal is to get it as close as possible to the previous story, but you haven't failed if you can't. It's more important to have fun and make your teammates look good.

Will you get obsessed about getting it right, or will you do your best and go the direction the group is taking you?

 Every show does gives you a toybox of gifts to play with.

Free yourself up.

Focus on having fun as a group.

Callbacks are easy when we use specifics. Great teams plant seeds of specificity early on, then harvest them later in the show with callbacks.

 END OF REGULAR DAY 1

 EXERCISE:

PART 1: Walk around the space and think about how you've grown in class. Think about how grateful you are to be playing with your teammates.

PART 2: Pay each person a genuine compliment.

Never be afraid to pay someone a genuine compliment. Only your ego gets in the way of doing this.

 EXERCISE: Say something vulnerable about yourself to each person.

Say something vulnerable, but NOT personally unresolved.

This is not therapy.

Only share as much as you're comfortable sharing. No pressure to share something deep if you don't want to.

This information is trusted for us. Never bring it up inappropriately.

 To play human beings, we have to remind ourselves of who human beings are.

How dare we play one-dimensional characters when we're aware of how nuanced human beings really are.

Being vulnerable to other people, and understanding others allows us to do anything with them.

 EXERCISE:

PART 1: Scenes in chairs facing away from each other.

PART 2: 2nd Group continues scenes from the first group (2nd beats).

About trusting each other even though you can't see each other.

When doing 2nd beats of other peoples' characters, honor them by replicating them as much as possible.

 Don't approach scenes from the perspective of "that scene sucked, but we can win the audience back with the next one". Every scene is already perfect. The best approach is to look for what's perfect about the scene, and focus on that (even if the scene is over, we bring the scene back to make it fit perfectly in the show).

 EXERCISE: Do a run of scenes. Anything goes, but the caveat is that everything has to be a callback to something that happened earlier in class (except for the sharing of vulnerabilities). It's like a 3rd beat.

Always respond in a way that makes your partner look good. That doesn't mean it has to be funny, or any specific thing. It means only making choices that make your partner look good in that moment.

Overall, this class has been one of my favorite I’ve ever taken. I HIGHLY recommend The Improv Shop. https://theimprovshop.com/

[exploringimprov]

Improv Coaching Notes with Andy Rocco (8/10/17)

Another set of notes from a session with Andy Rocco. Andy currently lives in LA and has been improvising for nearly 20 years.

Typical scenes are 2 minutes, maximum 3. This is a big reason why you need to define what's happening within a few lines.

Each line should add new information about the people. This will advance and deepen the scene.

Get to the meat of the scene quickly by making your lines meaningful and rich. This doesn't mean you need to speak quickly and act frantic.

Need who, what, where.

Do or say something deliberate and specific at the top of the scene.

Improv hack: you can come in with some detail about the character, and hold on to it to inform your behavior, and to pull out if the scene stalls. This is something that doesn't need to be said in the scene or addressed, but is still there for you. For instance, your character couldn't sleep the night before because of loud neighbors.

  Your partner's last line is your "meal ticket".

Make specific choices, and stick with them.

Choices and details don't exist in a vacuum. They imply things about the characters and their world.

Make choices that feel right. Make choices that fit the people and circumstances.

Let details inform other details.

Small details become something more because of their implications.

  Find out who you are early. The scene isn't meaningful to the audience if they don't know who the characters are.

If you don't establish who you are, the audience checks out.

Defining the "who" makes the scene real and relatable.

You want to immerse the audience in the world of the scene.

  Two "modes" in improv: heighten and explore.

A scene that is all heightening will feel chaotic and fake. A scene that is all exploring can at least feel real, honest, and even funny.

Don't be afraid to have a real conversation about something in a scene. 

Improvise scenes that feel genuine.

Move away from the "thing". Improvise scenes about people.

Make scenes about characters, feelings, and emotions.

Use what you know in real life to make scenes more interesting.

A lot of improv isn't being smart, it's being confident enough to act truthfully and come from a real place.

If you’d like to hire Andy Rocco as an improv coach, visit http://www.improvcoaches.com/coaches/andy-rocco

[exploringimprov]

"Home Team” Rehearsal, 8/1/17

These are notes from a recent Springfield Improv “Home Team” rehearsal, coached by Scott Kirchner. The rehearsal was largely focused on feeling and following the emotional energy of the scene, which I found fascinating, enlightening, and incredibly useful. I hope you do as well.

The scene needs more than just action. Action is excellent, but we need to care about the characters.

We can have silly stuff happen if the audience is emotionally invested in the characters. There needs to be an emotional connection.

You can use feelings and perspectives from your real life to add specifics that enhance the relationship of the scene.

When someone says something big, have a realistic, believable reaction.

At the top of the scene, someone needs to make a big choice, and their partner needs to emotionally react to it in a believable way.

Pick up on games and bits quicker, and repeat them.

If the first game move you make is grounded in reality, the audience will buy into future moves that are crazier. The audience needs to buy into the reality of the scene.

The emotional intensity of a scene can fluctuate. For example, you might be in a heated debate, then rest and talk about mundane things for a moment.

The energies of the two players can be confrontational and butting heads, but that doesn't mean constant yelling. The players need to be in total agreement, and pay attention to emotional cues.

Be aware of the scene's energy, and how the energy fluctuates. Notice the pattern of fluctuation.

 Exercise: Two person scene. One player leads emotionally, the other follows and matches. The first player should make many big emotional choices throughout the scene. The second player matches and justifies.

The easiest type of scene to play is full character agreement scenes. Scott has laid the foundation with these scenes.

The next level is characters who butt heads, but players who are deeply connected.

In a full agreement scene, we are always matching our positivity towards each other.

We can match any energy. We must be fully aware of our partner's emotional state, and support it.

Emotions can shift moment-to-moment. This happens when we react truthfully to each individual moment.

Matching energies, and allowing them to fluctuate, results in… 

Scenes feeling real.

Players being more connected.

The player who made the initial choice feeling more confident and supported.

Arguments that feel like they're coming from a place of connection and reality.

Any scene where the players are fully connected and yes-anding each other is an agreement scene.

The Home Team headlines every 1st, 2nd, and 4th Saturday at Springfield Improv. If you’d like to learn more about Springfield Improv, buy tickets, or take classes, check out springfieldimprov.com. Follow them at https://www.facebook.com/springfieldimprov/