Play! Play! Play!

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Playing with limitations

I'm growing a little bored with Villalobos at this point. The switch from inspired to tired went pretty quickly. I just have trouble keeping things interesting playing the same two characters week after week in rehearsals and shows. The first month or so of a character is okay but after a while my characters stagnate. As I've stated before, I am a better improvisor than I am an actor in this way. Similarly - interacting with the same 15 characters gets old. They cease to surprise you after a while. Most of the characters and relationships are static so you get a lot of, "Oh, it is another scene between THESE two characters." Ick. About a month ago two new players joined the troupe, and they've put some new energy into things but I'm having some trouble locking into it. Perhaps I just need to create a new character every couple weeks and retire my older ones?

I think that I became aware of my lack of satisfaction with Villalobos by doing Two And Change. In Two And Change we could do whatever the hell we wanted. A very loose structure. Just trust and play between three players.

It was pointed out that Two And Change had a tendency to turn very abstract. "Playing it real" - but in an alternate reality. I think that I contributed to this tendency more than the other two. Playing abstract is definitely something that I enjoy doing in improv - the ability to do things that aren't realistic in the slightest. Fuck physics. Most improv that I see takes place with Americans in the present day. While that makes up the majority of my scenework too - I think it can be limiting. However, I think that I was overcompensating during TAC for the limitations on play in Villalobos.

I think that playing with many limitations forces me to exercise improv muscles that I might otherwise ignore, but I find playing with minimal limitations is usually more enjoyable for me.

 

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Traveling to Improv / Frontier Improv

My phone interview went better than I thought. They're flying me out to Flagstaff Tuesday for a face-to-face. Nice.

When I first got news of the phone interview one of the first things I did was look up improv in Flagstaff. Came up COMPLETELY empty. Not even any old dead links of disbanded troupes. Perhaps there is an isolationist troupe out there with no web-presence, but something tells me that if I go to Flagstaff I'll have to make my own improv opportunities. That both excites and scares me.

When I told Ben I had a second interview he brought up [paraphrased], "I find it funny that you have reservations about working at a job an hour's drive from Boston, yet you're willing to go somewhere where improv doesn't exist." I'll fully admit that it is a strange little paradox.

I think the difference is that I could create improv in Flagstaff. It is a decent sized tourist city. I have no doubt that it could support an improv troupe. Framingham, MA - on the other hand - can't. It is too close to a real city for real-city things to exist there. Flagstaff is far enough removed from Phoenix that it can't leech off of its cultural offerings. If I do start something, I certainly won't have an hour commute to my own deal. I just hope that I'm a strong enough improvisor that I can foster a healthy environment for teaching others to play with me. I can play with anyone, but I'd prefer to play with people at my level or higher. People that surprise and amaze me. If it is up to me to create an improv scene it is likely that I will be the best improvisor for a while until I can train people. Dan and Sarah of GI taught me that excellent improvisors can be trained in a matter of a few months. Other good news is that I'm already in with the Phoenix folks, which is only two hours away. LA is also a possible weekend trip away, though I wouldn't want to do it very often.

It would also serve as a test of how interested in this improv thing am I? I've always said that although it is currently my passion, it is feasible that I could develop other passions to take its place. I haven't been doing much outdoorsy type stuff - being out there could revive that.

And of course one can't deny that the climate of Flagstaff is leaps and bounds above the climate of MA.

I'm kinda jumping the gun here - but I reserve the right to jump any guns I see fit in my own journal. If I'm offered something - I will take it.

 

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My trip to Flagstaff ( / My trip to Group Mind)

This post will likely discuss improv only peripherally. Though I'm sure that if you're creative enough you could replace all instances of "Flagstaff" with "Group Mind" and make it make sense in some symbolic way. This new way of thinking might even bring about an epiphany for you? I make no guarantees.

So I set my four alarms for 3-3:30 AM Tuesday morning. Showered, shaved, finalized packing. Drove 40 minutes into Boston for my 6:02 AM flight. No troubles encountered. In Detroit the plane had technical problems which held us for almost two hours. I had a 1.5 hour safety cushion. Crap. I'm going to be late. I alert the HR rep. I fear ( / celebrate) that I may have to spend an extra day in Arizona. The fear was more that they might be pissy for me making it a hassle despite it not being my fault. I land in Phoenix at around noon, get my rental car, and book it for Flagstaff (approximately 120 miles away). The speed limit most of the way is 75 mph, but for some reason the highway patrol was serving and protecting a large number of people along that stretch. The desperate desire to not be pulled over led me to travel AT the speed limit for the entire trip. Tis a very pleasant drive - but it would have been more pleasant if I wasn't fretting over the conflicting desire to go fast to minimize my tardiness and my desire to go slow to minimize the likelihood of meeting Arizona's finest face-to-face.

A few things about Flagstaff that I learned through the power of google:
Population: 60,000
Enrollment at Northern Arizona University: ~20,000
Elevation: 7000 ft
Average annual days of sunshine: 288
Average annual snowfall: 85-110 inches depending on the source
Median age: 26
Political leanings: 36% Democrat, 28% Republican, 2% Libertarian + Green, 33% Independent/Other.

It is much smaller than I had anticipated, but I think I dig it.

