ImprovDr.com

Game Library: “Gibberish Scene”

I have very fond memories of my first coaches and mentors skillfully playing Gibberish Scene during my high school improv days. There are certainly many approaches to this particular frame (you could just do an open scene with a traditional prompt, for example) but I appreciate a more biographical approach that gives the game a little more of a narrative long-form feel. This variant also has the added advantage of making it less likely that improvisers will fall into the trap of Commenting.

The Basics

Gibberish Scene generally launches from a brief audience story rather than a single suggestion, and might be prompted by something along the lines of “Who had a pleasant surprise this week,” “Has anyone faced a challenging decision,” or “Who recently celebrated an accomplishment?” A player (or perhaps the host) briefly interviews the selected audience member, ascertaining the basic CROW elements and a general sense of the story arc. If the audience member is willing and your performance space can accommodate, you can bring the audience speaker to the stage, but it also can work well having them remain seated in the audience. At the completion of the interview, the team announces that it will now replay this day or moment but with a twist. The story is then performed, with players substituting English (or your national language) with that of make-believe Gibberish.

Example

An audience member shares the story of a high-pressure work presentation that nearly went terribly wrong. There was a power outage the night before, and so their alarm didn’t go off. They and their partner both overslept, and so they arrived at work just barely presentable and merely moments before the big pitch. When they connected their laptop, they discovered that the most up-to-date PowerPoint was actually on their home computer and they hadn’t shared it to the Cloud, so had to present without any of the detailed notes, fighting the urge to vomit the whole time. Ultimately, their coworkers (and more importantly, boss) were really receptive to the pitch for a new HR payroll process and didn’t notice the shambles around the event (nor that the speaker ducked out of the room discretely to throw up).

The players thank the audience member and the lights transition. We see two players (A and B) luxuriously and obliviously sleeping, deeply, accompanied by similarly peaceful music.

Our protagonist’s partner (Player B) is the first to open their eyes. They glance over at the alarm clock to check the time. It’s embodied by another player (C) who uses their fingers in a repetitive flashing motion: there has been a power outage. Player B sits up with a startled fright and utters…

Player B: “Ooo dashka…”

Player B rolls over and shakes Player A awake…

Player A: (muttering) “Kabba noonah shakeelie…”

Player B: (with rising panic) “Dahbeela! Dahbeela…!”

The Focus

As the audience is “in the know” in terms of the basic story arc, the focus of this game is not so much on what happens as it is on how the details are creatively portrayed. If you obtain a truly epic story, it is probably advisable to select your moments carefully, perhaps leaping into the middle of the story arc, especially if you are playing under time restraints.

Traps and Tips

1.) A good interview is critical. Conducting a playful and successful audience interview is a particular skill, so it’s worth spending some time on this part of the game. (If you’re not familiar with Playback Theatre, this tradition relies heavily on detailed interviewing and is worth a look for pointers.) You’ll want to place the audience member at ease while also framing and guiding their responses. Be sure to seek specifics about important characters, locations, and story elements. It can be helpful to repeat back each significant choice as the story is offered: this has the dual benefit of making sure you have understood the gist of their narrative while also giving fellow players and audience members a chance to catch anything they may have missed. I’ve also seen players quickly recap the story as a whole prior to the reenactment (often with some judicious editing), which can discreetly offer a perceived starting point or focus. If you’d like, players can then invite the audience member to select who they would like to perform their role from the available actor bank. All of this takes time, so this isn’t a good addition to the show if you’re in a crunch. A good interview will often take as long, if not longer, than the resulting scene.

