Play! Play! Play!

[Gnome]

Corrections, Clarifications, and Updates.

Things change. But previous journal postings remain. That is why I thought it would be a good idea to post updates from time to time. I was planning every 20 posts (the last post on each page) - but forgot about it on the last one. This ended up much longer than I had anticipated - future updates shouldn't be so long. I'll also try to put them at the bottom of a page rather than the top.

And we go!

Play! Play! Play!

I was happy with my first post. "Play! Play! Play!" and "It is all about the process" are two reoccuring concepts within the journal thus far.

I wanted to mention my first name - but not my last mainly because I don't want this page to be as easily googled. I don't want to be anonymous, but I also don't want to be too easily found.

This is it. This is mystical shit.

This post is the reason I decided to start making post titles closer related to what the post was actually about.

I also don't know how I feel about the use of "[quotes]" to denote side notes. They kind of toss up some variety but they can appear ugly.

I don't like talking about things distinctly not related to improv in this journal.

I've got legs

Okay - correction THIS is the post where I decided to start making post titles more relevant.

My workshop was a disaster. I planned for 15-50. I think 6 tired and hung-over people showed up. I also only had like 45 minutes because things were running late and I was doing things very similar to what the IB folks were doing - only they did it better.

I did two phone interviews and an on-sight interview but didn't get the position.

Apple Fritter lazy hiro hito burrito passport jeans PLAY!

I still do the spouting of random words from time to time but not as often as this post would suggest.

I also felt extremely pretentious rereading this post. Of course people do 24+ hour improv workshops and stupid fun things that have nothing to do with improv. Quit thinking you're so special, Craig! Eh.

Ego in Improv

I feel that I'm turning from a team player into a lone wolf. At this point it is only a theory. I don't think that I like the change.

I start Level II at ImprovBoston next week (skipped Level I). At the end of each session you get a detailed discussion on strengths and weaknesses and what you need to work on and such. I've been told that that alone is worth the cost of the class.

silence is golden

I learned that Ben has performed in a show with no voice. That's cool.

NYC for the weekend?

I didn't go that weekend. I'm definitely going down to watch the Del Close Marathon. I've gotten to know some more NYC improvisors through the yesand boards and CIF so I could probably secure free lodging.

This is also my first reference to my favorite autobiographical haiku, which I'll quote here in case I change my .sig.

little ball of clay
endless possibilities
content with roundness

I love that. I think that it defines the current version of me very well. I wrote it in '99.

Minor Slump / Ben / Practice Group

Ben has definitely grown into my best friend up here. He and I are most likely going our separate ways in a matter of months - but we're enjoying our time right now and will undoubtedly stay in touch. I've learned that Ben reads this journal regularly. He also posts on IRC and yesand but is less public - though recently he's been putting his anonymity in danger!

I still do YAP / IB Jams most Sundays.

subtle humor

I exaggerated. I rarely break into a belly laugh. I'm too repressed for that. But I chuckle to myself frequently. I also have a very distinct laugh that I think is rather feminine :/.

The slow build up / payoff

I said that I judge improv shows roughly and then I called Pants hilarious. They're fun - and enjoy them - but I want to reserve the word "hilarious" for times that it can be used more fittingly. I hope I'm not an asshole for that?

Though I do love the intro / closure, "Did someone say . . . PANTS!?"

Phoenix / Artistic satisfaction / digesting theory

I was kinda worried making this post. I didn't want it to come off as badmouthing anyone - but I also wanted to address the concept of artistic satisfaction.

I don't want to hide my identity or make anonymous attacks. These are only my thoughts. I will continue to make them as honestly and open mindedly as I can and hopefully it won't come around and bite me in the ass.

Overall - I'm not happy with this post. I felt it covered a period that was very important to me in my artistic growth and I didn't do a very good job describing it.

I didn't go to Phoenix Improv Festival but heard that it went fairly well.

Improv doesn't owe you shit

I haven't spoken with my Jester'Z friend since. I wonder what's up? I came off as pretty pretentious in this post. I also need to take some of my own advice.

My baldness in improv

I'm still balding. Also, my teeth are not crooked - but they haven't seen a dentist in over 2 years - I have one clearly visible cavity (and god knows how many unseen ones) and I've been missing about 1/6th of a molar for almost the last 10 months. If it starts hurting I'll have no choice but to take my uninsured ass to a dentist. This jagged tooth is also a deterrent to dating / kissing.

I love improvising barefoot. I find it freeing. But I do it very infrequently. They really are nasty feet. They were voted worse than my friend's feet that got mangled by a 4-wheeler. I don't think Villalobos knows me well enough to deal with that.

Don't blame the audience

Yet another post where I go pretentious.

I was glad that I fit in Robert Lowe's 4 Fundamentals of Improv. I understand that he's not well known - but he truly is an improv badass. He goes a bit hippy at times, but he's very empowering. I guess I'll mention here that he has a book out called Improvisation, Inc.: Harnessing Spontaneity to Engage People and Groups. It is more geared towards corporate types.

A return to shortform

I, again, went pretentious (it pains me to write this so often in this update). I don't know that I have a "pretty big friggin' comfort zone" - I'm just comfortable doing a few select things that many people don't find comfortable. I am also lacking in places where they are comfortable.

Happy Birthday! / experimental vs commercially successful improv

WHAT THE HELL! Why did I make a giant 24? I think I just want people to know me better and somehow posting a large 24 (signifying 24 years) will make me seem like more of a person? I have no idea. I went through a period in college where everyone saw me as a funny jester with no real personality inside.

This entire post was based off of discussions with local people and personally watching less than 15 shows at IA / IB. Yes - I think that qualifies me as an expert .

Jander / Aggressive Improv

I've met a local improvisor that reminds me of Jander. I've seen him perform twice and he does Janderish things and even looks kinda like him. Interesting.

I felt bad about suggesting the aggressive improv contest with my friend. He reads this journal and I could tell he was responding to this throwdown for the next week or two and I just wasn't in the mood to deal with it. Sorry Ben.

I love gibberish!

Okay - this is an exaggeration. What you say is usually important. But gibberish is a damn powerful training tool. AND IT IS FUN!

CIF7 / Lazy . . . for now

None of my friends from Phoenix or Atlanta came. I also got to see at least one of all of the show genres that I wanted to: Organic, Harold, Multi-media, Solo, and Duo. Twas an awesome time.

Negative effects of Playing?

I worded this post very poorly and I'm not certain - but I think I got some crap for it.

I think that I underplayed the idea of "teaching environment vs performance environment." I also underplayed that these negatives probably wouldn't show up unless they were your only improv venue for a prolonged period of time.

ImprovBoston Auditions

Approximately 30 of the 150 were called back. I was not one of the thirty.

I would be lying to say that there is no disappointment or jealousy within me. Those are the wrong words - but you get the idea. I wish to go no further into it because I know that I am currently unable to look at the situation from an objective point of view.

Waiting

The quote is from me about 3 years ago after a kinda ugly breakup of a 1.5 year girlfriend. Once I looked up the exact quote I discovered it didn't fit as well as I had originally thought - I still posted it though.

The Adventures of Judge Judgealot and the Judging Judgies

I just had to get this out - and had no idea how. I started with a title and just typed whatever came to me. Very little editing involved. I just wanted to explore the concept of judgement.

None of the characters are based off of any particular real people. I'm particularly worried about people misconstruing the last sentence. We are all judgemental creatures and that is a shame.

I will say that it was largely inspired to write this post by both my own recent behavior as well as many discussions I've been privy to in the past.

=============================
There. That wasn't so painful.

 

[Gnome]

Screwing off during rehearsals

This has been a recent concern of mine. How much is too much? How much is necessary to put you into a good sense of play? I'm not currently a director, but having been a director before, I'm pretty aware of how much time can be pissed away and hence try to limit my random jokes and stories. If I sense we're getting too far off track I stare intently at the director in hopes others will notice and do the same - sometimes I do this before the director even makes a move for control. I fear that in the process of putting my eyes on the director I inadvertently put a stick up my ass. Frequently I forget to remove it. Needless to say it is difficult to improvise well and have a good sense of play with foliage occupying your crack. It can also foster aggression towards troupemates where there should be love.

