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.
Michael Delaney
My current Improv 501 class at UCBNY, taught by Chris Gethard, has been busily working through keeping scenes real and our reactions truthful. Gethard is a huge proponent of keeping scenes as truthful as possible and the more I follow his direction, the more I find my scenes go beyond my abilities as an improviser into something much more profound. Playing my scenes as realistically as possible has given me a lot more confidence in taking the stage because while I may not always/ever have something funny to say, I will always be able to react truthfully to a situation.
Let’s not get caught trying to be funny.
Chris Gethard
However, the impulse to be “funny” in a scene is also very tempting. As any improviser can attest, a minute on stage without a laugh can feel like an eternity. I’ve been in class shows where we have “funnied” it up for an audience’s enjoyment at the detriment to our scenes. Unfortunately a lot of this “if you’re not getting laughs, you’re failing” comes from my own insecurities as a performer. We are performing improv comedy right? Comedy is about laughs? Laughs are about jokes? Without laughs you’re just two people in a big black box standing in front of an audience right?
Read on…
Just last week I had an alarming experience. My improv notebook went missing and I panicked. I started calling all the people I knew, to see if anyone had picked it up while we were out. No one knew where it was. I searched my overflowing backpack, my messy apartment, my paper filled office and still nothing. It turned out, I had written a few notes in it last Wednesday during group practice and had left it by the leg of my chair. Luckily for me, Roy Astorias Studio had it turned in and I retrieved it, but it was a harrowing experience. The history of the last year of my improv education is contained in that little notebook and If I were to loose it, I wouldn’t be able to reconstruct all the lessons, exercises, thoughts, or knowledge contained in it.
This, surprisingly, coincided with an article I have been writing, off and on, for the past 3 weeks about keeping an improv notebook. I considered it a sign that I should finish off the article and post it on the website. And so, without further ado…
Recently a UCB instructor asked me, while I was sitting in the UCB training center’s waiting room, writing in my improv notebook, whether I took class notes.
You now I never see many students taking notes in classes I teach. Back when I was in classes I took lots of notes and I still have all my notebooks.
Yeah, I hardy ever see students taking notes in classes and it sees strange to me as well. I would never remember any of this if I didn’t take notes.
Strangely from that time I have taken 2 additional classes and I am consistently the only student who takes regular notes in my classes and the only student I know who keeps an active written journal (besides improvoker web journal). Of course, everyone is different and has different ways of keeping and recording information. Some people may have brains that can retain class information without the need of a notebook, but I am not one of those people and I would wager that the majority of you all are not those types of people.
Read on…
Dear Improv Diary,
Finally my Improv 201 class, at UCB, is starting to come together. I’ve been having a rough time in class from the first day. I started Improv 201 directly after 101. In fact, I started 201 one day after finishing 101. This lack of time to reflect, sort of threw off my improv game. I jumped into 201 unprepared that the change in teaching styles and curriculum would effect my abilities, but it did.
I’ve always prided myself on having very little inner thought about my improv. I really try not to edit, think, or pre-plan my scene-work. Just jump out and hope for the best. My motto in improv has always been “dare to suck,” meaning that you have to be prepared to fail in order to be able to succeed. This motto had worked until I hit 201, where the sucking really wasn’t the problem, but rather the daring. Read on…