Anyhow, I arrive about 10 minutes late. No hard feelings. I have 5 o'clock shadow thing going at 2 PM since I had last shaved at about 1 AM Arizona Time. The interview goes quite well. They had me in mind for one particular position, but they're doing a lot of hiring and several groups saw me so I might get picked up for something else. I'd give it a 50% chance or better that I get something. After two hours I depart - drive down historic route 66 from one end of Flagstaff to the other (in under 15 minutes during "rush" hour), grab a quick bite, and make haste to Phoenix for a 7 PM rehearsal / reunion with Apollo 12.

It was good to see people again after 9 months. Apparently my announced visit pulled some people out of the woodwork that hadn't been showing up lately. That's cool. Makes me feel loved. I was hardly at my best, but I had fun. Latched back onto my habit of hugging the back-line. Played almost entirely low-status. Whatever - I had fun anyhow.

Had I been around longer I would have looked up some of my other Phoenix friends from Jester'Z and work and such. Whatever.

After rehearsal we bullshit around a bit and then I depart. Arrive at my hotel around 10 PM. I've been up for 22 hours at this point. Watch stupid TV for a bit, set my alarm / wake-up call for ~4:45 to catch my 6:40 AM flight back to Minneapolis and then Boston. As the plane lands in Boston at 5 PM I realize that Don Schuerman, of ImprovBoston Mainstage, was sitting three rows behind me. We greet and go our separate ways.

I get my car out of ye ole' econo-lot ($32 for ~32 hours), and drive to MIT for Villalobos rehearsal. I'm there about 1.5 hours early and am tired. Margaret (of Sister Brother) shows up 'cause she'd doing a tap routine with Kristen (of Two And Change) for the variety show. She wants a stretch partner so I stretch with her. Kristen shows up and I get pulled into doing tech cues for them on Friday night. The twenty minutes prior to Villalobos rehearsal are spent teaching Craig to tap dance. I apparently was picking it up pretty quickly. I have little feet (men's size 7).

Villalobos rehearsal where I was not feeling into it. Villalobos is scheduled to perform every Wednesday this month. This should be good news.

Rehearsal ends, I grab a beer with the group and head home. Since 6 AM the previous day I have averaged over 100 mph.

Sleep.

 

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Making new discoveries in Villalobos

Thursday night I had a particularly enjoyable show with Villalobos. There were two really positive forces for me, and both of them had to do with discovering new relationships between characters:

1) My Doc character has recently picked up a mother - she made her first appearance onstage. The presence of the mother completely transforms Doc and gives him greater dimension. I had interacted with her in rehearsal a little, but never in the company of others. Trying to keep up a tough exterior while babying your bedridden mother that refuses to stay in bed can lead to some interesting moments.

2) I spent most of the show as a new character I've done a few times in rehearsals but never a show (Linda or Lydia or something like that). She is very heavily associated with one particular character. While I find this a fun relationship the true joy came from being thrust into scenes with characters whom she's never been with. This put me into a place where all I could really do is react honestly to the situation in which I was presented. One such honest reaction led to a huge outburst of laughter that I completely wasn't expecting. I love those moments when they come.

So I guess both sparks of enjoyment for me came about through making discoveries. Learning new things about my characters and how they relate to their surroundings. I wonder how many times I can milk discovery out of being embarrassed by Doc's mother before it becomes stale and rehearsed? I wonder how much Linda has in her outside of her primary obsession.

I hate that we do run-throughs so often. We usually have one or two run-throughs each rehearsal. Then on performance nights we always do one run-through plus the actual show. For me this just speeds up the boredom factor and lowers my quality and enjoyment. To add to this, Villalobos is scheduled to perform every Thursday this month.


In related news, The Sosny's have stopped doing Uncanny Valley. For those of you not "in the know," The Sosny's are another Tribe sub-ensemble. They've been performing for about as long as Villalobos. Their first couple shows were montages but during rehearsals they were putting together a soap-opera-esque show called Uncanny Valley. I found them much more dynamic than Villalobos. Things actually changed from episode to episode. They also came off much more polished. They had musical accompaniment, minor character-props, a kick-ass webpage, and they always had one of the final beats predetermined (things like, we know that this character will end up dead - it will climax with a birth - it will end with characters singing a well-known song). I'm sort of resistant to the pre-scripting of anything but I can't deny the humor they bring. I was a little disappointed that toothbrush, nor anything relating to toothbrush was never used in their show "inspired" by "toothbrush." If I didn't know it was improvised I would have my doubts. Anyhow - after about eight-ten shows they're retiring Uncanny Valley and going to continue to work as a group, but using a different format. They ended with a very solid show climaxing with the cast singing "The Circle of Life." That is a nice way to end things.

So the end of Uncanny Valley means that Villalobos is back to being the only reoccurring character game in town. I don't know the repercussions of this.

 

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Dreams / other housekeeping

I think that I want my improv to imitate my dreams. I don't know how feasible that would be. I also don't know how entertaining that would be for an audience.


My former troupe, Let's Try This!, is hosting the Black Box Improv Festival this weekend at Georgia Tech. I haven't been involved whatsoever outside of answering a few questions about my previous festival experiences. I'm quite impressed with what they've put together. Obviously I'd love to visit for the weekend, but that isn't happening.

I eagerly await news from Flagstaff. The idea has firmly implanted itself into my brain and doesn't let me think of much else. Damn you! They said to call them if I haven't heard back by next Tuesday. The wait is killing me and I'm not normally the kind of person that gets sucked into such things.

I've got close family living in West Palm Beach, FL. I haven't heard damage reports yet. None of my family was in Florida during the hurricane.

 

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The function of format?

What is the function / purpose of format?