2.) Talk less, act more. It’s a given that it is much harder to effectively communicate through the language of Gibberish, so accept the invitation to embrace greater physicality and emotionalism in the scene. Talking heads (just standing and uttering fast-paced verbal nonsense at each other) is a particular trap of the scene. Move as much of the story as you can into action. It would ultimately be less successful and theatrical, for example, to merely “talk” about your alarm clock not working than actually seeing this moment unfold on stage. When you are talking remember that, by design, you can no longer expect your language to convey the bulk of your meaning: you have to fully commit to your choices, or they are likely to go by unnoticed or misunderstood. Which brings me to…

3.) Explore effective Gibberish. Suffice it to say that Gibberish deserves a full entry all of its own, so here I will just cover some basics. Gibberish ceases to be effective or interesting when it is not truly operating as a language and devolves into just an array of random sounds. Speaking in Gibberish should obey the same basic rules for speaking in our native tongues: your character has something that they need to communicate in order to achieve something that they want. Make every Gibberish word count. Infuse it with specific meaning. Etch it with sharpened context. Polish it with heart-felt emotion and body language. It’s improv magic when we fully understand the intent and desires of a character’s dialogue even when we don’t understand a single word of what they’re saying. This game has the considerable added advantage that the audience knows the foundational story, so take a breath and paint with detailed strokes rather than unnecessarily broad or panicked approximations.

4.) Explore dynamic staging. Gibberish Scene (and Gibberish scenes in general) also invite a more aggressive and creative physical style of play. It needn’t become pantomimic per se, but generally, scenes will benefit from a more imaginative and patient approach. Invest in each object you grab, imbuing it with interest and dynamism. Honor staging patterns and specifics crafted by your teammates. Challenge yourself to think a little outside the box in terms of what you can be or do. Becoming the alarm clock in the vignette above serves as an example of adding to the scene in a novel and unexpected way. Why not embody inanimate objects or become the manifestation of an energy, mood, or theme? Again, such choices can belong in any of our improv scenes, but they seem particularly well-suited to Gibberish enterprises. (I’ve mentioned Playback Theatre above: it often has a delightfully metaphoric style of play which offers a strong glimpse into the power of a non-literal performance approach.) Short-form shows, in particular, can start to feel very same-ish if every scene is essentially a variant of realism, so why not push the envelope a little?!

In Performance

If you’re familiar with the game Audience Story you’ll see a lot of similarities in the details and, in fact, this version of Gibberish Scene can be used as a handle to shake up the reenactment. I also love nightmare and dream variations or replaying the audience story with a musical or stylistic layover. Gibberish scenes and dynamics are such a good way to discourage commenting if this habit is undermining your work, largely because commenting in such scenes is generally pretty ineffective! With our language habits interrupted through the incorporation of Gibberish, you really have to fully accept and elevate each other’s choices for the scene to soar.

A Final Consideration: Eliciting full stories from an audience member can be fraught with unexpected challenges. You might get inappropriate material or a story that leans into heavy or challenging subject matter that might trigger someone else in attendance. These tensions are less likely to occur when your typical ask-for tradition is a simple word or phrase. Such issues may prove infrequent in an overtly comically framed event as opposed to modalities that seek or invite more messy human moments, but none-the-less, it’s probably worthwhile considering carefully what parameters you might want to set so that your ensemble is all on the same page.

Cheers, David Charles.
www.improvdr.com
Join my Facebook group here.
Photo Credit: Tony Firriolo
© 2021 David Charles/ImprovDr

Connected Concept: Commenting

“C” is for “Commenting”

A tendency to talk about a choice rather than to accept and embrace an idea so that it can be fully embodied and explored.

Some Commentary on Commenting…

This is just a taste of this entry/concept. Go here for more information.

Related Entries: Approval, Cartooning, Commandment #4, Mugging, Speaking Your Truth Antonyms: Commitment Synonyms: Corpsing, Gagging

Cheers, David Charles.
www.improvdr.com
Join my Facebook group here.
© 2021 David Charles/ImprovDr

Connected Game: Gibberish Scene

Game Library: “Demonstration Video”

While the name of this game reveals its age (and mine!), Demonstration Video still provides a strong example for crafting our comedic improv to a particular end. This short-form game enables a parody of instructional or “how to” videos that are now as likely to populate a YouTube channel as they are to accompany a recently acquired product. (Let alone in the shape of a VHS tape!) This format certainly leans heavily towards Comedy, but there is ample room to craft a nuanced target, and I have seen the frame skillfully sharpened towards an insightful political or social end as well.

