I noticed a lot of folks have been finding my blog looking for tips on improv.
Welcome.
To give you folks more of what you’re looking for, I thought I’d go through my mental files and present to you some exercises from the past. Here’s an improv game that I learned in a class with David Matthew Prior back a few years ago at Michael Howard Studios.
I forget the name, but let’s call this…
Status Therpay Session
How many people? You need at the very least around 6 people to get the most use out of this game. You could probably do even better with 7. A group of nine folks might still work. Beyond that it might spiral into chaos, but give it a try if you want.
What’s the set up? One person is the “Therapist.” This is kind of the boring role in the game so it might be served best by the coach, teacher, or at least someone who’s good at being an interviewer. The rest of the group are members of the family. These members shouldn’t know what family role they are (Mom, Dad, older brother, etc.) yet.
First, everyone besides the interviewer picks a number. If there are five members of the family, then everyone picks a number between 1 and 5. If there are 6 members, a number between 1 and 6. And so on. Everyone keeps this number to themselves and doesn’t share it. Please guys, keep it a secret for now! I beg of you. Then everyone, individually and silently, assigns every member of the group another number (1 through 6 or however many folks are in the group). You can’t give another member of the group the same number, in each member’s mind every number must be used. Don’t share this information! Keep it quiet!
Second, assign roles to everyone in the family. Father, Step-Moter, baby, daughter, older brother, nanny, babysitter from next door, feel free to spice it up a bit if you have a large group. Or if you want to make group the staff of an office and assign everyone job titles, feel free. As long as the group is a group with a traditional hierarchy and established relationships you’ll have fun.
Third, explain the status of everyone’s numbers. 1 is the number of the highest status, 6 (or 8, 9, 10, etc.) is the lowest status. Keeping in mind the number each member assigned themselves and other members of the group, each member must act accordingly. 1 submits to nobody, 2 submits to one but is superior to 3, 3 submits to 2 but is superior to 4, etc. The last number is submissive to everybody. Now, everyone has a status map of the group, but everyone’s status maps are different. Let the fun begin!
Fourth, to get the game going the “therapist” or interviewer asks the characters questions, trying to get the group to interact, and the group must deal with each other as their personal status maps allows. If everyone follows the numbers, it can get pretty interesting because no 2 people in the group will have the same status map, just like a real family!
After the game is over, try to get the class to guess everyone’s number. If everyone’s good at playing status it should be pretty easy.
When I did this game all the different independent relationships and statuses gave the game the look of a rehearsed scene. It gave way to complicated relationships. And it was pretty funny to watch one person who thought of themselves as a 1 dealing someone who had mentally labeled the same person an 8.
Here’s some choice segments from a standup set I tried at SuperEgo’s December 24th open mic at Broadway Comedy Club. I have deleted out for my benefit and yours my constant checking of my notes as well as other elements which may have cast me in a bad light.
I really enjoy doing standup and I think it’s one of those things that take a lot of time of actually doing it as opposed to studying how to do it. It’s such a brief art form and reliant on the audience that I I just have to do it. Over and over again. The open mics can be painful when you forget what you say or don’t get laughs but these failures–I HOPE–help me develop a thicker skin as well as a technique.
I’ve found out that I have more fun developing an “idea” of what I want to do as opposed to a script. The “idea” has to be detailed and rehearsed a few times, but I find if I try to memorize jokes, I get on stage and just recite jokes. It looks and feels stiff. if I go up there with a little bit of danger and room to breath I can “be in the moment.” I can think while I’m performing as opposed to just remembering. But this also gives me a larger chance of having nothing to say once I’m in front of people. It’s like life.
Wow, this youtube video description is really pompous.
It’s An Improv Show, Charlie Brown!
by Jeremiah Murphy
It’s 9:30pm on a Tuesday night and the Peanuts gang is backstage at the best improv theater they can afford.
CHARLIE BROWN:
O.K. Everyone, gather around for some quick warm-ups.
MARCY:
Peppermint Patty said she’d be twenty minutes late, she had to meet a friend for dinner, sir.