The way I see it (after a full 30 seconds of reflection), there are three primary functions of format.

1. To provide a safety net in the form of structure. If you don't know where to go next, look to the format to dictate this. Gives you one less thing you have to worry about.
2. To place new challenges. If you have a particular weak spot, you can build a format that emphasizes it. It can also stretch you in ways that wouldn't naturally come out in traditional scene work. If an improvisor (or audience) is finding the current format to be redundant, trying out a new format can help keep things fresh.
3. To differentiate between troupes and past/present. It is a marketing tool. "How are you different than Troup X?" "Troup X does format Delta, we do format Psi." "Oh, Psi sounds cool."

I wrote the above with long form in mind, but it also seems to apply to short form with just a few modifications.

Most people that I interact with in the improv community seem to put a large stress on format. I guess my dilemma is that I tend to think of format as a pretty package. For me, quality scenes are at the core, how the quality scenes tie together into a 40 minute show are secondary. Crappy scenes tied together in a techically "complete" story . . . not so much. This is not to say that I don't enjoy playing and watching new formats and observing the growth of relationships - I just think that a lot of troupes put an overemphasis on format - specifically on storytelling - and even more specifically on forced reincorporation for the sake of a future collision of scenes.

Arg! This is where I get stumped. Format feels like and advanced aspect of improv. Once someone has their basics down, format can help showcase their scenework talents in new and different ways leading to greater audience delight. But beginner improvisors also need format for different reasons - to help inform them of what to do next - to build confidence that "so long as I do these five things, everything should work out fine." I guess my struggle comes in when people perform formats so far beyond their current abilities that it interrupts their flow. I have seen and done a great many bad Harolds. It is a very easy format to do, but quite difficult to do well. Most bad Harolds I've observed have turned bad because of the urgent need to reincorporate. This leads to crappy, forced reincorporation which interrupts the flow of the scene and then everything turns to poo. Nobody likes poo, even if it looks like Michelangelo's David on the outside.

I had a pretty good week improvwise and I sat down today to write an optimistic journal entry about love and embracing the warmth that is improv. That didn't quite happen. Perhaps if I'd prepared an outline I could have kept on track. !!!


Oh wait - I remember where I was going (I'll make this quick). I want to put together a one-time show at the Cantab that is merely an open longform performed by a bunch of people that I've seen in the Boston improv scene that I like, but that don't normally work together. One workshop - one show. A jam with quality control. No gimmick or twist. For purely selfish reasons I just want to see what happens when I mix together all of my favorite people for 25 minutes in front of an audience. I think that would be sweet! There. There's the improv lovin'. I knew it was in here somewhere.

 

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Continuing the town?

At rehearsal this week a troupemate suggested doing a "normal" show. I immediately voiced my agreement. Others seemed supportive of the idea of doing something else, but some discussions at the show last night have hinted that many people may prefer to continue with what we're doing. It is difficult to gage.

The director agreed that we could at least try to spice things up a bit. We're considering doing a couple shows where we go in with a major premise. Perhaps Villalobos go on a road trip. Or Villalobos puts on a play. Or Villalobos perform short-form improv. Or Villalobosians play each other's characters. Etc.

One stumbling block is that the show is doing well right now. When we first started we were fairly hit-or-miss but for the last month our shows have been pretty consistently good. I credit this largely to our two new members which have brought a lot of talent, energy, and interesting relationships to play off of. Anyhow - the director is reluctant to throw away something that is currently working. I question if our recent successes have been due to a proper development of the format or a maturation between individual players that would follow us into whatever format we do.

We had four players missing at rehearsal so we didn't exactly have quorum to be making any major decisions like that. Discussion was tabled for next week. I will do whatever the majority of people want to do - but I would be much happier if we put the town on a high shelf.

In the show last night I found myself making a lot of choices that were problematic within the form (I endowed a long-established character as a "Good Will Hunting" style child prodigy and then formed a lynch mob against him climaxing by putting a pitchfork into his grandmother (don't worry - she's okay - I am a doctor)). I think heightening and taking risks is more difficult to do in this format since the repercussions could affect the entire ensemble for months.


I was supposed to have heard back regarding the Flagstaff job by Tuesday. I have left a voicemail and made several calls but haven't been able to make contact. I have lost a lot of my original optimism.

 

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YARRRR fer drunken character work!

Happy International Talk Like A Pirate Day!

Of me many voyages few have brought such pleasure to me face as those containing drunken character work with a crew of the improvizin' persuasion. Craig was unavailable but Black Craigers pillaged and plundered many a barrel of rum on the eve of today. Once the grog began flowin' we found our vessel securely grounded in the sandbar of character. From thence forth the map to the buried treasure was clear and became as familiar as the smell of sea water. Alas, as the strength of the wind dwindled and the crew was making their way to their individual bunks the Queen's Royal Boston Fleet tracked us down, boarded our vessel, and lowered our jolly roger on account of us firing our cannons too loud. Curses!


As I was in port yesterday I received word that my abilities were not desired upon the vessel Flagstaff. Perhaps it twas fer the best as it be landlocked from the sea of improv. At least I now have these fine sour grapes to fend off the onset of scurvy.

 

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Update of the World of Craig

Hello Mr. Journal. I've been ignoring you. Deal.

Time for a few trite comments to bring you up to speed.

My attitude towards the Villalobos town has become, "fuck it - it is play time," this has led to more risk taking and probably the best improv that I've done with the group. Last week I played two of my characters in the same scene - which is something I've been wanting to try for a while.

