Commandment #5

The fifth commandment extols:

Thou shalt always be changed by what is said to you

To resist Change on the improv stage (unfortunately) results in you getting exactly what you expected – and nothing more.

Ways to Embrace Change

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

Cheers, David Charles.
www.improvdr.com
Join my Facebook group here.
Photo Credit: Tony Firriolo
© 2020 David Charles/ImprovDr

Connected Game: It’s Tuesday

Game Library: “My Movie”

As I noted in an earlier entry examination the fourth commandment of Theatresports here, while most companies discourage gagging on the improv stage, there are games where word play and whimsy are required – hence this week’s choice of My Movie, My Movie, My Movie.

The Basics

Players form a line at the edge of the stage and are led by a conductor (another player or the host for the event). A movie category, style, or similar prompt is obtained. Players, when signaled, all chant “My Movie, My Movie, My Movie,” and then the conductor nominates a random player to offer an original title that meets the given category. The conductor might ask for additional information regarding the current choice before a new player is nominated with a definitive point. The titular chant repeats (unless you’re craving a faster style of play), and a new invented title is provided. The game typically rotates through three or four different audience prompts in this fashion, with each round culminating in a particularly memorable creation.

Example

The audience provides the prompt of “Science Fiction” and the initials “D.C.” The host kneels in front of the players who have formed a line and begin by chanting “My Movie, My Movie, My Movie.” As each player is nominated, they provide a new movie title:

Player A: “Deep Cosmos”

Player B: “Desperate Computers”

Player C: “Dance of the Cyborgs…”

The Focus

There isn’t a lot of time to think and plan in this game, which is a large part of its charm and gift. Remember, the longer that you stall as a player, the more time the audience has had to come up with something with which to compare your idea! Encourage players to throw themselves at the titles: often the best are truly formulated syllable by syllable before the audience’s eyes. Most players I know actually find the addition of the guiding initials (modeled above) as a handle more liberating than thwarting as it provides some boundaries to create within.

Traps and Tips

1.) Use the chant to keep energy and attack high. It’s a fun gimmick of the game and stops it from becoming too ponderous, so really embrace the chant when it’s cued by the conductor (usually to start each round, and typically to bump up the energy between titles as deemed necessary).

2.) Explore the potential of the titles. The conductor can request additional information for titles that are particularly fun or ripe with artistic opportunities. I’ve asked for descriptions of the movie poster, the tagline, the elevator pitch, and the like, and will often end the game as a whole with a quickly staged climactic scene or song.

3.) Pace the addition of handles so as not to overwhelm. It’s helpful to gently crank up the level of challenge. Perhaps start with one initial and a style, and then raise the bar to two or three initials. As I’ve noted above, in my experience, at least one initial seems to aid in the creative process and most players struggle with an opening round that has little or no prompt to inspire the choices.

4.) Don’t forget charm and callbacks. Players can really make rather mundane titles fun and memorable with added playfulness, and the format invites the discovery of patterns and games. A well-timed callback to a previous title will often provide a strong out.

5.) Be careful of outstaying your welcome. Be wary of letting rounds loiter too long. We often used this game in our version of Gorilla Theatre at SAK Comedy Lab where there were just three of us playing with the director serving as the conductor. We might get through the company once or twice before changing it up with a new audience suggestion.

In Performance

This is such a fun, high-energy addition to a playlist. We exploited it quite frequently in the decade-long run of Gorilla Theatre but usually with some frame that shook it up a little. I’ve done “Deal Breakers,” where we jammed movie titles, and then, when asked, players had to provide the element or casting choice that turned the movie sour. We also changed the focus from movies on occasion: one of my teammates introduced a “My Cocktail” version, which was particularly memorable. Here, we had to come up with original cocktail names and then list the ingredients if we stumbled upon a winner!

Cheers, David Charles.
www.improvdr.com
Join my Facebook group here.
© 2020 David Charles/ImprovDr

Connected Concept: Commandment #4

Commandment #4

And the fourth commandment declares:

To gag is to commit a sin that will be paid for

Gagging displays an often counter-productive tendency to go for the laugh at the expense of everything (and everyone) else.