The Basics

Common ask-fors or prompts for this scene include “something you’ve bought that needed instructions,” “an item that you struggled to use,” or “a phobia that you’d like to overcome.” One player typically self-nominates as the scenic narrator, an embodied voice that will take the viewer through the various stages of learning a new skill or life hack. This player often starts the scene with an introduction followed by a series of vignettes (performed by other team members) who demonstrate different strategies – helpful or otherwise! The narrator typically deploys a “remote control” device to stop, pause, or rewind the action to further assist the viewer on their journey towards knowledge.

Example

Arachnophobia serves as the scenic prompt and Player A volunteers to step into the position of narrator. As the scene begins, they step center stage holding an imaginary microphone and addressing the “home audience” directly.

Player A: “You’ve made the first, most difficult choice, and that is admitting you have a problem! Welcome to ‘Face Your Fears,’ an online series of videos designed to make you… the best you. Today, we’re looking at spiders – although not literally – at least, not quite yet…”

Player A steps to the side as Player B and C take the stage as characters.

Player B: (with nervousness) “I know it’s going to be in there. I saw it last night when I went to the bathroom…”

Player C: (attempting to calm them) “That was a long time ago, and you can’t tell me that you’re never going to go to the bathroom again because of one little spider.”

Player B: “That is seriously what I’m saying. I don’t know how you can be so calm!”

Player C: “Look, Taylor, I was once as scared as you. But you can’t let an irrational fear rule your life.”

Player B: “There is nothing irrational about this fear…”

Player A steps back into the frame of the scene and with a gesture says…

Player A: “And pause… Do you recognize yourself in this moment? Are you a ‘Taylor’ letting a fear of spiders stop you from being your best possible self? Are you ‘holding it in’ for fear of facing your enemy?”

Player B playfully squirms in the background.

Player A: “It looks like it’s time for us to tell this Taylor to ‘Face Your Fears’! It all starts with one small step (in our ten step program), and that is realizing that you’re not alone…”

Player A steps to the side once more with a gesture for the scene to continue…

Player C: “Look, Taylor, I’m right here with you. We can do this together. Just gently push open the bathroom door…”

The Focus

There are unquestionably a pocketful of tropes and devices you can draw from – when you’re engaged in parody this is part of the contract in fact – but be cautious of only playing the style of the game. There is still ample room within the stylistic gimmicks of narrators, directly addressing the viewer, and stops and starts for developing a story and following one or more characters on a journey. As you would in any other scene, strive to honor each other’s choices so you can build a coherent narrative that the parody augments rather than eclipses.

Traps and Tips

1.) Balance the work. If you’re new to this game, it’s a common trap for the narrator to take on a lot of the heavy lifting as they have the power to shape and direct the unfolding action. This may be a necessary exploratory phase as the style is examined and polished, but in performance, there should be a stronger balance between the narrator and those performing the roles of the demonstration actors. Be wary of an attitude of “waiting” until the narrator tells you what they want, as in most cases, they don’t know what they want until it shows up in the scene! If you are playing as one of the actors, come to the stage with strong given circumstances so that there is something for the narrator to tinker with and shape. If you are playing as the narrator, be sure to leave room for your fellow players to surprise you and drive the action, using your function as the editor judiciously and with care. It’s fine to preamble a vignette so as to offer up something you’d like to see, but it’s inherently more dangerous and delightful to be open to the unexpected so also provide open lead-ins for your team to exploit. It’s the difference between “Now let’s watch Taylor destroy the huge spider with a baseball bat” and “Let’s see what Taylor does next…”

2.) Embrace the style. This is one of those games that benefits from some inherited wisdoms in terms of structure and technique. It’s generally helpful for a narrator to provide the in and the out of the game, establishing the clear given circumstances of the product or service and perhaps the intended consumer. While there is no absolute need to utilize a “remote control” function to adjust the scene or move to new vignettes, it’s certainly a helpful way to quickly forward the scene. Similarly, direct address from the narrator through the “fourth wall” to the viewer at home offers a nice touch. Providing a number of steps that will be covered (even if you only ultimately get to a couple) provides another helpful framing device. At its core, this is designed to help you successfully and happily utilize a product or new life strategy. Before creatively messing with or subverting this core function, it’s helpful to workshop and understand its constituent elements.