But the alternative is to potentially waste hours upon hours or rehearsal time. What is better? 1 hour of screwing off + 2 hours of playful improvising or 3 hours of knock-down - drag out - hardcore improvising?

Well - last night I was a YAP - which is notorious for screwing off and trading stories. Rather than restrain myself I jumped in and played along. I had a lot more fun and I think my improv was significantly better.

I think that the heart of the matter is that the director is in charge of setting how much to screw around. If everyone follows the director hopefully you'll hit the stage at the same place. INSANITY! FOLLOW THE DIRECTOR?!

Not all epiphanies are created equal, folks.

 

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Massachusetts Improv Webpage

No need putting it off any longer. The more people know about it - the more I'll feel compelled to actually follow through.

I am building a non-partisan improv website for Massachusetts. It is a larege undertaking and I really hope I don't puss out on it. I've announced the intent to IA, IB, and The Tribe and have received their blessings and support. I've reserved a website and some space - though I already don't like the name. I've also begun contacting troupes to confirm that they're still active and their information is current. I know for a fact that there are several troupes that aren't on my list currently. Once I have something that is presentable I'll be posting and e-mailing asking for a roll call.

I'm committed. I MUST do this or a lot of people that I respect will know that I didn't follow through.

Anyhow - about the website.

I sort of have a mission statement, but at this point it is in a constant state of flux. Basically, I want to build a site that hosts information on all shows, troupes, classes, auditions, events, and possibly expanded to venues, coaches, press resources, etc within Massachusetts - with an emphasis on Boston. I also intend to offer web space to troupes that don't currently have their own pages. I want to link to theory and bulletin board resources - but don't want to include them on this page for a few reasons 1) There are already a ton of bulletin boards and theory pages and 2) I feel silly talking theory when there are so many more accomplished peeps in the area.

This project was largely inspired by how useful I found www.phoeniximprov.com to be while I was living there. I noticed the same about www.utahimprov.com when I was visiting. I have hung out with the creators / webmasters of both of these pages. I also learned of www.improvmiami.com from a discussion in "Other Places" on the IRC. Boston currently doesn't have a resource of this sort. ImprovBoston has a nice page and their bulletin boards are open to anyone that wants to plug their shows / events - but it is lacking. I hope to take the aspects that I like from all of these sites and meld them into the new MA site.

May it be known that I am far from a web page genius. I know enough about HTML to steal code from other sites if I see something I like. I'm confident that I can build a functional site myself, but if I want it to look pretty I may have to ask for support from friends or industry contacts. IB and The Tribe have both offered web space and assistance but for now I'm keeping it in my personal space and am not making it public until I have something presentable. They completely understand the importance of keeping it independent. I certainly have closer ties to some troupes than others, but I hope that someone viewing the page couldn't tell.

I'm sure that I'll keep this journal updated as progress is made. I hope to have something presentable within a month. If you haven't heard any more about it in a month - start sending me nasty PMs telling my lazy ass to get going.

 

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Premier of "Two and Change" / Watching yourself improvise

A lot has occurred in the last week. The biggest of which was the premier of "Two and Change" - a three person improv show featuring myself, Ben Sandofsky, and Kristen Aldrich. I love what we do.

Ben and I have known each other a while, understand and extenuate each other's 'prov, and discuss improv theory to the level of embarrassment. I just met Kristen a few weeks ago but she and Ben had worked together in the past. Originally she was going to coach Ben and I for our first show and join us for our second but we had fun with her and brought her on board early. I was sort of disappointed because I really want to do a two person show, but also excited by what she brought to the table. I'll save the two person show thing for another time.

Our "rehearsals" consist of . . . whatever. We just get together - without a coach - and jam. One rehearsal included of 30 minutes of gibberish scenes in a freeflowing montage. Another rehearsal featured of us adopting a character and just interacting as that character for an hour. How fun is that! When we play word association as a warm up - we PLAY IT! We don't just word associate - we word associate with attitude (well - not always - but sometimes we really connect hardcore in an amazing way).

We are trying to get a coach and occasionally work on weak spots or tactics unique to small cast shows (I believe that I'm the only cast member that has been in a less than 4 person show and that was only once) - but part of me thinks that that may destroy the foundation of play. What a choice to make - remain playful and possibly stagnant - or attempt to improve while perhaps threatening the sense of play that is so vital. I understand that Project D used to be a decent troupe - then they got Will to coach them and now they're superrockin'. I'm still skeptical about coaches though - not entirely sure why.

So - last Sunday - with two and a half rehearsals under our belt we hit the stage. We think that we did awesome. We think the audience had a good time and was with us the whole way. But we fully accept that we are ever so slightly biased. We received many compliments after the show - but you never know how much of that is just politeness (I HATE insincere compliments). However, I got an unsolicited compliment a week afterwards from an experienced improviser that I respect, so I think that that says something.

We got together on Tuesday to watch the show. It has been a year or two since I've had a show taped, so I was excited to watch myself perform again - though I was also a bit hesitant of what I might see. I learned a few things about myself - the biggest of which is that I play high energy a LOT and while it is a strength - it would be a greater strength to vary the energy a bit more from scene to scene - especially for a small-cast show.

Watching yourself after the fact always sort of takes away the magic. It was a great show - I felt very free - I felt we pushed our own boundaries and truly entertained. I hardly remembered a bit of it. But watching yourself dilutes that a little. Perhaps it acts as a reality check? You were caught up in the action the first time - but the second time you live the experience you are more critical and see where better choices could have been made, where offers were dropped, where communication failed. All in all - recorded improv never lives up to the live experience - it is the nature of the form. Anyhow - I've seen the full tape once and have two short clips that Ben captured and put on his website. I want a copy (either on tape or digital) of the whole show at some point. Call it documentation of growth?

Two and Change is on a temporary hiatus for the next 6 weeks as Ben is away in New York taking a writing class. I may get together with Kristen once or twice to jam? We have a slot in a Thursday Cantab show sometime in August which I'm looking forward to. I don't know what happens after that. Ben wants to move away in the fall/winter. Kristen graduates in December, and I never know what I'm up to except that I've stepped up my job search a notch. I'm guessing that it is just a two show run - which is perfectly fine in my book - especially if the second show goes we well as the first. Such is the nature of pet projects. Such is the nature of improv.

 

[Gnome]

Being an experienced improvisor taking an introductory class

I'm taking level II at ImprovBoston right now and it can be weird right sometimes.

The first week of class I plugged the three-person show I was doing that weekend. I think that kinda outted me as experienced right from the start.

The first two weeks I felt kinda awkward. Part of me didn't want to stick out - yet part of me wanted to shine. I feared the "you've been doing this for five years and aren't any better than us newbies?" I felt sort of pressured to not suck. That's not what classes are about though. Classes are entirely about sucking. Take a step back to take two steps forward type thing. Play the exercise to the height of the exercise so that it is more likely to lodge itself in your brain for later unconscious usage [holy cow - spellcheck just revealed that I've been spelling "unconscious" wrong for the past few years!].

This week (week three) I felt groovin'. We were doing emotional work - and specifically over the top emotions. This is an area in which I thrive and truly enjoy. Don't just SAY more nervous things - BE more nervous. Most people think that they're acting absurd when they're playing an emotion at a 5. Hells no - don't be afraid to crank that baby up. I like what the instructor said - something along the lines of "if words are holding you back - switch into gibberish." I also loved how I was unconsciously making choices to heighten my partner's emotions. I particularly enjoyed one scene where my scene partner was one of those people whose voice and body rarely fluctuate from neutral. My character completely tricked his character by taking him to the arctic and breaking the radio. He was upset about the situation - but not towards me. "I swallowed the missing parts of the radio - if you want them - you're going to have to come and get them! <wields an ax>". That turned his half-ass "I'm unhappy" into a "You Bastard!" rage. His character proceeded to physically attack me and rip through my stomach. Without having swallowed the key that never would have happened. I was pleased that I was able to bring that out of him while having a really fun scene myself (my emotion was "adventurous" - and my character wanted to either kill or be killed - he didn't care too much which).