Assuaging the Gagging Beast Inside Us All

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

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

Connected Game (working on the related tool of punchlines): My Movie

A Peek Inside: Insta-Musical Just Add Water

As noted in my earlier blog, Insta-Musical: Just Add Water was my first – perhaps slightly clumsy – attempt at a fully improvised long-form musical. One of the underlying concepts that was unique to this production and that I’ve played with a lot since was creating a stock of song structures that could be deployed within the arc of the show to help create variety in terms of song type, energy, and number of singers. It’s important to note that the songs were still truly improvised – melodies, lyrics, and accompaniment were not set in any way – but they were predictable in terms of how the parts were assembled. Would the song start with a verse, utilize a hook or repeated phrase, and when would the chorus typically appear? I will acknowledge that this approach is not everyone’s cup of tea, but particularly when it comes to group songs, I find it helpful to have a basic road map especially if you’re working with a new ensemble that doesn’t have decades of experience reading each other’s subtle musical intentions on stage.

As an example, I offer you Work Song, which is one of the more peculiar options we had at our disposal. I actually think the song format was inspired by a distant memory of a family of musicians performing on an English variety show that I saw and filed away in the recesses of my brain as a kid in New Zealand!

Here’s a peek inside:

The Basics

Work Song is a structure that introduces and unites four characters musically. It has a sense of whimsy to it, with a unique approach to a chorus that primarily consists of rhythmic and syncopated sound effects that gradually build and evolve as each new character and voice are added. I dubbed it Work Song as it often fits well in a work environment as you see the various functions or roles each person fulfills.

The Details

With four players, this is a Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, repeat Chorus to a resolution structure. Each player, in sequence, introduces themselves in a solo verse, typically two rhyming couplets or similar. Later players should strive to mirror the length and musicality of the first singer to give the song a sense of uniformity. At the completion of the verse, the singer provides a lead into the effect of “And I go…” or “And it sounds like…” and then crafts a series of verbalizations that mimic a component of their activity, subtext, or emotional state. Generally, this pattern is repeated twice as the chorus (and the chorus takes up about half the space of the solo verses).

Example

Player A: (beginning the song by stepping downstage and pantomiming their activity)

“I work here at the office, slogging to earn my pay,
Standing at the copier, just passing the time of day.
They hand me stacks of paper, like none you’ve ever seen.
And I watch the light scan by as I put them in the machine

And I go… Zip, Zippity Zip, Zippity Zip Zip Zip (scanning sounds)
And I go… Zip, Zippity Zip, Zippity Zip Zip Zip”

Each player repeats the pattern, crafting a unique verse from their character’s point of view, and then adding their own rhythmic chorus addition. The new singer cues the chorus with a similar launching phrase, taking the first line alone to establish the new work sounds, with the previously established players joining on the repeat. Once all the voices have been introduced, the full chorus generally repeats and builds.

Traps and Tips

1.) Character is key. I’d certainly consider this a charm song and as such you need to really establish strong and clear points of view and sell them in the various verses and staging. I don’t think the cuteness of the format would particularly serve later in a performance as it has a very “let’s meet the family” premise at its core.

2.) Avoid sentences in the chorus. If the chorus consists almost exclusively of utterances and sounds rather than words and phrases, it really makes it stand out and will likely avoid replicating other song energies and dynamics that you have in the mix. There is always the exception to the rule, and often the fourth player can get away with something a little more language-based, but if the chorus starts with phrases, it’s hard to break that pattern further down the line.

3.) Know your order. When I utilize this type of strategy in my long-forms we nearly always have a default singing order so that players aren’t suddenly taken off guard when others are expecting them to sing. I’ve found the simplest assumption is just to start with the most stage right singer and then move in order across the stage. This also allows singers to juggle their spots if they would prefer to go sooner or later or know that they have a strong closing point of view that would work well in the final position.

4.) Capitalize on the silences. In the chorus, in particular, really look for different rhythms and ways to syncopate your choices with those that are already established. If someone has crafted a long sustained legato feel, providing something sparser and staccato can be really effective and dynamic. Musicians should err on the side of simple as the chorus is being established as well as you want the actors’ voices to at least initially create the interest here.

5.) Tell the story. The repetitiveness of the chorus is both the blessing and the curse of this particular song frame. It invites an escalation or heightening with appropriate staging and emotional attack. Ideally, the song feels as if we’re peeking inside the heads of the characters (hearing their subtext) so it’s also a great way to reveal secrets, passions, or idiosyncrasies that can then inform the resulting scene work. If the content and verses are too trivial, the song feels like a place holder as opposed to a way of establishing relationships and a work or family routine.

