January 2012
34 posts
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Via The Magnet Theater Blog - Improv Interviews... →
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Feeling bad about your improv?
improv-is-easy:
coreybrown:
Go watch a level 1 grad show and remember that that was you at some point. Then remember how far you have come.
Corey’s right. You’ll see all kinds of support moves you could make and then think, “Hey, I DO know how to improvise!”
And if you’re feeling jaded or cynical, you’ll also remember what it was like to feel excited and charged about doing...
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My three-man group performs tonight at the PIT... →
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Nick Turner: Why you should donate to the Creek... →
getbacktowork:
adamconover:
Nick Turner writes about what the Creek means to New York comedians:
I perform maybe a quarter of all of my NY stand up sets at The Creek. Way more than on any other stage, I have learned how to be a comedian at The Creek. No other full time comedy venue allows the freedom and the stage time together that this venue provides.
There’s are roughly 10 open mics a...
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Kickstarter: Improv Legend Documentary and... →
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the Montreal Improv blog: Guest Writer: Rick... →
Rick Andrews is a very talented improvisor that I count among my personal friends. I’ve had the pleasure of playing with him on a few occasions and I can attest to his quality as a performer, teammate, and teacher.
montrealimprov:
Rick Andrews is a teacher and performer at The Magnet Theater in New York City. He teaches and performs around the country with The Magnet Theater TourCo, with...
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Women Improvisers Trust: Are You a Funny Lady? →
Reblogged for all the XX improvisors out there.
womenimproviserstrust:
There are a lot of us out there. Each of the big three improv schools in New York has hosted ladies nights. We perform at many venues around the city, and many of us have formed all-female teams with our close friends (or sometimes classmates who have become close friends). Yet there are still…
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the apiary: Accept Defeat: The Neuroscience of... →
thebumblebees:
Dunbar brought tape recorders into meeting rooms and loitered in the hallway; he read grant proposals and the rough drafts of papers; he peeked at notebooks, attended lab meetings, and videotaped interview after interview. He spent four years analyzing the data.
…Dunbar came away from his in…
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Terrible Improv Group Photos Coupled with Terrible...
upstairsgallery:
Strive for this people,
natevarrone:
Home Improvment
I Can’t Believe it’s Not Utter(ly Hilarious)! Moo Moo!
Nutty Laughs Town
The TomSTOOLlery Fart Farts
The Giggle Mill (actual name of group shown above)
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I Haz an Improv?: Taking Risks/ Don't Be Meta →
Meta is difficult to pull off. And most of the time it comes from a place of uncertainty or desperation for laughs–more on that in a bit. It certainly has its unique challenges, so it’s usually a better idea to not do it. But I’ll never say never do it.
Last summer I coached a very good group called Big Buddha. A scene began with Will and Jenny dancing, and verbally playing a game of...
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Starting Groups / Setting Goals
downrightupright:
Billy Merritt subbed in to coach one of my teams a ways back and asked us something that had my head spinning for weeks: “What are your goals as a group?”
There was a lot of fumbling and mumbling and vague half-ideas, before he finally nodded a curt, “Ok,” as if we’d said all we needed to say by saying nothing at all.
When you practice with your group, what are you doing...
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“But children praised for trying hard or taking risks tend to enjoy challenges...”
– In improv, take risks. Via.
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the Montreal Improv blog: Guest Writer: Kristen... →
I’ve had the pleasure of watching Kristen perform many times - she is a joy on stage and a just plain great person to hang out with with. This article is worth the full read.
montrealimprov:
Kristen Schier has a B.F.A. in Theater Arts from the University of the Arts and has been working in Philadelphia Pennsylvania as a professional actor, improviser and teacher for many years. She is the...
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RCD, Jan. 28th, 9:30, the PIT →
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Know Everything!
I don’t understand: are there actually people out there who are reticent to learning and playing intelligently to enhance their improv? If there are, I guess it’s because knowing things sounds like work, and improvisors do improv because it doesn’t involve all that work of knowing things like lines and blocking.
Facts and knowledge enhance improv. But scenes shouldn’t...
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“People are afraid of themselves, of their own reality; their feelings most of...”
– Jim Morrison (via bitchville)
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“You have to be patient. You have to give yourself a chance. When you’re first...”
– Former “Colbert Report” head writer/executive producer Allison Silverman, offering advice to aspiring comedy writers in And Here’s The Kicker, aka the best book ever.
(via katespencer)
(via anthonyking)
(via juliasegal)
DEL CLOSE FTW
(via areturntonormalcy)
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Interview with Chris Gethard
theneedtofail:
Chris Gethard is a New York based actor, author and improvisor at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre that has appeared on Late Night With Conan O’Brien and the ABC sitcoms Hope & Faith and the Knights of Prosperity. He starred in the Comedy Central sitcom, Big Lake, and assisted the writing staff of the show Crossballs. In 2007, Chris served as a guest writer for Saturday...
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Castability
As a fun thought game, I made a list of improvisors I know from across the country and tried to make ensembles out of them. A kind of Fantasy Football but for improv. The interesting thing to me is that, no matter how hard I tried, I was always left with a few people who just didn’t get cast.
I think a lot of improvisors view casting from one point of perspective only: skill. An improvisor...
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