It’s a common thing to do — when we’re presented with an idea that’s foreign to us, we request clarification. We ask what the person meant. We ask if we can do a thing. We ask what the rules are. We ask we ask we ask. In life, an inquisitive nature is fantastic, even encouraged (sometimes it even gets you a million dollars).

But when we’re on stage, that’s not the time for questions OUT LOUD. It’s the time for assumptions.

I watch a lot of very talented performers stop scenes dead in their tracks to ask questions. In essence, what we are doing when we ask questions on stage is asking permission to present the idea we have in our heads. But here’s a secret — you already have permission to present that idea by the very fact that you are on stage.

An improv audience is great because they ASSUME that you know what you’re doing when you step up. As such, you should ASSUME that you have the answers to any question you are about to ask. You may sound a little more forceful on stage than in IRL, but hell, if you can be a bit of an asshole anywhere it’s on stage, right? Also, by making an assumption, congratulations! You’ve also made a DECISION.

Continue reading IMPROV: No Questions (Out Loud)!

Crossposted at stillman says, continuing my ongoing series on the 10 Commandments of Improv.

The text of the commandment from Exodus reads:

Do not have any other gods before me.You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

This, in the Jewish tradition, reduces down to a prohibition of other gods and idol making/worship.

So I have already posited that the God of improv is the present moment and this commandment adds some meat onto that proverbial bone.

Essentially this commandment tells the improviser that everything comes from the present moment. Much is made about “game” and its accurate description from various schools of improv but this commandment points to a unifying factor — whatever your description of game is or isn’t the fuel for that engine is the present moment.

So some may say that interesting choices or finding your where or establishing relationship are all critical the second commandment says before that you have to be fully there. You cant have an idol that represents your full attention and presence — you need the real thing.

But what I find interesting about this commandment is the repercussions. Essentially if you disobey the punishment goes on and on and on for generations. But if you obey you get 1000’s of generations of love.

It seems to me that this plays out on the improv stage. If you aren’t fully present, no faking, no tricks… the following beats and possibly following scenes are in a much worse state. But conversely when you are just there that you could have hundreds of beats playing the variations — and you want to have them. Following this commandment sucks you into following it more because it pays dividends in love.

Thoughts?

Okay, fine. I’ll do it. The 10 Commandments have a lot to teach us about improv.

Traditionally in Jewish theology the commandments are divided into the first four – the relationship between God and humans and the last six – the relationship between humans.

That distinction may become relevant shortly.

The first commandment reads

I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.

This is traditionally interpreted as “I am the Lord your God”

So Who or What is the “God” of improv? This is your God after all… you are attempting worship in rehearsals and on stage. Every great mystical/ religious tradition that acknowledges a divine presence makes a critical point in emphasizing the imminence of God. That this God is here, now and can be connected to in a deep way if only you would get out of the way with your dumb old shit. And while certain strains of Christianity say that ultimate union with God happens in heaven even those strains say that you can meet God here on earth even if it isn’t as amazing as God in heaven — but even so, a temporary heaven on earth.

And now is the key part. Each religion has a whole battery of exercises, methods, philosophies and doxologies to simply get individuals into the experience of the unperturbed present moment. And so do we.

The God of improv is simply this — the present moment.

And who can dispute this? Certainly every improviser has had at least a glance through the keyhole of the beautiful and full moment of just being in the present — your personal past is gone, any thoughts of your future have vanished and you are just happily just there in your scene. It is heaven on earth at its best, no?

This actually reflects on the God that brought Jews out of slavery from the verse from the Bible. We have all been in horrible scenes — planning, trying, working, flailing. And it is absolute bondage, right? It’s slavery of a sort.  God, the present moment rescues us from that.

This commandment lets know what you are dealing with and is said to contain the other nine — the way to freedom and reminding you that you were in bondage.

But at its core improv is only about being in the present. Not being funny, but being truthful — now.

The first four commandments will set up the nature of the relationship we need to have with the present moment as improvisers. That established we’ll look at the rules between players in the final six.

Commandment two soon.

Discuss.

I’m a life long fan of comedy, and have been intrigued by improv ever since I learned that Ghostbusters was created by a bunch of guys who were good at it. And I thought, from watching many shows, that I ‘had’ it. After all, Truth in Comedy isn’t a long book. I’ll just get this 100 pages under my belt, and then practice until I get good!

Turns out that improv, like any other art, is a little more complex than that.

In my class at iO Theater with Craig Uhler (both the theater and the teacher come highly recommended) we were asked to do a basic exercise. Two people, with a conflict, but the trick was we couldn’t actually talk about the conflict itself. Simple, yes, but as a long time fan and only recent participant, it was enough to keep me occupied onstage.

