January 2012
6 posts
The Daily Grace: I'm an Improviser! Grab Me!! →
thedailygrace:
Maybe I’m in a little bit of bad mood today. Maybe I’ve just had too much caffeine. Maybe I’m nervous about the way too many things I have going on today but I just want to talk for a minute about the perception of Improvisers being open and fair game for anything from anyone at all times. Am I…
You should never have to put up with anything you don’t like on an...
Teaching Interviews: Chris Gethard, Part 2 of 2
Part 2 of an interview with Chris Gethard about teaching improv. I asked him for general advice for teachers/coaches. I added the boldface emphasis.
Speak in universals - if you tell two people why their scene is off, two people can get something from it. If you tell those two people how what they’re doing is emblematic of common problems and tendencies, everyone in the room can learn from...
Teaching Interviews: Chris Gethard, Part 1 of 2
This is a series in which I ask great improv teachers to write down their thoughts on teaching improv. We start with Chris Gethard, who was the second person to ever run the UCBT-NY school after Kevin Mullaney.
Gethard wrote the first full curriculum for the school, taught dozens and dozens of very popular classes at all levels and also coached some of the best teams to ever develop at the...
Play It Real? A Police State
Watching the Improv Jam two weeks ago, sitting with Neil Casey while a scene started where someone did a tag out that transported characters from a fast food restaurant to a police interrogation room. Neil leaned over and said this to me:
“I’ve noticed that for students under 25 a lot of them walk on or tag out as the police coming to shut things down for being out of line. These kids...
Know Everything!
I get in trouble for saying that because I deliberately say it in a jerk manner. KNOW EVERYTHING. When someone says “I didn’t know the movie my partner was mentioning” I’ll sometimes say “Well, you don’t HAVE to know it but it would be easier if you knew it.”
And then people are like “Why do I have to like Star Wars?”
And I say “Who...
Funny, Smart and No
Here’s things that I bet upper level improv teachers/coaches would be uncomfortable to say:
“Being funny is good in improv!”
“Characters should feel comfortable saying no!”
“You should know a lot of things if you want to be a good improviser!”
But all of these things are true.
(NOT for beginning improvisers. These sentences would be destructive in a...
December 2011
4 posts
Yes and No
Maybe this: “yes” requires one move but “no” requires two.
Characters say yes and get excited about things, or they say no and fold their arms.
Yes needs one move. You say yes and you’re done with that.
No needs two moves. The no and then some move to repair whatever no did to slow things down. A justification, a reason to stay.
Doesn’t mean no is bad. It...
How To Say No
A theory: teaching someone to say “yes” and be on board is important but straightforward.
Teaching someone how to say “no” to things that are bullshit in a way that does not stop the scene is much trickier, and therefore a more valuable skill.
AGREE WITH ME OR YOU ARE A BAD IMPROVISER
EDITED MUCH LATER TO ADD: I didn’t mean to imply that someone’s MOVE...
“The stage is my church and long form improvisational comedy is my religion and I...”
– Amy Poehler. (via healywu)
Best Recurring Character In Any Improv Team's...
“Sideways Dracula” — Bobby Moynihan, Police Chief Rumble.
Note: Improv teams should not have recurring characters.
November 2011
11 posts
How Are You Supposed To Remember Stuff From the...
Be smarter?
Remember everything?
Enjoy it so you remember it like you remember your favorite movie/tv show?
I don’t know. Just do it. Remember stuff or don’t do improv.
"Baby Got Back" Appears in 100% of Hot Spot...
Fact.
alexpereira asked: Will, would you kinda touch upon this quote on Mick Napier's Wikipedia page? "He founded The Annoyance with the philosophy that training improvisers to be individually powerful is the best way to support those with whom one improvises, an answer to the Yes, And philosophy, which he found led to weak, polite improvisation more often than powerful, good improvisation, a subject that he...
dangurewitch asked: Your latest post reminds me of a post I wrote last year. Tumblr won't let me link it; it was titled "Improv Nerds Only." The central idea: in discussing improv, we might be well-served to cut down on terminology & increase use of the word/concept "fun." I still stand by it - my problem with all of the interchangeable terms/concepts is that it creates a tendency toward...
Anonymous asked: You have been saying "Justify" a lot lately. Not long ago, I got a note in practice not to "justify away the unusual thing". Can you explain the differences between good and bad justifying?
The Danger of Clarity
Another pretentious theory post. I talked about this in the talk I gave this past Saturday at UCB, and by saying that I’m mentioning that I gave a talk at UCB on improv theory which was fun but is also ridiculous but below is some of what I talked about and hello! hello.
——-
The semantics of the game of the scene have become wonderfully clear in the last four or five years.
