This is our Blog. It's the dopest.
I had a chance to read Chris Compton's article Every Part of the Buffalo from the playimprov.com newsletter. It's a great discussion of not dumbing down to the audience, not getting caught up in your head, and using what you know in a piece. I particularly liked his suggestion of naming characters using the names of people you know. Using names (actually, the lack of using names) is one of the many challenges I face in a piece (okay, I suck at it).
Okay, this is wacky. A recently formed New York improv group is having trouble coming up with a name, so they plan on auctioning off the right to name the group. You can read their info at their website, nameourimprovgroup.com. The auction will take place on eBay, starting Monday, July 10, and run for 10 days. I'll keep an eye on this one.
I just came across this group called bang. studio. They've got a level 1 class starting up this Monday, July 10 and I wanted to post a link to it. I don't know much about them, so I can't really say how they compare. They say they've been around 10 years and provide a 'supportive, creative, fun environment'. There are a variety of shows performed at their performance space, and they produce some short videos. Check it out at your own risk!
So, last night the class started off with a surprise birthday celebration for me. Thanks to everyone who participated in setting that up. It was very thoughtful and a complete surprise. And, the Kettle Cake was particularly tasty. Out of the 12 players, we had one brand new player, and one who was last with us a couple of years ago. We tried to convince them that we don't have cake every week, but I think WE all started to wonder 'why not?'
One of the new players from last week returned this week, which is comforting. I don't think we're all that intimidating.
Once again, no photos this week. I tried some shots with my cell phone but was unimpressed with the results. I'll try again next week.
No particular line of dialog stood out for me, but all in all it was a good class. I was getting a bit tired at the end - crashing from a sugar high?
I just came across this notice from the IO West (the west coast Improv Olympic franchise) about their writing classes. They've got two different level classes starting up this weekend in LA: ================ Last chance to register for the Writing Level 1 class beginning
SATURDAY, JULY 8
8 WEEKS / SATURDAYS 12-3
$300
TAUGHT BY JOHN HINDMAN
WRITING LEVEL 1 offers a great foundation for all types of comedy writing, sketch comedy, screenwriting, writing for television, etc. In this class you learn the basics of comic structure, premise, writing point-of-view, monologues, finding the joke, satire, parody, writing for ensembles, and establishing a writing routine. If you're starting your writing career or need a great refresher of the essentials, this class is for you!
JOHN HINDMAN is the founder of the I.O.West Writing Program, now in its fourth year. John has written for TV & film, and as a story consultant has provided analysis & feedback for studios, producers, and his students. His latest screenplay "The Dream of the Romans" is currently in development at Endeavor.
================ SITCOM SPEC WRITING
BEGINS 7/9
8 WEEKS / SUNDAYS 3-6PM
$300
TAUGHT BY MICHAEL MCCARTHY
SITCOM WRITING teaches you the ins & outs of writing your own sitcom spec script. From conception of the show idea to pitching the story to writing the drafts - all the way to the final draft and staged reading! This class yields a sitcom spec script suitable for submission to agencies, networks, and producers.
MICHAEL MCCARTHY has written for 'Saturday Night Live' (for which he was nominated for an Emmy), 'Sesame Street', 'The Drew Carey Show', and numerous other Comedy Central and network shows. He is an alumnus of The Second City Chicago Mainstage and helped start their writing program. He currently teaches the Writing 2, Writing 3, and Sitcom Writing classes for I.O.West's Writing Program.
================ TO REGISTER:
CALL THE TRAINING CENTER TO REGISTER WITH A VISA OR MASTERCARD. (323)962-7560
OR REGISTER ONLINE USING PAYPAL: http://www.iowest.com/classes
Here's an interesting site where my worlds collide. Ask a Ninja is a site of very funny videos put together by a couple of LA improvisers. Each video is from 2 to 5 minutes long, and consists of the NINJA answering a submitted question. A new video comes out every couple of weeks. I've watched these for a while, but I recently heard the creators talk about their start at the LA Second City, and how much of their work is improvised. They're a pretty successful web content site and they report a viewership of about 350,000. Their stuff is very creative and funny, and they put it together on a shoestring. Check it out.
