Basement, The Boards, Tuesday Night - Improv Workshop

[ihaveavideoblog.livejournal.com]

All around town, Lizzie Bennet had oh-so-handwavily posted signs.

IMPROV WORKSHOP
Tuesday Night
Basement Stage, The Boards
All Experience Levels Welcome!

And now, to hope people saw the signs, were interested, and showed up.

That night, standing in the basement and watching as complete strangers filed in, Lizzie was nervous. She figured it would be okay to show it. Most of the soon-to-be-participants were probably nervous, too. Right?

Finally, she cleared her throat and stood up in front of the assembled crowd.

"Hi, my name is Lizzie Bennet," she began. "I'm ... new here, so I don't know any of you, but I'm going to be helping Jono run the theater. Today, we're doing a quick work shop on improvisational theater, also known as Improv.

"As some of you may know, the idea behind improv is that all the material is invented on the spot, by the players themselves. Sometimes you get suggestions from audience members for input -- like you can ask for occupations or a setting, or for a random sentence to serve as an opening line. Most improv theater is comedy-based. Improv teaches you to think on your feet, and to be a respectful scene partner.

"There are all kinds of basic rules to making Improv work, but a lot of it boils down to the principle of 'yes, and.' Never deny your partner's reality. If your scene partner walks on stage, takes a seat, and says, 'Get me a beer,' that's your starting point. Saying 'no' -- something like, 'Are you crazy? This is a hospital' -- destroys the scene. Saying 'yes' -- 'Sure, what kind of beer?' -- doesn't go anywhere. Say 'yes, and.' Of course, doesn't have to be the same thing as agreeing. Announce that it's five minutes past closing. Or say that you got rid of all the beer last week because you're on a health kick. Your character can disagree. But never break the structure of what is presumed to be going on.

"I could keep going on about technical details, but it might be more fun for us to get our feet wet. So we're going to play a game called 'Fortune Cookies.' All of you get to draw a fortune cookie -- and yes, you can eat the cookie. Just not when you're on stage. Read the fortune and then pair off. Start acting out a scene based on what you've just read.

"For example, we have Guy A and Girl B, doing a scene together. Guy A breaks open his fortune and sees:

A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest." - Irish Proverb

"So Guy A begins pining for dear, departed mother, who passed just this morning. Or who passed eight years ago, but he wails like this every day nonetheless. His partner, Girl B, can decide to be a put-upon spouse. Or a sibling who feels unappreciated. Or Mummy Dearest herself, in ghost form.

"Meanwhile, Girl B opens her fortune cookie and sees:

A clean conscience is a soft pillow.

"Using that for inspiration, she starts confessing. Make it something interesting. It could just be that you didn't make the bed this morning, but why not confess to killing off Dear Departed Mum? Or, if you're Mum, now's a good time to tell Guy A who his real father is."

She held out a bowl that had many, many cookies inside. "Here," she offered. "Draw a fortune cookie and pair off. If you get a fortune and you're having trouble thinking up a good scene inspiration from it, let me know and I'll help you brainstorm. If you get stuck mid-scene, feel free to draw another fortune cookie and use it to help you keep going."

(So! Lizzie's running an improv workshop. Possibly a series of them. This is open to EVERYONE, ADULTS AND STUDENTS ALIKE. Show up, hang out, have fun. OCD incoming!)

Comments

Before the Workshop: Mingle and Hang Out

[ihaveavideoblog.livejournal.com]

Schmooze with the people in seats near you.

Re: Before the Workshop: Mingle and Hang Out

[furnaceface]

Really, Jonothon wasn't much for schmoozing, but this was technically his theatre, and this was the first night of improv... it would have been in bad form for him to miss it.

He was sitting near the back, mug of coffee in hand, watching the proceedings with a vaguely interested look on his face. Here not even a week, and Lizzie seemed to have settled in quite nicely.

Re: Before the Workshop: Mingle and Hang Out

[monkeymonkeydie.livejournal.com]

Improv theater! Not only would this be a great way to get name recognition and facetime in front of Hollywood types, but it ALSO would be a riot watching the rest of these poor schlubs completely fail at acting!