Our show last week was extremely poorly attended (under 10 general public, waining as the night went on). Villalobos played fourth. We sat in the audience and cheered hard for the first two groups, then had to go out to warm up. A great many of the improvisors that performed first and second did not show us the same courtesy which was more than a little annoying to be honest. Much of the cast wrote the show off and half-assed it (this seemed to be true for all four shows) - I partied like a rock star. Fuck your lack of applause - I WILL DEFY YOU! I think I was the only one that left the stage feeling good - partly because I was able to prepare myself to not judge the work by the laughter with such a small crowd. I was oblivious to the audience most of the show. I WILL NOT LET YOU MAKE ME SUCK!

I visited Acadia National Park this weekend with my parents. It is about a six hour drive. Friggin' beautiful place. While my mother was planning for the weekend and reading about ranger hikes and carriage rides and such she came across Improv Acadia. She's interested in learning more about improv since it is so important to me so we decided to catch a show (it is too dark to see the beautiful views at night anyways). I went expecting amateur night but was pleasantly surprised. Apparently it was a rotating seasonal cast of chicago improvisors (mostly with at least 10 years experience) that spent the summer up in Maine hangin' out and doing the improv thing at night. They started with short form. Intermission. Long shortform game (Audience Nightmare) and end with longform. My mother LOVED audience nightmare. Good. I have identified what aspect of improv my mother enjoys. That is good to know.

At Villalobos rehearsal the five of us that were present (plus director) discussed what we'd like to do. Shaine talked with Neraj since last Thursday and learned a few things. There is no shuffle in the immediate future. There are auditions in two weeks that may lead to either a new group or a growth of current groups. With this in mind we decided (all six of us) to put the town on the shelf for a while. We haven't decided what format we want to do - but we'll likely try out several different ones and if we find something we like we'll stick with it for a while. Shaine was against doing free-form since two of the other groups do essentially free-form (or at least what the audience would perceive as free-form) and for variety's sake we felt a need to do some form of gimicked / formatted show. Fair enough. I can dig that. Since we were supposed to come to rehearsal with some format ideas in mind I spent a while coming up with a list of ideas this afternoon. The six of us (yes - emphasizing the small number of peeps present is intentional) decided that the first one to try out is a Choose Your Own Adventure dealio. In the two practice runs in turned very random very quickly - which got me thinking about something else, which I don't want to get into right now because it is somewhat involved (IMPROV BLUEBALLS FOR YOU!). We're going to do the town tomorrow night since . . . only five players were there to practice something else.

The Lowell Comedy Festival is coming up in November. I would like to do something but am too lazy to put something together. The longer I wait the less likely I am to do something. Hence - I will do nothing.

Let's Try This!'s Improvathon is coming up the same weekend as the Lowell Comedy Festival. It is in Atlanta. I am in Massachusetts. This poses a problem.

Ben is kicking my IM ass to actually do something. More specific - to create my group that I've been pussying over. Keep needling me Ben. I wish I didn't need it. His move to LA went fairly well. He's at Harold Night as I type.

This is my update. I stand by what it says at least 30%.

 

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I propose completely random improv

Seriously. Random is hot in comedy right now. Just look at shows like Aqua Team Hunger Force, Sealab, or Family Guy. These are shows that almost all of my well-educated, 18-30 year old friends dig. What would an improv ensemble look like as they went from random to randomer to randomest. People think moderately random is cool - I propose that this is where a decent amount of improv lives. If you get too random it just gets stupid. But if you go a few further steps into random it becomes hilariously retarded. This is right in line with the rule of three vs rule of twenty mentality. The players would have to be truly committed to their random. Half ass random won't cut it. I wouldn't want to build a long-running troupe or training program around it - but I think it could make for a fun experiment? Perhaps just pepper moments of extreme random into an otherwise straight set. At least something that will stick out as different among a sea of storytelling with equal pacing.


I taught YAP this week since Joy is in France. The experience didn't fulfill all of my expectations but it was a positive one that I learned from and I believe I helped the attendees. It dealt mostly with mirroring, emotional reactions, and finished with some scene-coaching.

 

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Dance! Dance Mother Fucker! Dance!

Holy crap, I haven't danced like that for a while. Last Thursday after the Tribe show the Reaganomics (a local 80s cover band) was playing upstairs at the Cantab. I just picked a song and let it carry me away (I don't even remember which song it was - some 80's power ballad or whatnot). I just kinda picked up the emotion and energy or the room/music and let it move me. This song was sad, but I've done this before with angry and happy music before too (and obviously each individual song will yield their own unique results). It is so freeing to just emote so powerfully. Just kinda interpretive dance type stuff.

Anyhow. That is how I like to dance. Obviously it doesn’t work for most situations because a) you need a lot of space, b) it is difficult to find a dance partner for that kind of dancing, c) you'll get some strange looks, d) the floors of most spaces are utterly disgusting, e) you can only do about one song and then need to rest for a while. I remember the first time I went to a Goth dance club. Twas amazing. I walked in and there was one woman on the dance floor just completely rocking out by herself, for herself. I joined her for a while (well - we shared space and inspiration - we didn't exactly dance together though). I've seen similar raw passion when the little ska boys and girls get their skank on. Arms flailing. Bodies twisting. That is how I like to dance.

If this doesn't have anything to do with how you improvise then I apologize for wasting your time - but it has everything to do with how I improvise so I felt it relevant.