For the next two weeks we don’t have class due to IB production schedules and then the 4th of July. Half of the class went through level I together and usually hold their own workshops when class is officially canceled - they've invited the rest of the class to join them. Part of me wants to offer to "lead" those sessions (I think that I miss directing). But I really don't think that it is a good idea to put myself in a dominant position over my classmates - could seriously alter the group vibe - and probably for the worse. I think I'll go in with a few exercise ideas but I definitely will restrain myself from commenting on scenes.

Ah. I could write and write and write about this. Instead I'll simply write and write about it and sign off now. Tata.

 

[Gnome]

Being a guest performer / shortform in a sea of longform

So my subensemble wasn't up to play last Thursday but I go anyways to see what's up - visit with peeps - support peeps - etc.

When I arrive the downstairs (where we perform) is closed and I don't think that the crew dude kows that I am a performer. Eh - no biggy - I'm early. So I go over to a table of some improvisors that I've seen a few time, "Starship Imagination." They're half planning for their show and half bullshitting around. A bunch of people couldn't make it that night, so a group that is normally 6-7 plus the director was 4 plus director. They are going on tonight as "Shuttlecraft Imagination" tonight . They get their 30 minute warning and go to start warming up. "Wanna warm up with us?" "Sure!"

I dig seeing how other groups operate together.

So we go out to the alley and start doing the warm up thing. They have a distict vibe to them that I may or may not get to later. At the 10 minute warning the director (whom I've worked with a little) asks if I'd like to join them onstage. HOT DAMN! Now - in all honesty - I hadn't even anticipated that I might be performing with them until then. I thought I was just there to produce some energy, excitement, and unpredictability that would hopefully follow them on stage.

So I'm super rockin' at this point. They already have a gameslist with players written, so I only play walkons and group games. That's cool. It can actually be my preference sometimes.

I think that the show goes really well. They say that it was one of the best shows that they've ever had. And I felt that, personally, I rocked it hard as a backup player.


A little more about SI (Starship Imagination) and The Tribe.

The Tribe is currently composed of five primary sub-ensembles and several pet projects. Each week 3 or 4 of the groups perform for 25 minutes. SI is the ONLY shortform group.

There are several theories regarding SI. My experience on Thursday serves as evidence for, but not proof of the below statements. I could be completely wrong.

SI, along with being the only shortform group, is also the oldest subensemble, and one of the least enjoyable for me to watch. The leading theory regarding their suckitude is that they completely psych themselves out. They see themselves as the monkey on The Tribe's back. The deformed stepsister that is locked under the stairs. The meaningless metaphor in a barely literate improv journal.

The point is that, performing at a venue dominated by longform, they are very sensitive and insecure. This represses themselves and their choices. They are okay improvisors and would probably be on par with any other Tribe subensemble if they would just let themselves be. I think that they would all be happier doing something else and unfortunately they bring that "I hope we don't suck tonight" vibe on stage with them. It is actually really sad.

I prefer to watch and perform longform, but I enjoy shortform as well and have no disrespect for the form. I think that it is very important that The Tribe show variety when displaying "what can improv be" and if we cut the single shortform troupe we destroy that. That said - SI has such an internal and external stigma right now that it would probably be best to put it to pasture soon and form a new shortform troupe. They are their own worst enemies.

I really, REALLY hope that I was able to help in some small way. I truly was excited to perform with them. I hope that my excitement helps them validate their views of themselves. We don't hate you. We want you to succeed. Given the chance, we would love to perform with you.

Create.

Play.

 

[Gnome]

Political "Comedy"

[ed. following is a rant. skip to the last few paragraphs if you just want my general thoughts without the related story]

I was very unhappy Saturday night.

This was the second week of The Tribe's Saturday night brawl. The brawl consists of an hour of variety show (about half standup, half music / puppets / poetry / etc) and an hour of improv. The improv section is composed of three performances. First is the "House Team" which is simply a group of Tribespeople that showed up that week. Then the "challengers" which is an existing Tribe subensemble, and finally the "defending champions" which is the Tribe subensemble that won last week's Brawl. Then the audience votes by applause and unless one troupe had a particularly horrible show - whomever brought the most audience wins. That's fine - it is how such shows work.

So this week it was Villalobos vs Summer Help. I signed up ahead of time to be on the House Team as well and was looking forward to performing with some new people.

I show up at 6:30 because I was insane and believed Neraj (Tribe AD) that I should be there by then. I do jack for the next hour until the more intelligent performers start showing up.

I learn that somebody wrote a sketch that they want performed as part of the House Team show. Okay, that's cool. The author wants to watch his work from the audience so I get recruited to read a part. Due to the nature of the piece, memorization isn't required.

"Okay, you are John Kerry"
"I'm not good at impressions and don't really know much about him."
"Just look robotic, awkward, and have a stupid smile."

So - this sketch is in three pieces - and we decide to do open improvisation between the pieces. Myself and "Bush" are to remain as our "characters." I took this to mean that we would play minimal roles in the improv unless we wanted to pop in quick for a goofy walk-on.

Instead what happened is we did the first beat of our poorly constructed, poorly written, poorly everything sketch consisting of nothing but trite and childish Republican bashing. Then the improv begins. Well . . . the only impetus they have to go off of is trite Republican bashing - most if not all of the improvisors are anti-Bush - so it goes on. And on. And the second set of sketch goes. And the one-sided political improv goes again. And then the final, and shortest section of sketch. And finally it is over. Thank GOD! I may be biased because I was COMPLETELY living in my head through all of this - but I don't think we got very many laughs. I am utterly ashamed to put on that piece of poorly disguised propaganda and then label it as "comedy."

Now the "House Team" which included three Villalobos members leave the stage and all of Villalobos enters with politics fresh in the brain. Thankfully the show was a little more social comentary than political - but still excessively preachy with a distinct liberal slant. I think that the quality of the improv and intelligence of comedy was actually quite high at points.

Holy Crap! How the hell did that happen?

I am very anti-Bush, but I wanted to shower for at least three hours after that show. The drivel that I unknowingly volunteered to assist with was the lowest form of political "humor."

I have no problem with political comedy - and I actually have written some political sketch myself. But make it intelligent. If it doesn't provoke the audience to laugh it isn't comedy. It it doesn't provoke the audience to think it isn't political. If you're going to do political sketch, do your homework and write/perform it well. If you're going to do political improv, everyone needs to be on board and individually do their homework. I was shocked and awed and put completely in my head. I apparently still did okay, but I didn't enjoy it.

Bleh. I've said enough. I could have probably written it better but it is difficult to form a journal entry while fighting off the gag reflex. I need to go vomit now to get this horrid taste out of my mouth.

 

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Age and Improv

Improv is primarily a young person's activity. Numerically dominated by people in their twenties and early thirties. In college I though, "Old people can't be funny. They're old." Charles and Robert were just exceptions. As I began to step away from the college atmosphere and started seeing more shows I started to see more people in their 40s and beyond doing improv. And I loved what they did. Older people have a very different perspective on life and improv. They have seen more and have more experiences to draw from. They also tend to care less about what other people think about them. Inhibitions are usually lightened allowing for greater freedom. The only real downside is that they might be a little more physically limited and perhaps a little slower mentally - but less than one might think.

On Sunday I saw a group called "New Tricks" composed of eight improvisors all over 50. I loved it. I loved seeing them play children and young adults. The freedom and playfulness. I hope that I can be that childish when I'm 50 (obviously not 24/7 - but I hope I'm able to do it occasionally). Many of the best improvisors I know are at least in their late 30s. Youth and vitality can't complete with experience.

The other great thing about a whole cast of 50+ improvisors is that they don't always get cast as "grandpa" or "grandma." There was ~50 year old in the Jester'Z - and I sort of felt bad that he was almost always typecast - you could tell that he wanted to play younger people sometimes. I mentioned it to him and he said he didn't mind it at all. It requires less effort on the improvisors' and audience's part to envision the old man as an old man.

Last night we had class at Vassar Street since IB was busy (Secret Society opening on Friday). I saw Brother Sister and New Tricks folks there. Steve K - my level II instructor, whom was also at the Sunday show - stated that he would love to see a grandfather - grandson scene between myself and one of the New Tricks folks (I wish I knew his name - I'll call him Bob for now). Steve said that Bob and I had similar styles and he thinks I'll be like Bob in 30 years. I take that as a massive compliment because Bob was a badass on Sunday. Next time I see Bob around I need to make it a point to chat with him - see what his deal is. That would be a fun two-person show.

