Off-Book Productions

[Off-Book]

So this is the first Off-Book journal entry here on http://www.improvresourcecenter.com but its really a continuation/transition from http://www.livejournal.com/~off_book

-so for an introduction, go there. for more like that, stay tuned here.

Sincerely,
Off-Book Productions

 

[Off-Book]

Open Practice Group

Off-Book Productions is pleased to announce...

The Off-Book Open Practice Group [NYC]
in association with:
The Creative Acting Company
122 W. 26th Street, Suite 1102

Open Practice Group
Sundays 6:00 - 8:00
Intermediate to advanced skill level
Rotating "moderator" -- Bring your own exercises
price: FREE
Must RSVP per session to:
openpracticegroup@off-book.com

 

[Off-Book]

Improv does this.

"We need a type of theatre which not only releases the feelings, insights and impulses possible within the particular historical field of human relations in which the action takes place, but employs and encourages those thoughts and feelings which help transform the field itself."
~ Bertolt Brecht ~

 

[Off-Book]

Call for Editors

Off-Book Productions is calling for editors.
"Improvisational Stage Manual for Unscripted Theater"
set for a formal publish... sometime in the near future.

*************************************

The "Improvisational Stage Manual for Unscripted Theater" (ISM) outlines a process of production and methods of classification for a new "Unscripted Theater."

This manual will help bring the process of true improvisational theater to the mainstages across the world and help "set the stage" for improv to acheive the production level of a traditional American musical.

We are writing here, now, to look for others interested in helping develop/edit this potentially revolutionary method.

Off-Book Productions is currently looking for editors of the 'beta version' of the "Improvisational Stage Manual for Unscripted Theater" which will then be developed into the 'first edition' for public release.

We are looking for expert feedback and will offer compen$ation if/when we are successful.

What we are looking for specifically is those very experienced with teaching/directing AND coaching improv, working backstage on a particularly production-heavy improvisational show or those skilled in the literary arts (grammar edititing) to assist in the crafting and release of this manual.

Email me at chris@off-book.com if you are interested in finding out more about this project and mention that you read this in the Off-Book journal.

thanks!

chris wright
chris@off-book.com
off-book productions
new york city

 

[Off-Book]

group mind

"One of the things about the way the band works live is that we always improvise the sets, we never use a set list so it's never scripted. So like at any moment, everyone in the band has to be ready to go into any one of the 70 or 80 songs that we've written over the years.

"It's really important that you almost enter kinda like a group mind or something so that you're able to pick up on cues from each other which could be like, a body motion or a move on a guitar or just eye contact... and from that you have to know where to go, what parts to extend, how to segway into the next song, what the next song's gonna be.

"On nights where it doesn't work, it can really be a disaster but on nights where it's really clicking, it's almost like we're reading each other's minds and it just flows."

-Ian Mackaye
"Fugazi"
from the documentary "Instrument"
by Jem Cohen

 

[Off-Book]

Update and Sneakpeak

Update:
The open practice group is temporarily on hold until we figure out a better way for it to function. It was much too difficult to hustle improvisers every week and nobody was responding to the invitations.
a re-evaluation has been called to order... stay tuned.

Sneakpeak
Here is a little special sneak peak at the unreleased beta version of the
"Improvisational Stage Manual for Unscripted Theater"

Further explanation, definition of terms and the overall context are included in the "Improvisational Stage Manual for Unscripted Theater" First Edition to be released next year.

------------------------------------------------------------

DEGREES of IMPROVISATION for UNSCRIPTED THEATER
0- Organic Development, No Form or Theme
1- Organic Development, Adherence to Form or Theme
2- Derived from both Text and Improvisation, No Form or Theme
3- Derived from both Text and Improvisation, Adherence to Form or Theme
4- Text Derived, Audience Association
5- Text Derived, No Audience Association

While the above degrees are designed in classification/reference for Unscripted Theater, they also may be used for most traditionally produced improvisational or text based performances.
------------------------------------------------------------
"Unscripted Theater" and "Degrees of Improvisation" are ©Off-Book Productions

Direct all inquiries to unscriptedtheater@off-book.com
or see two entries up.

Thanks,
Off-Book Productions

 

[Off-Book]

"There are no limitations to the mind except those we acknowledge."

I believe in something I call "The Gravity of Choice".
It rests on definition of goals and faith in their acomplishment.
You throw something "out there" and it'll eventually come back down.

-

Off-Book Productions stands for a positive influence on theater, education, and society...
Our public debut as an official company starts with "Unscripted Theater" and the release of "The Improvisational Stage Manual, 1st Edition"

A Full-Scale production of Unscripted Theater will take a lot of moola.
Space, set, lights, music, costumes... the whole 9 yards = $$$

The ideas for production are solid, the manual is coming together... and the talented people are there- with the neccesary combinations of improv and other arts (I've seen ya!), so this will happen.