CHARLIE BROWN:
Oh, good grief! This is a show and deserves the same respect you would give to a play or any well planned Youtube video.
LUCY:
I don’t know what we’re doing tonight, Charlie Brown!
LINUS:
Me neither.
Snoopy growls.
CHARLIE BROWN:
Don’t you remember what we went over in rehearsal?
LUCY:
How can you rehearse for improv, Charlie Brown?
LINUS:
We don’t do anything at rehearsal except complain about our day, talk about movies, and push our politics on each other, Charlie Brown.
CHARLIE BROWN:
Good grief! We specifically went over the format for tonight’s show. For our opening let’s each start with a monologue. Then we do two person scenes. Then a monoscene.
LUCY:
I hate that opening, Charlie Brown. I hate opening with monologues! I say we just come out and do a pattern game. They give me ideas for scenes. Ideas for scenes come hard to me, Charlie Brown. I need to do a pattern game!
CHARLIE BROWN:
But we discussed the opening as a group through e-mail and everyone liked it.
LINUS:
Pattern games make the audience feel that they’re watching rehearsals.
LUCY:
Oh, Brother! HOW CAN YOU REHEARSE IMPROV?
SCHROEDER:
Charlie Brown, I know we rehearsed with my musical accompaniment but I’d really like to be in a couple of the scenes tonight.
CHARLIE BROWN:
Schroeder, you are in all the scenes. Your music is a character in every scene!
SCHROEDER:
I feel used, Charlie Browm. Can I please be in a scene? I have some new characters.
CHARLIE BROWN:
Fine, Schroeder. It’s not what we rehearsed, but fine. Lucy and Marcy, did you flyer before the show?
LUCY:
What!?? Begging for an audience is beneath me, Charlie Brown.
MARCY:
You never gave me any flyers, sir.
LUCY:
We need to culture a following Charlie Brown!
CHARLIE BROWN:
ARRRGHHH!!!!!! Who’s going to come see the show tonight!???
MARCY:
I saw two people in the lobby.
LUCY:
They probably work here and are forced to watch the show. That’s the only reason, I can think of anyone seeing our show.
CHARLIE BROWN:
Oh, good grief Lucy, did you ask anyone to come see the show?
LUCY:
No, I’m doing a one-woman show and I’d rather my fans come see that. I don’t have faith in this show. Not yet.
LINUS:
I sent a couple emails Charlie Brown, but got no response.
CHARLIE BROWN:
You have to call people, Linus. You have to call people, let them know you’re thinking about them. People support friends, not people who hide behind emails! Good grief!
LUCY:
If I called people asking them to come see this show, I’d feel like I was begging for money, Charlie Brown.
CHARLIE BROWN:
That’s no attitude to have, Lucy. Let’s all form a circle.
LINUS:
Yes, Lucy, save that negativity for your transaction scenes.
LUCY:
I LIKE TRANSACTION SCENES!
PIG PEN:
What are we doing for an opening, Charlie Brown? And when do we do the monoscene? I feel like Lucy always starts the monoscene too early.
LUCY:
I’m the pace of the show. I start the monoscene when the monoscene needs to be started.
CHARLIE BROWN:
We do the mono-scene after we name the protagonist in the final two person scene.
PIG PEN:
How do we name the protagonist?
CHARLIE BROWN:
I thought we established this in rehearsal!
LUCY:
I’m always the protagonist, with you people AND YOUR MONOLOGUE OPENINGS!!! ARE WE DOING A PATTERN GAME, CHARLIE BROWN OR DO I HAVE TO WORK YOU OVER, YOU BLOCKHEAD?!!
Peppermint Patty enters.
PEPPERMINT PATTY:
Hey, Chuck. Sorry I’m late. I had to meet up with some friends.
CHARLIE BROWN:
Are they coming to the show?
PEPPERMINT PATTY:
Nah. They had tickets to a movie.
Stage Manger enters.
STAGE MANAGER, THE KID WITH THE SAILOR HAT:
5 Minutes, everyone.
Exits.