My strength and nimbleness may fade with time. I hope that my playfulness, honesty, and commitment don't.

 

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Attendance issues

My sub-ensemble is having attendance issues . . . .

I showed up 10 minutes late (no good excuse - just traffic was worse than normal) last night at as I arrived I saw the director and one other player - and that is it. I think the decision to call rehearsal and go drinking instead had already been made at that point - if not publicly, then in the mind of the director. It was a good call. People were bummed and it probably would have ended up being a miserable and ineffective rehearsal even though we ended up with five cast members by the end. We've also discussed the need to hang out in a non-improv environment (we ended up at a restaurant/bar called "The Asgard." I feel I need to repeat that - somebody out there was able to convince investors that "The Asgard" was a good name for a bar).

It is easy to say "where's your commitment to the ensemble?" but in truth, everyone had a pretty good excuse for being absent / excessively late. Unfortunately everyone always has good excuses for being absent / excessively late. As a case study, last night's excuses were:
1. Taking a class on how to teach Spanish. He's trying to further his professional career - you can hardly argue with that. Unfortunately it means he'll be an hour late every week which will get old quickly :/
2. Doing a voice-over audition or taping (dunno?). Trying to make it in "the biz" - well played - congrats!
3. Doing a one-time "booster" rehearsal with another ensemble (a different Tribe subensemble) that is playing at the DCM. They haven't worked together for several months so I completely understand. Rock out and represent Boston well!
4. Has friends visiting from Mexico. Cool. If I had friends visiting I wouldn't want to abandon them (fortunately I don't have any friends :/ ).

How can you argue with any of those?

To make matters worse - we have even more attendance issues that are pending. I think that Howie's "teaching spanish" classes runs all summer making him an hour late every week. Ick. Jenny is moving to NYC in September. I have a fair bit of business travel coming up - plus my coast-to-coast jobsearch is still active. If I get a job offer in another city I'm prepared to move in a matter of days. We also just recently lost a regular member mostly due to him getting into ImprovBoston.

This is supposed to be fun. If you start demanding attendance things become less fun quickly. Ideally everyone is there whenever possible because they want to be there - no policing necessary. But I understand that this isn't how things always work. I also feel like I'm not the best person to talk since I'll likely miss some upcoming rehearsals / shows due to business travel. I believe Shaine plans to address attendance to people next week . . . I won't be there to hear it . . .


Normally I'm a big fan of small cast shows, but for our format (reoccurring character soap-operaesque) it doesn't work as well. I'm not completely convinced of this actually. It is easy to run away from challenges rather than facing them head on. Perhaps playing our town with only four people could result in a fabulous show and helps us grow as players? Current we're able to pick and choose how active each of our characters is in any individual show - this allows characters that we're not as comfortable with to hide in the shadows (we each have ~2 primary characters). At any rate - most of the performers were reluctant to do a four person montage show, so to do a four person soap opera show would probably scare people so much that it is doomed to failure from the start. I'm trying to plant seeds of confidence but in the end it is up to the individual players - that and I really don't want to overstep my bounds as a player.

My two-cent diagnosis: We need at least one of the following:
1. New blood.
2. Renewed commitment from current members.
3. A spark of bravery and confidence.
4. A new format.
5. Prepare to put this puppy down.

We'll see how things play out.

 

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Visiting old friends: three weekends in Atlanta

I've had a ton of thoughts on improv over the past two weeks but have been busy and without internet much of the time. I'll lay down the facts in this post and perhaps follow-up with some general reflection on the last two weeks in a later post.

Crap where to start.

In '00 I was voted LTT!'s MVP / Lifetime Achievement award / whatever they decide to name it on any given year. This award has only been given out for the last five years. Of the five winners of the award - I'm the only one that isn't still in Atlanta and still active with LTT! Flashforward to about a month ago. LTT!, which normally has about 3-4 shows/month has had 9 shows in the previous 4 weeks - crazy. One of the shows was themed, "We've Tried That!" - it was a show featuring only winners of the MVP award. They told me about it and I apologized but I just couldn't justify a trip to ATL for that. We discussed some form of videoconferencing but we couldn't come up with a good way for it to work. Finally Athan discovered / developed a game that would work. It involved one player on a microphone in another room giving lines of dialogue (while assuming unheard dialogue). Onstage one player acted as the voice's body and another would work to justify the first. Gimmicky - but it works and is funny. Anyhow - the plan became that I would record my voice and send it down and they'd play that game and then continue with the show just the four of them. Yay! So they advertise and make a big deal out of the fact that I was going to participate. Word got out pretty quickly about the game and that I wasn't going to be there but it was still expected to be a good show.

Then - a little over a week before the "We Tried That!" show I find out that I'm doing business in Columbia, SC the week following the show. Sweet! I can fly into ATL Friday afternoon - be in the show - spend the weekend in ATL - drive to SC - work for a week - drive back to ATL for another weekend - then fly back to MA. I tell nobody except for Athan (the troupe leader and director of this particular show). We conspire and it works out beautifully. Nobody else at DramaTech saw me until LTT! had already taken the stage. Athan calls me - I come rushing into the lobby and up to the booth in secret. They introduce the game joking that "Craig is in a 'soundproof booth' backstage." I step into another room where I can't hear them and begin my side of the game with the wireless mic. Everyone assumes that it is a pre-recorded sound file. At the end of the game they cut my mic and I go rushing backstage. Athan says something along the lines of "Thank you Craig." I emerge straightfaced and say something along the lines of "No problem. Thanks for having me." Ah - what a glorious reveal! The players were shocked. We went on to do a rockin' montage. I played primarily support roles but had two spots of narration (it may have been lack of trust - but to me it just felt right - Athan later remarked that it was some of the most pure improv he'd seen). [reminder to me: Volcanic sacrifice, lightning strike jailbreak, hole digging hitmen, Swedish book of knowledge]

I won't go into as much detail for the rest of the week.

Friday night partied. Saturday morning attended LTT! workshop. Robin was covering what Napier might call "having a deal." Saturday afternoon pissed away the day and napped. Saturday night was in the next night's show. It went decently - it was the director's debut as a director and she had some problems molding the energy and such. Twas a decent show. [reminder to me: Barnes and Noble, EuroDisney, mind control] After that went to a party, then Waffle House. Sunday I slept into the afternoon - picked up my rental car - and took off to Columbia (there were some snags - but you don't care). A week in Columbia doing internal process auditing. Mildly interesting - definitely good career development. As I'm driving back to ATL on Friday I learn they want me to stay in Cola for another week. I go through some hell with the travel agent and return to ATL. I was to be in the LTT! show Friday night. The director hyped it like it was going to be crazy experimental but really the only strange thing that happened was he gave us each percussive instruments at the opening which we occasionally used to make music or as props. He also pulled an audience member up and we sang a song as our opening. It essentially ended up being a montage with reoccurring concepts. I was being extremely random in a stupid way for some reason. [reminder to me: amputation of entire body, orphans on planes, bitter foods] Hung out and watched Labyrinth afterwards.

"Slap that baby - make him free!" - I don't remember that lyric from my youth.

Saturday morning led a LTT! workshop consisting mostly of sidecoaching. My goal was to work on making different decisions - my biggest focus was active vs passive decisions. Also some stress on affecting / being affected. I was told it was very useful. Played some Encore. Saturday night watched "The Importance of Being Earnest" and Adam and Ryan's LTT! show. It was a half-hour montage with reoccurring concepts. Their interesting points were that it was done in the round and they had the audience call the end of their scenes - this led to be somewhat problematic as the audience called scenes short and their different strings meshed early. Once that occurred they didn't have as much to feed off of but still had 10 minutes of show left. It was interesting and cool idea though. Went to the Earnest cast party. Slept. Woke up. Drove to Columbia, where I am currently.

I'll be returning to Atlanta Friday night. I think I'll be in an LTT! show Saturday night. And then I fly back to Boston Sunday evening. Oh crap. I just realized that the DNC will have already started. Stupid DNC!

