December 2011
28 posts
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“Art is edited truth—edited to give it shape, rhythm, speed and punch…Art is...”
– Stephen Sondheim (via anthonyking)
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Improv Obsession: A few thoughts on online dating... →
Truth. If you’ve agreed to go on an online date with somebody then you know something about them* - you’ve at least seen pictures and have probably exchanged a few emails. But usually it does devolve into two people who barely know each other acting awkwardly. I think, in general, there’s safety in playing online dating scenes in this manner. That whole concept of “having a...
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Improv, Fashion, and Puppies: Improv 401: Class 4... →
sabrinalondon:
“I want the two of you to have a conversation in front of the class,” Greg said. “Pretend you’re sitting on a park bench and just have a normal conversation.”
Sean and Ray were the first volunteers. They proceeded to talk about high school and how unimportant “the best years of your life”…
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WatchImprovisors: Always add a little bit of drama to your proceedings.
geekhumor:
Ian McKellen should be the voice of everything ever.
Via: alexmerry
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Protection
I was thinking about something I see in improv a lot. Jack enters the stage, does a bit of object work. Kaitlin joins a moment later and stands there watching Jack do his thing. Jack then offers a line out, and Kaitlin’s first reaction is to have a big problem with it.
Now usually we peg Kaitlin as judging Jack’s idea, but I don’t think she is. I think instead that she is...
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“When an archer is shooting for nothing he has all his skill.
If he shoots for a...”
– Chuang Tzu (300 BC)
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“My job is to beat the funny out of you….people are putting way to much pressure...”
– Jimmy Carrane, original member of Annoyance Theater and Jazz Freddy, quoted on Kevin Mullaney’s Improv Resource Center. (via thethirdthought)
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WatchJazz musician Stefon Harris walks us to a profound truth: many actions are perceived as mistakes only because we don’t react to them appropriately.
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“Many people have the idea that to improvise you have to get up on a stage and...”
– Jeff Catanese, Improv Review (via onlyopportunities)
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“It’s marvelous when we’re surprised by coincidences. Light or sound, in our...”
– John Cage, on experiencing the world as if it were art. [full interview here] (via nprfreshair)
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Start with a yes and see where that takes you...:...
Via onlyopportunities:
I have never been a planner. Ever. I have always been the ‘Everything will work out, let’s just see where this takes us…’ kinda person and make the most of different opportunities that were offered to me. As a result I never really found anything that I was ever brilliant at. I was just ‘alright’ at a lot of different things.
Then I found improv.
Suddenly, the way...
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I Haz an Improv?: Thou Shalt Not Buy, Sell,... →
ihazanimprov:
If you ever find yourself in a buying, selling, bartering, or teaching scene, don’t be afraid to try to take it somewhere else. Ask to see the back room, invite the salesman to lunch, find a way to use whatever you’re acquiring or learning. Ask the salesperson/ trainer to help you on the big task you need this equipment or information for. Find an action or a motivation, and run...
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salvador dolly parton: My Love Letter to Improv... →
salvadordollyparton:
Improv, on the other hand, is a LIVE art form. Living. When you are in an improv scene and you commit to it, you are forced to stop being a robot and start being as human as you can be.
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Improv Ramblings: Imaginary Games
chrisreblogs:
I mean game games. Not improv “game.”
In a scene where you have some card game or game show or board game that is made up.
And it doesn’t have to be a made up on actually. Say it’s Monopoly. Unless you have a very interesting take or view point, seeing folks argue about rules is boring.
I would much rather, not matter what the rules are or are not, that we all agree that...
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Watchdownrightupright:
It’s time to start rethinking those restaurant scenes, guys…
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Vince Milosevich: Three things I’ve learned over... →
binu:
vincemilo:
With special thanks to Don Fanelli and Chris Gethard
1. There is no “correct” method (except your own) I’ve been studying improv continuously since the Fall of 2007 when I had my 101 class with Betsy Stover at the UCB. I worked my way up through the 500 levels where, through no fault of the school’s, I started to feel stuck. Off the advice of a friend, I starting taking...
Keeping to the Left: Improv: The Punk Rock of... →
jacobbach:
…improv is the underground, dirty, free-form, balls-to-the-wall style comedy and theatre that can draw anyone’s attention while watching it. To know that you’re able to make someone feel something, let it be: anger, hope, comedy, sadness, sensualness, ect. just by making something up is a feeling that one can not even describe.
So next that that you see a poster, or a post...
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Small Pond: it's improv →
smallmarketimprov:
For many of our performers, the improv starts with a referee’s whistle and ends the same way two-and-a-half to four minutes later. Rinse. Repeat. No wonder no one likes short form. The fact of the matter is that we should be looking at this show as an hour-and-a-half long form piece. The captains coming onto the field between games is a touchstone for the audience and...
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“All artistry, all drama, and of course all comedy is serious business indeed...”
– Chuck Jones, in his foreword to the book Serious Business: The Art and Commerce of Animation in America.
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Reblogged from my main Tumblr:
Improv Is Easy!: Agree on one thing (Improv)
joestanton:
Improv folk: Please help me think of ways that people _don’t_ agree at the top of the scene without an outright denial (so no “You’re not my dad, you’re a baboon!).
I guess the reason I ask is that I have been seeing a lot of scenes where performers don’t seem to be in an…
One the subject of things that are not agreement but are...
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Shakespeare improv
Last night I got to do one of the most fun shows I have done in a long, long time.
I performed in a show that was the culmination of a four-week class in Shakespeare-style improv. Before the show I was a bit uneasy due to not being warmed up yet to use Shakespearean language. I know that the language is not the most important part of the improv, but it’s one of the most fun parts for me. I...
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Dichotomy, Symptoms, Ego
First off, I think that there’s two basic kinds of performers. There are those ruled too much by fear and doubt, and those rule too much by a superior sense of competence and bravado. Those ruled by fear and doubt are racked with insecurity and cannot make bold moves. They are paralyzed into inaction. Those whom have an inflated sense of competence become cocky and cannot listen or play well...
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