#improv student

Last night was the final level-2 class ("Scenes").

I did a couple throw away scenes that I don't feel like thinking about.

The last exercise was intended to force us to try things we aren't used to.

My requirements were as follows: 1. My character has an accent (or a voice other than my own). 2. My character is not surprised by anything that happens in the scene. 3. My character is very confident.

These were all really good suggestions for me.

I always play myself in scenes. I often say "I don't know how to play anyone except me". And, that seemed completely reasonable to me. So, my characters were always rooted as much in reality as possible. I don't think that's a bad thing... but, now I think it is definitely holding me back. I'm realizing that you can be rooted in reality WHILE playing someone else.

As far as being surprised... I often stumble HARD in scenes when I (the performer) am surprised by what my partner gives to me. And then I pass that right to my character who just stands there awkwardly trying to figure out what the fuck is going on. A while back, in a house team rehearsal, the coach put me through a "gauntlet". For me, the gauntlet consisted of teammates constantly unseating me in a scene (just throwing random crap at me constantly). And, it was my job to respond as quickly as possible... with no surprise. I had to play like my character was totally expecting all of this crazy shit. I handled that much better than I expected. But, for some reason, I don't bring that into scenes unless someone specifically tell me to. I'll start working on that.

I suppose that I don't generally play confident characters because I (the performer) am not a particularly confident person. Makes sense.

So...... I chose a character to play. And, I played the shit out of it.

I still can't believe how easy it was and how well the scene worked. I've never looked back on a scene without wanting to change a hundred things. But, I can honestly say that I was completely happy with it. It feels really good to be able to say that.

I wonder if (for me) playing characters is always going to be easier than playing myself.

I was sick. I was also feeling really shitty about improv (see previous post).

But... I stayed the course and I'm feeling more reasonable now.

I had a class, a practice, and a workshop since then.

The workshop was really fun. It was actually 2 mini workshops.

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The first part was taught by Greg Gillotti, who is considered by many to be among the best improvisers in Pittsburgh. The exercise that we did goes as follows:

Two person scene

Person A is given an emotion that they feel toward the other person

Person B is given nothing and just stands silently

Person A basically assualts Person B with the given emotion (while maintaining eye contact).

So, most people started at a low level... and, continued until they were at a "10". Greg would continually prompt to be more and more emotional and to push it further and further. He would also prompt any time the person lost eye contact or physically backed up. Much screaming occurred. Many faces turned very red. Much spittle flew into many faces. Generally, the two people would hug after the scene because it always got so intense. It was super delightful to watch and to do.

I think there were a couple of people who struggled to sorta lose control of themselves. Like, they just weren't comfortable throwing caution to the wind and just going berserk. But, that's not surprising.

I was given "admiration" as an emotion. I actually started out at a pretty high level and had no problem pushing it to a 10. It was really easy for me because my old shrink would make me do similar exercises. Ultimately, I screamed at Beth that she was way better than God and should take his place. It was fun.

I'm usually pretty low-energy when I perform in scenes. I hope that I can bring some of this exercise in class and on stage.

The thing that I really liked about this half of the workshop is how enthusiastic and supportive Greg is as a teacher. It reminded me of the workshop that I took with Mike Spara (see this post). Not that the substance was the same... but, both Mike and Greg created a fantastic environment. I hope that I get a chance to take one of Greg's classes in the future.

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The second part was taught by Brian Gray, who also coaches the house team that I'm on.

This was a more technical workshop that focused on the first minute or two of a scene.

Level 2: Scenes class 6 of 8 - 2014-11-20 

This was easily my favorite level 2 class.  It was three hours of delightful goodness. 

The biggest takeaway from the night came from my scene with Jackie (the last one I talk about in this post).  What I realized is that it’s totally OK to just throw caution to the wind, stop obsessing about the rules, and just be ridiculous. 

Also, add “Be on a team with Jackie” to my bucket list. Warning: this is literally a recap of what I did in class.  It’s probably not interesting. 

Exercise 1: 2 person scenes.  Each person was instructed (in private) to play either “high status” or “low status”.

Setup 1: Doctor (me, low status) & Nurse performing surgery - w/ Stacey Not much to say about this other than I wish I would have paid more attention to some strong moves that Stacey made (I guess I was wrapped up in me).  Stacey is really good (maybe too good).  I get a little uncomfortable when I play with classmates that I think are “better than me”.  Clearly, that’s stupid and I should knock it off.

Setup 2: Golfer (me, high status) & caddy - w/ Rose Rose kinda carried this scene.  Not in a bad way… but, I don’t feel like I contributed nearly as much as she did.  But, I don’t think it hurt the scene.  I just played a nice, caring “high status” golfer who wanted to go on a date with his caddy.  No big whoop.

Exercise 2: 2 person scenes.  After the initiation, the responder decides if the characters will agree or disagree

Setup 1: Shopping for wedding cakes – w/ Kaylee I expected this to go fairly well because I always feel comfortable performing with Kaylee.  We seem to have a decent chemistry on stage.  Kaylee is really good at making sure the scenes are “about” the characters’ relationships.  And, I think I’m also good at that.  So, that’s nice.  It was good.

Exercise 3: 2 person scenes.  Give your partner as many gifts as humanly possible.

Setup 1: 2 people in line for The Jackrabbit (rollercoaster) - w/ Matt Given that we were the first people to attempt this exercise, I think we did really well.  I found that it felt pretty natural.  I didn’t have a hard time coming up with gifts to give.  So, that’s nice.

I am lucky enough to have seen an improviser whose performances really spoke to me. While watching him for a couple years, I figured this all out.

- I want to heavily use silence and body language.  - I want to be verbal only when it’s necessary.  - I want my words to be impactful as opposed to just filler. - I want to place emphasis on being honest first and funny second. - I’d rather be in an honest scene with one big laugh than an absurd scene that’s a laugh-a-second.

I’m in no way trying to pass judgment on people strive for different things. But, this is what I want for me.