John is a magician, improvisor, teacher, speaker, businessman, and all around damn nice guy. He's also a prolific writer and marketer. Part of his improv education happened with SBIW, but he's someone who went out and actively educated himself on improv, and then built an environment in which he could continue to learn and perform. The Santa Maria improv group that he ran had some of the biggest improv audiences I'd worked with up to that time, and the performances were great. He was always welcoming, and encouraged the Santa Barbara group to come up and participate. I was sorry to see him move to Las Vegas, but could count on him to put together a significant improv community. So I was pleased to be toodling around the Web and discover his web site, Humor Power. I just subscribed to his newsletter and read some of his articles. He does a good job of pulling together what he's learned into a very approachable style. Check out some of his articles.
And, whenever you are in the Las Vegas area, check out his group's public shows.
There are still a couple of weeks left for the San Francisco Improv Festival. This festival has been going from June 15 and has shows through July 29th, so if you are up in the bay area during that time, check out the ensemble performance schedule. There are still a couple of workshops, so check in on the workshop schedule if you are interested.
In future posts, I plan on discussing various improv related books that I have and am willing to lend out to anyone in the Workshop. However, as I was cleaning out a bookshelf today, I came across something I forgot that I own and just have to mention. Comic Theory in the Sixteenth Century by Marvin T. Herrick. This little gem was published in 1964 by the University of Illinois Press, Urbana and has a copyright notice of 1950! The preface is dated 1949.
Let's face it, you wont find any tips for spicing up your characters, or providing better support to your fellow actors. But, if you're looking for a discussion of Julius Caesar's examination of Greek theories of the laughable and its influence on Quintilian's Renaissance theories of the ridiculus (I kid you not, pp 37-38 in a section titled The Risible) then I'd be happy to loan you this book.
And, in keeping with the educational nature of this blog (from Dictionary.com):
ris�i�ble (r
z
-bl) adj.
I got a call back from Marc Shaw at Improvability, and he says that the group is on break for the summer. So they won't be putting on a show until October. Rats. He's moved out of the area, so it may be a different cast of characters that picks it up again in the fall.
On June 3, 2006 Stephen Colbert gave the commencement address at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. You can find the complete transcript, at Alternet. Towards the end, he said the following:
So, say "yes." In fact, say "yes" as often as you can. When I was starting out in Chicago, doing improvisational theatre with Second City and other places, there was really only one rule I was taught about improv. That was, "yes-and." In this case, "yes-and" is a verb. To "yes-and." I yes-and, you yes-and, he, she or it yes-ands. And yes-anding means that when you go onstage to improvise a scene with no script, you have no idea what's going to happen, maybe with someone you've never met before. To build a scene, you have to accept. To build anything onstage, you have to accept what the other improviser initiates on stage. They say you're doctors -- you're doctors. And then, you add to that: We're doctors and we're trapped in an ice cave. That's the "-and." And then hopefully they "yes-and" you back. You have to keep your eyes open when you do this. You have to be aware of what the other performer is offering you, so that you can agree and add to it. And through these agreements, you can improvise a scene or a one-act play. And because, by following each other's lead, neither of you are really in control. It's more of a mutual discovery than a solo adventure. What happens in a scene is often as much a surprise to you as it is to the audience.Well, you are about to start the greatest improvisation of all. With no script. No idea what's going to happen, often with people and places you have never seen before. And you are not in control. So say "yes." And if you're lucky, you'll find people who will say "yes" back.
Now will saying "yes" get you in trouble at times? Will saying "yes" lead you to doing some foolish things? Yes it will. But don't be afraid to be a fool. Remember, you cannot be both young and wise. Young people who pretend to be wise to the ways of the world are mostly just cynics. Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don't learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us. Cynics always say no. But saying "yes" begins things. Saying "yes" is how things grow. Saying "yes" leads to knowledge. "Yes" is for young people. So for as long as you have the strength to, say "yes."
