May 2012
18 posts
Billy Merritt's Improv Dance Party Pt2: The 5... →
improvdanceparty:
By applying the Kubler-Ross model on the five stages of grief, it might be easier for you to find out where you are in your Improv Development.
1. Denial: [shock] This can’t be improvisation I’m seeing, it must be scripted. They must have “go-to” jokes, do the same scenes over and over,…
Advanced Improv Intensive at UCBT in August
I’ll be teaching a week long intensive class at UCB Theatre in August. It’s going to be in the afternoons 1-5pm, August 6-10th. It will cover a variety of topics like improvising from the gut, la rondes, character wheels, weird Harolds and more. It’s going to be posted today on the UCB website and should be open for registration in about 20 minutes.
She said she usually gets stopped by police when... →
melindataub:
NYPD’s stop-and-frisks of kids as young as 12 (!) break my heart.
6 tags
Line Learner, iOS app for actors →
Advanced Scene Work and Game Play Master Class...
upstairsgallery:
Date: 6/17/2011
Time: 3-7 pm
Cost: $50
Come learn new techniques of scene and game in this new master class from Greg Hess and Mark Raterman. Greg and Mark have performed with Cook Co. Social Club, the Second City touring company, Improvised Shakespeare and My Mans, among others. They promise you will learn something.
To sign up, email: upstairsworkshop@gmail.com
Class...
4 tags
Applications for my class are due on Sunday →
I’ll be teaching an improv performance class at Upstairs Gallery in June and July. This class is going to be awesome. I decided for this class that I should have an application process. I’m accepting applications until Sunday, then coming up with the roster by Tuesday.
Keep in mind that if I get enough people, I may open a second class on Sundays. So if you can’t make the...
overpricedandtrendy asked: There seems to be a tendency in the UCB - I can point to direct quotes by Roberts and Besser - to think of improv as sketch that doesn't happen to have been written yet. In my mind this comes dangerously close to Sahlins' view of improv as a writing tool. Your interview on the UCBTNY podcast is the only instance I can find of someone talking specifically about what is special to the...
Admit it. Then justify it with a philosophy.
I like this piece of advice for improv scenes from Will Hines.
Someone says you’re late for dinner —- admit it, then justify why you are late with a philosophy. Don’t blame it on traffic or your boss — that’s deflecting. Even if it’s a reasonable excuse, you are deflecting the gift. Don’t be surprised to learn you are late. Own it — it’s a gift.
(via improvnonsense)
A: “You cheated on...
An argument for more frequent intermissions? →
“Sitting for long periods of time — when you don’t stand up, don’t move at all — tends to cause changes physiologically within your muscles. You stop breaking up fat in your bloodstream, you start getting accumulations of fat … in your liver, your heart and your brain. You get sleepy. You gain weight. You basically are much less healthy than if you’re...
Who are the Avengers among the improvisors you...
The Hulk
The Hulk is an improvisor who is shy and quiet offstage, but when he is onstage, he becomes a rampaging uncontrollable force of comedy, smashing scenes with his unbridled joy. A team of hulks might be awful to watch, but a team with one Hulk and several other improvisors strong enough to play him would be fun.
Thor
Thor is strong like the Hulk, but less impulsive. He is confident in his...
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Putting The Pieces Together →
Most improv training is focused on scenes. If you can do a good scene, you can do a good show, the thought goes. I’d like to suggest that the opposite is also true, or maybe more true, if you can do a good show, the scenes take care of themselves. When you learn how to take a character or an idea or a game and follow it through multiple scenes, you learn how better to play with characters,...
Poor, Extremely Profitable AT&T →
parislemon:
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson:
“You lie awake at night worrying about what is that which will disrupt your business model. Apple iMessage is a classic example. If you’re using iMessage, you’re not using one of our messaging services, right? That’s disruptive to our messaging revenue stream.”
Here’s an idea, instead of laying awake at night waiting for someone to disrupt your...
6 tags
10 Reasons This Class Will Be Awesome →
4 tags
Performance Class at Upstairs Gallery Taught by...
This is an eight week class for intermediate and advanced improv students with some long form improv experience. You will learn how to create fun, interesting, two-person scenes; explore different ways to create second beats from those scenes; and try connecting different threads at the end of your piece. We will work on games within scenes and how to build group scenes and group games.
Best of...