Imagine improv on a proscenium stage with an improvisational backstage crew and the possibility for anything to happen, visually and in the narrative. It's possible and it's off-book.

However, we won't see it actualize until we accumulate start-up funds (or someone wealthy rips off our idea) (WATCH IT SUCKA!). There are currently plans in the works that will bring this and other goal(s) close, within the year.

In the meantime, this journal will reflect ideas and sketchings in the direction of Off-Book Productions and our goals. Stay tuned.

Improvisation is amazing; it can teach us all better ways to perform, teach and interact. It deserves more respect and utilization than it presently receives...
...if we all start thinking [off-book] together, think of the gravity...

If you're interested in becoming part of the team, drop Off-Book a PM or an email.

-chris.wright-

 

[Off-Book]

Manifesting Truth

"I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the heart's affections and the truth of imagination - what the imagination seizes as beauty must be truth - whether it existed before or not."
-John Keats,
letter to Benjamin Bailey
22 November 1817

 

[Off-Book]

Open Meeting This week.

Open Meeting THIS March 3rd at 7:00 pm in Chelsea, NYC.
Email for exact location.

We're now entering open/public "brainstorm" mode with Unscripted Theater.
This is an open door for those who have been following this journal.
I urge you to express interest now if you even have the slightest inclination to be involved, even if in generating ideas...

To be discussed:
Existing methods of production outlined in the Improvisational Stage Manual, backstage positions and duties, and the future of improvisational/unscripted theater.

Why we want you:
Because this is aimed at a true marriage of improv and theater, a diverse sense of both is needed. A structure has already been established and specific positions assigned (Artistic Director, Director, and Technical Director) and we need your brainstorm to smooth out the kinks.

The goal:
To stage a production of Unscripted Theater in a proscenium type stage by Summer 2004.

Email Chris Wright at beyondthebreath@yahoo.com to RSVP

 

[Off-Book]

group mind power - science?

"There is convincing evidence* that every thought vibration released by any brain is picked up by the ether and kept in motion in circuitous wave lengths corresponding in length to the intensity of the energy used in its release, that these vibrations remain in motion forever, and that they are one of the two sources from which thoughts which "pop" into one's mind emanate- the other source being direct and immediate contact through the ether with the brain releasing the thought vibration."
- Naploean Hill

* E=MC2.... thought comes from, goes to, and is... energy.

Be open to the group mind.
even while off-stage.

 

[Off-Book]

idea of the day

"We have no other notion of cause and effect, but that of certain objects, which have been always conjoined together... We cannot penetrate into the reason of the conjunction."

- David Hume, Treatise of Human Nature, 1978


If you have the capacity to do so, imagine an acausal universe... everything not happening as a direct result of a preceeding event... but emerging from individual wells of creativity.

How does this philosophy affect the strength of our choices in a long form?

 

[Off-Book]

book from nyc

with this thread: http://www.improvresourcecenter.com/mb/showthread.php?t=24677 , "Improvise" just published, and the recent onslaught/resurgence of other new improv books... it's got me thinking that perhaps rather than publishing a book on a whole new method and attempting to redefine a whole new thing....

i should put together a book with a current improv philosophy and then add a new spin... a classification of improv and expanding these horizons through using this "unscripted" method within the context of what already exists...

it's difficult putting together this book when few people know me as an improviser. I'm bubbling over with improv-related philosophy and no one to give feedback or guidance. i don't want to disturb or upset the current status quo but i do want to legitmize it and make it big in the public eye...

 

[Off-Book]

Intern and Stagehands Needed

9/8/04

HELP!
I'm working on the scenic design of Juvie Hall's "Saturday Night Rewritten".

here is the weblink of the show:
http://www.juviehall.com/snr.htm

I will be transforming this show to bare bones to full set, costumes, props.
Duties will/could be collecting and organizing props and set pieces, helping to construct periaktoi set pieces (rotating back walls), storing and organizing costumes and assisting with set changes during the writing, pre-set, and performance.

I need an assistant and a few stagehands.
The assistant will get intern credit from Juvie Hall.

Contact me ASAP if interested.
Chris Wright
646-823-3086

This is an excellent opportunity to work on a sketch show with a brilliant concept and outstanding cast.

