The recital was a fantastic, and I'm extremely proud of how everyone did on stage. I haven't pulled any pictures from the video, yet, but here are a couple of group shots taken after the show. Unfortunately not everyone is in the picture, but I'll name those who are, starting with the back row: Mike, Andy, Justine, Sol, Scott W, Kathy, David, and Justin. The next 'row' consists of Li-At and Melissa, and the next sort-of row is Allegra, Ben, Angela, and Marika, with Alan (me) kneeling in front. Missing are Lorien and Scott S.
I've included the following picture for several reasons. First, Lorien has joined us (she's in the deerstalker cap). Second is Andy's 'Kilroy' moment over Justine's shoulder, and the third reason is the fabulous expression on Marika's face.
We've gotten to the point where a class of 18 seems like a small class. In this picture, we've broken up into three groups to each tell a 
This is a 
Here, we've switched to the 
In this rotation of the scene, Allegra and Andy are now the the puppets, and Angela and David have joined in as the puppeteers. I believe this scene was taking place in a smoking shop. For some reason, it looks like David was modeling the movements for Andy.
A couple of rotations later, we now have Li-At as a puppet with Justine as her enthusiastic puppeter. Eric is the other puppet with Lorien as his puppeteer. The scene was taking place at a lingerie store, so that may explain why Lorien is having a hands-off moment. Justine, of course, has no such hesitation.
Still performing a Puppet scene, but now Justine and Lorien are the puppets with Mark and Ben as their puppeteers. This scene involved scrap-booking, and Justine seemed to be taking it all rather emotionally.
A few rotations later and we have Kelly, Justin, Sol, and Mark. Kelly and Sol are the puppets, and they are in a tool store. In these last few pictures, I've come to realize how often the puppeteers work from behind to manipulate the puppets. I'm sure it's to avoid getting in between the interactions, but I can see how awkward it looks. It's much more interesting to see the puppeteers manipulate from the sides of the puppets.
And now Justin and Mark are the puppets with Victoria and Mike as the puppeteers. I think this is a good example of how Mike working from Mark's side makes for a more interesting stage picture.
Okay, we've now switched to an Expert Panel scene with Angela, Allegra, Sol, and Ben as the panelists. Scott is the moderator. The panel is discussing Rainbows, with Ben as a collector, Sol a leprechaun, Allegra seeding clouds, and Angela some sort of a rainbow theft investigator. The interactions were very fun with Angela accusing Ben of stealing rainbows and Sol being rather inadequate as a guardian.
Another Expert Panel scene with Victoria, Mark, Justine, and Kelly as the experts. That's Lorien's foot, and she was the moderator. They were experts on swing sets, and there was a lot of discussion about the dangers of swings. Frankly, by the end swinging didn't sound like fun at all.
Ah, the Irish Drinking Song, with Victoria, Scott, Allegra, Lorien, Mark, and Ben. I don't remember the topic of this one, but I love the look on Victoria's face as she's belting out her part of the tune.
One more Irish Drinking Song, this time with Justin, Li-At, Allegra, Mark, and Mike. I've noticed how pictures from this game often seem to capture people in a pose where they look ready to belt each other. Here, Angela looks like she's going to take out the new guy, Mark. Li-At, of course, doesn't want to miss out on the violent confrontation. Justin is happy to not be the target of Angela's wrath, and Mike is oblivious. Or, did I just jab Li-At in the jugular?
It's that time again! The 
Even though there will be a lot of group pictures, I'm going to start (and end) with shots of just two players in a scene. Both shots make me smile. In this wonderful moment, Becky is sticking her tongue out at Sharon. It wasn't part of the scene (air traffic controllers having a few drinks on the job to avoid dealing with a plane wreck), just a moment between my two favorite improvisers.
We did several rounds of 
This group was celebrating Plastic Cup Day with Lorien, Mark, Aydin, Angela, and Becky. At this point, they were trying to convince Lorien that she was to be the virgin sacrifice to the giant cup god. She wasn't having any of it, and apparently there weren't any other virgins.
Okay, this was Onesy Day. Apparently, onesies are those one piece outfits that babies wear. Eric, Robyn, Scott, Sharon, and Mike are giving their all, and there was even a little song to celebrate.
Kibble Day (yeah, we were running low on suggestions) had Chrisana, Melissa, Sol, Scott, and Jess doing some celebrating around a large bowl of Kibble. There was a lot of eating of Kibble, and Melissa was the lone dog in the scene. There seemed to be a lot of leg nuzzling.
