|
This week I had a different coach. Herb went into the back room with the more experienced improvisers. Andrew was our coach tonight.
First thing Andrew said was to forget the rules. Forget not to ask questions. Forget "yes, and." Forget everything. Let yourself make mistakes and see where it takes you. Interesting...
The evening consisted of a few games. There were 16 of us, which lent itself well to 2 groups of 8 to make 2 teams of 4. I am not going to describe the particular games this week as it doesn't seem as relevant as what I got out of them. We did end on 185 though, which I got to play. This game is my favorite. I love making puns and making people groan. As it happened, I did a couple of groaners during the games which seemed weird, but I went with them anyway.
I tend to ask a lot of questions. I also have a difficult time with where to go in a scene. There is some initial momentum, but then I become lost.
Andrew did an excellent job. He would stop us when we were not being effective and give us a gentle prod in the right direction. Sometimes I needed more than 1 prod, but eventually it worked. What came out after the 3-4 prods was awesome. It was like playing the game New Choice.
I felt a little lost after the class today. It was hard work. I felt a little beaten down as I asked so many questions. Then, after talking to some people and a hefty dose of introspection, I believe I have made significant progress.
I realized that I was having a conversation. A regular conversation. In regular conversations you have everyday, you ask questions. Lots of questions. It is like an interview. This is great when you are involved in the conversation, but generally boring as hell if you are an outsider paying to watch!
Instead of having a conversation, you are having a relationship. You are displaying conflict between yourself and the other players. You need to create intrigue. Instead of questions, you need to make statements. It seems that starting them with "You..." is a good practice. Instead of saying "Why are you so mean to me?", it would be better to say "You ALWAYS pick on me. Even back in school you did that." You create a relationship. The audience wants to know more. Now there is intrigue.
One technique Andrew mentioned to gain intrigue is to say "I have to admit something." Even if you don't know what you are going to admit. Make it up on the spur of the moment! I like that. I am sure there are variations. You could admit something for the other person for example.
The other realization I came to was around the audience suggestions. I would use them throughout the scene. I would cling onto them for dear life. I now see that you just use them as a springboard. It clicked for me when the suggestion was "Table Tennis." Andrew told the people on stage that it would be ok to play table tennis, but not to talk about it.
I need to let go of the suggestion and go with the scene, creating a relationship. Listening to what the other person said and really honing in on the interesting parts.
This is cool. I really like this learning process. I am having a ton of fun!
|