3.) Attack the acting. I will confess this suggestion might fall under the “personal preference” heading, but I’m not a big fan of deliberately bad or cheesy acting on the part of the demonstrators. This can tend to undermine any scenic potential if everyone wears their choices lightly and predominantly comments on the action rather than actually invests in what’s unfolding. Bad acting will also greatly diminish the power and potential of choices coming from the actor bench, thereby throwing more of the work onto the shoulders of the narrator and causing the imbalance noted above. Instead, I love the stark contrast of moving between highly realistic acting to the more presentational energy of the narrator. If anything, I would encourage the demonstrators to over commit to the offered reality. If they are having trouble operating the photocopier, they are really having trouble to the point that they might lose their job. If they don’t know how to use the new coffee maker, they are having the worst day ever, and they can’t survive without their caffeine fix now. If they are afraid of spiders, then they are traumatized by even the thought of being in the same room as one. Deadpan characters or nonchalant choices can quickly sap away the playfulness of the scene and leave you nowhere to go.

4.) Unlock the potential. Once you have a strong sense of the stylistic and structural basics, this scene can prove surprisingly flexible and resilient in terms of how you use it. The obvious comedic target is that of parody, mocking the very genre of instructional videos themselves. Exploring truly trivial tasks or phobias can provide joyful results. Through the use of mapping (substituting the language and tropes of one situation for another) or selecting more overtly socio-political topics, the comedy can become more nuanced and perhaps move into the realms of farce or satire. For example, you could craft a Demonstration Video for the dubious goal of suppressing your individuality before starting high school, or how to handle a family dinner when your relatives have radically different political views, or ways to address microaggressions in the workplace… At a surface level, the game may first appear a little simplistic or kitsch, but played at the top of your intelligence, it can provide a robust and familiar frame to help you organize some complex and important issues or tensions.

In Performance

If you are performing in a short-form modality, Demonstration Video provides an interesting narrative-driven piece to provide some variety in your lineup. There are different lessons and challenges depending on whether you take on the role of the narrator or one of the demonstrator actors, so I’d strongly advise that you experiment in both capacities. Doing so also gives you a greater appreciation for the import of making sure offers are coming freely from all quarters.

Cheers, David Charles.
www.improvdr.com
Join my Facebook group here.
Photo Credit: Scott Cook
© 2021 David Charles/ImprovDr

Connected Concept: Comedy

“C” is for “Comedy”

A sometimes helpful, sometimes less helpful, way to describe performance that tends towards the lighter side of life. Comedy, however, has many shapes and functions.

Equipping Our Comedic Tool Belt…

This is just a taste of this entry/concept. Go here for more information.

Related Entries: Commandment #4, Commandment #9, Gagging Antonyms: Drama Synonyms: Punching Up

Cheers, David Charles.
www.improvdr.com
Join my Facebook group here.
© 2021 David Charles/ImprovDr

Connected Game: Demonstration Video

Game Library: “Player Interview”

Deceptively simple but surprisingly rich with lessons, Player Interview explores effortlessness in our choices and narrative, which, in turn, serves as a helpful antidote if striving towards Cleverness is hampering your progress on stage.

The Basics

Players work in pairs, find their own spot in the space, and determine who will serve as Player A and Player B, respectively. Player A will perform as the first interviewer with B acting as their guest. Prior to the interview, Player B should self-select an area of interest or expertise, something that they truly have some knowledge about. It may be a hobby, passion, or even just about a period of their own life. This topic is shared with the interviewer, and the scene begins. Interviewers are responsible for keeping the conversation lively and engaged for five or six minutes as they inquire about B’s area of expertise. At the conclusion of the first interview (which are typically performed simultaneously around the space and timed by a facilitator or instructor), players may take a quick moment to share their experiences before the roles are reversed: A is now the expert and B is the interviewer.

Example

Player B has shared the topic of “Shakespeare” for the interview.

Player A: “Thanks for letting me ask you a few questions. A lot of people first encounter Shakespeare in high school. Was this your experience?