In other news: Villalobos performed our final town show last week. We didn't want to do any special "end of an era" show since two of our original core people couldn't be there - so we just did a straight-up town show like normal. We're taking three weeks off to work out some kinks in our Choose Your Own Adventure form. The Tribe had auditions on Sunday which I helped with. Had a good talk with Joy about some of her thoughts on YAP that helped me identify some of the things that I'd like to do with improv. It has been a good week.

 

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Changing of the Improv Guards

Villalobos is now composed of ten players, five of which are new as of last night.

I'm excited about the new people. I remember enjoying two of them from auditions. One was a well-loved member of a previous Tribe ensemble and is getting back into things. The other two also seemed fun last night - of course even if I didn't like somebody I'd cordially say something like, "they seemed fun," if posting on a public forum .

This is a major transition period. 50% of the troupe is new. That can't not affect the vibe. Calvin has also upgraded from a regular player to being the assistant director. I'm guessing this is grooming him to become the director when Shaine quits to plan her wedding. I'm looking forward to seeing what he has in mind. I'm not entirely sure what his plan is, but I think it'll make me happy.

We were planning on a three week hiatus to work out a new format and help our new peeps gel, but since we've had two rehearsals called off (one for auditions, one for a Sox-Yankees game), and the Thursday Tribe shows are apparently taking December off - we're going to end up with nearly a 2.5 month period with only one or two shows. After doing so many shows in August / September I am sorta going through withdrawal. I also like the idea of playing with no pressure to perform though - especially since we need to rediscover our new group image with all the new peeps.

Up until now our Villalobos lovin' has been shown through faux-hatred and disdain. Who knows if this will continue?

I'm not entirely sure why, but I had so much fun at rehearsal last night. I'm sure it has to do with: 1) excitement of new people being there, 2) we've had the last two weeks off, 3) the valiant return of Anna, 4) we just did silly ice-breaker type games rather than scenes.

I enjoy silly ice-breaker type games.

Afterwards four of us went out and watched the final game of a historic world series.

Tonight The Tribe is having a Halloween themed show and the Reaganomics are playing upstairs again. I'm sure it would be fun, but I've been low on sleep all week and have an interview tomorrow morning so I'm sitting this one out.

 

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Festival Improv

Some of the improv that improvisors like the most is stuff that general audiences may not enjoy as much.

I spent last weekend in Atlanta (had business travel in South Carolina the previous week) and watched a few shows from this year's DSI. LTT! was one of the only shortform groups. Towards the end of their set Je77 says something along the lines of, "well, we have a few minutes left so how about we, uh, do a Harold?" [uproar of laughter] And they proceded to do a five minute Harold along the way he would say things like, "uh, time for a group game I think." It was his first time directing a Harold and didn't really know the format that well. Certainly it wasn't overly developed, but it was funny and the fact that they did it was hilarious. Je77 is a great straightman. I'm proud of my peeps for making a mockery of a structure held so dearly by many.

I love that sense of playfulness. Many of the people that I play with in MA seem to be scared of the Harold.

We also watched the Mr. Diplomat and Beatbox shows.


Current job leads: Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Orlando

 

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Solo improv ramblings

First off - I am fascinated by the idea of solo improv. My experience has led me to believe that my best work comes out when I have no time to think whatsoever. Hence my interest in small cast shows and forms where everyone is always onstage. However it is my belief that solo improv is its own beast. In a two person show you're almost always onstage, but you can't plan too far ahead because your partner is still a random factor to inspire you - this keeps you honest and in the moment. I would think that in solo improv you have to provide your own inspirations / random factors. I see it as a situation that DEMANDS "jump, then justify" if you are to stay true to the moment. The alternative to this seems to be to at least develop a mental beat list and get from beat to beat knowing your end destination. I'm sure that I'm not seeing the full picture here, but that scenario doesn't seem very fulfilling. Challenging, yes. Fulfilling, no. I worry that I'd spend too much time watching the map and miss some great opportunities.

Another thing about solo improv is that it seems to lean heavily on structure. I'm sure that it is done, but I've never heard of people say, "I'm just going to go out there and do stuff" regarding a solo improv show. I take that back, I saw one person do it for a few minutes, and I admire his courage, but my lord was is boring to watch him wander around the stage as "a guy on stage that has nothing planned." I digress.

The point is that I've been brainstorming for a format that fits my style of play and what I want out of the experience.

Some of my original ideas involved being inspired by music. It is my understanding that many solo shows use music in one form or another frequently as an outside, unplanned inspiration. One thing that would need to be figured out was where to get new music for each show / rehearsal - especially since I'm naturally opposed to music with lyrics for such inspirations. I've recently determined that I could use foreign music since it is essentially meaningless gibberish to me, but gives a bit of a perspective. I certainly haven't given up on this idea, but I'm not actively pursuing it either. There is still a lot of development required.

Another group of ideas loosely involved a random timer. I would get whatever inputs I desired and do a long series of scenes probably with minor reincorporation but nothing forced. Each scene would be from 10 seconds to 4 minutes long (much more short scenes than long) and would be randomly timed so I'd have no idea how much time the scene I was about to start was. The purpose of this being to work on my scene initiations and how to create a scene out of nothing. It was at this point that I realized I'd created a solo exercise rather than a show performance piece. Not to say it can't be both, but I shelved this idea for a while.