One of the Irish Drinking Songs of the night. Lorien, Allegra, Becky, Andy, Karla, Ben, and Mike are in this piece, with Andy having his big moment.
Another Irish Drinking Song, this time with Marika, Eric, Sol, Sharon, Aydin, and CK. I like that in this moment it looks like several blows were going to be thrown. Marika is clearly hauling off to belt Eric (hey, we've all been there), and CK appears to be getting out before he becomes the next target of Sharon's sadistic blows after Aydin. Sol is ready to back her up.
Oh yeah, Tristan and Kathy in a Park Bench scene. Think Rosie Perez when you look at Tristan (he was an inmate at a prison) and Kathy was, uhm..., paying conjugal visits to all of the prisoners (and at least one guard) in 15 minute increments. Or at least all of those interested in a woman for their conjugal visit.
Same scene, but Tony was playing a prisoner who missed his parole hearing, and Marika was playing a guard (yes, that guard). One of my favorite bits of dialog of the night was Marika's "how could you miss your hearing? You're a prisoner. You don't have anything to do".
This scene between Melissa and Ben takes place on a Park Bench outside of a candy store. Melissa is trying to finagle some (or all) of Ben's candy. As you can see from Ben's expression, he was a willing victim. She got all of his candy.
As promised, the last picture is of another nice moment between two players. In this Park Bench scene, Sol is playing a beggar trying to convince Eric to give him some money. Just a couple of guys sitting on a Park Bench.
I'm not certain what it means when a "small" class consists of 22 people, but because it seemed like a small class, we spent some time working on 2 and 3 player scenes. Before we get to those pictures, above is a shot of an Irish Drinking Song with David, Mark, Scott, Ben, Jim, Kathy, and Colin.Whatever the topic, you can be sure the lyrics were filled with sexual innuendos.
Teri, Eric, and Mark are in the middle of an 
In their ABC Scene, Lorien, Marika, and Jim are in a burger joint, supposedly preparing a huge backlog of orders. However, Jim was the only one working, since Marika and Lorien's characters were too busy dealing with their issues. I think this shot captures the characters' relationships pretty well.
Next, we went through a series of 
Another Pillars Scene with David, Scott, Ben, and Tristan. Scott and and Tristan are pillars in the US Senate, and David and Ben are performing as Senators. I liked that all their conflicts were going to be settled by votes on the Senate floor. Or maybe that was too realistic.
In this scene, Tristan and Scott are the players on the outside, and CK and Kathy are the pillars on the inside. This one took place in a Turkish bath, although I think we all lost sight of the location while paying attention to their Yiddish accents. The scene had something to do with getting a spritz to get off the shmuz.
Now, in this scene with CK, Colin, Kathy, and Angela, the two players (CK and Kathy) are blacksmiths. They were making a variety of swords, and the one I most remember was purple and fuzzy. Colin and Angela were providing words, and one of my favorites of the night was Angela's 
Li-At, Mark, Aydin, and Justin are in a recording studio for their round of Pillars. Mark and Justin are the pillars for Li-At, the singer, and Aydin, the producer/sound engineer. For some reason, I strongly remember that the scene ended with the two of them going for a burger. Maybe I'm hungry.
This is an Irish Drinking Song with Lorien, Justin, CK, Eric, and Marika. I included this shot because I like the way it captures everyone watching Marika's struggle to come up with a rhyme. And yes, that's my arm.
We played several rounds of Park Bench, and in this shot you see David and Mike discussing their plans to pick up another character, Samantha. As I recall, David was going to win her over with dancing (so he was looking for an instructor) and Mike was going to continue with his "try every line in the book" strategy. Each was a little creepy in his own way.
Li-At and Jim are in a Yoga studio, and Jim was playing a waaayyyy mellow yoga student. To make this a little clearer, Li-At was portraying a very relaxed, stereotypical Yoga student, but in contrast with Jim's character, she was harshing his mellow. I believe he only said about 5 words the whole time. It was all in the facial expressions and body language.
This took place in the same round of Park Bench, but several scenes later. At this point, Jim (playing the same Yoga character) entered the scene crying. Aydin was reaching to comfort him when Jim exclaimed that "everything is all so beautiful". At that point it was clear he was crying with joy - just about the beauty of life. I think that was my favorite moment of the night.
Doesn't that look like a typical workshop? I hadn't yet posted a group shot from the warm-up exercises, but this one is pretty typical. Pictured here are only two of the three groups telling one-word stories. The small circle in the background consists of (clockwise from left) Jim, Lorien, Sharon, Aydin, Justin, Justine, Carol, and Sol. The foreground circle has Scott, Allegra, Li-At, Tony, Ben (barely visible), Mike, Dustin, and Marika.
