CONSEQUENCES! The Game All that we do has consequences… except when we improvise poorly. In real life someone enters a room and there’s a shift in body positions as people check to see who has arrived. People normally adjust their attitude based on the relationship. On stage, we don’t do Read more
Tension Roulette The Game of tension In an exploration of games to teach tension and suspense, I thought back to movies that had great moments of tension. The movie that came to mind was one that I saw in an old artsy movie theatre in Montreal called THE DEER HUNTER. The Read more
HITCHCOCK SUSPENSE! . Alfred Hitchcock points out that if a bomb unexpectantly explodes after five minutes of boring conversation, we have a shocking SURPRISE after the boredom. If the characters know that a bomb exploded at a nearby cafe yesterday and there MIGHT be another bomb in the city, then Read more
Facebook-f Globe-americas Envelope That’s a WRAP! 1st Impro School In the spirit of Risk, Play, and Growth, Improvisation is not a destination. Improvisation is the process that continues as a lesson, action and curious exploration for a lifetime. Here are some of the lessons I observed as I taught this Read more
DON’T FAKE IT (’til you make it.) You must have heard this term before, “FAKE IT ‘TIL YOU MAKE IT!!” “FAKE IT ‘TILL YOU MAKE IT” is an encouragement to PRESENT A CONFIDENT FACADE and HIDE THE FEELING that you aren’t confident. “Bullshit when you can’t be credible”. “Be confident where Read more
PREDICT IT! PREDICTIVE RESPONSES There’s nothing magical about expertly knowing the outcome of actions on stage… but it sure looks like it from the audience point of view. Let me explain: Paul is chopping food in the Kitchen. Anna walks in and says what most improvisers say, “Oh, you are Read more
CAN’T TOUCH THIS! A Warmup Game The 2023 Impro school was playing a game that focussed on creating games. This game came about from a desire to develop a quick and physical and interactive warm up exercise. It’s simple. It made us laugh and woke us up on one of Read more
THOUGHTS, IDEAS, QUESTIONS, PROCESS, LESSONS, Student Post Paul – The Final Entry! PAUL ROBINSON – Week 9 “Another possible outcome for a dog’s unreleased energy results in the dog’s becoming fixated on or obsessed with something. It could be anything from a tennis ball to the cat, but it’s not Read more
THOUGHTS, IDEAS, QUESTIONS, PROCESS, LESSONS, Student Post Oshow – The Final Entry! OSHOW – Week 9 “(original Japanese below. Translation by ChatGPT) Final Week After finishing Maestro at Loose Moose yesterday, all my activities in Calgary have come to an end. In the final show, I didn’t become a Maestro Read more
THOUGHTS, IDEAS, QUESTIONS, PROCESS, LESSONS, Student Post Cindy – The final entry! Cindy Pittens – Week 9 Improvisation school week 9 The Final Entry! These two months in Calgary What a rideSo many metaphors come to mindA theme in one of the numerous lessonsI would have loved to learn more Read more