I like my most recent format, which is much more strict, but I think could be really interesting for the audience as well as myself. As with all things improv, I'm sure somebody has done something similar. The basic idea is to treat the audience as a single character for the entire show and I would play characters that he/she interacts with. My current form is thus: Get a few suggestions for inspiration. Scene paint the main character. Endow the audience as the character. Do a series of scenes showing "a day in the life" treating the audience as the title character and I assume unheard dialogue (there could be three or four person scenes where I would play all of them except the title character. Start with waking up, end with either going to bed or death. Possibly a journal entry or eulogy to bookend the show. One thing which I've considered to prevent me from script-writing is for three or so audience members to write down a line of dialogue (unseen by me) and give them to other audience members to say at random during the show as if the title character spoke the words. Seems like a lot of set-up with minimal payoff until I can streamline it. My first concern is that I don't have a lot of experience with assuming unspoken dialogue - I would need to work on this. Also, since I'd be playing to a character that I can't physically touch it could be limiting - how could I convey that I'm sneaking up on a character? I'm sure this would work itself out and actually could be a cool showcase of my funky physical abilities? Another concern is the repeatability. Seems that it could be repetitive to do many shows within the tight constraints. In theory there are endless possibilities, it is just a concern. Anyhow. I more or less wanted to get this down on record. Writing about it helps to develop the ideas. I have no idea if/when I might actually begin working on - much less performing - any of these so feel free to be inspired / steal them.

Coo.


Current job leads:
Atlanta, Minneapolis, Chicago (2)

 

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Fun observation

It is fun to see that if you stop trying to do all the things that you're trying to do - they might just happen on their own.

A favorite quote of mine from a few years ago: "My subconscious is so cool! I want to be just like it when I grow up!"

 

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Villalobos Presents: Obituary

Rehearsal last night was fun. We've been off for two weeks so everyone was pumped to go go go! Plus, since we picked up new people we've been playing a bunch of "get-to-know-you" type games - which I enjoy - but I think we were all ready to do some scenes. I felt myself break through some personal barriers, which was awesome.

Shaine and Calvin got together over the break and discussed some of their thoughts so they came into rehearsal with a format proposal. They had deemed that the "choose your own adventure" concept was troublesome and tossed it out. I think it was a little impatient to deem that something doesn't work after just a few trials but I wasn't overly attached to it so whatever.

The new concept is based off of the idea of an Obituary. They said that it was inspired off of a proposal I threw out a few months ago during a brainstorming session - it has changed a lot since then - I think largely for the better.

We still have a lot of figure out - but our idea for now: We get a name, gender, something about the death (where / how / witnesses / etc), and something about their life (hobbies / occupation / or random trivia). The opening is done similar to the game cocktail party only it is a funeral setting. We use these dialogues for massive exposition and exploration which in effect serves the same as a session of word association or whatnot. Each pair only goes once or twice. Then the bulk of the show is just a random collage of scenes about the lives that the person touched. There are time jumps all over the place (both before and after the death) and the goal is NOT storytelling (yay!). We haven't decided how much we want a player to portray the dead person. I think our goal is to be able to paint a picture of his/her life without ever actually showing him/her. Experimentation will determine if that remains a goal - but for now anything goes. We haven't decided how we want to end it but we do want some form of closure. Some proposals are the reading of the obituary or the dead person giving a brief monologue from the perspective of "past the grave."

Last night's run through went really well. I ended up playing the dead guy - who was a complete badass - an invincible thrill seeker that ended up getting hit by a bus crossing the street. With all the time-jumping you could play some awesome games (since, in some cases, the future is already known, "yeah bro, NOTHING could stop me from meeting you for dinner").

It sounds like the goal of the form is to be very free and open, which I dig - but we also needed something to make us different from Sister Brother which does open freeform - in this case the opening/closing and unifying focus of the dead person. In truth I was a little skeptical when they were first describing it but it ended up playing great in practice.

Anyhow. Rehearsal as normal next week. I believe they plan to rehearse for the two Wednesdays during the holidays for those that are around and available. Unfortunately I think I'm flying to Denver the 22nd and flying back the 30th so I'll miss them both. Whether we start performing in the beginning of January or wait a few more weeks may be determined by how well those rehearsals go. After two months off of performing I'm ret to go!

After a bit of a personal slump things have picked up this week.

 

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Picking this year's improv festival

I am trying to decide which non-local comedy festival to go to this year. I'm not currently in a group that wants to travel to perform so it looks like I'll be an audience member for the '05 festival season.

Why do people go to improv festivals?
To see awesome improv you wouldn't normally get to see.
To workshop with awesome instructors you don't normally get to work with.
To meet awesome people with similar interests.
To hang out with awesome people that you've met before but don't see often.
To bond with troupe mates.
As an excuse to not be home.
To have stories to tell.
So that you can be "in" on some of the happenings that are remembered and retold for years.
To network and be seen.
Because you have some non-improv related reason to visit the city and you could kill two birds with one stone.
Why not?

So my front runners for the 2005 festival season (in no particular order)

1. Chicago Improv Festival. This was the first major festival I went to. It was a magical weekend. It is obviously the main event of the improv year. This is cool in that it is most likely to draw the most people, best acts, and best instructors. Downsides. I've done it. Certainly things are different from year to year - but if there are other opportunities to see good shows with good people in other cities I tend to lean towards playing the field. Also, right now CIF is a holy shrine to me - I fear that nothing could fulfill my memory of this event. I know I shouldn't have expectations but you know how that is. Another minor plus is a chance to perform a small set during the festival.

