Do you remember the day you found out about Santa? For me it’s the same as the day I found out that improv isn’t maths. I had a teacher who totally contradicted what another teacher said. I really didn’t know what to do with that for a while. I imagined there must be some grand unified theory, but really, it’s a case of finding out what works for you, without letting fear keep you in too safe a place.
There are a couple of reasons for these contradictions, apart from the fact that there are different styles of shows, different schools and different philosophies. As a student at any level, there’s only so much stuff you can work on at one time. If you were just told all the wisdom that experienced improvisers have right at the beginning, you’d go back to Zumba. Good teachers can sit there with 20 notes in their head and only give you two because you can work on that many. The other thing is that some of the guidelines we give new improvisers are just training wheels. You can’t ride the bike just yet, but it’s great for you to experience what it feels like without your dad holding the back of it the whole time or you falling off. Here are a couple of the lies we tell you when you’re starting out. Don’t ask questions. We tell you this because it gets you to a solid scene more quickly. Just coming on and asking ‘where are we?’, ‘what’s in that bag?’ or ‘who are you again?’ means that the other improviser has to do all the work. They have to decide where you are, what’s in the bag and who they are. Changing to statements makes you answer your own questions and we can find out what’s going on more quickly. We’re in a football stadium, there’s a mascot costume in the bag and ta da! you’re the guy that has to wear it. But do ask questions. Because people do in real life and one of the things we want on stage is a feeling of authenticity. The difference with more experienced improvisers is twofold. Firstly, questions aren’t being asked out of fear. Secondly, questions can be really valuable when they contain information; ‘Are you putting me in the mascot suit because I broke up with you?’ Yes, and. We tell you that everything must be met with a ‘yes, and’ because we want you to accept and build on what your scene partner is giving you. We give you exercises where we make ‘yes, and’ a bit of text that you have to use at the beginning of every line. ‘Put the mascot costume on’. ‘Yes, and.’ No, but. Later on, we start to get the subtleties of what is actually blocking and what makes for a better scene. We ask our scene partner to put on the mascot costume. A more experienced improviser remembers that they’re the ex-boyfriend and there was some subtext suggesting that they don’t want to wear it – it’s humiliating. So they say ‘no’, but they are saying yes to the dynamic that is happening in the scene. Also, they will definitely end up in that mascot costume at some point. It’s either now, in a really begrudging way (while verbally saying ‘no’) or later on in the show. You know that bit in sit-coms where someone refuses to do something and then they cut to them doing it? That. So, sorry about Santa, but now we get to dress as Santa and lie to our own children.
5 Comments
17/3/2015 16:50:05
Mick Napier:
Reply
Jason Bennett
27/10/2022 22:08:48
I really want to thank Dr Emu for saving my marriage. My wife really treated me badly and left home for almost 3 month this got me sick and confused. Then I told my friend about how my wife has changed towards me. Then she told me to contact Dr Emu that he will help me bring back my wife and change her back to a good woman. I never believed in all this but I gave it a try. Dr Emu casted a spell of return of love on her, and my wife came back home for forgiveness and today we are happy again. If you are going through any relationship stress or you want back your Ex or Divorce husband you can contact his whatsapp +2347012841542 or email emutemple@gmail.com
Reply
Manuel Franco
26/5/2023 11:12:27
I just want to say Thank You to everyone who supported me through the years. My name is Manuel Franco, New Berlin, Wisconsin. My story of how I won the Powerball lottery of $768.4M is a bit of a tale. I have been playing Powerball tickets for 6 years now since I turned 18. I bought my first ticket on my 18 birthday. I was feeling very lucky that day because I had contacted Dr. Odunga Michael to help me with the winning Powerball numbers. I really had that great great feeling that I looked at the camera wanting to wink at it. I only did a tiny part of it and trusted him. He gave me the numbers after I played a couple other tickets along with it for $10. I checked my ticket after the winnings came online and saw the numbers were correct including the Power play. I screamed for about 10 minutes because it felt like a dream. I had won $768.4M. You can check my winning testimony with the lottery officials just with my name search. Thank you Dr Odunga. Well, his email is odungaspelltemple@gmail.com and you can also call or Whats-app him at +2348167159012 so you guys can contact him
Reply
Stephanie Sally
30/8/2023 09:44:01
Hello everyone, I am from Wembley, Britain. I want to write this testimony to tell others and thank Dr. Odunga for what he has done for me. The first 12 years of my marriage I had 5 miscarriages and I was called all sorts of names by my mother-in-law and this made my marriage life very hectic and a burden of sorrow. I contacted Dr. Odunga for help and I will say that he is a very strong and honest man and he indeed helped me solve my problem. I saw his email in a testimony and I contacted him, little did I know it would be the end of all my problems. After 2 days of contact, I received a fertility herb and he told me to use it. The herb worked and my husband even loved me more and bought me expensive things. One afternoon, I went to a nearby hospital and came back home with the positive result of my pregnancy and after 9 months I gave birth to a baby boy. Ever since I contacted Dr. Odunga, my story has been different. I have 3 children at present and I am very happy in my marriage. Please, contact him at odungaspelltemple@gmail.com OR Whats App him +2348167159012 to help you too
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Buy the Book!Enjoy my blog? Fancy buying me a cuppa to celebrate?
There are many blogs! Search here for unlisted topics or contact me.
AuthorKaty Schutte is a London-based improviser who teaches improv classes and performs shows globally. Recent Posts |