Listening for Position and Scene Type (Part I)
As I have said before, most scenes that go bad go bad in the first ten seconds. In my previous post I explained the importance of listening to the person who starts the scene. Now, what are you listening for? For me, I am listening for scene type (see my blog about the four types of improv scenes), and my position in the scene.
PLAYER 1:Â (Obviously cooking over a stove)Â Breakfast is almost ready, dear.
What I hear/see is that we are in a kitchen and my partner is preparing me breakfast. Our genders will be determined by our actually sexes or by how player one chooses to play their characterâs gender. In this instance lets assume Player 1 is a woman. I now know that I am in a kitchen and my wife is preparing me breakfast. I would only choose to play another woman if Player 1 indicated that I was one. I also choose husband because of âdear.â This scene appears to be normal so I can assume I am in a Realistic Scene. The scene type or dynamic may shift, but for now, my first response, I will try and present a normal husband as I perceive he would exist in reality. I would likely respond with something like:
ME: (Pouring myself a cup of coffee) Smells good.
Brilliant! I am a comic fucking genius! No need to add more at this point. I have accepted the reality of Player 1âs initiation and know my position, husband, and my scene type, Realistic. But I didnât add anything. Arenât you always supposed to add something? You know, yes, and? Yes, and is not about adding, itâs about agreement. I have agreed with my partnerâs initiation and my position in it. What I am giving Player 1, my and, in this instance, is space, time to get to what they were thinking of when they started the scene. I always assume the player who clearly starts a scene has at least a basic idea for the direction of the scene. If they donât, very common, that will become abundantly clear in a few more seconds. In which case, I can then do whatever occurs to me to do to best further the scene. It has also been my experience that if you treat a player like they have an idea, they will get to one.
Recapping: If a player starts a scene in a way that feels normal, with no indication that you or they or the situation is anything other than normal, then you are in a Realistic Scene. The player starting the scene may clearly indicate who you are suppose to be. Yes, and is not about adding, itâs about agreement.
Now take this scene start:
PLAYER 1: (Said through no defined character, more as themselves, but angry) Youâre such an asshole, Blane. I canât believe you slept with my girlfriend.
There are a few lessons in this one. Nine times out of ten if I start a scene with a student by saying, âYou are such an asshole.â Delivered realistically. The student will become defensive and likely respond with some variation of, âNo Iâm not, you are. What the fuck?â That seems to be our natural reaction to being called an asshole. But you arenât being attacked, the person you are supposed to play is being attacked. And the attack is the gift. You are being told to play an asshole. So just play one! Itâs fun!
This initiation also has what I call a loaded name, Blane. Jeeves is a butler, Cleetus is a hillbilly, Poindexter is a nerd, etcâŚYou get my point. Blane isnât as obvious as the aforementioned, but, for me, Blane is or was the quarterback of the high school football team and is a dick about it, probably refers to himself in the third person etcâŚthat guy.
Back to what I hear. What I hear in this initiation is that I am an asshole, named Blane, who slept with someone I knowâs girlfriend. I am perceivably flawed or wrong, Player 1 delivered his line realistically, therefore Player 1 is the Straight and I am the Absurd. The scene type is, of course, the Straight/Absurd scene. Player 1 is angry so I will choose to be happy. Ninety percent of the time the Absurd position is better served by being in a positive emotional state. The Straight almost always winds up in a negative emotional place because they are calling attention to behavior that they believe to be wrong and is upsetting them. I would likely respond with something like this:
ME: (Smugly, as a Blane and delivered out towards the audience rather than to Player 1) Blane had a good time.
Brilliant! I am pretending to be an asshole named Blane who slept with someone he knowâs girlfriend and is happy about it. Iâm a fucking genius! Why? Because I did exactly what Player 1 told me to do based on the rules mentioned above. Did I think about all of this before I did it? No. The rules, and there are lots of them, become part of your reaction once they are learned.
The reasons why I chose to deliver my response towards the audience rather than Player 1 are these: One, itâs a great way to clearly present your character/Absurd to the audience. Two, the more we stare at the other player on stage the less we play our character and the more we think, both bad. Three, my job/focus as the Absurd is to play them, be them, heighten their flaw and reveal them to be even worse than they were at the start. All of which feeds the Straight. And four, to help avoid the argument.
The job/focus of the Straight is very different. Where I think of turning away from the Straight when I realize I am the Absurd, I think of turning toward the other player when I realize I am the Straight. Because my job/focus is not to miss anything. Every little behavior, any misspeak, any further presentation of flaw I want to call attention to, attack and take apart. When I am the Straight I will have to react and deal with almost every line. When I am the Absurd I listen opportunistically, choosing only lines that are useful to me to react to. The primary way to avoid the argument in a Straight/Absurd scene is for the Absurd person to never engage it. The Straight is basically always presenting one half of an argument. So, as the Absurd, if you hear something that you find difficult to deal with or that makes you want to argue, ignore it and keep your focus on furthering your absurdity. Argument avoided.
Back to what I heard, or in this case, what I didnât hear in this opening line. What I didnât hear was who exactly we were to each other or where we were. Since I did hear my position and scene type, these immediately become tools for heightening. The simple question is what would make this situation worse? Or, who shouldnât we be and where shouldnât we be? What pops into my mind is I am the guy who has been dating this kids mother and we are at the church where I am about to marry her. Any answer to the question, what makes this all worse is probably a good idea.
Recapping: The attack is the gift, be it. Names can be loaded. The player who is perceivably flawed or wrong is the Absurd. The Absurd is most often best served by being in a positive emotional state because the Straight is almost always in a negative emotional state. The Absurd should not focus on the Straight beyond what is useful to them. The Straight should overly focus on the Absurd to make sure nothing slips by. The Absurd should try to never engage the argument of the Straight. Undefined scene aspects, who we are, where we are, can be tools for heightening.
This covers the basics for listening for position in the first two scene types. Thatâs a lot of rules! Like all rules they are not absolute, but, just like our beloved yes, and, they are pretty fucking good rules. All rules in improv are breakable and if you are going to break them you should have a good reason to do so. You should probably also know them first.
Next week I will cover listening for position in the Character Driven and Alternate Reality scenes.
Please feel free to ask questions.
