Category: Link

Gillian Jacobs: Learning How to Act Like Myself→

I started obsessively running through scenarios of what would happen if I were expelled. Would I still pursue acting? In my mind, Juilliard’s approval meant I had talent, and without it I should probably give up. The rational part of my brain knew this was stupid — many now-successful actors were expelled from Juilliard and did just fine. Would I reapply to an academic institution? That was going to be tricky, because none of my credits from Juilliard would transfer, and I’d essentially have to start all over again, as though the last two years had never happened. I felt my only option was to white-knuckle it through the second semester and try to become whatever the hell they wanted me to be.

Lessons from Different Theaters→

I’ve long held the belief that the difference between top performers/shows at any given theater aren’t that different from one another, no matter how much the philosophy differs.

[..]

A lot of times students of improv wanna battle over the “right” way to do it or what improv “should” be and that’s just a drag. So tiring. Who the fuck cares? If there IS a “right” way it “should” be done, then it’s a dead artform, incapable of growing into something new, and I reject that idea. Instead, there are preferences and approaches that differ, and, as a student, the more you can understand those differences, the more you’ll be able to figure out what YOUR preferred voice and style will be.

The Four Steps of Yes And→

When teaching Yes And in Improv 101, I use a fairly technical model, showing the how-to steps of Yes And:

Step 1: Awareness. You must be present and open to be able to perceive the offers that are made. If you are in your head, in the future or the past, you might miss the most important thing: what’s right in front of you.

Step 2: Offer. Someone (and that might be you) does something or says something. Anything and everything can be an offer. Try to percieve the offers without judgement (good/bad) or categorization (intentional/mistake.)

Step 3: Acceptance. For beginner improv, we are looking for Instant Enthusiastic Agreement. Saying YES fully and quickly. For real world purposes, this might be more accepting what is (This isn’t what you expected, but it’s happening.) and building from there.

Step 4: Addition. Build on to the offer with something connected to it. Get some skin in the game and make your own offer, making sure it’s a response to the previous offer.

Varieties of Want→

The four kinds of wants in an improv scene (and one you don’t want). Brilliant.