You’re supposed to be “in the moment,” to react with authenticity and without judgment, but you also can’t just say or do anything that comes to mind—there are rules, structures, ways of making your scene work better or worse, and you have to abide by those rules and structures while still at the same time seeming (and hopefully being) present and living fully within the moment. You’re supposed to establish who you are and where you are and why you’re there, but you’re not supposed to be clunky or overly expository about it. You’re supposed to find “the game” but still “be present” and engaged.
Tag: philosophy
You start with scenes, but once a few scenes have happened, a show is being created. And you start opening your awareness–I’m not only aware of the scenes I’m in, but how they connect to one another and what pattern they’re creating. You start thinking, ‘How can I best fill in the rest of this show?’ You start playing the piece.
Dan Bakkedahl on Miles Stroth’s show philosophy. More here.
Hoo boy, this is a good episode of Improv Nerd. Around 16 minutes in, host Jimmy Carrane asks guest Will Hines to define the UCB’s philosophy and go into the game of the scene. Then at 18 minutes, the two perform a game based scene followed by a discussion where Hines separates the base reality from the games going on inside the scene. They then re-do the scene, playing the game differently each time. Neat! Download the episode over at Feral Audio.