Andy, Scott, and Mike are fishermen in a game of 
Here, Ben, Allegra, and Mike are superheroes in a Remote Control scene. This is another game that focuses on the beats of a scene. The director controls the scene with a 'remote control', calling out the commands reverse, fast-forward, slow, pause, etc. The players need to keep track of the beats so that they can go back through them on command.
Kathy, Marika, and Jim are playing another scene of Remote Control. Since I was directing with the remote, I didn't keep notes on the scenes, and I don't remember the setup for this one. If someone does remember, please add a comment.
This is another Remote Control scene with Tristan, Li-At, and Scott. I also don't remember the setup for this one, for the same reason. For everyone who has wondered why I take so many notes during the workshop, this is the reason.
Mark (kneeling), Andre, and David are also in a Remote Control scene. Mark was playing a horse, so I believe this scene was about veterinarians (?). I do remember that Andre had to slap Mark on the butt a lot. It's those physical beats which are nice to replay over and over again. Some strong lines (like Scott's "fucking poissons") also make for easily identified beats.
Another Remote Control scene with Aydin, Andy, and Angela and I don't remember the setup. So, why did all the reasonable pictures have to come from that exercise. Luckily everyone was brilliant.
Carol, Justin, and Lorien are in this (of course) Remote Control scene. This was Carol's first time at our workshop although she's done some improv in the past. Lorien has returned for her second class, which is a good sign, and Justin is returning after his triumphant first performance in a 
Finally, a Remote Control scene where I remember the setup (because I'm in it). Justine, Alan (kneeling), and CJ are in a Remote Control scene about headhunters. At this moment, CJ is about to cut off my head in retribution for my cutting off his neighbor's head (nothing but high-concept comedy). Hey, this is the second shot of someone on their knees! Who's taking these pictures (or why do we feel the need to get on our knees in class)?
This is a basic Irish Drinking Song with Li-At being blocked by my arm, Kathy, Tristan, Ben, Allegra, Tony, and Sol singing their hearts out. Do I remember the topic? No. If you remember (or were in) any of these scenes, please leave comments!
There were some fine head shots taken just after the class ended. Andy had brought a set of wigs but they didn't get used during the class. On the left, Kathy and Andy in their best 60's rock album pose, and on the right, Mike is in his 80's, metal pose.
And pictured here, for the first time, the post workshop after-glow.
Another record breaking class with 27 people showing up to join in the barely organized chaos. Here, Andy is directing an emotional symphony with Lorien, Bob (not Jason), Kathy, David, Scott, Marika, and Allegra providing the sounds.
Kathy, Allegra, Dusting, and Tony are all performing a scene where the activity has nothing to do with the dialog. They are buying skis while discussing an upcoming wedding.
Here we have Angela, David, Marika, and Tristan practicing their ballet while their dialog was about vengeance.
This was a scene with Kenna, Li-at, Mark, and Sol who were making pizzas while discussing their impending bankruptcy.
This was probably the most popular scene of the night or at least for the ladies. Here, Andy, Scott, Justin, and Patrick were all working at Chippendale's, but they were discussing their kids. So, you were seeing an amazing amount of bumping and grinding while poles were being greased (!), and at the same time the conversation was between fathers who were discussing their concerns about their kids. Good lord, you could hear the sighs from the audience.
In this last picture, Lorien, Allegra, Alan, and Mike are welding while discussing charities. I don't know exactly what we were welding, but I do know there were a lot of pieces.
Second Nature Improv
Justin Testa from the Wednesday night class is one of the performers in a Stand Up Comedy Show of graduates from the Ojai Comedy Workshop. In case the scan of the poster isn't completely legible, here are the particulars:
Friday February 23rd and Saturday February 24, 2007
Valentines day at the Santa Barbara Improv Workshop - it just sounds magical, doesn't it? And as you can see from these first few photos, the romantic tension added a bit more energy to every scene and everyone's performance.
Or maybe it was the hats.
This group had Bread as their suggestion for Expert Panel, and Angela played a health inspector (that huge, gloved hand was a help when inspecting for cleanliness). Allegra was an accountant (bread!). Ben was a rodeo clown trying to find bread for his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Sol played a farmer advocating for stone ground bread, and Dustin was the Texas-cowboy moderator. I think Dustin was the most memorable of the moderators, doing a great job of being excited about everyone's answers. The explanation Ben gave about making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich had the audience rolling.
