Hey Fred Schneider, Why Are We Doing This?
- Thread starter John_Frusciante
- Start date
I sorta feel like I get to know your sense of humor a better when I watch you do these warm ups either as a coach or a participant. They are good for bonding.
There is pressure to say something funny, but you feel that pressure many times in actual improv. Perhaps this is a good warm up to get over that.
Do what's right for your group
I could tell you exactly how each member of bombardo would do a shay shay coolay. And I am a better person for having let it into my life. (I also used to hate it)
Edited to say: What Eliza said!
There is pressure to say something funny, but you feel that pressure many times in actual improv. Perhaps this is a good warm up to get over that.
Do what's right for your group
I could tell you exactly how each member of bombardo would do a shay shay coolay. And I am a better person for having let it into my life. (I also used to hate it)
Edited to say: What Eliza said!
This makes me curious: did Creep originate Shay Shay Coolay?
I did first learn it from a Creep member, but the next several times I did it were in a Magnet class taught by a Chicago transplant. No clue whether or not she was in any shows with anyone from Creep, but I just assumed the warmup had been around for a while.
I did first learn it from a Creep member, but the next several times I did it were in a Magnet class taught by a Chicago transplant. No clue whether or not she was in any shows with anyone from Creep, but I just assumed the warmup had been around for a while.
I agree with the above messages about the importance of sometimes doing a warm-up that is just fun and silly. If a group already tends to veer towards fun and silly already then maybe this isn't the best warm-up for them, but if you've got one of those groups that think so hard they get headaches and look like they want to kill themselves after getting notes than it's not a bad way of reminding them up top that this should be an enjoyable and playful experience and its okay to let go and be ridiculous.
Different warm-ups work for different improvisers/groups, so part of it is a matter of taste. What works for one group will feel weird for another group. I think it's okay to be silly and let loose in warm-ups, as long as whatever you're doing gets you and your group prepared to do a show.
With that said, I dislike both Fred Schneider and Shay Shay Coolay -- not because I don't see any value in doing them, but because I find both warm-ups really irritating. But I also don't like Crazy Eights, so whaddoo I know?
- Achilles
With that said, I dislike both Fred Schneider and Shay Shay Coolay -- not because I don't see any value in doing them, but because I find both warm-ups really irritating. But I also don't like Crazy Eights, so whaddoo I know?
- Achilles
Maybe in the improv circle, the song itself is kind of old. It's a South African children's song. We randomly did this for a warm up while I was taking a class on the Evente, I was trying to figure out where I heard this before and my mom reminded me that it was one of the warm ups they'd do in the drumming circle she briefly took me to when I was little, and it was a game she gets the kids she works with to play (she's a children's librarian/story teller and really big on all things African and Celtic).
Also a few threads ago some one posted this video:
[youtube]WWClksHTzLY[/youtube]
Does anyone play, or know of, the game, "Going on a Lion Hunt"? It was something my college theater troupe would breakout every night before we got into full costume and make up. It's another one of those silly insane games, which would slightly put me off when we were doing a seriously depressing play but I still took part as it was more a tradition then a warm up. Kind of like saying "Got your back" and patting all your team members on the back in improv (which I'm kind of iffy on personally).
Also a few threads ago some one posted this video:
[youtube]WWClksHTzLY[/youtube]
Does anyone play, or know of, the game, "Going on a Lion Hunt"? It was something my college theater troupe would breakout every night before we got into full costume and make up. It's another one of those silly insane games, which would slightly put me off when we were doing a seriously depressing play but I still took part as it was more a tradition then a warm up. Kind of like saying "Got your back" and patting all your team members on the back in improv (which I'm kind of iffy on personally).
Achilles-- I, too, hate crazy eights. It always feels less like an energy booster and more like an arbitrary chore. (I did kinda like one coach's variation: hand, hand, foot, foot, then the entire body).
Mike-- I think I feel the same way. But what I also like about Shay Shay Coolay is that it's IMPOSSIBLE to do in a wrong or weird way, short of half-assing it. There's no thought whatsoever, no trying to be funny-- just pure retardation that forces you to be silly and playful AND commit to that silliness and playfulness.
I love Shay Shay Coolay.
Mike-- I think I feel the same way. But what I also like about Shay Shay Coolay is that it's IMPOSSIBLE to do in a wrong or weird way, short of half-assing it. There's no thought whatsoever, no trying to be funny-- just pure retardation that forces you to be silly and playful AND commit to that silliness and playfulness.
I love Shay Shay Coolay.
Fat Penguin has been doing "Hey Fred Schneider" with everybody shouting the question and George-style clapping throughout. I think it is a great way to get energy up, not just physically but mentally too.
I love it when my teammates say something funny, and I'm proud when I say something that makes them laugh. But if it becomes a contest over who can say the funniest thing, that's revealing a problem, not creating one. If you're thinking that the goal is to one-up your teammates, you clearly do not realize that they are geniuses.
There is definitely a lot of ground that "Hey Fred Schneider" does not cover, but I think it has a place as part of a well balanced warm-up breakfast.
I love it when my teammates say something funny, and I'm proud when I say something that makes them laugh. But if it becomes a contest over who can say the funniest thing, that's revealing a problem, not creating one. If you're thinking that the goal is to one-up your teammates, you clearly do not realize that they are geniuses.
There is definitely a lot of ground that "Hey Fred Schneider" does not cover, but I think it has a place as part of a well balanced warm-up breakfast.
Agreed. Crazy Eights and Hot Spot are blah. I also dislike "Three Things," (where people get three characteristics and have to embody them, and then others can challenge that person and do a different interpretation) sorry current coach. I feel it may be fun for people already good at characters but it only puts me in my head, and then when people challenge, although it's all in good fun, it puts me further in my head. It just reminds me that, "Oh, right, I'm awful - wish there was a warm up that would encourage taking this slow so I could improve. Oh well, back to quietly weeping."