Player B: “Yes, it was actually. My first memory was reading some passages aloud in an English class and realizing that I wasn’t very good at it! The language was so loaded and complex…”

Player A: “I can relate! Do you remember the play?”

Player B: “I think it was Twelfth Night, or in any case, that was the play I ended up working on for a class assignment. It was a challenge to get to the bottom of some of the play’s references and allusions.”

Player A: “Anything in particular that still resonates for you?”

Player B: “Malvolio, the steward in the play, references a case of a lady of the day marrying her servant, which gives his passions fire and was probably a pretty well known scandal for Shakespeare’s audience. But I think I was most intrigued by the play’s setting, Illyria, which was a unique and pretty interesting location.”

Player A: “How so…?”

The Focus

Strive for ease, comfort, and active listening during the exercise. When you are truly in the moment, the next avenue of exploration tends to open up more readily than if you are a prisoner of your improv mind scrambling to construct a next step while your partner talks in the background. Novice improvisers can find the thought of filling a scene with material as oppressive; on a simple level, this exercise reveals that material can emerge without stress when you are calmly present.

Traps and Tips

1.) Style tips. There can be a tendency, especially in the role of the interviewer, to add a more performative frame to the exercise by assuming a smarmy persona, addressing a studio audience, or holding a mimed microphone. While there is nothing innately “wrong” with such choices, and you certainly could explore this activity with more of a polished veneer, the exercise does not need these additions. There is something quite powerful (and perhaps vulnerable) about just being yourself. In the interviewer position, don’t feel the need to feign interest: actually follow the story or information that you find appealing or enlightening. As the expert, don’t feel you need to become “a character” or overly inventive: it’s okay not to know an answer. This game really invites us to just be ourselves.

2.) Interviewer tips. Remember that the focus of the exercise should generally remain squarely on the expert. If you find yourself engaging in lengthy set-ups or voluminous flights of fancy, you might want to address this. (It’s good to get into the habit of knowing where the focus of any given scene or game resides and leaning into this.) Questions that require a simple “yes” or “no” answer are less likely ultimately to inspire the narrative. If you meander into such a moment accidentally, seek a follow-up question that is more likely to inspire. Whenever possible, privilege the emerging story and help the expert get the needed facts and details out. It’s your job to make them comfortable and look good. If you share knowledge on their subject, feel free to use it in a supportive fashion; if you know nothing about their topic, feel equally free to ask foundational questions to help you find your footing.

3.) Expert tips. The exercise can take on quite a different tone and journey if you select a topic that isn’t really in your wheelhouse, so unapologetically choose a subject that you really enjoy. As noted above, it is more than appropriate for this to be something quite personal, such as raising a pet, your hometown, or an international experience you had on vacation. Strive to include specifics: it can be challenging for the interviewer if they have to keep interrupting the flow of your narrative to learn basics such as a character’s name or the setting for your story. While I’d discourage inventiveness or unabashed falsehoods – it’s okay, after all, to say you don’t know the answer to a question – it’s generally helpful to assume the mantel of an expert and make good faith assumptions or assertions if material strays a little away from your area of interest.

4.) Story tips. The exercise will feel less joyful or successful if the expert asks a series of disconnected questions in a buckshot fashion. While it is foreseeable that you might need a few general questions initially to find a thread of interest to explore, this simple conceit is a great way to practice and deploy your story-telling skills: look for the next step forward by examining what has already been established and discussed; repeat any details of interest and be sure to incorporate them into follow-up questions; balance a sense of advancing (moving onto the next organic moment of the story) with extending (mining for more descriptive specifics). If a line of questioning dries up, generally it’s a fruitful technique to look backward for a prior story thread that you didn’t have time to pursue earlier.

In Performance

This is a strong icebreaker if you are developing rapport among a group or class that are still taking their first steps together. In these cases, I’ll strategically mix up and assign the pairs to avoid known cliques or simply ask players to self-select someone with whom they have never worked before. This exercise typically reveals that we can easily craft dynamic and engaging material when we are just ourselves, exploring topics of interest together, and allowing our innate charm or wit to emerge.