I haven't been to Villalobos rehearsal for the last two weeks. I learned over e-mail that Scott is leaving the troupe. That brings us down to 4 or 5 regulars (counting me as a regular) and another 3 or so occasional types.

Also, I was invited to perform as a guest star one week during IB's August hump night with some cool peeps that I enjoy and respect. This is rockin - but it means I'd miss a Villalobos rehearsal - and having just missed two due to travel - probably missing next week due to the DNC - and the troupes' general attendance issues . . . well . . . I'll see. I'm honored at the invite either way.

There. Done. Post.

 

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DCM / The Squirmy Director

Ack - it is only a few days away and I don't know anything about it except that I've got a futon reserved and I'll be catching Improvmosis at like 8AM Sunday morning. Yick. I think I'm taking the Chinatown busses down, but I don't have any information. I've heard something about an open workshop with Zack and Asaf but don't know where or when. I guess I need to read the DCM threads on yesand and irc and hit the internet for maps / schedules. I understand that the PIT, UCBT, and AK are all getting in on the action with their own separate dealios. I'm sure it'll be a blast and I look forward to seeing some familiar faces from CIF, meeting new peeps, and chillin' with some Boston folks I know. If you're going and you want to meet me, send a private message or e-mail or something. Enough about that - I've got other things I want to talk about.


Note: I haven't determined my feelings towards the words Coach, Director, and Instructor - so for the purposes of this journal entry they're interchangeable.
As a wannabe coach I frequently finding myself watching my director during scenes I'm not in. There are many styles of directing, but one in particular really piques my interest and I think is the direction I tend to take when leading a workshop. I'll label it simply as "The Squirmy Coach."

If you've ever had a Squirmy Coach, you know exactly what I'm talking about. They're the ones that watch a scene with their whole body. I've witnessed several, but one of the best examples of this that I've seen is David Razowsky, Artistic Director of Second City. I've only been in a class with him for two hours during CIF7, but when he was watching a scene it looked like he was going to explode. Being drawn in by each exchange of the players. I'm surprised he wasn't completely exhausted by the end of the two hour session. He just had this wonderful presence. I felt sorry for him sometimes when he showed his non-verbal disappointment at missed offers.

You could tell that he wanted to be up onstage - fielding the offers - yesanding - making the other players perfect. But that wasn't his position. His position was of the instructor. Although he may have been able to turn even the blandest scene awesome, as an instructor it was his job not to make a particular scene beautiful - but to help make future scenes by those players beautiful. To do that one must restrain oneself from doing that work for the players. Allow failure. Stretch the players and help them understands the words and concepts that they've probably heard hundreds of times before. They must be completely in the moment and giving and taking "improviser offers" in a similar way to how an improviser gives and takes "scenic offers." I'm not sure if that makes sense . . .

An interesting attribute of the Squirmy Coach, is that although they're usually a very positive walking lovefest they can occasionally get pissy and angry. When they see the same experienced player make the same newbie "mistake" over and over. When they see somebody in a position of power wimp out, back up, and make a passive choice. "NO NO NO! YOU WERE ON THE EDGE OF SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL! ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS KEEP GOING!" I think that the frustration is based in love and a desire to see the player improve. However, is this contrary to the concept of "everything is perfect?" Are some perfects better than other perfects? Who judges? I guess the director judges.

I think I've hit the point of rambling. My point is that I dig the Squirmy Coach and wanted to explore my thoughts on the subject a bit - particularly the concept of "directing in the moment."

 

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Why do I keep an Improv Journal? / Other Stuff

Yay! I've reached 1000 views.

I know that these things shouldn't matter. I could tell you that I don't give a damn about how many people read my journal. But I would be lying.

So why do I keep this journal? There are many reasons (in no particular order).

1. To kinda stay in touch with people I don't speak with regularly. I don't know who all reads this thing, but I know that there is at least one representative from Phoenix, Atlanta, and Mass that check in from time to time. I think that I got to know more about my roommate sophomore year by reading his blog than by actually living with him (we actually did quite a bit together - we just didn't have many serious discussions). Strange how it works out like that. Bless the internet and its thinly veiled anonymity.

2. As inspiration for current and future improvisors. I read several of the irc journals and read of the struggles and victories of people a lot like myself. I'm not the empathetic type, but I can draw out improv lessons and occasionally life lessons from them. I don't always agree with someone's viewpoint, but I find it helpful to hear other people's thoughts and possibly pull bits and pieces into my own operating philosophy. I also hope to help spread my improv lovin' and some of my particular thoughts with others. I want to help people to see the beauty that I see. I also want my history available to interested parties so that they can witness my person journey.

3. As a souvenir to my past. Because of the fleeting nature of improv, souvenirs can be difficult to come by. We all have a few particular scenes that stay with us - but time distorts the memory. This journal will hopefully serve as a souvenir. So that I can read through it and re-experience these times.

4. To gage my development as an improvisor. Reading through old postings can help me decide if I still agree with certain viewpoints or if things have changed. It can be difficult to question concepts that aren't laid out in plain text. Putting them down on paper(?) makes it easier to track these things . . . not that tracking it is really important - but it is something that I find interesting. "This is not my beautiful house. This is not my beautiful wife. How did I get here?" I also want to go back and laugh at how retarded some of what I say is .

5. To be read. Damn skippy. Ego is another driving force. I want to be read. To be known and taken seriously as an improvisor. To convince myself and others that I have something worthwhile to say. Why? I'm not sure. Does keeping a journal actually help accomplish this? I'm not sure. An interesting thing is that I don't really plug my journal anywhere (though I also don't take many steps to hide it). It seems sort of contradictory. I've always hated selling myself. It does make me feel good to know that some people are interested enough to continue to read it. Maybe I'll explore this further sometime but not right now.

6. 'Cause it distracts me from work. Seriously. It is currently 3:30PM. I'm getting paid to write this. I have things that I could be doing. This is the main reason I don't include my last name or employer in the journal - I don't want to be easily googleable. I fear that I'll get an interview - almost get a job offer - and then they'll google my name and see that I screw around at work way too much. I am such a child. I need to grow up. But for now I still enjoy my toys and everyone's low expectations. I am embarrassed by this fact.

There are probably more reasons - but that's all I have for now. They'll also most likely change with time.


In other, more immediate news:
My IB class has two more sessions. I have to decide if I want to move on to level III or take some time off. I hate the pressure of being a part of "the group." My ideal way to go through classes would be to take time off between levels to digest and just to chill. I'll probably sign up for another session. The money isn't a big issue and I'm not currently doing anything else with my Monday nights. I also don't feel excessively close to the group - a lot of that is probably my doing. I think that a few people love me but many are sort of intimidated. I don't want to be intimidating - I just want to play. Play with me! (I'm fully aware that this entire scenario might only exist in my mind)

DCM: Still haven't made final plans. I'm fine with this. For anyone that is going, yesand has a great compiled schedule at http://www.yesand.com/features/2004dcmweekend.pdf.

Villalobos. I was mistaken about Howie's being an hour late every week. That is good. We have two new players, both of which are at least moderately experienced, one of which I played with a few years ago with Guerilla Improv. I believe we've been promised two additional players after the next auditions. I was feeling sort of 'bleh' last night.

 

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Del Close Marathon Weekend Summary Part 1

Did you know that these journals entries have a maximum character count of 10,000? You learn something everyday.


DCM was fun - though not nearly the ethereal wonderfulness of CIF. There are probably several reasons:
1) CIF was my first major festival.
2) It seemed much less social. If you leave the theatre you have to wait a few hours to watch any more improv. And there's only like 30 seconds of downtime between acts. I'm sure that there was something that I missed though.
3) I was with a lot of people that I knew from Boston that in some ways held me back - yet I was still independent from them most of the time.
4) I only took two hours of workshops rather than 10 hours + several dissertations.
5) There were only two primary venues so there is less discussion of "where are you going?" (I didn't feel like spending extra money to see shows at Juvie Hall or the PIT since I had free entertainment at DCM)

Anyhow - I just wanted to give a quick run through of my DCM experience. I haven't figured out what kind of detail I'll go into, but knowing me I'll ramble.

Thursday night: I arrive at the Cantab to try to arrange for a ride. I learn of two potential rides but cement neither of them.