And that's The Word.
I came across this group a couple of weeks ago, and they're doing interesting work with improv. They are the Applied Improv Network, and the're focused on applying improv skills in organizations. The key sentence from their mission statement is:
Our members are business professionals and academics who use improv tools, experience, and theory for human development and training in communities and organizations.
They've been around a few years and their blog has recent entries. They also have a conference coming up in San Francisco, scheduled for Novemeber.
Playimprov.com is an online magazine that's focused on the LA improv scene. It has class and performance calendars from a variety of groups, some of which are outside of the LA area. There are quite a few articles and short videos, a forum, and an Amazon based bookstore. All in all this is a fairly diverse and interesting site.
A fun class with three new people attending. I always like having beginners, because it forces us to go back to basics, and gives the more experienced folks the challenge of really supporting a fellow player who may be struggling. One of those improv basics - Save your fellow actor, don't worry about the piece. I planned on taking some pictures for the new website (still in process) and even brought my camera. After warning everyone that I'd be taking shots, I promptly forgot the whole thing and never even brought the camera out. Drat - next time.
My favorite line of the night came during a 5 letter word scene. The suggested word was CRUDE and at one point Allegra used the line Unctuous Bastard! For everyones edification, I got the following defintion from Dictionary.com
unc�tu�ous (
ngkch
-s) adj.
We learn so much from our fellow improvisors.
The New Improv Page website tries to keep current with improv groups, festivals, and workshops all over the world. Their games list is actually a set of links to other sites that maintain their own game lists. They've also got a pretty handy RSS feed to notify you of any additions or changes to their lists. Pretty cool reference site!
One of the more complete lists of improv games that I've found on the web is at http://www.humanpingpongball.com/. I use it as a resource for planning a class or a show. You can download a PDF of the games, but since they're still adding content, I browse and perform searches right on the site.
There is another performing group in the Santa Barbara area, out at UCSB: Improvability. They have two shows on Friday nights. The first show is at 8:00 pm, and the second show starts at 9:30 pm. I've not been to a show myself, but folks who have say that the show is great. Also, I've worked with one of the players (Tawnie) as a member of Caught in the Act and she's a wonderful improvisor, so go check out a show. I just revisited their website and they had a big 24 hour improvathon over the June 2-3 weekend, but the site hasn't been updated since then (other than some unfortunate spam on their forum). So, it's possible they are off for the summer since it's a student group.
The Ventura Area Theatresports group has been around for a long time and is run by a very talented group of folks. They are part of the Theatresports franchise (Keith Johnstone's group), and I highly recommend their performances and their workshops. The same folks also operate the Livery Theatre and so you can check in at http://www.liverytheatre.org/ for the latest info. Currently, their open workshops are on Saturday morning and Monday evening, and their shows are generally on Friday and Saturday evenings.
Wow! Three years, one month, and 20 days later - a new post!
Actually, the whole blog has gone through a revision. A lot has change in both blogging technology and blog culture over the last few years, so it's time to step up and see what can be made of this little stagnant pond.
The Santa Barbara Improv Workshop has been active all this time, and is still meeting on Wednesday nights at 7:30 pm. We're now at Jefferson Hall, and you can visit our website for more information. Yes, yes...the website is still stuck with 2003's look and feel (and it wasn't so nice then, either) and I'll be updating that, next.
Caught in the Act is still performing. The last show was Saturday, June 17th 2006, and although we haven't scheduled the next one, it should be within the next two months. More about that group in a later entry.
In fact, this is enough of an entry to test the new look and feel, so I'll sign off for now.
Okay, it's been some time since I've gotten back to this, but it's not for a lack of class activity! We've continued to meet each week, and the turnout has been great. The last couple of weeks, we've been averaging 9 players. The big news is that Caught in the Act has a show scheduled for Thursday, May 15th. We'll be at the Loise Lowry Davis Center starting at 8:00 pm. That's at 1232 De La Vina, at the corner of Victoria. $5 at the door. Should be fun, and it sounds like it will be a big crowd.