2. Dirty South Improv Festival. The two big forces pulling me to this festival are that: 1) LTT! (my college troupe) will be going this year, 2) it is an region that I'm interested in moving to and would like to meet the members of what I understand is a healthy improv scene. It is smaller than CIF which has its merits. I also understand it to be a largely college event which means there is less experience on-stage, but sometimes more playfulness. Some good instructors will be there.

3. Phoenix Improv Festival. In honesty I think this is my least likely choice. I lived there briefly and played with some people from there. It was an awesome time. Although it is growing and they're likely be a few badass troupes and instructors that travel for the festival - there will be fewer improvisers at this festival than any of the others I'm considering. This is a bit of a plus in that the gatherings will likely be more intimate and you'll get to know a few improvisers very well as opposed to a lot of improvisers on the surface. But the downside is that I'd be less likely to run into very many of the people I met at CIF or DCM or that I know on yesand or IRC which is something that excites me. It is also the furthest away of all the festivals - in reality it would only add a few hours of travel each way, but in my head it seems like more.

4. Miami Improv Festival. When I made a similar list a few days ago I didn't include this but then I saw the list of troupes that would be playing. It looks like a list about as powerful as CIF with plenty of shows and instructors to choose from. It is being held in Florida in February which is a plus because it breaks up the Massachusetts winter (the primary reason it trumps TIF - which I understand to be at a similar level in regards to improviser draw) and is the first major festival of the calendar year. I'm all about immediate gratification especially since I'm still in limbo job-wise.

In truth - I'm expecting it to be CIF again but we'll see how I'm feeling when it comes time to actually make these decisions.


Current job leads: Chicago (2), Denver, Framingham (MA), and Minneapolis.

 

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Happy New Year!

Last week's rehearsal was AWESOME! I found a nice sense of play and spontaneity early and kept it going all night. Between discussions of "snatch edits" coupled with "self edits" and the proposed new troupe name Vagina Theft (or V-Theft for short), twas much merriment for all. Jesus needs to be born more often if this is the result!


Had a good talk with Calvin New Year's Eve. Discussed our thoughts on Villalobos and improv in general. We agreed on a lot of points and disagreed on a few. I think that my unmet desire to direct is manifesting itself in a tendency to find fault in other directors. If nothing else our conversation helped me to appreciate the directors more.


Talking improv theory at a New Year's party. I am SO cool!

 

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Craig and Stand-up

A bunch has happened since my last entry. Villalobos had their first performance since early October. I had my first class of level III from ImprovBoston. I've been sick as a dog. And I performed stand-up for the second time ever. I want to focus on my thoughts on stand-up for this post.

First off, I have done stand-up once before. It was about three years ago for my employer's "co-op / intern talent show." Yes. Anyhow - I wrote the material about 4 hours before performing it, never rehearsed it, and the performance was pretty god-awful. It never would have flown in a bar but since the audience wanted me to do well they tolerated a lot of crap with a few decent jokes mixed in. I was proud of myself for having taken this step into the unknown. That doesn't mean that I ever wanted to subject myself to that situation again though.

For 2 years my stand-up career was on hold. I'd occasionally think, "hey, I should keep a comedy notebook and write that down!" but never put any more effort into it than that.

When I took part in Empty Set I started keeping a comedy notebook. It was mostly for sketches, but I find that most humor that is presented as sketches could also be presented as stand-up and vice-versa. With the end of Empty Set I put this comedy notebook away.

About 4 months ago The Tribe started doing their variety showdown. Those of you that have been following this journal know that I've been seeking a greater acceptance into The Tribe's inner workings. I wanted to do something for it but never knew what to do. Stand-up somehow felt like an uncreative cop-out. Most of The Tribe's comedy acts are done with a heavy character slant and I wanted to present stand-up very neutrally. This may be a case of me misunderstanding "truth in comedy" but if I'm telling true stories of my past I want to speak as me, not as some goofy-voiced slap-sticky version of me. Anyhow - I picked back up my Empty Set comedy notebook and started adding page after page of material. One line might just say "something with pilots" while another will have a detailed situation description with specific punch lines.

I probably have about a half-hour of material but the vast majority of it is unrefined. I kept telling myself I'd put together an act but in my non-committal way I kept putting it off. Then last week Mamta e-mailed The Tribe looking for another submission for Friday's show. I volunteered for the spot. Sink or swim time, Mr. Craig.

So over the course of three days I reviewed my comedy notebook and came up with a theme and plan of attack. Some specifically worded jokes, but mostly going off of a beat list. In truth most of this was done in the two hours prior to the show. The show was titled "Keeping Up Appearances" and dealt with my insecure middle school years and things that people do in the name of formality and appearances.

I was third of seven acts (all of which followed a 45 minute long form). The first act was a stand-up that I didn't know that wasn't very good. Second act was a singer with a guitar. Holy crap. I'm up. I grab the mic and begin. I'm nervous as hell and rambling a tad. The first bit doesn't go over too well. The second bit was my best and interestingly enough, was entirely improvised. I knew that I was going to talk about my clothing choice for the night but had no idea where it might go. I received several compliments on this particular section. Then I leap headfirst into the crazy thoughts of Middle-School-Craig. Dark humor. I touched on some taboo issues (school shootings, terminal illness, etc) without properly preparing the audience, nor confidence with my own material, which probably put them on the defensive. Having said my piece and having no sense of time I continue into a more audience friendly subject - get out one of about three jokes of that group and *MUSIC* I'm done. 4 minutes. Put out my final line that I set up at the start of the show, hand the mic back to the host, and walk to the back of the venue. I was rated like a 5 out of 10 or so from the judges.