Cheers, David Charles.
www.improvdr.com
Join my Facebook group here.
Photo Credit: Tony Firriolo
© 2021 David Charles/ImprovDr

Connected Concept: Cleverness

“C” is for “Cleverness”

In improv circles, Cleverness is often viewed with wariness as it tends to put players in their heads rather than encourage them to find the answers and next moments in their partners and the here and now.

Signs That Your Cleverness May Be Getting the Better of You (and Your Scenes)…

This is just a taste of this entry/concept. Go here for more information.

Related Entries: Commandment #4, Commandment #9 Antonyms: Obvious Synonyms: Gagging, Over-Originality

Cheers, David Charles.
www.improvdr.com
Join my Facebook group here.
© 2021 David Charles/ImprovDr

Connected Game: Player Interview

Game Library: “Character Walk”

This is an all-play low-stakes exploratory exercise that allows players to get some reps in making quick instinctive and embodied character choices. I call it Character Walk (or sometimes, What’s in a Name?), and it makes for a good companion game to the general concept of Character, one of the four pillars of CROW.

The Basics

A caller provides a series of prompts to inspire players as they assume new characterizations. Players begin by walking through the space as themselves and are instructed to create original characters based initially on various random names. This is largely a solo exploration with players embodying energies, movement qualities, and character manners without major interactions with others in the space. As the caller, I tend to use the following guidelines to frame the exercise.

Phase One: Generally, I’ll begin by providing names and adjectives. For simplicity purposes, I tend to move my way through the alphabet, so you might get “Anxious Aaron,” “Bold Brenda,” “Charismatic Charlie…” Each name should inspire a quick shift from the participating players.

Phase Two: Once the rhythm and technique of the exercise are clear, I’ll start dropping the adjectives and continue the exercise with just a series of unadorned first names. Again, I tend to just keep moving through the alphabet from wherever I left off in order to spark my own creative juices, so you might get “Ivan,” “Juanita,” then “Kenneth…”

Phase Three: After the second phase has been given sufficient time, the final transition involves merely saying “Change” rather than giving a new name for inspiration. This may initially require a little sidecoaching to clarify any potential confusion as new characters are now inspired by each individual player’s own imagination. Some players may find they continue to privately select new names for themselves, while others may enjoy just following their first gut reaction. Both approaches, or a combination thereof, are absolutely in the spirit of the game.

The Focus

Each time I conduct this exercise, groups have slightly different experiences. Some strongly prefer the conceit of the adjective and name, while others prefer the final iteration when they have more freedom and personal control. Regardless, some sidecoaching encouraging players to push their own boundaries, assumptions, and patterns always proves helpful. Players can tend to jump to bold but unnuanced characters initially, so nudging them to dig deeper and find integrity in their choices keeps the exercise’s focus front of mind.

Traps and Tips

1.) Give each new character time to breathe. In my experience, this exercise is less helpful and revealing if you rush through it. Characters will rarely move beyond a quick stereotype or cliche if only given 10 or 20 seconds to live in the mull of the ensemble. Be patient as the caller, especially in the early stages of the game, and if players are struggling to dig deeper into the characterizations, cajole them with some additional prompts or biographical questions, such as “How old are you,” “What do you do for a living,” or “Where do you carry your stress?” While players may pause briefly in the space or engage in a simple activity, also encourage them to focus on the walking aspect of the game so that each character is created and polished while in motion (otherwise it can tend to become too cerebral).

2.) Give each new phase time to build. Also be wary of racing through the three different phases as each group is likely to have its own needs and preferences. I find the adjectives initially helpful just to jar players out of simple binaries: “my last character was slow, so I’m going to make this one move fast.” Many will go through some equivalent of this tactic, so it’s helpful to make sure you allow everyone sufficient opportunities to wrestle with these short-cuts and find out what comes next. The third round, in particular, can prove liberating or thwarting depending on the individual. For those in the latter category, you’ll want to give them space to push through any initial reluctance as best they can.