Final Thoughts

This is probably an unlikely showstopper but it’s a playfully different way of assembling the elements of a song. While this idea was birthed with Insta-Musical, I’ve gone back to the central premise and polished it several times for my later musical experiments, most notably FourPlay: The Improvised Musical, which took this concept of having a Rolodex of possible song structures up several notches. (That’s an image of the first season of this production at SAK Comedy Lab above.) If you’re finding your improv songs are all starting to sound alike or defaulting into ballads, this might offer a different approach.

And that’s your peek inside Insta-Musical: Just Add Water, my first crack at mounting a long-form improv show.

Cheers, David Charles.
www.improvdr.com
Join my Facebook group here.
© 2020 David Charles/ImprovDr

My First Long-Form: Insta-Musical Just Add Water

If you’ve seen me improvise recently you’ll already likely know that I have a particular interest and passion for musical improvisation. It feels like I’ve constantly been playing with one format or another, often riffing on similar inspirations or striving to solve similar tensions or challenges. I’m currently performing in a format I devised and directed at SAK Comedy Lab called Lights Up: The Improvised Rock Opera, which in many ways builds off prior attempts. (That’s the image above as I don’t have any photos of the show I’m about to discuss.) The first such effort, however, was a rather modest affair during my undergraduate days at Roosevelt University in Chicago. It also happened to be my first real attempt at conceiving, rehearsing and directing a long-form improv show.

As noted in prior blog entries, my initial improv training in New Zealand was in the Theatresports model which was almost exclusively short-form during my time with the company, although I recall that there was always a willingness to let scenes and games have the time they needed and I can remember at least one instance when a musical game ultimately ended up feeling like a small one-act with multiple beats and songs. Although long-form was certainly happening in Chicago, particularly the Harold, my heavy campus rehearsal schedule and commitments as a scholarship holder didn’t allow me to see any, and my performance work with Comedysportz was very much focused on short-form games, as were the two community shows I directed and hosted for Night Players. I had some nontraditional long-form training at Astors’ Beechwood one summer in a living history experience and an Estate-centered murder mystery, but that was about it. I don’t think that I realized how much I didn’t know at the time, thank goodness, and so the possibility of building an improv musical from the ground up didn’t strike as much fear in me as perhaps was warranted.

Roosevelt had a pretty intensive production schedule, but the department was generally pretty amenable to students mounting works if they could find a pocket of time that didn’t conflict with other shows. A friend and talented director, Ed Basden, had done wonders with this model early in my time there, and so I pitched and managed to secure a slot in April 1995, right before my graduation, for a four-performance run of Insta-Musical: Just Add Water in the O’Malley Theatre.

The Basic Premise: A company of ten improvisers craft an original character-driven story based on audience suggestions, utilizing a stock of pre-set song structures to help guide the energy and action.

Brian Zaker designed this poster and program cover. I can’t believe I still have it!

Looking back, the givens of this production were unique and show the level of “can-do” that the whole company took to the project in spite of our inexperience in this genre. (I was directing a long-form and I hadn’t even been in one or possibly even really seen one!) For starters, we were an improvised musical, but we didn’t have a dedicated musician. Instead we had a smart keyboard (by 1995 standards) several chord progression sheets that I had laboriously constructed in my dorm room with my limited musical knowledge, and luckily a few company members with reasonable piano skills that rotated into the role as they could. A workable solution – just – but certainly not even close to ideal. I also remember that one of our company members, Melanie Esplin, was simultaneously cast in Fefu and Her Friends that was running in tandem with our improv show, so we had an agreement that her character needed to die or leave the world of the play each performance in time for her to make her other call.

It’s perhaps a good thing that I don’t remember a lot from this first effort. I know that we had audiences, but I can’t imagine it was particularly well attended especially considering the size of the venue and the time of year. An element that I do recall, however, is my fascination with song structure and that a desire to maximize musical variety in the show was built into the improv form. Our rehearsal and development process included studying various crafted song structures pulled from my prior observations, imagination, and admittedly limited experience at that point as a musical theatre performer. One frame that still stands out in my memory was a concept I called a “Work Song” which I plan to write about later this week if you want to take a peek inside the structure. This, alongside more expected variations of solos and duets, sought to provide a variety of musical moments for the show.