LUCY:
Five minutes to doom!
LINUS:
Charlie Brown, tell Sally to black us out at 30 minutes. Our show went too long last week. The audience wanted to leave.
LUCY:
Yeah, both of them!
SCHROEDER:
Charlie Brown, can I do a standup set before the show?
LUCY:
Stick to the Piano, Schroeder. The man I marry plays the piano and your standup is reminiscent of a young Paul Reiser.
SCHROEDER:
Is that a compliment?
LUCY:
To Paul Reiser maybe it is.
CHARLIE BROWN:
I just got five text messages from people saying they can’t make the show. Why do they always send messages like that right before I go on stage? I feel so horrible about myself when right before I’m about to perform people tell me they can’t be bothered.
PEPPERMINT PATTY:
What are we doing for an opening, Chuck? I hate putting a together a show five minutes before we go on.
CHARLIE BROWN:
Then why didn’t you get here earlier?
LINUS:
Are we going to ask for a suggestion, Charlie Brown? Because we never use them and I feel that just insults the audience.
LUCY:
What audience?
CHARLIE BROWN:
Come on team, we pay for the space.
LUCY:
I don’t pay to perform, Charlie Brown. I don’t play to perform. You pay me to perform! Got it?
CHARLIE BROWN:
We ask for three suggestions.
LUCY:
OH, BROTHER! WE DON’T EVEN HAVE THREE AUDIENCE MEMBERS!
PEPPERMINT PATTY:
Guys, I’m nervous about the show. Are we doing a pattern game?
CHARLIE BROWN:
Good Grief!
PEPPERMINT PATTY:
Chuck, let’s go over what kind of edits we use. So we’re all on the same page. I tapped out Marcy last week and she thought I was joining the scene instead of replacing her.
MARCY:
Sorry sir.
PEPPERMINT PATTY:
No apologies necessary Marce, we’ve never discussed the subject despite all the hours wasted at Champion Studios.
CHARLIE BROWN:
That’s a good idea, Peppermint Patty. To edit a scene we can use tap-outs, organic edits, and sweep-edits.
LUCY:
I hate sweep edits! I feel like a hack!
LINUS:
You are a—
LUCY:
(making a fist)
JUST SAY IT, BLOCKHEAD! JUST SAY IT!
CHARLIE BROWN:
We can also color scenes with edits from the backline such as “Cut to—“
LUCY:
I HATE “THE MOVIE!” AND I HATE STANDING ON THE BACKLINE! WHY CAN’T WE STAND IN THE WINGS, CHARLIE BROWN?!!
CHARLIE BROWN:
…”That sounds like a song,” you can also yell “freeze!” then reposition the people in the scene so when they unfreeze –
PEPPERMINT PATTY:
That’s enough Chuck. Thanks. You got all that, Marce?
I’ve noticed that a lot of people are reading my blog by searching for “improv acting tips” so I thought I’d write a few more.
When performing in an improv show, here’s a couple things that I’ve noticed:
Tell and Show
If you describe something, say in your opening monologue* or in a conversation that occurs in a scene, the audience wants to see it. The old creative writing rule, “show, don’t tell” can be slightly modified to “tell, then show.” So at some point if you’re talking about that time Grandpa bought a couple boxes of Theraflu thinking they were Kool-Aid, show that scene during the show. It’s an easy laugh.
Killing Anticipation
Another thing to keep in mind is anticipation. Anticipation works great in movies, plays, and books. It doesn’t work out so great in improv. By “anticipation” I mean talking about doing something in a scene and waiting for that something to happen. If you do this, a couple things are going on: 1) You’re not really being present in the moment, you’re waiting for something better to happen which won’t happen because you’re waiting for it; 2) The audience will either get bored or expect something crazy to blow up; or 3) If you’re talking about doing something, you’re telling and not showing–people want to see something on stage, so show ‘em what you got.