Friday morning: I finalize plans to get a ride down with Don. He's passing through Framingham around 12:30ish so I leave work early to quickly pack and hitch a ride. The ride down was enjoyable but nothing spectacular. Kristen of "Two and Change" was also in the car. The best moments were probably the revelation that "Connecticut is for Bitches" and "how much is that potted plant in the window?" both of which originated from Kristen.

Arriving in NYC!

Everyone in the car except me was staying at the Hotel Pennsylvania. I assist with the move in (which took longer than expected) and walk with Jim and Tamara to the UCBT. The line is really short (not even past the convenient store door next-door) but it still takes like an hour to get in. Slow turnover during those hours - especially on the first night. We get into the theatre at 8PM, just in time to catch Carl and the Passions, (which was the first group performing that I really wanted to see). I watched them from the floor / aisle and could hardly see the show. I managed to move up to the front (still sitting in the aisle though - quite uncomfortable) for Walsh and Roberts, Dasariski, the Swarm, and Baby Wants Candy. I loved Carl, Dasariski and BWC - W&R was fun in it's own way. I recall being disappointed by The Swarm. I'd heard fabulous things and the show was only slightly above average in my eyes.

In one of the first scenes of Clark and Belmont (11PM) we already had a character eating his own feces. It may have been a fabulous show, but I took that opportunity to hunt down more information on my crash space for the night. I think Dan had already gone to bed so I sort of felt bad imposing myself, but he assured me it was fine. I left the theatre with the intent of picking up a key, dropping off my stuff, and returning to UCBT. When I finally arrived at his place (in Forest Hills) an hour later I decided that I didn't want to make that trek very often and that I'd already lined myself up to miss Wicked F***kin' Queer (which I'd heard was only decent) so I crashed for the night around 12:30ish.

I wanted to catch SLC Skirts at 11AM. I get up around 9, shower, and depart before 10AM. NOTE: the clock I was judging time from that morning was an hour off, so I'd already missed SLC Skirts before I'd even left the apartment. I arrive at UCBT towards the beginning of WIT: Big Bang (noon). I have a strange relationship with WIT due to accidentally being hijacked by them for several hours at CIF. SFS, Ralphie's Rug, and My Naked Friends Present failed to impress me as far as I recall. Bevy was one of the groups I wanted to see because I'd heard good things about them but their CIF performance left me slightly disappointed. This performance had a similar effect. It is decent improv but their artistic weirdness simply doesn't interest me too much. Too "art school"ish for me - and I tend to lean towards the "art school"ish side of improv. I'd never heard of KOKO before, but they were similar to Bevy in many ways. They were decent but I could see no connection between their narration and scenes - not that it is required - but as an improvisor / audience member I wanted to see a connection. Johnny Lunchpail was a group I really wanted to see perform and they did quite well. They have excellent energy and stage presence.

After Johnny Lunchpail (3:30 PM) I depart UCBT with Michelle and go to the PIT for the Drop-In Improv Intensive with Asaf and Zach Ward (4:30-6:30) - Zach didn't show. We get there early and I grab a sandwich and meet Ben, who has been out of state for the last 2 months. I was expecting like 30ish students, I think we had 9 by the end (my host was one of them). It was fun and interesting. It was an interesting format. Mostly just a bunch of two person scenes - then he'd offer a challenge to specific players - they'd do a few more scenes with that challenge active - and then Asaf would explain why that particular challenge was offered. It was fun because you couldn't really tell why he asked you to do specific things (I want you to touch your partner / maintain a particular distance / keep your eyes fixed on a point / imitate a specific musical instrument with your speech / etc). I wasn't quite clear on my challenge largely due to my cultural stupidity. He wanted me to imitate a film style that I simply wasn't familiar with (he spouted off a lot of examples, but the only movie / tv show that I was familiar with was Rear Window, which I didn't remember much about). His explanation was about what I expected - a common note for me but spoken in a slightly different way. It basically had to do mostly with how I normally play high energy, "big" characters. Varying up the energy and such. If you start extreme there's less room for heightening.

[more]

 

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Del Close Marathon Weekend Summary Part 2

At 6:30 PM the three of us head back to UCBT. We find a Tribe contingent about 1/4 of the way through the line and play the assholes by jumping in with them. In the next half-hour about 5-8 more people joined our Boston clump. We were being real pricks. Even with this nice spot, the line was moving incredibly slow and we were seriously doubting our ability to get into the theatre during any of the well known shows.

At about 7:15 a shuttle bus to the Producer's Club shows up. Neraj and I get on the bus and are followed by the entire Boston contingent of 20 or so peeps. We get into the theatre just a little before 4 Faces of Eve (8PM). I LOVED 4 Faces. American Dream was refreshing and different. They were probably my dark horse of the marathon (my favorite unknown group). Dillinger was enjoyable. Carl and the Passions put on another great show. I wanted to take a break, but also wanted to stick around for Dasariski. Gigawatt failed to capture my attention in the first 5 minutes so I bailed. Grabbed two beers and hung out at the bar with Tribespeople for 20 minutes. Returned a few minute before Dasariski (which is good - because there was a sudden flood of people - they actually seated some audience members back-stage). Most of the Tribespeople left either before or after Dasariski to catch DSI's Beatbox / shows at the UCBT. In truth, I don't remember anything about the Dark Champions or KEVLAR shows. I know that I watched them. Eh?

After KEVLAR (midnight) I took a shuttle back to the UCBT and caught the tail end of The Lottery, Nailed Down, and Hot Karl. They were interesting and entertaining. I wanted to visit McManus just because I know that it is the local improvisor hangout. I overheard two NYC improvisors discussing McManus and invited myself to join them. On the way over I learn that one of them is David (Qnarf) whom I know from the yesand board. Strange coincidence. Asaf invites me to join him for a bit but then has to leave. I see Ryan and invite myself to the SLC table. As people come and go it morphs into the North Carolina table. It was fun to meet a lot of people that I've heard of - friends of friends type thing. That table disintegrates and I walk with Corey back to UCBT arriving during the Porter Maison Project (4 AM). It was a murder mystery thing that I really couldn't get into - but it had some funny moments. I remember very little from No Posers.

I'm totally not interested in improv at this point but I don't want to have to deal with 4 AM subway travels and some Tribe people were performing at 8:30 and I'd be an ass not to attend, so I stick around the theatre and unsuccessfully try to sleep through anything that I deem boring. I also had a curiosity of what the cult classics, Drunken Sonic Assault (5 AM) and Robot TV (5:30) are all about. They were both retarded, but that's their deal. They held my attention (I think it would be nearly impossible to sleep during DSA). I hang out during The Real Real World and The Wicked Wicked Hammerkatz. I didn't sleep - but I also didn't really watch them. My attention was difficult to maintain and they weren't up to the task. Theatre Cleaning strikes. My stupor continues through The Society (7:30 AM). Tribespeople start arriving during the Society which perks me up a bit. I was fed and entertained by Krompf. At 8:30 Improvmosis hit the stage. It was far from the best thing I'd seen all weekend, but I think we held our own. They put forth a lot of energy in their singing / dancing whatnot. Most of The Tribe bails to grab food and to . . . do other things??? I stick around because I want to see the SLC folks as long as I'm still awake. Feathers and Flannel and Vagabondage Presents are very "eh." SLC's set was decent. Nothing too thrilling, but I was entertained. They were quite playful for 10 AM but there were a lot of "technical" mistakes - which I tend to be quick to forgive but that bothered me after a while.

Ug. It is now 10:30 AM. I've been awake for over 24 hours and am still mildly drunk. I really wish that I had my stuff with me - 'cause I'd have been happy to just sleep in the theatre but I needed to get my stuff from Dan sometime. I wander to the subway. Crap. It says that they're doing maintenance on the E line (my line) and it says to take the A train to the 4th St stop to transfer to get to the E train. I watch 2 A trains pass before I realize that I'm going to have to walk. I start walking towards the 4th St station to catch the E train. Somewhere along this walk my retardation turns off and I realize that just because the A trains didn't stop at that particular station, it may stop at other stations. So - I hop on an A train at God-Knows-What station. I know that I am heading uptown to get to Dan's so I take the uptown train. MISTAKE! Fortunately I'm aware enough to realize it quickly. I get off, and take the A train back downtown to 4th St. I hop on an uptown E train. I'm kinda in and out of sleep as I travel. I also discover that I've lost the piece of paper that had directions to Dan's apartment - I'll have to go from memory. I didn't sleep through my subway stop - but I second guessed myself until it was too late to get off. So I check the map and confirm my mistake - get off at the next stop - and catch the E train back one station. Fortunately the directions from there are simple and I remember them correctly. I don't know when I got in. Sometime between noon and 1PM. I set my alarm for ? and go to bed.