Bucky bounced in his seat, wondering what parts there were to try out for. And he'd brought his video camera.

Listen to Lizzie Explain Improv

[ihaveavideoblog.livejournal.com]

Ask questions, nod along, stare at the newcomer. Whatever floats your boat.

Re: Listen to Lizzie Explain Improv

[monkeymonkeydie.livejournal.com]

Bucky raised a concerned paw. "Wait, so you're gonna let these yahoos write their own lines? That's a little sketchy, if you ask me!"

Re: Listen to Lizzie Explain Improv

[ihaveavideoblog.livejournal.com]

O ... kay. Lizzie had shot lightning out of her fingers. She did not have room to judge, here. And so she was going to do her level best not to stare.

"So ... you're a cat," she managed.

Dammit.

"Wait, are you a cat, like, just a cat, or are you some kind of shapeshifter playing a joke?"

Because really, this shape was not helping her brain right now.

Re: Listen to Lizzie Explain Improv

[monkeymonkeydie.livejournal.com]

Bucky facepawed. "Yes, in the REAL, ACTUAL world, where I'm from, cats are not braindead drooling morons! I am SICK of you monkeys acting surprised!!! You all suck! All of you! Suck sucky suck suck suck!!!"

Re: Listen to Lizzie Explain Improv

[ihaveavideoblog.livejournal.com]

"Eloquently said," Lizzie noted dryly, but she was begrudgingly giving a sigh. "You're right, that was ... probably ... unfair of me. My world doesn't have cats that can talk, that I know of, so I shouldn't have made insulting assumptions."

Lizzie didn't know Bucky well enough yet to know that apologizing wouldn't help.

Re: Listen to Lizzie Explain Improv

[monkeymonkeydie.livejournal.com]

"That's RIGHT, you SHOULDN'T!" Bucky insisted. "You can make it up to me with three pounds of raw fish. I'm waiting."

Re: Listen to Lizzie Explain Improv

[ihaveavideoblog.livejournal.com]

Lizzie reached into her pockets and fished out three quarters.

"I have seventy-five cents," she said. "Take it or leave it."

Re: Listen to Lizzie Explain Improv

[monkeymonkeydie.livejournal.com]

Bucky grabbed eagerly for the coins. "SOLD!"

Then he crouched over the quarters all Gollum-like and eyed Lizzie warily. He'd already forgotten what they had been fighting about.

ACTIVITY: Pair Up and Get a Fortune Cookie

[ihaveavideoblog.livejournal.com]

Draw a fortune cookie (http://www.kcfortunecookiefactory.com/fortunes) from the bowl Lizzie's holding, and find a partner. Play out a scene using your fortune and your partner's fortune for inspiration.

(That link goes to a website that has about 30 pages of fortunes; pick one you think is helpful and gives you an idea of somewhere to go, characterization-wise!)

Re: ACTIVITY: Pair Up and Get a Fortune Cookie

[not_mandonna]

"Sweet, I kill at improv," Max declared in... well, if you were generous enough to call it a whisper, it certainly wasn't a very hushed one. "I was on The Real World Sacramento, guys." He pointed himself and gave a serious nod. "You want this on your team."

That... wasn't entirely relevant, but in Max-world, it seemed like a selling point. So.

Re: ACTIVITY: Pair Up and Get a Fortune Cookie

[furnaceface]

Lucky Max! He got to have the large blue man as a partner tonight. Mostly because it was the first night of improv, and it would have been terrible form for Jono to sit this one out.

... And also because it looked like fun, though Jonothon would never admit it.

"I suppose we'll see about that," he mused, raising an eyebrow at the other man. "Have you grabbed a cookie yet, mate?"

Re: ACTIVITY: Pair Up and Get a Fortune Cookie

[not_mandonna]

"Just a sec," Max said, and plucked one from the bowl.

A lean compromise is better than a fat lawsuit.

Stuffing the fortune in his pocket, he went into character. "So I'm gonna go ahead and sue Burger King, you want in?"

...What, it was a perfectly valid interpretation of that proverb.