3.) Give each individual encouragement to explore. Players can become a little self-conscious, mulling through the space alongside everyone else, and might become unhelpfully comparative: “I’m not as loud as the other players” or “I don’t think I’m doing this right.” A few words of encouragement or adjustment as the caller will go a long way. Offer more biographical prompts if some individuals are stumbling, or questions that pertain to the exercise as a whole: “What patterns are you falling into,” “How is this character different than others you’ve embodied,” or “How does this character make you feel?”

4.) Give the group sufficient time to debrief. The exercise might speak for itself but, often, I’ve found players want to talk about some of their trends and experiences. Did players find one or more phases inherently easier to approach or embody? When did characters start to feel the most connected or real? Did they find themselves falling into stereotypes that would be problematic on the stage? What discoveries or aspects of the exercise can be easily applied to how they craft characters in their scene work?

In Performance

A simple choice such as a name can serve as the inspiration for a host of different personalities, energies, and physicalities, especially when we marry our instinctual reactions with a more refined approach to character development. A strong follow-up to this exercise is to revisit particularly resonant or interesting creations by placing them in new relationship and scenic combinations.

Cheers, David Charles.
www.improvdr.com
Join my Facebook group here.
Photo Credit: Scott Cook
© 2021 David Charles/ImprovDr

Connected Concept: Character (CROW)

“C” is for “Character”

Part of CROW, Character refers to the details players bring to their improvised personae.

Digging Deeper into Character…

This is just a taste of this entry/concept. Go here for more information.

Related Entries: Archetypes, Commandment #9, CROW, Experts, Objective, Physicality, Relationship, Where Antonyms: Wearing Your Character Lightly Synonyms: Who

Connected Game: Character Walk

Game Library: “Shared Story”

There are few short-form games that are simpler or more elegant than Shared Story. It’s a story-telling game stripped of most gimmicks and excess, so there is very little room to hide in this structure; therefore, players must work closely together to literally and metaphorically stay on the same page. I’ve diagnostically paired the game with the concept of Chapter Two-ing (leaping over small steps into the future) as this tendency will quickly undermine the performance’s narrative flow and pay-off.

The Basics

A team of players (four or five works well) forms a line in front of the audience, and a title for an original story is obtained. Each player holds a mimed copy of the proffered storybook. One at a time, generally starting with the player most stage right and moving in order across the stage, players step forward and read (that is, improvise) the next small passage of the story. When their contribution is complete, they step back into the line, and the next player in sequence picks up exactly where their predecessor left off. The story continues moving swiftly from reader to reader until a natural conclusion is reached.

Example

Players receive “The Persistent Parrot” as their story prompt and form a line.

Player A: (stepping forward and reading from their copy of the “book”) “It was a humid afternoon in the tropical rain forest. A thunderous storm had just swept through the dense canopy, drenching the forest with its powerful might.”

Player B: (stepping forward and reading from their book) “The once-frightened creatures slowly made their way out of hiding, assessing the damage of the unwelcome but all-too-frequent visitor. Soon the air was filled with the sound of wildlife once more.”

Player C: (stepping forward and reading) “Atop one of the tallest trees that stood proudly in the center of the forest, a particularly colorful parrot perched, looking studiously at the scene below.”

Player D: (stepping forward and reading) “He called out with a piercing cry, his eyes darting anxiously from tree branch to tree branch, all the while looking…

Player A: (stepping forward) “…for the young chick that had once shared his nest. He cried out into the wind again, but with no avail…”

The Focus

In a nutshell, the focus of the game is strong and collaborative storytelling. Players should seek to craft one unified story with small and logical steps, avoiding unnecessary leaps by generously utilizing the specific choices and ideas offered up by their teammates. Consider the emerging tone and style of the piece as well – the format can function as a simple whimsical children’s story, a more robustly poetic Gothic tragedy, and anything in between; but it requires players to carefully listen to each other and reflect back these tonalities.

Traps and Tips

1.) Confidence is key. Make sure you truly sell your contribution each time you step forward to add to the story. One of the fun aspects of the central conceit that everyone is reading from the same story book is that players are not really “responsible” for any weirdness that ensues: those choices were just in the book after all! A simple story told with energy, excitement, and conviction will nearly always land well, while a more complex piece can struggle if the players’ anxiousness is clearly evident. Exuding confidence is good advice for all improv, but it is particularly the case for such a gimmick-free game as this.