Here’s how I suggest “killing” anticipation. If people in a scene are talking about something that is going to happen or are planning something (a heist, a birthday party, a family, etc.)–edit the scene! Stop it as soon as you can tell what the characters are describing. Then in the next scene show whatever it is the performers were talking about. My favorite way of editing an “anticipation scene” is to yell “cut-to the birthday party! (Or whatever it is in your scene).”
“Cut to” is an edit used in “The Movie,” a form of longform improv where the improvisers perform an improvised movie using improvised plots, scene painting (improvisors tell the audience details of the appearance of the setting or characters), and screenwriting terms (for example: describing and performing cinematic shots, such as “birds eye view” or “close up,” and transitions, such as “cut to.”)
Another favorite of mine to kill anticipation is to edit the scene and do a “cut to” edit making the next scene take place after the object of anticipation has passed. For example if someone in a scene is talking about how their dog can talk, edit the scene and do a “cut to after the dog has spoken.” Then the improvisors have to react to “what just happened” instead about talking about something about to happen. Try it, it’s funny. If characters are planning a birthday party in one scene, cut to after the birthday party. This is an old comedic screenwriting trick. It works!
That’s all for today! If you have any questions about improv, leave it in the comments. Thanks for reading my blog!
*If you’re not too familiar with longform improv, improv that consists of scenes and/or monologues that last for around 20 minutes and longer, some shows are begun with the improvisers or a special guest delivering either a prepared or improvised monologue which the improvisers use for generating scenes. Some shows use one “monologist” or up to however many improvisers their are in the group.
Once again, I noticed folks were finding my blog looking for “Improv Acting Tips.” I already wrote one post about this topic but I thought I’d give it another go if people are interested in improv. If you have any improv questions, drop me a question in the comments below.
A little bit about me and improv: I started studying at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in 2000 and went on to study at the Peoples Improv Theater (both in New York City). I also worked as an improvisational strolling character actor for a while and have been on all sorts of improv teams in New York. So, if you were curious were these tips come from, there you go.
IMPROV ACTING TIPS, Part 2
Touch Your Partner’s Shoulder: I know this sounds silly and if your partner doesn’t want to be touched, don’t. But one of the best ways to get “into the moment” fast and create a little relationship in an improvised scene is to place your hand on your scene partner’s shoulder, arm, or back. This connects the two of you and kind of gives the scene some “honesty”–for lack of a better word. Don’t grope, just a light hand on the shoulder does it.
Specifics: Did I mention this one last time? It should have been the first improv tip. Specifics, details, and names are very funny. Try it out. As one acting teacher asked my class, what’s more interesting asking for some whiskey or asking for some Jack Daniels? They say you can’t really learn how to be funny, but if you’re real specific with your work, you’ll get some laughs. And it doesn’t have to be brand names, it can be with object work (miming your physical environment), specifying to yourself what emotion your character’s feeling in the scene, etc.
The more specific your choices the more you and your scene partner can play with them. Details make something interesting and hold the audience’s attention. The next time a con-artist tries something on you, notice all the detail they throw into their story.
Specifics Part 2, Introduce Yourself: Seriously. Specifics, y’all. If you’re starting your scene and don’t know what to do, in a sentence introduce who you are, where you are from and what exactly you want. The trick is to cram your introduction with as much detail as you can so your scene partner and you will have all sorts material.
They (the improv elite) say the best scenes are between characters who know each other. Well, if you’re introducing youself in the beginning of the scene and want to follow this rule, introduce yourself as someone your scene partner obviously knows. Here’s an example: “Hello, John, I, being your step-father Andre who was born on Minnow lane, two towns over, and want to win over your olympic backstroke champion Mother, Eileen, have decided to spend the day with you at your part time job, here at the Dairy Queen drive-thru window.” Sounds like too much? It is, but maybe your character gives too much information whenever he talks. And besides you could do a great many scenes with that information. You could do a scene about a step-father and son who don’t get along, you could do a scene about a step-father getting in the way of his step-son at work, you could do a scene about the step-son confronting his step-dad, you could do a scene about the ice cream machine breaking and the step-father tries to explain to his customers how his step-son is trying his best. The more details, the more options, so stuff as many character, environment, and relationship details in the beginning of a scene. And remember, you don’t have to speak these details you can use your movement and object (or mime) work to indicate all sorts of details as well.
