DRESS REHEARSAL – the game – I got into the car with my friend Lee. We were off to Impro class. Lee asked what we were going to do in the class: “Didn’t you get the script?” I joked. “I did but I’m a bit confused about page 23.” Of Read more…
HATS OFF TO YOU! The Hat game played for spontaneity I was on the evil Facebook a couple of weeks ago and read a comment about The”Hat Game” from Avish Parashar. He was asking about The Hat Game: “(the one where you try to grab a hat off your scene Read more…
NOTHING TO LOSE REHEARSING MORE EFFECTIVELY – AND JOYFULY You sit on the edge. You look down. What do you do? Your real-world brain screams, “STEP BACK!!!”. The Improviser brain pushes you headfirst into the abyss. On the way down you question what to do. You hear the audience scream. Read more…
TREAT THEM LIKE PUPPETS You would have to be from another planet not to recognize the direct comparison between teachers, and puppeteers who pull the strings to manipulate their puppets. Sure, the metaphor only goes so far. The human student hopefully brings more independence than the puppet but there are Read more…
PUPPETS AND IMPROVISATION Like Masks, Puppets have an other-world quality. Some of us love them while others are freaked out by their “creepiness”. Love them or hate them puppets bring technical skills, creative skills and even some deep metaphoric insights that will make us better improvisers. WHY PUPPETS? Why should Read more…
TALK TO THE HAND “Raise your hand and give that character a voice. The “two” of you are going to have a little fun.” I was directing an improvised show many years ago and there was only one person who hadn’t been on stage. I called her up and saw Read more…
TREAT THEM LIKE CATS THE UNTEACHABLE STUDENTAs a teacher, I’ve always been interested in the “UNTEACHABLE” student. In schools where the staff say a child is impossible, or a boss in a corporate workshop says the employee is difficult, I want to meet those students. Cats are considered by many Read more…
KEITH’S COMIC PANELS A practice with endings Keith Johnstone has a great little exercise for practising the art of ending scenes. He would hand out stacks of “comic panels” in workshops. Each panel contained 3 or 4 drawings, creating tiny completed stories from Charles Schultz’s, Peanuts or Berkeley Breathed’s, Bloom Read more…
END AGAIN An Exercise to Practice Possibilities Ending your story CAN be easy. The first thing you have to do is stop trying to make it great. Pressure to make a great ending will stop you from seeing obvious endings. It will make you hesitant so that even if you Read more…
Treat them like GORILLAS! One exceptional difference between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom is how much we hide and mask of ourselves compared to these other earthlings. By 9 months, we have already learned to ‘present’ our emotions in a way to manipulate others. By Adulthood, we’ve Read more…