...
mopula asked: Would you please clarify the difference between a question that "pimps" your partner, a question that is a weak offering, and a question that is ok to ask within the context of the scene? I'm especially confused about the latter two. Thanks.
tall, dark & handsome.: improv thought. →
cathrynmudon:
I was talking improv late last night with a buddy and had the following thought, which I quite liked. It may or may not be horseshit, but this is the abridged version of much longer (boring er) musical analogy.
I think improvisers, their aptitudes, can be broadly categorized as follows:
BACH
Stages
Taught a 101 class recently. Saw them go through this:
First, with every yes-and they did, they were surprised. “Wait, *I’m* your boss?” Literally almost every line was said in a questioning tone.
That went away and then with every yes-and, they were not responsible. “Well, I just got promoted so I don’t know this department. It’s my first day.”
Then...
An important phase in improv students' development
is when they stop high fiving in scenes.
Kitchen Rules
This past summer, Michael Delaney sent me an email decrying the state of improv. That in itself was not unusual (Hello, Delaney!). But in this particular email he outlined what I think is a brilliant way to measure whether someone has become an advanced improviser:
1) A good improviser habitually accepts the offers made to him. 2) A good improviser habitually makes active choices rather than...
October 2011
4 posts
benjoseph asked: In a lot of interviews, I've noticed older comedians and dramatic actors use the term "ad lib" instead of "improv." Thoughts on the terminology? Implications of the two different words?
Josh Patten: Why Improv? →
For what he says, also for the opportunities that let us say things like this.
joshpatten:
(I normally don’t say things like this while coaching improv, but I loosely said the following to a group I coached today (Dos Mimosas, a young and extremely talented group—they have a show at Triple Crown this Sunday at 8PM—go to it!) and it strikes me as true and I needed to jot it down before…
Kevin Hines: Team Chemistry Redux →
I agree with what my brother says here. The bit about finding aspects of your teammate’s moves to like while on stage. Showing up to rehearsals and not being lazy. How some people overrate the “going to dinner” together thing — since I do think 1% more respect/attention on stage matters more than 100 dinners (although Erik’s point is also good). Oh just read it.
...
September 2011
26 posts
Team Chemistry
kevhines:
“Ultimately, you don’t need to have a team that wants to go out to dinner together, but you need to have a team that wants to protect each other on the field, and be fiercely loyal to each other on the field. That’s what ultimately is really important”
-Terry Francona on Team Chemistry (via the Boston Globe)
He’s talking about baseball teams, but I think this applies to all teams,...
Walk-Ons Vs. Tag-Outs
Walk-Ons and Tag-Outs are two ways to support a scene from the backline. As coaches, we often group them together when making adjustments “let’s not have any walk-ons or tag-outs for the first beats.” Or “Hey our second beats need more group support — let’s practice doing more tag-outs and walk-ons.” But they have very different effects. In general, I...
And... Scene →
iamachilles:
New York Magazine’s superb article about the UCB, with interview excerpts from some of the people who have helped make it what it is.
It’s exciting to be a small part of this community.
“I think the hardest thing, frankly, as an improviser, is to get to that point...”
– Amy Poehler (via themaughanster)
Maybe Every Game Is Just "Opposites"
What makes a good game of the scene? I think a decent rule of thumb is to make sure your scene has two components that are kind of opposite or at least funny in contrast to each other.
1) James Eason described an interview his father once conducted with Mel Brooks. James’ dad asked Mel something like “what makes things funny” and I think it was supposed to be worded, for fun, so...
My Favorite Woody Allen Jokes
Typed from memory and therefore slightly wrong:
My wife is so immature. Well, you tell me if this sounds immature to you. When I was taking a bath, she would just burst in without any warning and sink my boats.
This is my pocketwatch. It means a great deal to me because it’s been in the family for ages. On his deathbed, my grandfather sold me this watch.
I recently encountered a very...
Something To Unpack
A good initiation has “something to unpack.” That’s a phrase that Curtis Retherford came up with in a class I was teaching last weekend, as I tried to find a way to describe what made an initiation good, even if it didn’t have a premise in it.
First of all, I do like initiations that have premises (or funny ideas, or games, or unusual things — say what you want...
justcraig asked: What percentage of the time is your character wearing a hat in an improv scene, but people wouldn't be aware of it because you never make reference to it?
alexpereira asked: Sometimes when somebody initiates without an opening and without anything really unusual, I think in my head, "where can I put this line that would make it unusual yet still sorta make sense?" Bad? (Asking for a friend...)
Practice vs. Chemistry
Good chemistry is worth 100 practices.
YES over AND
When people are new to improv, all they notice are the ANDs. “Did you hear that line?” “What a great move!” “How did they think to say X?”