I felt SO alone for the next few minutes. I had wanted to do well and create humor and I thought that I had simply turned the stage into a masturbatory psychiatrists couch, which was the last thing I wanted.

As the show and the night went on people I knew came over and talked to me. "How do you feel?" "I liked the part where [x]" Your friends are supposed to give you support, so I don't normally take it at face value but they were able to convince me that it went okay and had spots that were quite funny. I also received some compliments from people I didn't know, which helped cement the deal. Neraj said that if I ever wanted to do something again to let him know. A guy from Wrong Kind Of Funny whom I've run into at IB several times (I really should know his name) gave me a few tips and also suggested that the material was fairly good but suggested trying a different character because I came off as slightly "neurotic." I blame my nerves, which hopefully won't be so bad should I give this another go. I think playing as a character would help pad myself from the nervousness of telling my own stories, it just feels less genuine.

I learned a lot. It was a good experience. The feeling as the end music kicked in was horrid but I'm really glad I didn't wuss out.

 

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20 post review

I guess I'm at 80 posts. Time to reflect on the last 19 posts again.

I'll accept that a lot of my lack of satisfaction with the Villalobos town structure was internal. At a certain point I stopped having fun with it so I stopped trying which made things even less fun. I knew this as I was going through the process.

I still wish Villalobos had a higher caliber director, but they're trying hard which I respect and appreciate. Watching what Neraj and Michelle do makes me envious though.

W.L. Gore, the Flagstaff company that flew me out, just ranked #2 in Fortune Magazine's "Top Companies To Work For." Damn I wanted that job. I can pinpoint the exact moment of the interview that I lost their interest. I play that moment over in my head sometimes.

Regarding long-term improv desires (if making a living weren't important). I think that my ideal situation would be to move to Chicago/LA/New York for about 5 years. Learn the art. Work with badasses. And then take that knowledge to some podunk small city and build a scene or supplement a small scene that already exists. I've recently fallen in love with the idea of doing improv in a place like Boise, Flagstaff, Spokane, Albuquerque, Grand Junction, etc. I fully accept that this could change.

For the last several months I've been playing low-status like 75% of the time. I think this trend started with the success of my Villalobos character, Lydia. She was a really fun character to play. I am trying to buck the trend while keeping the ability.

I'm not quite sure how I feel about format and storytelling. I whine about them a lot though. I think most of my bitching about format is actually bitching about bad improv. I would like to reemphasize that nobody likes poo though.

Rehearsal attendance has been up since we got our new members. I've missed the last two rehearsals due to illness so I can't exactly complain . Tonight's rehearsal is cancelled due to weather. I'm in the show tomorrow night and the Tsunami benefit show on Friday.

Talk like a Pirate Day was awesome. They are hosting a Groundhogs Day Party this weekend. I'm pumped! I received a compliment on the sour grapes - scurvy pun. Awesome.

Attendance at Tribe Shows has been huge this month. I figure it is mostly because we took December off, but perhaps we'll keep performing to good crowds in the future? It is a nice thought. When the house is packed the performers can't watch each other which is a downside to having a good crowd.

I think Villalobos' new format lends itself to a lot of callbacks which seem to be what my mother liked best about the Improv Acadia show we attended. My parents will be crossing into Belize on Monday. I've got no idea when they might be back through New England to catch a show?

Lowell Comedy Festival came and went. I didn't even attend.

Wow - if feels like forever ago that I ran the YAP workshop. Nope - just three and a half months. My random improv rant was a bit much. I'm not entirely sure what I'm rebelling against, but there is obviously something that I see in most improv that I don't like. I have recently received a compliment for that workshop that I ran. It made me feel good.

Correction regarding the connection between spaz-dancing and improv. That is how I prefer to improvise - it is not necessarily how I always improvise. That comment was a little smug.

Okay. I'll confess that at first I wasn't thrilled with all of the new Villalobosians. Now I am. I've gotten to know them a little better and am excited to play with them. That is the danger of online journals - you feel a need to be happy-cheery about those you work with since you have everything to lose and nothing to gain by being pissy. I was also trying to convince myself that I was pleased with the new crop. Oh yeah, and my "it is kinda nice to take a break from performing" was bullshit too. I know Ben is jonesing for performing too. He hasn't performed since he left MA.

Let's Try This! (my college troupe) has started doing weekly shows at the student center. I'd like to think that I had something to do with it. LTT! has a leader notebook which has been passed down since '96 or so, and each leader does whatever they want with it. My most emphasized point was the value of having a regular gig. I don't know if that had any bearing on Athan's booking the student center or not. I guess it doesn't matter. Everyone wants to leave a legacy though. I wish I'd used that notebook more.

I'm going to CIF.

New Year's Eve Calvin requested that I send him some good exercises to run and I haven't done so :/.

I was thinking of drastically editing my stand-up journal entry. I don't mind that people read it, but I was a little worried that it could be online for years to come which is a kinda scary thought. I ended up leaving it untouched. I might end up regretting that. I think that once I post this I can't change the last entry.

Okay. There is my review of the last 19 posts. As usual, the biggest thing I noticed was the pretentious ramblings. I think that is the nature of online journals - or at least this online journal. I suspect I'll be back with another post shortly. Enjoy.