games and lessons
Curse of the PHARAOHS A game of unpredictable death I’ve just been in Egypt and had the great fortune to be hosted by Improviser Ramsi Lehner whose father just happens to be Mark Lehner, one of the most revered Egyptologists in the world. As we moved around the Read more…
DOSE OF DESTRUCTION, PINCH OF POISON “Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.” Pablo Picasso When Improvisers protect every rule, idea and philosophy they’ve learned, they risk creating an unbreakable box that they cannot imagine their way out of. This is a great danger for fear-filled improvisers Read more…
TERRIFIC TORMENT Playful torment is the cornerstone of humorous interaction. I used to perform at children’s festivals where I would interact with families as one of the characters I had developed. One of my favourite characters was a loudmouth masked character with big lips and googly eyes. He was good-natured, Read more…
GHOST IMPROVISER Hints and suggestions can excite an audience’s imagination more than all the blatant words and images we forcefully create. Build the outline of a character and the audience will fill in the rest. (usually with the elements of their own lives). Here’s a “solo” exercise that mixes, impro, Read more…
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…
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…