I wake up around 5PMish due to either noise from my host or my alarm? We talk improv for a while which I enjoyed. I take a shower, pack my stuff, and leave around 6:30 PM. Before leaving I call my two potential rides home. One is already in Boston. The other says, "meet us outside UCBT at 7:30 if you want a ride." That section of the E train is still closed so I know I'm going to have to improvise my way back to the UCBT (thankfully I'm no longer drunk - but am still tired). If I miss this ride I'll probably have to take the Chinatown busses - which I had absolutely no information on except that they left Chinatown and went to Boston. This was feasible - but not very appealing. I get off the subway about 2 avenues and 10 streets away and do a very fast walk to the UCBT arriving with about 5 minutes to spare. See Ben and Kristen in line - they're watching the 8PM ASSSSCAT. I catch the final minutes of WeirDass and then hang out waiting for Tim to hitch a ride.

The ride home was very interesting. I was familiar and "friends" with the other four people, but didn't really know them very well. The van was composed of a gay man, a lesbian, two straight women, and myself, a straight man. We largely discussed relationships, attraction, family, and such. In all truth, homosexuality is something which I don't have a lot of exposure to and can make me feel a little uncomfortable so I think this was a very good discussion for me to be part of. I spent most of the time actively listening (my mother always said I was a good listener). We got to Framingham a little before midnight - I was dropped off - everyone used my bathroom - and the van continued the remaining half hour into Boston. I promptly went to sleep.

 

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Evaluating Improv Performances

Yeah - so I always feel a little nervous when I say something about another group's performance. Watching improv is such a subjective thing. The only thing that I can definitively say is if I enjoyed a given show and perhaps give a few reasons why I think that is (which I think is important to do from time to time). There are so many things that affect if someone enjoys a show.

1. How the perceived artistic goals of a group align with your desires as an audience member.
2. How successful this particular show was at achieving the group's artistic goals.
3. Physical comfort. Temperatures, posture, restrictive clothing, hunger, aches and pains, etc.
4. Mental comfort. Issues on your mind. Do you feel free to enjoy the show with the given audience?
5. Personal associations to the content / style within the show. Do they line up with likes / dislikes / hobbies?
6. Quality of the Techies and how it aligns with your views of good improv.
7. Preconceived expectations.
8. Performers. Do you know any of them? How? How does their physical or vocal presence make you feel?
9. Do I have a full view of the stage?
10. Many others, but that is enough for now.

If just one of these factors is negative it can throw off the entire viewing experience and make me unwilling to enjoy it regardless of quality.

That being said, I'm sure that there are conditions under which I could enjoy almost any improv show that has ever been put on.

I don't want to be the guy that gives false praise and compliments to everyone though. I hate that. I also realize that whether or not I know (or am one of ) the performers onstage has a MAJOR effect.

So basically - take my evaluations (and anyone else's evaluations you run across) with a grain of salt.

 

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Pros and Cons of living life "In The Moment"

I have a lot of decisions to make within the next 2 days - 2 weeks. Four potential jobs are within view each with their pros and cons that must be evaluated.

Do I want to stay in Massachusetts?
How important is stability?
How important is maintaining freedom?
How important is job satisfaction?
How important is money?
How much time am I willing to spend in a car daily for a) work, b) improv, c) social life?
Am I ready, willing, and able to create my own improv scene should I transplant to the improv frontier?

Since graduation I have identified myself as a wanderer. My future has been largely unknown. "I might not be here in a month" is a common phrase my friends have heard me utter for the last 16 months. For the two years previous to that I moved from Atlanta to Boston and back every four months. I constantly bitch and whine that I can't find full-time employment. Now it is potentially staring me in the face and I don't know if I want it. I understand that in order to be taken seriously professionally I need to make a 2-3 year commitment to my next job.

I think that I thrive off of uncertainty. The thrill of living in the moment with my daily life with few strings holding me down. To be the proverbial rolling stone. There have admittedly been some drawbacks to this lifestyle. A rolling stone gathers less romantic, artistic, or professional moss than a statue. Neraj says that he'd let me direct a Tribe group if I could make a commitment for the next several months. I haven't dated since my vagabond lifestyle began four years ago. I wouldn't mind living in a nicer place, but that probably means a 12-month lease rather than month-to-month. I would like to have a doctor and dentist. These are real things that I would like that my lifestyle gets in the way of.

I think I just need to convince myself that it is possible to remain exciting and adventurous while having a mortgage payment and a 401K.


I'm such a drama queen whiner.

 

[Gnome]

Two And Change's Second Appearance

I'm not sure how or why, but I was in my head for most of last night's show.

I should take a step back. Two And Change, a temporary three person group I'm in, got booked for two Wednesday's at IB because their previously scheduled act bailed on them. That's cool! With three days notice a two-show run became a four-show run. I have other commitments for one of the Wednesdays that I'd like to honor, but that is fine because I know Ben really wants to do a two-person show and I need to spend some quality time with my lovely Villalobos - so my guilt would be two-fold if I fanagled my way in - as is - GUILT FREE! (even though I'd love to play)

Two And Change has only workshopped like three times together, our first show was like 10 weeks ago and we didn't have a single rehearsal since then (as Ben has been out of town).

Anyhow - I went into the show not fully prepared to play and it definitely affected the performance - but I don't think entirely in a bad way. I felt wonderful after our first show. I felt drained after last night's show. However, I've learned through experience that just because I feel poorly about something doesn't mean that the performance went poorly. I'll need to watch the recording to confirm or deny this.

Some interesting traits of last night's show:

• Personally - I suffered from serious short-term memory loss. I think that most of my characters were not grounded physically or mentally. They tended to gravitate towards neutral and I would occasionally ignore pre-established situations (I guided someone to my house - later in the scene I said it was my prison and can't escape it - WTF, Craig - listen to yourself!). Strangely enough - I'm not 100% convinced that this was a bad thing. I think it led to some unusual behavior, and I'm always interested broadening my bahavior patterns.
• Personally - I commented on scenes quite a bit. I'm not at all convinced that this is as horrible a sin as everyone tries to tell you. I think that it is tool, a tool that I think I wield fairly well, but a tool that I probably overused last night (we had an entire scene about "This Scene Is Not Inspired By Saturday Night Live's Spartan Cheerleader Sketch!" that I was solely responsible for). I also agree that in most situations, there are stronger choices available.
• Personally - I stumbled over words a lot more than usual. This happens when I think too much.
• There was much more reincorporation. I don't know if it is the group's philosophy, but it is sorta my philosophy based off of our first show - is that we'd rather create a series of loosely connected good scenes than a nicely packaged story where all of the scenes interrelate but might not be as good individually (granted - the joining of the two is probably preferred if done well). Last night we had heavy reincorporation - but I really liked how it went. It was frequently thematic rather than physical (I'm not sure if I'm wording this correctly). It also was a light sprinkling of reincorporation for the first 2/3rds of the show - then out of friggin' nowhere everything started colliding beautifully. I didn’t see it coming until it hit. I felt it was a lot more mysterious and cool than the typical Haroldesque, "Watch three difference scenes awkwardly find each other and turn into one story!" It also felt very natural and unforced (in most situations).
• The ending. Ug. I'm not very happy. We had the perfect opportunity to end it and unfortunately we just couldn't stick it. I think that we all knew we were done but somebody needed to take the initiative. In our first show the lights person took this initiative for us. It threw us off guard but as the lights went out we sort of said to ourselves, "Oh, we're done - yeah - that was a great ending point - thanks light person!" Last night we didn't give the lights person as much of a que so it continued. And continued. And continued. I think that we did pretty good at keeping things fresh and interesting and making new connections between pre-existing situations while we, the performers, stumbled over each other grasping for an ending. I'm pretty sure the audience noticed our missed ending though.
• As Joy said, "we were more conceptual." I'm not entirely sure what that means. We weren't as "haha," and packed on quite a bit of drama. Our final ending, for example, was the one-at-a-time, slow, silent march offstage - whereas our last show ended with absolute frantic mania.
• [These lists are pretty cool]

Anyhow. We've got a few workshops coming up this week. Ben and Kristen are doing a two-person show next Wednesday while I'm at Villalobos rehearsal. And the three of us will potentially do our last show the following day - next Thursday - at the Cantab. This should be a lot of fun. I hope that it is timed such that my Villalobos posse' can see the show.

