Improv: How it should be…
Posted by dandy | Filed under Guest Blog, Shows
The following is a repost of a blog written by iO West teacher and performer Derek Miller. Derek is a gentleman, a scholar and a friend. Enjoy!!
I have never felt compelled to write about specific Improv shows. Perhaps because of it’s ephemeral nature or maybe because I feel like it’s an individual experience, as no two people will ever see it the same. My 17 years of witnessing stand-out shows will never translate to anyone but myself (believe me I’ve tried) and I try to teach with the same prejudice, what you think is funny or topical is REAL… to you– BUT through emotion, can be ciphered to even the most daft audience…
That said, I think the good fight was fought tonight in terms of creating improv from whence we came– perhaps without the improvisers cognizance… which is when this stuff get’s really unapproachable to other art.
Though the members of Trophy Wife (in confidence) shrugged off a “preamble” to DHT’s final show– they quite adeptly managed to put up a biting satire of America’s love affair with media. To open the show they graced the capacity crowd with promotional items from the soon to be released “Dinner With Schmucks.” Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Derek Miller, DHT, iO West, Trophy Wife
Tribes
Posted by Plague | Filed under Big Ups - Other improv teams that rule, Talkin' Shop - We talk improv. Any questions you want discussed can be. Email us @ captain@ussrocknroll.com., The Plague
I couldn’t be more excited about the state of improv as I perceive it to be in my small corner of the world. I feel like we are moving away from the era of “Good Improvisers” and into the era of “Great Teams.”
What does this mean? It means that when you go to shows there’s no showboat, it’s a team effort. It means you love going to shows to experience the unique dynamic of a special group voice. Groups last longer and cultivate a more specific voice together. It feels better to be on one team for 5 to 10 years then it does to be on 5 to 10 teams for one year. In this way we are building stronger tribes. Playing from a place of fear will be less and less of an issue for new improvisers who understand that it’s more important to support and grow with your young team than it is to be funny so that you can get on to a better team later. When we’re always looking forward we are never present. (Also a metaphor for scene work, also a metaphor for life.) It means that it will not be enough to have a team made up of “all stars” if they haven’t taken the time to do the work and build a substantial level of trust. The audience can smell when a group trusts each other. Slowly but surely we are teaching our audiences to hunger for it. Trust is what makes improv a great magic trick.
Tags: DHT, Fiasco, Great Adventure, Gypsy Lou, Seth Godin