The Cast:

David Charles
C. Allen Colwell
Melanie Esplin
Kate Garassino
Tanner Lagasca
Laura McNaughton
Ryan Pfeiffer
Amy Marie Sima
A. J. Wester
Susan Wingerter

According to the rather faded program I found, we also had an opening song that I co-wrote with Amy Marie Sima. I think we used it, in part, to cover an initial brainstorming and casting session that occurred immediately after we obtained our audience suggestions as I have a recollection of huddling around a sheet of paper with appropriate blanks on it for actors’ names. I’ve no idea what this opening song sounded like or said, but I imagine there was at least one target rhyme with “just add water!” This was my first effort at what has become an obsession with starting long-form shows with something innately more polished and theatrical than standing on a bare stage and just getting an audience suggestion. Some efforts have landed better than others.

Lessons

Projects that have followed have certainly continued this trend of pursuing musical variety and breaking the larger dramatic arc down into discrete musical numbers with specific structural components. As a deviser, my strong preference is for music-driven musicals, where songs carry a lot of the weight of the story-telling and action, and it’s easy for songs to all default into slow ballads if there aren’t strategies in place to nudge the company to the contrary. In addition to this production serving as my first foray into long-form improv, I believe it was also Roosevelt’s first such offering (unquestionably its first improv musical at the very least) and this would also become a trend in my future work: often I am pitching projects to companies where this kind of work is something completely new to the producers and their audiences.

Some of the simpler but greater lessons of this experience, at least for me, were to just dive in and do it. In general this has been at the core of my devising philosophy: if I know I can easily achieve the desired result, why bother?! I surrounded myself with a company that was game for the experiment and that trusted me enough to lead the expedition.

When I’m able, I’ll include cast lists as I’ve done in the column above, as it’s nice to remember all of the people connected by these improv escapades. If any cast members are reading this, I’d be fascinated to hear some of your memories and what you took away from the project as my memories are now rather faint! Feel free to drop a line here or email me.

Cheers, David Charles.
www.improvdr.com
Join my Facebook group here.
Photo Credit: Charlotte Brown
© 2020 David Charles/ImprovDr

Game Library: “Raise the Stakes”

The third commandment and the concept of shining suggested this exercise designed to help unify our goal as a team. It’s time to Raise the Stakes.

The Basics

One player is identified as the protagonist of the scene and provided with a specific goal or “want” to achieve, such as preparing a surprise dinner. Other players take turns entering to provide proportionate and building offers that raise the stakes (import) or increase the urgency of the scene.

Example

Player A is cooking a surprise dinner for their significant other (“Z”) who has been out of town for several months.

Player B enters and announces that Z’s plane landed an hour earlier than scheduled.

Player C enters and informs “A” that there are rolling power outages in the area.

Player D enters as “A” and “Z’s” child afraid of the dark and in need of help with the welcome back art project…

The Focus

In many ways if the ensemble is unified in their focus, player “A” has the easiest job in the role of the protagonist as they must merely respond honestly to each new offer while simultaneously striving to complete the task at hand. Player “A” should remain as the clear subject of the game, and it’s important that we do not lose sight of their journey and emotional truth.

Traps and Tips

1.) Give the protagonist space to react and respond. Especially as the exercise builds, it can be easy to overwhelm the protagonist with multiple offers landing simultaneously or voluminous paragraphs of information. Therefore, it’s critical to allow each choice to land and change the central character before adding and layering on new elements. Keep in mind that the audience is experiencing the scene from this character’s point of view, so they need space to make reactions clear.

2.) Pace and build the complications. Invariably, someone will have a great idea that drastically bends the curve of absurdity. In the above example, if character “Z” were to arrive as the first offer, it’s foreseeable that there would no longer be much room to increase the stakes and urgency. Focus on small and logical steps, ideally that build on games and premises already in play. Part of the fun and challenge of this exercise is making sure that your move leaves room for those that follow to build as well.

3.) Keep your eye on the prize. It’s certainly a viable tactic to give the protagonist tasks that will pull them away from their greater objective, but if this foundational need becomes completely eclipsed, the driving force of the scene might become lost. If you are the protagonist, make sure distractions aren’t too successful. If this begins to happen, double down on the importance of your primary goal.

