Doing Real scenes

[Holmes]

T: It looks dry out there today.
J: I know, and we only have one coffee bean plant, its not gonna last us.
T: The drought has been too long.
J: We should do that rain dance one more time to see if it works.

To me, this looks like an example of focusing too much on the situation and details and plot, the "what."

That can be really interesting and clever and smart and fun, but it's demanding. I see that as trying to improvise a written sketch (something that is about the final result).
In improv, a lot of the fun is the process, going along with the ride.

You can try focusing on the who and the why.
I care more about the characters than what they'll do or where they are.
Give yourself a secret challenge (or try it as an exercise) to have everything you do and say be about yourself or your partner or emotions or internal things like that, rather than the plot or activity or location (you know you're good at those).

 

[Lord Hatsumi]

I think you have to remember that your response to their offer is going to give the move definition.

How do you typically respond to a move that is unexpected and, seemingly, coming from left field?

I think your scenario isn’t that wacky.

T: It looks dry out there today.
J: I know, and we only have one coffee bean plant, its not gonna last us.
T: The drought has been too long.
J: We should do that rain dance one more time to see if it works.

Who are these people? If these are two native Americans scared about the existence of their tribe, this makes perfect sense. If these are two business men having a rando conversation during break then this doesn’t work. Take an Anthony King class if you get a chance. He is big on the WHY of a scene.

Why these people are having this rain dance is often times going to give you an emotional stance and reason to be doing what you are doing. I’d LOVE to see two people doing a rain dance as long as I understand why they are doing it. What has brought them to this point? What have they tried before? Obviously they tried to rain dance at some point and it failed, but why?

I think if your initial response is “That’s crazy” or you do the rain dance and the scene evolves into this crazy physical scene that contains nothing but more insane ways to try to bring the rain, then you aren’t really doing the scene justice.

If you do the rain dance and it fails, what does that mean? Does it mean that the tribe will die out? Would that character break down and cry because he is now a failure to the eyes of his people? I think anything can work as long as a choice is made as to why you are doing it.

J: We should do that rain dance one more time to see if it works.
T: And if that fails we can try these tachyon bursts straight at the clouds.
J: I’m allergic to tachyon bursts and it makes me gassy.
T: Maybe if you stopped farting we would have rain.

That to me wacky town.

 

[stevehorak]

One of my favorite conversational exercises (and I believe Gethard showed me this, so thanks, Geth!) is this: you and a scene partner sit opposite each other, eat a meal with each other, and talk (as yourselves) for 10 minutes. No characters, no invention, no lies, no beats. Just dinner conversation. The end.

Agreed. I've done a couple of variations on this, one with Delaney called "Park Bench of Truth," where you and your scene partner get a suggestion and have a real conversation as yourselves as if you were sitting on a bench in a park.

Another variation involves the same type of conversation, just in different locations. This allows you a sense of environment, in addition to the connection you are establishing with your partner.

I found both of these exercises to be extremely helpful for calming that tendency to go to "Crazy Town," which I think stems from wanting to play for laughs in scenes rather than truthfully exploring ideas. These exercises force you to be truthful, and in the end I found the laughs to be much more rewarding than any (if any) I ever got from doing crazy scenes. I discovered that dialogue in my scenework could be as easy as having one of these real conversations, and that I could listen and react in the same way, even while playing a character. What's more, the sharing that goes on builds trust between you and your class/teammates.

 

[benjamincanfly]

T: It looks dry out there today.
J: I know, and we only have one coffee bean plant, its not gonna last us.
T: The drought has been too long.
J: We should do that rain dance one more time to see if it works.

Your actual line was, "Hey. You used to salsa dance." Which, really, was hilarious.

Don't stray too far from crazytown, big Tony - your summer house there is a great asset.