Don’t Talk: Try it out. Don’t know what to say in an improv scene? Don’t say anything. Don’t ignore your partner. You can fully enagge your scene partner and still be silent. How, you ask? Give it a shot and find out. But don’t indicate that you can’t speak. Just do other things besides speaking. This exersize might make your more physical, more subtle, or just more interesting to watch. See what happens.
What Do I Do, My Partner’s an Ass? It’s going to happen. Sooner or later you’re going to be in a scene where you’re not getting along with your partner. Perhaps he or she is “showboating” (hogging the stage), perhaps he or she doesn’t understand what’s going on, perhaps he or she is being a Silly Monster (making no sense and a lot of noise), perhaps your scene partner is making you uncomfortable by getting too close, or perhaps your partner is taking the scene in a direction which offends your values. If you feel your scene partner is making you uncomfortable just gracefully exit the scene (“Oh shit, I left a roast in the oven”). It’s not worth it to endure any more abuse than is already involved in an improv show. If your partner is offending you with the subject matter of the scene, try to stop censoring yourself and accept your partner’s offer. Maybe through sincerity and faithfully giving into the scene you can redeem it. If your partner doesn’t understand what’s going on–hoo boy, that’s rough but it’s improv and the audience is forgiving and might even find it funny. Try to steer your partner back to reality by restatingthe facts and confusion of the scene. For example: “Oh, I’m sorry, this is a battleship? I thought I was in a dentist’s office. That’s the fifth time this week I’ve made that mistake.” If you’re are in a scene with a Silly Monster who’s just being loud and not paying attention to you, try to win the audience over by being quiet and balancing out the Silly Monster with a subtle performance. Perhaps your character is trying to have a phone call and just glares at the Silly Monster? Give it a shot. If you’re scene partner is hogging the stage, being hilarious, and not really paying attention to you, that’s a real pain but maybe the audience is enjoying themselves. Sometimes you just have to wait for the storm to pass and use any of the above mentioned tips to steer the scene in another direction or end it.
That’s it for this session of improv tips. I’ll be back with some more, perhaps some tips on improvising characters. Let me know what you want to hear.
Carrie and I came up with the concept Friday night, made an outline of what we wanted the rough plot to be. I also sent an email to some friends to see if they could call my phone number and leave a message like what you would hear on a paranormal radio show such as "Coast to Coast AM" to be used as audio clips. We also shot some brief footage and did some editing. We wanted to make a short about a couple of conspiracy theory podcasters who get in too deep investigating "The Lizardo," inspired by the semi-popular reptilian/reptiloid conspiracy where people believe the world is run by a cabal of lizard men.
On Saturday we gathered the main props and costumes then shot it with Stacy. We improvised a lot and changed the plot of the film a couple times. We still had wanted to shoot some stuff but the end of the day caught up with us. We decided to save our energy for the mad dash of Sunday. There were some points that we didn’t know were clear such as the logic of my character seeing pictures of himself with The Lizardo then becoming one, but we thought we could make it work in editing.
On Sunday we edited everything together. We didn’t have time to shoot the extra items that we wanted, so we used "title cards" to make up for any needed exposition. We finished it, burned it to a DVD, and dropped it off by 7:30pm. We excluded lots of footage particularly footage of Stacy dressed as a Lizardo and going to the ATM, footage of my chasing Carrie (we thought it would be scarier if it was just footage of Carrie being chased from my perspective), and an intro sequence to the "Final Discourse Podcast."
I gathered some of the unused footage and made this video afterwards:
It was lots of fun and we were excited to win first prize at the screening on the following Wednesday. I think the key to making a succcessful 48 hour film like this is to divide up the labor and be flexible, because you’re not going to be able to do everything you want. Also I would make sure to devote the majority of one of the days to editing. In the end we had a lot of footage we didn’t use, but I think this helped make the movie better because it gave us more to choose from.