2.) Prioritize the story. Don’t avoid the fact that the story is the priority for this game. Players can tend to insert unearned gags or schtick in an effort to evade the challenge at hand, so be wary of such choices eclipsing the narrative arc. While it’s certainly appropriate for a player to end their offer in an ellipsis, for example (as Player D does above), such choices should set up your scene partners for success and joy. When these moments become wimps – deferring the responsibility of making a detailed offer – they can quickly diminish the momentum of the story, especially if this then becomes a recurring gag. Pass offs such as “And then something completely unexpected happened…” or “And that’s when she solved everything with one simple sentence…” may work well when utilized sparingly by teams with high levels of trust and bravery but are more likely to scuttle the story if the team is struggling or just starting to find its stride.

3.) Contributions come in all shapes and sizes. There is ample room within this game to explore and honor a wide range of narrative gifts and inclinations. Not all excerpts need to be the same length; in fact, it can provide a great energy shift to dynamically move from several sentences to a few carefully chosen words and back again. The ideal length of any given contribution is whatever is needed to make the current choice rich and helpful. Players can utilize their moment to largely extend on and enrich a detail or moment offered by a fellow teammate or opt to advance the story with a dynamic next step. Or, obviously, they may do a little of both. Encourage and nurture this variety and individuality as each story unfolds.

4.) Commit to the physicality. The physical components of Shared Story are minimal but important and will add a great deal to the polish and flow of the story. Make sure players step forward and backward with energy and conviction if they’re able. Sluggish movement during these moments will quickly allow the momentum and interest to dissipate, resulting in a narrative that never really seems to build steam. I also like the device of everyone committing to holding their own copies of the mimed book as this also gives a nice physical presence. Occasionally I’ve seen players pass along one copy up and down the line, but this inevitably results in lulls and stalls as players fumble with the logistics of a mimed prop, especially when Player D needs to get it back to Player A at the end of each round. A fun finesse (that is a little gimmicky I’ll confess) is that players can all turn the story book pages at appropriate moments to punctuate important actions, although be careful of overusing this motion or it quickly becomes distracting.

5.) Explore story structure. This game is a great receptacle for polishing other storytelling and construction skills. I’ll often pair it with the exercise Four Sentence Story (here) noting that we may now spend several sentences honoring a singular story component: in the above example, the first three narratives could all be considered part of the “introduction” function, with a “problem” not clearly emerging until the fourth and fifth additions. Shared Stories tend to succeed when they err on the shorter side, perhaps two to four minutes in length, so this also necessitates that they do not become needlessly meandering nor expansive. I’ve found that stories that don’t have a very clear here and now or struggle to focus on the path of one particular protagonist can quickly become unwieldy and ultimately unsatisfying. Small, connected steps are critical as there is rarely time to successfully build beyond the current “chapter”; leaps in the narrative to a Chapter Two rarely reap rewards as, by definition, they tend to erase the utility of earlier choices and demand a new array of story elements and specifics.

In Performance

I will confess that I don’t program this game in my short-form shows as much as I’d like to as players and audience members alike don’t always fully appreciate the substantial skill required to make such an unadorned narrative structure shine. Compared to “flashier” games, it can feel a little naked. But this is a much-loved standard in my classes and workshops as it is a great way to sharpen narrative skills and quickly diagnose tendencies that might be tripping up players as they strive to build effective stories together.

Cheers, David Charles.
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Photo Credit: Scott Cook
© 2021 David Charles/ImprovDr

Connected Concept: Chapter Two

“C” is for “Chapter Two”

Leaping forward in the story in a lurching or inelegant fashion that tends to erase the current scenic elements already in play.

How to Keep Your Story on the Same Page…

This is just a taste of this entry/concept. Go here for more information.

Related Entries: Advancing, Erasure, Over-Originality Antonyms: Small Steps

Connected Game: Shared Story