4.) Embrace the environment and physicality. As the game escalates, it can be easy to forget established staging elements. Pay particular attention to the placement of doors and major set pieces. Mimed props can become great ways to lean even further into the game. What if “D” from above wanders off with the box of uncooked pasta for their art project that “A” was just about to put into the pot…?

5.) Don’t overstay your welcome in the scene. While introduced characters could remain onstage or return later in the exercise, be wary of overwhelming the stage picture. The protagonist is more likely to have to compete for attention if they have multiple other characters onstage with them for the majority of the scene. Remember, the goal is to explore strategies for enabling them to go on a clear journey and “shine.”

In Performance

This is certainly a valuable dynamic to infuse into your short- or long-form scenic work and can help craft a rising action or push a key character to a moment of crisis or epiphany. As is the case with most games, give each small step its time in the sun and avoid jumping to the climax.

Cheers, David Charles.
www.improvdr.com
Join my Facebook group here.
Photo Credit: Tony Firriolo
© 2020 David Charles/ImprovDr

Connected Concept: Commandment #3

Commandment #3

The third commandment states:

Thou shalt not shine above thy teammates

To thoughtlessly Shine will cast a shadow over your teammates, but there are moments when playing to strength will serve you and the scene.

The Nuances of Shining

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

Cheers, David Charles.
www.improvdr.com
Join my Facebook group here.
Photo Credit: Tony Firriolo
© 2020 David Charles/ImprovDr

Connected Game: Raise the Stakes

Game Library: “All Together Now”

This is the second entry in my series describing improv games, exercises, or strategies that I’ve been thinking about lately. Today, the spotlight is on a fun set of warm-up drills that explore the second commandment concept of focus. I know the sequence as All Together Now.

The Basics

There are three stages or phases of this exercise that I tend to stagger over subsequent classes.

Phase One: Players spread out through the available space. Each player is instructed to come up with a unique and sustainable sound – it can be vocal, percussive, or a combination of both, but it shouldn’t be something that will cause discomfort if they continue it for a sustained duration of time (slapping their chest, for example, might become regrettable). Once the ensemble has had a chance to hear all the sounds – and quickly change any that might be too similar to prior choices – everyone closes their eyes. The group then makes a soundscape. When any one player begins their pre-established sound, all players should join as quickly as possible. When any player randomly chooses to stop, similarly, other players must do so as soon as they notice that an element is now missing.

Phase Two: Players scatter through the rehearsal hall and start moving at a reasonably fast pace. When any one player decides to stop moving, the whole ensemble stops and freezes. The group remains still until another player randomly decides to return to movement, at which point the rest of the ensemble must restart their pacing as quickly as possible. For an additional twist, players can be instructed to mirror the movement quality initiated by the first person to unfreeze, so one moment, the group might be pacing, then skipping, then moving in zero gravity…

Phase Three: Combining the two games above, players determine and share different sounds that they can sustain. Once the library of sounds has been shared, players are instructed to move through the space. If anyone drops their sound out of the mix, other players must do the same. Similarly, if anyone stops moving, the rest of the ensemble must also come to stasis. Silence and/or stillness continue until a random player elects to return sound and/or movement to the mix.

The Focus

This warm-up sequence helpfully explores deep listening, awareness of the group (and changes therein), as well as the concept of proprioception – our body’s awareness of its relationship to other bodies moving through the space. Dancers often have a highly developed sense of this skill as it allows them to assume formations without actively and manually checking their spacing from other dancers. While challenging, especially the third iteration, these exercises can also provide a fitting illustration of how much we can receive and process when we are truly focused on the group.

Traps and Tips

1.) Keep your eye on the prize. These exercises can certainly be a little silly and playful, which is certainly a value in and of itself, but if the group becomes unfocused, the benefit of the exercise will quickly become lost. In most cases, these operate well as quicker warm-ups.

2.) Move with purpose. Versions two and three become less challenging and dynamic if participants are not moving through the space with dynamism and abandon. Unless you are working in a large space, I wouldn’t advise running, but there should be a sense of urgency. Also, be wary of just walking in predictable patterns or circles.

3.) Concentrate on the gap between first and last. In simple terms, the goal is to reduce the amount of time between when the first person stops moving (or making their sound) and the last person stops after they have recognized the change in the group. When the exercise is working well, this difference can be surprisingly and invigoratingly small.

