POPCORN Ages ago I was looking at impro resource sites on the web and found a warm-up exercise called POPCORN. It seemed pointless at first but quickly proved to be a useful tool in the right situations. GAME: POPCORN ORIGIN: Unknown BENEFITS: Dealing with Failure Partnership Reaction Awareness # PEOPLE: Read more
DON’T DO YOUR BEST Working with Keith Johnstone has been a great honour in my professional life. I remember arriving at the Loose Moose Theatre late in my teens… or was it early in my twenties? In any case, I didn’t know who Keith was. In fact, my first improvisation Read more
EYELID THEATRE DAY TO DAY IMPROVISATION is a collection of exercise anyone can do almost anywhere to practice their improvisation skills every day. Here’s a practice technique for seeing stories without aggressively forcing them. Improvisers who work too hard to create strong Narrative work rarely do. They push so hard 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
ESTABLISH & DESTROY VALUES!!! A quick way to make the audience care. Rowan Atkinson’s, mostly silent, obsessive character, Mr Bean is engaging to watch regardless of the language you speak. We know exactly what he wants and he’s obsessive about getting it. The simple nature of Mr. Bean can teach 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
The Forgotten Gems of CHAPTER 6! One of the most referenced books in Improvisation is IMPRO FOR STORYTELLERS by Keith Johnstone. MOST people you talk with say, “I’ve never read the thing all the way through.” Keith intended it to be that way. He’s said that it was made to Read more
EVERYTHING IN ONE MOMENT “The Dragon flew with fierce intent towards the castle on Mount Lyre” You read that line and you’re pretty certain of what kind of story you are getting into. You have a fairly clear image in your head. You see the clouds in the sky. You Read more