#dave razowsky

Set aside all unnecessary elements of improv training and replace them with a life-changing awareness of “you being on stage with you.” It's "You," an amazing opportunity to discover you in this all-day masterclass...with a performance!

The most important person on stage is YOU. YOU get to notice what happens, YOU get to be aware of what’s inspiring you, YOU get to follow what energizes you, and YOU get to celebrate the surprises that YOU create.

Focus on personal awareness and presentness, of the excitement of knowing what to do the moment the moment arrives! YOU are in charge, and this workshop will be a study of–and a practice of–you connecting to you. YOU are the boss of YOU.

Then you get to work it out in performance! A “guided performance,” side-coached by Dave.

The “YOU” “takeaways” will include: –Owning calm self-awareness at the beginning of your scenes immediately leading you to strong points-of-view. –Letting go, moving on. The beat feels like it’s over…now what? You will always know what’s the “now” about your scene.

This will all lead up to you being a strong, confident, courageous actor, producing scenes that will most surprise…you.

Building on this post about creative adjacency is another of Dave's scene building ideas. It's another way of thinking about platform and where it can take you. I think I started to get there with yesterday's hypothetical scene.

You start by confirming the facts of the scene. Who are you? Where are you? What's in the space? What's the distance between you and the other person in the scene? How close are you emotionally? What are you wearing? What are you holding? What has happened? 

And when you know all of that... what is the TRUTH about this scene? What does all of that information mean? 

Are you washing the dishes and your partner is at the table and you're not talking and finally they hold up the tickets that were in the pocket of your jacket and say 'I was really looking forward to this play. You knew that, and we've missed it. I don't think you respect the things I love, and I don't think you care that you've done this. And it's happened too many times. I'm leaving you.'

Boom. It's a breakup scene.

This is a phrase I learned in Dave Razowsky's workshop, and it is a delightful way of looking at the way you build the world of your scene. It's basically another way of saying 'If this is true, what else is true?'.

When you name/create something in the space, there will be something obvious that comes with it. Say you've started a scene washing dishes (I'm doing this a lot lately?). That means you're probably in a kitchen. Is it a small sink? It's probably a kitchen at home. If it's a kitchen at home, there's probably a kitchen table. And a fridge with magnets and notes on it. And maybe a home telephone nearby. Is the spot where you keep your mail nearby? Is there a bowl of fruit on the table? Is your jacket slung over the back of one of the kitchen chairs? Are there tickets to the play you and your partner are going to tonight in the pockets of that jacket? Where are you and your partner in the scene - if you're washing dishes, are they drying? Are they sitting at the table? Are they pacing impatiently because you're late for the play?