4.) Encourage unpredictable tempos. It can be a bit of a “cheat” if you fall into a steady rhythm of stops and starts. If you are playing with your ensemble, you can throw a spanner in the works if this is happening by making a sudden adjustment yourself. Otherwise, you might need to offer this encouragement as a side-coaching moment.

5.) Don’t rush to the third iteration. Especially if you’re working with an ensemble that is just getting to know each other, the third phase can be surprisingly challenging and might be a little disheartening. I’d recommend revisiting the first two versions for a while if you suspect the combination might overwhelm your group.

In Performance

This can be a great quick warm-up for rehearsals and before performances once the group has been introduced to the concept, especially the second movement-only version. Similarly, if you’re exploring a piece that requires a large ensemble to work closely together onstage, All Together Now provides a highly effective way of exploring unison movement and tempos.

Cheers, David Charles.
www.improvdr.com
Join my Facebook group here.
Photo Credit: Tony Firriolo
© 2020 David Charles/ImprovDr

Connected Concept: Commandment #2

Commandment #2

The second commandment reads:

Thou shalt always retain focus

To retain Focus is to cultivate an awareness of who and what the scene is about.

Thinking About Focus

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

Cheers, David Charles.
www.improvdr.com
Join my Facebook group here.
Photo Credit: Scott Cook
© 2020 David Charles/ImprovDr

Connected Game: All Together Now

Game Library: “Reiterate/Repeat”

This entry spotlights an elegant little exercise that embodies the first commandment concept of blocking (negating) and accepting (yielding). Let’s explore Reiterate/Repeat.

The Basics

Generally, but not exclusively played in pairs, players create a scene where each subsequent line of dialogue must first reiterate or repeat the essence of their fellow player’s prior line of dialogue before adding new material.

Example

Player A: “It’s a beautiful day for a picnic.”

Player B: “It is a beautiful day for a picnic. I just happen to have the perfect picnic blanket!”

Player A: “The perfect picnic blanket?! You won’t believe that I have a basket already packed!”

Player B: “Already packed?! Then jump on my bicycle and let’s go…”

The Focus

As you play, it quickly becomes clear that the reiteration is a literal equivalent of the improv “yes…” with the new information serving as the “and…” As an added bonus, the game truly promotes active listening as you can’t repeat something that you were too distracted to catch and similarly encourages small and inherent steps as your addition should build clearly off the prior idea.

Traps and Tips

1.) Don’t abandon the language game too early. Encourage players to really embrace the central dynamic as the excitement of the scene can quickly result in no longer using and reaping the benefit of the given frame. This has the added advantage of slowing overeager players down a little, enabling them to pay closer attention to the details of the scene as they unfold.

2.) You can take liberties with the repeats. Reiterations and repeats need not be cumulative (you don’t need to paraphrase all prior choices), nor do they have to be literal. You can shift emphasis, change pronouns, and abridge the content as it feels appropriate. In fact, I’d say taking such liberties is half the fun of the game.

3.) Repetitions shouldn’t become “filler.” Avoid the trap of repeating the prior line in a non-emotive manner: it helps for you to have a clear point of view and energy rather than using the repetition as a stalling device while you come up with what you’d like to add. Give it a nuanced subtext and full emotional weight. (Always turning the reiteration into a question can have a similarly postponing effect, too.)

4.) Push to the action. This is good advice for all scenes and exercises, but the verbal focus and nature of this game makes it particularly prone to becoming a talking heads dynamic. Make sure you’re not just intellectually musing about things but that they actually transpire as well.

5.) Explore different tempos and heats. The resulting game can have a shorter shelf life as a scene, especially if players really allow the energy to build between each offer. Challenge players to explore a more gradual build or assume a “kitchen sink” premise to prolong the game and its benefits.

In Performance

This is probably not an approach you’ll use frequently within an improv evening although it can be a great way to kick-start a scene or get onto the same page with another improviser with whom you may not be initially gelling. Style scenes with elevated speech, on the other hand, can often really benefit from this dynamic: it has a nice Shakespearean feel, in particular, and can encourage fun word play and connections.

This is the first contribution to the ImprovDr Game Library where you can access a wealth of exercises, warm-ups and performance frames. Further explore the library here or head over to the search engine here.

Cheers, David Charles.
www.improvdr.com
Join my Facebook group here.
Photo Credit: Tony Firriolo
© 2020 David Charles/ImprovDr

Connected Concept: Commandment #1