David, Kenna, Terri, and Sharon were Auction experts with Andy as their moderator. It may not be obvious in the picture, but Sharon has a hat over her knee, making it look like she was missing the lower part of her leg. She played the founder of the auction bidder's society I'd Give My Right Arm For That. Her rival was Terri, who usually auctioned off baked goods, but by the end of the piece we knew she had sold at least one child to Sharon's character. David bought Party goods and had the disposition to prove it, and Kenna was the money person at an auction house who typically slept through the bidding. Andy was, well, beautifully underspoken in his enthusiasm.
Now this was the group you wanted to party with on Valentine's Day. Snow was their field of expertise, and you are seeing Mark as the Abominable Snowman named Snorky Forky, Eric as Lockjaw the gold miner and Snorky's ride, Aydin played the Ukranian Anton Korostis, and Marika as Shelby McIntire, Policewoman and builder of the world's largest snowman. Not in the picture is Jim, who played an enlightened Yoga-Swami sort of moderator. I think my favorite moment from this group was when Snorky was asked how he felt about the term Yeti, and he said "Yeti is insulting and makes me sad".
This shot is from a Surprise Lines scene which used those little candy hearts with messages written on them for the lines. You can see Terri and Tristan are reading their hearts, and no, Tristan is not flipping off Ben. I found a huge bin of those candy hearts for $2 at Albertson's and they had a large number of messages - some of them odd as Valentine's messages ("Let's Read"). For some reason, Ben had a fascination with wearing wigs that evening.
This was another Surprise Lines scene using the candy hearts. A bank robery was taking place, but the lines from the hearts had Marika and Dustin's characters in the middle of a lover's quarrel. Allegra gamely kept her arms up as the bank teller/victim/other woman, giving them the space they needed to resolve their conflict during the robbery. Markia is sucking down one of those awful candy hearts.
After warm-ups we started in with a Stinky, Sexy, Silly scene, and here Terri, Toni, Dustin, and Nate were conducting the scene in a dentist's office. Guess how Nate felt about Dustin.
Scott, Sharon, Andy, and Tristan in another Stinky, Sexy, Silly scene, this time they were camping. This was a wonderful scene with everyone endowing each other beautifully.
Mike, Scott, Justine, and Li-At in their scene which had some great physical moments. At one point Li-At and Mike were fighting for Scott's attention by pulling his wheelchair in different ways.
Here, Kenna, Nate, Alan, and Neil are in their version of the exercise, and again I think you can tell Neil's attitude towards me and probably Kenna's attitude towards Nate. As I recall, we were in a resort.
This is a 5-Letter scene with Scott, Melissa, and Sol. They were working with the word CLONE and the setting was a painting class where Sol was the nude model. I don't know that you need much more than that - the scene lived up to what you're imagining.
We led off with a set of conducted stories, and by popular demand they were all in the competitive Story-Story-Die format (I was willing to go easy with a more forgiving structure, but the players were anxious for the challenge). I think Marika is the focus of my "director's point", but Neil Scott, Sol, and Ben were ready to pick up the story when directed.
We had a couple of new folks in this Story-Story-Die. Bob and Kenna were the two just learning the game, with Justin and Andy filling out the field at this point. I don't know who was "dead" in the background. Clearly, Andy knows my directing so well that he can do the piece with his eyes closed. One of the reasons that I like this shot is because Andy is usually taking the photos, so I don't get enough shots with him included.
This is a Counting-Words scene with Jim, Allegra, and Scott. The crowd went pretty easy on this group with Allegra having the most words at 4. I like this photo because everyone is at a different height. It was an interesting scene to watch.
Another counting words scene with Ian, Ben, and Mike. I like that Mike appears ready to burst out laughing.
Once again, I'm drawn to this picture because all the players are at different levels. This is yet another Counting Words scene with Eric (5 words), Scott (3 words), and Bob (1 word).
I'm using all these pictures from Counting-Words scenes because they came out so well. I've got lot's of pictures from other scenes, but these had the least amount of blur along with being interesting shots. Here, Robyn (3 words), Ana (2 words), and Kenna (4 words) are working on a scene which turned out to be quite physically expressive despite how new they are to improv.
Here, Bob, Tony, and I are in yet another Counting Words scene. I like this because it looks like I'm criticizing a new player, which makes me look tough.
Hmm, maybe Terri took the idea of criticizing the new players (here, Bob) a little too far (actually, I can't find any notes that would explain what this picture was about - maybe there are things I'm not aware of happening in the class).
Okay, I know a fight didn't actually break out between these two guys, but doesn't it just look natural. Okay, maybe not. Eric and Justin are a couple of sweet guys and that's what makes this an even funnier shot.