As the pairs took turns, some groups made excellent scenes. Upon study of these excellent scenes, we came to realize that they were good because they focused on development of the characters instead of the conflict. That is to say, they used the given conflict as a starting point, and fleshed out their relationship from there.

In comparison, the scenes that didn’t go anywhere (I have a feeling mine was one of them) got hung up on the stuff that they were given as a start, and were unable to break away into the life behind the stuff.

When performing in a two person scene, there are exactly two topics that will make the scene work, the audience laugh, and the students sign up for your classes. These two topics are guaranteed to always be the right topics to focus on, from now until the end of time.

Those topics are you and the other person.

Anything else, the setting, the conflict, the situation, all of it is dependent on the two of you (or however many there are on stage). Don’t worry about that. Find out who that other person is, and the scene will slowly unfold organically, and the audience will laugh.

A basic point, sure, one that the experienced and intelligent readers of Improvoker have had drilled into their heads for years. But the next time you’re watching a scene that isn’t quite working, whether it’s a performance, a class, or whatever, be sure to keep an eye on how much character development you are seeing. Odds are, it’s not enough. There’s no humanity in the improv, just an attempt at jokes. And without humanity, there’s no scene and no funny.

The kids on Bastian, as I have told them in various states of drunkeness, are one of my favorite Harold Teams because of their incredibly supportive playing style. So look out for your new member of the flock, she is the jam.

Congratulations Abra! See you next Tuesday.

Writing about game is trickier than I thought.

2 months and counting on just one article about game. The depressing part about the article is, I realized half way through, that an article about game is pretty useless. I’m still writing it, and you will all see what I’m saying, but at the end of the day game is only a small (yet important) part of scenework.

So, that’s just an update of things over here in improvoker land. I’m still very much alive and kicking. I feel better about improvisation than I ever have and I’ll be sure to write things that don’t require months of editing more often.

Much like this. Thanks for continued support.
–Ben

Anyone who attended This weeks Harold Night at UCBNY got an added bonus to their entry when Chris Gethard, longtime Nights of Our Lives contributor, performed one of his hilarious written pieces after UCB house team 1985. The reason for this impromptu performance was for the story to be recorded for the NPR Radio program This American Life. The story itself was about the Stupidest thing Gethard ever did.

We still are unaware what is to become of this recording, or if and when it will air, but we can only hope the best for Gethard. We’ll let you know if we find out anything more.

• UCBComedy.com, the long awaited streaming video component of the Upright CItizens Brigade website, launches with sketches from UCB’s biggest and brightest.
• Word on the street is UCB New York has tightened up their approval system for getting into upper level classes. The majority of comments in the community is positive, aside from people who didn’t get into said higher level classes.
• UCBNY Harold Night’s 2008 season debuts with some strong performances and enough references to masturbation to appease any high school student.
• The independent scene has been strengthened by teams creating repeating showcases of newer groups at independent venues. This is giving rise to improvisers who are getting very good at performing earlier in their improv training.
• Improv Anywhere looses it’s pants for 2008 across the country.
• MySpace starts looking for Improv Groups

Alright, anything I’m forgetting?

• Raynard, the all new rookie Harold team, debuted at UCB to a solid start. The group shows a strong line up of all new faces, and the return of Amber Petty formerly of Beatrice and T.R.U.C.K.S. They are made up of new performers to the theater, some of which have only just completed 501. I am expecting great things from Raynard, especially as they grow as performers. Students should be especially aware of this group.
• Twelve Thousand Dollars, the all new more seasoned Harold team, debuts the week after. Made up of experienced indie improv performers, belonging to groups from Sherpa and Machine Wash Tuxedo, the team shows amazing poise on it’s first night. Each performer is incredibly strong and has incredible stage presence.
• Sadly, one of my improv groups, Joe Loves Hobos, is disbanded after enough members decide that never having a bad show is reason enough to never have another one. RIP JLH.
• Under St. Marks cooks with weekend indie team performances of Rogue Elephant, Sherpa, Moonshine, Shark Tank, and the debut of Bad Data. I am reminded how much I love USM as a performance space.
• UCB Harold Night features the one year anniversary of fwänd, the team created with the remaining members of Mailer Daemon, who performed a death Harold.

Not a particularly interesting post by any stretch, but a post none the less. Perhaps I will expand further, perhaps not. Now that I have a blank slate to write more… expect more silence.

We have also received quite a few comments with suggestions on where to stick them. Thanks guys. Thanks a lot.