 

[Gnome]

ImprovBoston Level II

Crap - I should probably review my previous message about this before deciding what to write. Be right back.

Okay, so I haven't addressed this too much. Now that the class has finished I can address the experience as a whole.

Monday was the last class. Everyone was all excited about finishing the session. Taking pictures and the like. Most of the class has signed up for Level III together and will be rehearsing on off-Mondays and Thursdays (those that are available). Steve complimented the group's work and under his suggestion they're talking about putting together a performance group. It is nice to see so much enthusiasm, but I did not share in the excitement.

It is probably largely my own fault, but I just didn't connect with these folks - probably part of my lone-wolf attitude that I think my wandering lifestyle has fostered. I could improvise with them - they challenged me in new ways - and they're fine people - I just didn't connect with them in such a lovey dovey way. There are a few that I particularly enjoy, but I'm pretty lukewarm in general and one particular person just rubs me the wrong way.

I wouldn't be able to, nor be horribly interested in joining them in a performance aspect. I've got very limited availability and Thursdays are right out. I also have my reservations regarding performance groups that form out of classes. I would much rather be a part of a hand-picked sort of thing. Probably partly having to do with the obligations to accept everyone and quality control and such. I can certainly understand why it is done - and I see that it is an easy way for a non-established improvisor to find people - I'm just not a big fan. Am I am improv snob? Is it bad if I am?

I'll speak a little regarding my thoughts of the program rather than the people. Personally - I think that I got very little out of it. Likely no more than I would have had I spent 16 hours working with Villalobos or some other group. I learned only a few exercises that I hadn't already done. Also, being an experienced improvisor, I found myself getting far less individual attention than others. You don't learn much when the only notes you receive are "good job." I was hoping and expecting that Steve would be able to give me notes to a higher level in a way that wouldn't confuse the new peeps. This rarely occurred. My notes were largely non-existent until the final 10-minute one-on-one evaluation at the end of class. I learned two things from my evaluation: 1) that I am very good with using my face (something I was unaware of) and I would do well to have some of that seep into the rest of my body 2) he suggested starting a character notebook and building off of it.

That's all I get?

I was a little disappointed.

So do I move on to Level III? Do I do it right away or do I wait? Although I didn't feel horribly connected to my current class, they've been praised as really tight - if I wait for a session it could get worse and I'd be joining a pre-existing class that has likely been together for 6 months and will be even more difficult to insert myself into. I didn't get much out of Level II, would I get more out of Level III, IV, or V? I think that if I leave the program it is unlikely that I'll return. It is my understanding that IB does most of their recruiting from the classes. So would I be foregoing possible future involvement with IB by bailing on classes? I seriously look down on the concept of taking classes purely with the intent of getting into the associated troupe. I think that the number one reason for an experienced improvisor to take classes is to learn new things and keep fresh. I think that I enjoy IB's approach, and I'd like to be involved, but I will not be it's whore.

If the choice is between doing improv Monday nights and not doing anything Monday nights, I'd probably continue - but if Mondays became free to me - I could see myself getting involved in other things that could be more enjoyable. Directing? Pet Projects? Actually doing that webpage that has been sitting dormant for 2 months?

I think I'm going to e-mail Steve to get his thoughts.


I've painted the picture as if it were a miserable experience. That isn't true at all. Most of the time I was having fun and laughing with my classmates. Fully engaging myself with my partners and the exercise. I did feel a little detachment at times though. I think that I intimidated some of my classmates.

 

[Gnome]

The Lone Wolf Improvisor

This is a term that I sometimes use to describe a certain aspect of my current improv style. As with any form of self-evaluation - I am very biased and could be completely wrong. I wonder how many people would find that they fit into this mold?

Some characteristics of the Lone Wolf Improvisor:

• Love of playing with strangers.
• A relatively high level of trust for unfamiliar players.
• Less able to commit to truly high-trust situations even with long-time scene partners (poorly worded - but hopefully you understand).
• A high level of self-confidence.
• Always seeking new practice / performance venues.
• Supports their partner by helping themselves first.
• More likely to use non-neutral characters.
• Possibly a little jaded and cynical - particularly regarding improvisors in the early "puppy love" stage of improv.

Some causes of Lone Wolf Syndrome:

• Changing troupes / practice groups / classes on a regular basis.
• Regularly playing with people below their level.
• Regularly playing with people with drastically different and non-complimentary improv goals.

Erm - I don't have much more to say. I think that being a lone wolf has some very positive aspects to it. Though I do question if it inhibits really deep connections that form within ensembles.

I don't think that it is as bad as it sounds. I want to see people do well, to inspire, and to be inspired. I also know that just because a player is inexperienced doesn't mean they can't blow you away with improv genius.

I've been told that I am a great support player and fun to be onstage with.


In other news. I probably will go on to take Level III at IB. Ben and Kristen are hitting the stage tonight with their two-person one-scene show tonight. Tomorrow night Two And Change will be playing for The Tribe. I'm excited about this. Job scenario is still on the rocks but it looks like I'll be able to avoid unemployment for at least another couple months.

 

[Gnome]

Corrections, Clarifications, and Updates

Time for another Correction, Clarifications, and Updates post. I didn't like the format last time so I'll try something else. I'm just gonna read previous entries and let it inspire whatever.

I've been inclined to write stuff that is less improv related. I've been sort of restraining myself as I want this journal to continue to be about improv - rather than about an improvisor. This could change in the future?
--

I know that I've mentioned that Ben is leaving for LA in under two weeks. He's cool and I'll miss him, but I think it is awesome that he's just headed out there with no concrete plans. He's crashing with his brother for a bit, taking classes with IO West, looking for a job, and possibly doing a cool computer training program thing. I've always said that I wanted to live out west but lack the drive to drop everything and go. I had my post about living in the moment and being a rolling stone. I'm actually a stationary stone that is carefully balanced and could roll. Ben is a rolling stone. Rock on.
--

I haven't been doing YAP nearly as often. Between travel and other stuff I'm just not around too much. It is also waning in attendance - and workshops aren't much fun with less than five people. I tend to go if nothing else is going on though.
--

I'm committed. I MUST do this or a lot of people that I respect will know that I didn't follow through.

Okay - so I haven't done crap on the Massachusetts Improv Webpage. I had such high hopes. I think it would be useful. But instead I've been spending my free time dicking around on computer games. I don't foresee myself becoming inspired to continue anytime soon unfortunately :/ . I really thought I was going to have the drive to do this thing.
--

Starship Imagination's shows have been much more entertaining in the past couple weeks. I think that they're varying up the games more, which is nice.
--

I need to decide if I want to fly down to Atlanta this fall. Since I just spent three weekends down there I don't have an immense need to visit. However, two cool things are happening in the coming months. In September Georgia Tech is hosting the Black Box Improv Festival. They're actually getting a whole lot of groups involved. DSI is sending some people, just about every improv troupe in ATL is somehow involved, along with like 15-20 college troupes from all over the southeast. It would be a fun weekend.

Also, in November LTT! is having their tenth improvathon, which I'd like to hit up. I pulled the full 26 hours for the first eight but missed the last one.

The BBIF would be a fun way to interact with a lot of different people that I haven't met. Improvathon X would be a lot more of an intimate situation with mostly people that I already know and love. Pros and cons to each. If I go at all, I suspect it'll be for I-thon 10. More intimate. More time between visits.
--

I want to talk a bit more about the rise and fall of Two And Change, the revitalization of Villalobos, and going abstract. I'll save that for later.