The BOTOX Game A couple of weeks ago in Stuttgart, Germany, I was teaching a class with IMPRO STUTTGART with Kati, Steph, Kerstin,and Steve. With smaller ensembles, I like to have the group develop specific exercises based on individual needs of company members. It’s a reminder of being kids again when we’d Read more…
TIPS AND TRICKS The Back Door THE SECRET BACK DOOR! WARNING!!!! ACTHUNG!!!! ADVARSEL!!!!! CAUTION!!!!! ATENCIÓN Easy Tips and simple Tricks can be dangerous for improvisers… They are no replacement for good technique and risk taking. Use these little tricks ONLY WHEN THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY, MIND-BENDINGLY NECESSARY. Seriously. Go on, get Read more…
BRILLIANT IDEAS ARE OBVIOUS… …or is that the other way around? The Hidden Magic of LATENT Ideas Latent ideas are described in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary as “…a power or quality that has not yet come forth but may emerge and develop.” Neither Miriam nor Webster tells us WHY this “power” or Read more…
When will Improvisation get you fired? Some people HATE improvisation. If that person happens to be your boss, then your impulsive attitude towards spontaneous expression could get you kicked to the curb. There are some surprising examples where impro has been the reason for dismissal. Damon Wayans, Adrian Brody, Milton Read more…
MAKE ME BAD! VILLAIN ENDOWMENT Some of us love to be the villain in a scene. For a brief vengeful moment, we reign down lightening bolts on a world that takes our parking spot or eats the last french fry on the plate!!!! At least for dramatic purposes, that spiteful Read more…
MEMORABLE MOMENTS (round 2) DON’T LOOK UP! Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence and Jonah Hill It wasn’t in the script. It wasn’t planned. These are the moments the Director says “CUT!!! – Where did that come from??!! Let’s keep that!” It’s getting more and more common for directors to Read more…
MEMORABLE MOMENTS (round 3) LET THEM ALL TALK – Meryl Streep, Diane Weist, Candace Bergen, Steven Soderbergh Directed by Steven Soderberg, LET THEM ALL TALK was shot in 10 days while crossing the Atlantic on the Queen Mary 2 surrounded by 2600 passengers and virtually no film equipment. It was Read more…
MEMORABLE MOMENTS Improvisation by great actors that made the cutGEORGE C. SCOTT It takes balls to trick a great actor into improvising and then to use that performance without the actor’s approval. But, that’s what the equally great director Stanley Kubrick did to George C. Scott. The great actor cared Read more…
I DON’T DO THAT!!!! Tina Fey admits, “I can’t do music!” She can. Sort of. She just doesn’t want to. And that’s OK! Talking to Seth Meyers, Fey described improvising with ‘Freestyle Love Supreme’, the Broadway Improvised RAP show. (Haven’t seen them? Check them out on You Tube: ) Fey said 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…