 

[Off-Book]

"The point is that you don't remember your life as a consistent narrative, but rather as sequences and moments - and you have to make sense of these fragments of living. Returning to a picture - 'to read a line of a poem twice' - is to recollect it."
By Mikael Van Reis
On "Robert Frank's Life Stories"
(photograher)

 

[Off-Book]

e. village artwork

 

[Off-Book]

"The point is that you don't remember your life as a consistent narrative, but rather as sequences and moments - and you have to make sense of these fragments of living. Returning to a picture - "to read a line of a poem twice" - is to recollect it."
On "Robert Frank's Life Stories" (photographer)
By Mikael Van Reis

 

[Off-Book]

Off-Book Journal moving back to www.livejournal.com

The Off-Book Productions Web Journal is returning to www.livejournal.com/~off_book on a more regular basis.

Why?
1.) One because of the convienent downloadable program that livejournal provides which makes it easier/faster to update entries.
2.) Two because of the more independant platform it offers a startup nobody with big ideas (me).

I love you IRC... don't take it personally.
I'll update this journal also, just not as frequently.

so for *more* off-book insights, follow me here and bookmark...

:love:

 

[Off-Book]

www.off-book.com is now open!
featuring the on/off stage projects, a live chat room, message board, t-shirts, and more!

 

[Off-Book]

so everything about this off-book project is like talking into a void. I blame myself, you and all of your irc improv friends.

For all these years, no one has ever contacted me regarding anything, does anyone have faith that this can proceed, does no one read these ideas and is it all just passive for you? can we ever get beyond these improv basement styles?

so i push on.

The response that is given to my ideas in IRC posts towards improv classification and this whole expansion of the art is met with disagreement.
Am i too ambitious?

i truly believe that improv is an ART and it's usage has been not fully realized and not used to it's potential. Instead taken advantage of as a funnyfunnyhaha, miming and jokey jokey.

but i'll push on.

So whatever, here's some interesting stuff from the Kaos Pilots:

--------------

25 Recommendations from The KaosPilots

Embrace chaos!
Chaos is the traditional organisations’ word for the form of order that they don't understand – yet.

Be lustful!
Your lust leads your will.
Without lust, nothing happens.

Search blindly!
If you always know what you’re looking for, you’ll never be surprised.

Sit less!
You can’t leap from a sitting position. When you move your body, you also move your thoughts.

Wipe out habits!
If you do what you always do, you’ll just get more of what you already have.
As Einstein said, "We can’t solve a problem with the same thoughts as those with which the problem was made."

Give the best away!
Share with everyone and they’ll come back for more.
And they’re sure to bring you something too.

Drop plans!
Plan less – allow for free space
Only where there isn’t anything can something new occur.

Be good to others!
In others’ eyes you always belong to "the others".

Beware those who are perfect!
They are extremely careful and afraid of mistakes.
Change does not happen without the courage to make mistakes.
Many inventions are the result of mistakes.

Be greedy!
The world is boundless,
Its variations infinite,
And human resources inexhaustible.

Be playful!
Be as playful as a child and as disciplined as a soldier.

Be disciplined!
If you want to change something you have to insist and be persevering.
New ideas are like children: It’s easy to make them, and after that they have to be raised with love and allowed to develop over many years.

Ask anyone!
After asking the professor, ask the kid on the street.
Ask those you don’t expect understand you.
All answers are descriptions of the world and contain a truth.

Flip graphs!
Graphs show in what direction the world is going.
If the good is going down and the bad up, the graphs should be flipped
Graphs are statistics. Who makes up statistics?
We do! The graphs describe us!
Therefore it is us who determine them.

Look up from your computer!
It’s indispensable, but it’s not creative.

Exploit each other!
Together we make up all that the world can do.
Whatever is left unused is waste.
Who wants to go to waste?

Ask questions!
Swing your sword! Questions are a weapon.
Sharp questions are sharp weapons.
A piercing question can cut through cracks and knock down a warrior in thick armour.
Questions also have an inherent energy that seeks answers.

Ask stupid questions!
Children can – but we lose the ability if we’re not careful.

Drop your weaknesses!
Your strengths are all that can cause change in the world.
Weaknesses should be avoided.
Find someone who is good at it. In the business world it’s called outsourcing.
Do what you’re best at doing!

Take more risks!
If you never take a risk, you get left behind.

Beware of political correctness!
There’s a difference between acting correctly and not daring to act at all.
"Danish residents of other ethnic origin" – Does anyone really want to be called that?

Defer critique!
Then you allow something interesting to happen before closing the door..

Don’t be sure you can figure it out!
You know where you start a process but not where you’ll end it. Otherwise there would be no purpose in starting it.

Slow down!
Then your brain will have time to think and your heart to feel.
As the Buddhists say, "We are very busy so we have to proceed slowly."

Think in fairytales!
Believe in happy endings.