Mitchell Adenuga esq.
Principal Attorney
Alpha Juries Chambers
12 John sole street Amuwo
Lagos Nigeria

Dear Whitehouse,

Compliments. I am writing to inform you, that you happen to be the next of kin to my late client Mr. Morris Whitehouse an oil contractor who died along with his immediate family in the ill-fated plane crash involving a Boeing 727 UTA chartered flight that took off from Cotonou, Republic of Benin and crashed into the Atlantic ocean on Thursday, 25 December 2003. About 111 passengers were killed. For details of the plane crash, please visit:

www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/12/26/benin.crash

The money for his last contract with Mobil Oil Producing Limited was paid into his account before his death and only his kin that bears the same surname can come for the claim and for the past 3 years nobody has come, I am contacting you to come forward for the claim of the funds so the money can be paid to you after which you would pay me 20% of the total amount as payment for my legal fees and holding fees for the past 3 years.

The policy of the Bank however stipulates a limited time period for such inheritance to be made or the fund will be written off going by the record of the incident, the time limit for the claim is closing up. In this consideration, I am contacting you to make haste for your right, remember the total sum of money is US$9.1M (Nine million, one hundred thousand U.S dollars only).
Contact me back for further instructions on how to proceed to claim these funds, providing me your private telephone numbers for easy communication.

Yours truly,

Mr. Mitchell Adenuga Esq.
Principal Attorney
Alpha Juries Chambers

Next round of drinks on me.

Long have I held the belief that a packed audience for any show, including a graduation show, is the key to a great performance. Today the New York times in an article What’s So Funny? Well, Maybe Nothing cites a study which further proves that having familiar people (in your social circle) in the audience, will lead to easy laughs for you.

Laughter can be used cruelly to reinforce a group’s solidarity and pride by mocking deviants and insulting outsiders, but mainly it’s a subtle social lubricant. It’s a way to make friends and also make clear who belongs where in the status hierarchy.

The study showed that people put in a situation where they needed support, or felt at a disadvantage, were far more likely to laugh at even the lamest of jokes. This might also be an explanation why some improvisers find themselves laughing on the first day of classes out of nervousness of not being accepted.

Primal laughter evolved as a signaling device to highlight readiness for friendly interaction, sophisticated social animals such as mammals need an emotionally positive mechanism to help create social brains and to weave organisms effectively into the social fabric.

While there still is no magical formula for creating the perfect joke and getting an easy laugh, this is interesting news for performers seeking laughter. Although my favorite joke still remains this one.

I really have to hand it to the inventors of the OhMiBod. It’s an iPod compatible vibrator. An ViBrator if you will. Even though it’s a little naughty, I am totally loving the concept of a sexual aid that is iPod compatible.

I had to post a picture of it, only because I couldn’t believe it until I saw it.

Now to bring it back to improv… um… this is a clear example of designers playing a game to the fullest.

Sorry, that was incredibly weak segue.

Welcome to the future. I hope you brought your flashlight.

Okay, I think I’ve figured it out — As such, I’de like to introduce you to our new site design. I’d been meaning to fix a few problems that didn’t play well with IE, but hopefully they are all fixed… If you’re having any troubles, please feel free to drop me a line… or look at it in Firefox. I’ve still got a lot of work to do, so please be careful of sharp corners.

Talk about embarrassing.

I won’t get into the specifics right now, but we had a teacher change more than half way through the class to Neil Casey, who blew our minds. It not only changed my perception of scene-work, but also changed my perception of game playing.

I’ve also signed up for my first sketch writing class, with the illustrious Chicago improvisor Armando Diaz, at Magnet Theater which starts Wednesday. I’ve never taken any sketch before, but after acting in a sketch, at UCB’s Liquid Courage for a friend, I was inspired to start writing. I, of course, hit a few road blocks and decided that perhaps some tutelage would be useful.

All right, I’ll be back in the saddle shortly. Thanks again for the concern. I am not dead.

(sigh)

Good news, ASSSSCAT was incredible. So that’s good… sorry… no where else to go with this post.

1. I will not, under any circumstances buy a bagel from somebody who doesn’t understand what just a schmear means. A schmear of course meaning way too much cream-cheese and having to scrape some off with the paper wrapper clumsily on the train.
2. I will use the word hamantashen more in conversation, and will forcibly find ways to insert it if necessary.
3. I will honor my mother’s wishes to find a nice jewish girl and settle down with already. What are you trying to do, break your mother’s heart? And why don’t you come to the Upper West Side to visit your mother more regularly? You look thin, you want some something to eat?
4. I will stop riding the train to bensonhurst to hang out with the orthadox community, no matter how much I want to wear a big fuzzy hat.
5. I will not under any circumstances watch this video.

Happy 5767. Since I was born in 1977, That makes me 3790 years old. I have to say I look pretty good for my age.

Sorry for not getting this out earlier, but I didn’t see the announcement on the UCB:NY website until Sunday afternoon, and just managed to get tickets myself. Hopefully this will reach folks before the show, if not, I’ll be sure to have a review of the show for those of yall who missed it. Sorry about that.

And today I check my weather thing and guess what? More rain. This forecast has been the same for the last week, one more day and then it’s going to be sunny, but the sun never comes, only the rain.