But once you’ve done it a while, you appreciate much more people who can just say YES: “He re-states the most important part,” “She keeps the idea alive,” “He understands everything that...
ericscott asked: Hey Will, the other night me, Joe Wengert, and our mutual friend Robbie went dancing and we were talking about Ben Rodgers and how we think he does "cool improv." Do you think Ben does, in fact, do "cool improv?" Or who else do you think does "cool improv?" Also, what is "cool improv?"
brynna asked: Hi Will, we recently had a pretty in-depth discussion in class on the definition of "smart play," and it seems like everyone has a different definition. Some people thought it was reference-based, some thought that the performers were intelligent as people, and others thought it was how much people honored each others' ideas. What we did agree upon was that there were really good...
Anonymous asked: I just want to say that I loved this accepting/agreement stuff. I just did an ASH with Delaney where he said, "Anytime someone asks a question, if you can answer it 'yes' without hurting the scene, do it." I'd never heard that note before, in two years! That's insane! Once it was drilled into me a few weeks later, scenes became hilarious. If someone says, "What,...
Accept Offers: Conclusion
Leftover thoughts:
The other phrase I’ve heard Delaney use is “culture of agreement.” That’s a great sounding phrase, I like what it inspires in me.
An initiation can be thought of as accepting the offer inherent in the suggestion, or the opening.
Accepting an offer is very often having the character say “no.”
I wrote a lot (too much) about “Accepting...
Accept Offers: When It's Refused
Here’s a weird one: You make an offer. The other person quibbles with it. Don’t back down: re-make the same offer and address whatever the person quibbled about.
Improviser 1: If we drill for oil here, we’ll hurt the environment. We should march right into the CEO’s office and just quit.
Improviser 2: This is ExxonMobil. We can’t just march into someone’s...
Accept Offers: Don't Break Game
Don’t accept an offer in a way that makes you break a game.
Improviser 1: I know that I’m 50 years old, but I’m here to take the SATs.
Improviser 2: You’re too old to take the SATs sir.
Improviser 1: I’m going through a hard time in my life and I need to do something I know I’m good at.
Improviser 2: Fine, you’re allowed to take the test but I think...
Accept Offers: When You're Not Expecting It
You’ve got an idea in mind, but your partner implies something else. Your first instinct should be to go with it.
Improviser 1: Thanks for stepping into my office. I just wanted to tell you that you are a terrible employee and I think you’re a jerk.
Improviser 2: Okay, you know what? I’ve had it with this place. I quit.
Improviser 1: What, are you going back to your band?
...
Accept Offers: Do it Casually, Easily
Even though I’m making a big deal about it, accepting offers should be no big deal most of the time. You should be poised to say yes to anything implied about you in an effortless way. A lot of the time, the offers won’t be a big deal - but it’s good form to accept them anyway.
Let’s say you’re a character taking a girl on a date, and you and the other character...
Accept Offers: Agreement Before Reality
The trickiest case I think is when someone is making an offer for you that requires you to ignore reality. Then you have to make a really tough choice: do you support playing at the height of your intelligence, or do you support your partner’s offer? Like this:
Initiation (in a broad, hammy, wide-eyed musical theater but bad delivery): “These pens! These pens are so expensive! My wife is going to...
Accept Offers: After An Opening
A team does an opening and now has a handful of ideas, evolved to various degrees. Some obvious, some not. The problem is people will assume they understand what the other person has decided about the idea, and charge ahead without listening. Let’s say in the opening there’s an idea about a kid trick or treating at a famous person’s house and not knowing who the famous...
Accept Offers: Here's What's Funny
How about when someone offers something funny? An offer of a game/unusual thing/premise/joke?
Initiation: Thanks for helping me move. To pay you back, here’s a bag of fish.
I say the offer is paying with fish is what’s gonna be funny about this scene. That at his/her heart, the actor wants that big of fish to be a ridiculous thing. Your character can accept that bag of fish as appropriate or...
Accept Offers: Accusations/Complaints
How about the very common case of a complaint or accusation? What if we see that as an offer?
Initiation: Bill, why are you so insistent to spend your whole paycheck on this meal? You need that money!
We discourage our beginning students from fighting, since it often stops the scene from moving forward. But it’s okay to fight, as long as the actors are smart enough to see the accusations...
Accept Offers: Speak To The Topic Offered
Full disclosure: when you teach or coach, you go through phases in which you fall in love with certain mantras, or certain priorities. I’ve obsessed about justification, about reacting, about reality, about game. I’m in one again, and this time it’s all about “making and accepting offers.” And as suspicious as I try to be about how I have in the past over-reacted and overly-relied on a...
ericscott asked: You could also Repeat (Pause) And. "You want me to grab the gun with my feet? (Pause) You know, we're trying really hard...." Doesn't have to be a repeat question, could just be a statement.