Re: ACTIVITY: Pair Up and Get a Fortune Cookie

[furnaceface]

Why the hell not, right? Jonothon's own cookie, Blessed are the risk takers for they shall bring us tomorrow, seemed to go hand-in-hand with that one well enough. He raked a hand through his hair, and then stuck both of his hands into his coat pockets and slouched forward with a smirk on his face.

"Was the coffee too hot again? I swear, wasn't even just the other day I ordered a bloody coffee, and wouldn't you know, I got it all over me? Burns everywhere and I mean everywhere." He waved a dismissive hand. "Wouldn't've happened if I wasn't speeding, that's what they keep telling me, but I tell you, mate, that cup was rigged."

Yes. Rigged to spill.

Jono was just going with it, okay?

Re: ACTIVITY: Pair Up and Get a Fortune Cookie

[not_mandonna]

"Ugh, tell me about it," Max huffed, waving a hand theatrically. "I got these fries the other day and they didn't give me barbecue sauce, man. Zero barbecue sauce! Apparently you have to pump it from a dispenser now. And I explained about my thing where I don't like using pumps because people can pee in there, and what do you know, they didn't care. Bunch of assholes, man."

Re: ACTIVITY: Pair Up and Get a Fortune Cookie

[furnaceface]

"The worst," Jonothon replied, giving a knowing nod. "What we really ought t'do, mate, is prove it, you know? Like, grab the sauce pump and take it with us into th'loo you follow?"

There wasn't much that was blessed about this, really. But it definitely involved taking a risk, didn't it?

Re: ACTIVITY: Pair Up and Get a Fortune Cookie

[monkeymonkeydie.livejournal.com]

Bucky grabbed three cookies for himself (in case the first one sucked), and stood around waiting for a partner. "Who's ready to get Buckinated?!" he challenged.

Re: ACTIVITY: Pair Up and Get a Fortune Cookie

[ihaveavideoblog.livejournal.com]

Lizzie ... didn't see anyone else volunteering. For what she was sure were obvious reasons. But she was hosting the workshop, so ...

Dammit.

"I'm going to regret this," she said, approaching Bucky hesitantly. "Can I maybe not get 'Buckinated'?"

Re: ACTIVITY: Pair Up and Get a Fortune Cookie

[monkeymonkeydie.livejournal.com]

"You can TRY," Bucky answered haughtily.

He cracked open his first fortune cookie. The sun is always shining somewhere.

After some thought, Bucky threw back his head and reached to the heavens. "The sun!!!" he exclaimed. "Is always shiny something!!!"

Oh, yeah, he was great at this.

Re: ACTIVITY: Pair Up and Get a Fortune Cookie

[ihaveavideoblog.livejournal.com]

Lizzie was going to try very, very hard not to just bury her face in her hands and scream. Or laugh.

"O ... kay, that was ............. good," she said, charitably, "but kind of not what we're going for? That's .... not your script. I think maybe I didn't explain it right."

Some very dry part of her was impressed that the cat could read.

Not because he was a cat. But because he seemed a little ... on the dim side.

Re: ACTIVITY: Pair Up and Get a Fortune Cookie

[monkeymonkeydie.livejournal.com]

"You just can't handle real acting," Bucky grumbled. Still, he cracked open the next cookie to see if maybe the idiot lady would like his interpretation of THAT one.

Keep your face always toward the sunshine and the shadows will fall behind you.

"Aw, man, these things are RIGGED!!!" Bucky complained. "Sun this, sun that, sun all over the place!" He pointed behind Lizzie. "Hey, look, it's the sun! OOOOOOOoooooh!!! The stupid fortune cookie doesn't even realize it's NIGHTTIME!!!"

Afterwards: Talk to Lizzie

[ihaveavideoblog.livejournal.com]

Give feedback, ask about the activity, steal more fortune cookies. Ask what she's doing in the theater. (She lives here now!)

OOC

[ihaveavideoblog.livejournal.com]

apocalipped and I had the idea to start doing fun things with the theater space, and were going to orchestrate this jointly, but sadly, Jono's mun is bogged down in work stuff. So I asked if it was okay for me to start this up solo. Hosting an improv workshop was totally a joint idea, zomg, and all snaps to her.