I just wanted to take a minute out to congratulate the UCB Harold teams that performed last night. I was extremely impressed by the high quality of performance and energy all the players brought to the stage. In particular I wanted to spotlight the work of a few players that really made an impression on me.
Ben Rogers of 1985 did a scene with Sue Galloway about Valentines day and basically made the whole thing a dick joke. However, Ben committed so heavily to the performance that it was incredibly funny and not at all awkward to watch. Usually I am put off by juvenile humor, but hats off to Ben for pulling it off so effortlessly.
Another 1985 player of note is Gavin Speiller. From the early on Gavin has been one of my favorite players at UCB. He’s smart, funny, and can pull off a cute character at the drop of a hat, but it’s only in the last year I have noticed his ability to really selflessly support everything on stage. Last night he came into scenes repeatedly and added the perfect game move to the mix; the abusive hunter and his dog, the treasure thief, “there is only one burger left” brother. Repeatedly Gavin reminds me how good you can be at unabashed support.
Lastly, fwänd’s Gil Ozeri tried some pretty experimental transitions last night. Instead of a sweep edit, Gil said while editing the scene “we see this scene is part of a huge quilt” (to which Gabrus said one of the funniest lines of the night about lupus). While the edits didn’t quite congeal and were dropped on an edit or two, I really appreciated Gil’s attempt to blow out the suggestion of pincushion into something more. For a student grappling with broader ideas in performances, Gil’s example to experiment even at the possibility of failure is inspiring.
Thank you to all the Harold teams, you guys are all inspirations… alright, alright, maybe that was a bit much.
I’m in week two of Michael Delaney’s eight week Improv 504 Acting for Improvisers class at UCBNY.
I was terrified of Michael when I first arrived in class, because of his reputation as a no punch pulling instructor. I had imagined him to swagger into class, shout at every scene that we were doing it all wrong, and tell us that we were no good. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. Delaney is an amazing instructor. His knowledge and thoughts on improv are on a level I have not experienced before. Just about every word out of his mouth makes me furriously write down something in my notebook. He does give candid notes, but I love a note if it’s on point — and Delaney is always on point.
I can really feel that skillset stretching
One topic he is really stressing on in this class, is to take that initiation and not get caught up in it, instead of continuing on exploring the scene. Often I, as an improviser, will get nervous that I wont find that unusual thing and make the ordinary, unusual. This really pulls focus from what’s ultimately the most important part of the scene, the relationships of the characters on stage. He used a cake analogy which has continued to bounce around my head all week. I can’t shake it.
There is power in an archetypal cake. You can make a cake as crazy [unusual] as you want, but sometimes a cake is just a simple cake and the wedding is what we explore.
After watching 36 hours of a 56 hour improv marathon, improv stops looking so much like improv and more like a math equation. You can see patterns forming between performers and see differences in the way geographic locales play. After watching 36 hours of improv, you become a bit of a machine, analyzing each scene for what worked and what didn’t.It was however in this haze of performers, dank body odor, and beef jerky that I truly saw improv for what it is, a groundwork for group mind. A set of traffic patterns to allow a group of performers act like one singular entity. When a group was acting as a whole, they seemed to be reading eachother’s minds, moving in time with one another. When it worked it was incredible (Buiscutville [Creepy guys in a Van], Delta Force 2 [What Happened? Where Were You?], Bruckheimer [An Army of Homeless People], Reuben Williams [Pierre Runs Away]) and when it didn’t, it wasn’t incredible.
Punctuating this mass of performances were the UCB 4 themselves, who got on stage frequently to talk to the audience and answer questions. That for me, was one of my biggest highlights of the marathon. I must have heard Ian Roberts talking over 3 hours about life, love, and improvisation and the majority was truly brilliant. When the 4 got on stage together they really did seem to transform the space. While they really were performing bits the entire time, the energy was contagious.
Recently I had the oddest sensation about my improv — it just wasn’t working. Not working in the broader sense, that scenes were consistently turning problematic. I would go into scenes and for one reason or another they would fizzle out into a not so funny mess. My forward motion stalled and my scene partner and I would stare blankly at each other looking for another direction in the scene we might have missed. What had happened to my improv skills? Where did they go? And more importantly, could I get them back?
Truth be told, I have heard this from a lot of fellow students and I believe that everyone who improvises will feel this from time to time. The ol’ improv slump. What causes it? I do not know, perhaps it’s focusing on the other parts of improv like raising stakes, developing characters, or strengthening game. Perhaps it’s just the process of growing as an improviser. The good news is, that fixing it wasn’t really that difficult.
So, it’s been pretty quiet around the Improvoker parts of the globe, not for lack of news, but more for lack of time. I’ve gone from temporary improv hiatus, to full time improv employee. I now feel like improv is my second job. Let me explain.
Before I started my Billy Merritt 401 5 weeks back, I had dropped out of all my practice groups. I had sworn off all improv contact, aside from Harold Night at UCB, because I was just completely burned out. I was improvising 5 nights a week and felt utterly devoid of interesting ideas in scenes. Then 401 started, I joined a few groups, and I signed up for a few more classes. Now I am up to my eyes in improv and every evening at 6, I pack up from regular paying work, and head to my second job — improv.
On starting my 401 class last Saturday, I thought it was a good time to take a look through my improv notebook and post a recap of some of the lessons learned in my 301. My 301 was taught by Chris Gethard, who changed the way I view improv. Some of the notes are from Chris, some are from practice with Anthony Atamanuik, some I picked up along the way. While I am writing from my notebook and trying diligently to maintain the accuracy of what was said, quotes may be paraphrased.
Playing
Trust in what’s already been established. It’s all there in the first 3 lines.
Keep it simple and trust in the details.
Explore, don’t invent.
Your characters must be real and truthful. Caricatures and cartoonish characters do not allow an audience to relate, therefore, empathize with you, removing the stakes for a scene.
It is not steamrolling to be specific in a scene and lay out your ideas. Steamrolling is not allowing your partner to contribute by adding information for them.
If you start straight and try to go funny, but fail — It’s much easier to go back to straight, than if you had started with funny, fail and try to go to straight. –Chris Gethard
Get to the action — Make this be the day something happens.
Your purpose on stage is to support your partner. Always put the weight on your shoulders to protect them from looking bad or taking responsibility. –Chris Gethard
Make a scene present by acknowledging your scene partner with “I, you, we” at the start.
React honestly, it’ll make your life easier. –Chris Gethard
Take your time to respond. Allow what has been said to effect you.
Don’t feel you always have to talk. Silence is a great stake raiser.
Have Fun, Have Fun, Have Fun. Stop thinking and play instead.
You got yourself into this mess and you are the only one who can get yourself out of it Gethard to a scene partner and I after a particularly difficult scene where we felt trapped.
You cannot have a great show without taking risks. The bigger the risks taken, the bigger the possibility for success. Failure because of taking risks are far more impressive than failure because of the fear of taking risks.
Play for the stage, not the audience. (Play for yourself, not to satisfy others.)
Group Games
If we talk 50% of the time in a two person scene, In a 6–8 person group game we should plan to talk 20–13% of the time.
In a group game agree with the scene’s reality and, most importantly, support you fellow players.
Group games that focus on the one odd man out, usually become a witch burning.
Everybody hates hotspot. The purpose is not to love singing goofy songs, but to support your fellow players even if it puts you in the firing lines. –Anthony Atamanuik
The Suggestion
Concept from Matt Walsh — Put a question mark after the suggestion. You should try to answer that question, for yourself, by the end of your harold.
Commit completely to your opening. This is when the audience decides if they are with you, or against you. If they feel you don’t believe it, they wont believe it.
