Why the End of the World

Approximately 74% of the people reading this already know the answer but I am going to chat about it anyway.   I am recently started a class at the Upright Citizens Brigade: The End of the World.   It is performing an improv form using the genre of the, well, end of the world. Apocalypses and post-apocalypses.  Alien invasions, viruses, zombies, doomsday weapons, time travel, distopias, reality altering drugs, clones, robots, Revelations, meteors, earthquakes, global warming, the sun dying, nuclear war, 2012, genetically altered animals, mutants, the Antichrist, and on and on.

If you know me at all, you know why I felt like this class was something I needed to participate in. Hell, I toyed with the idea of asking if I could be unpaid TA if I didn't get in the class.  The whole concept fascinates me.  It is both epic and personal, and usually slapped with a great big moral message. What also fascinates me is our (has a human race) fascination in it.  We just love  (and apparently always) be unable to not think about the end of it all.  How will we, has a race, meet our final demise?  With a bang or a whimper?  Usually it is our on hubris, especially since the start of the 20th century.  And that alone is a testament to our own hubris: We are very convinced  that our own ability to play god will be our own destruction.

Also it is just damn fun to do.  Seriously.  It is like an excuse to initiate all the crap that usually occurs to me.  Crazy scenarios, themes that hit you like a 2x4, the type of broad characters that I am nervous to break out in any other impov form.  I am like a kid in a candy shop.

Anywhozits, that is why I am using it to write short stories.  Apologies to Douglas Adams and the original conception of what eventually became Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  I will probably run out of steam at some point (heck, I am behind now).  If you have any suggestion, challenges, ideas, whatevers... feel free (read: I beg you) to post them in the comments.  I will do my best.

A few photos from the anniversary show

From misoserious.com's Flickr set.

I look so intense here.  I love it and this has become my standard profile picture.  It is also why I like my hair.

Intense in a very differnt way.

Matt is actually being caring in this moment but it looks like he's about to choke me.

My favorite picture. And it's not improv.  It's from our introduction of the 5 Dude's set.  But, seriously, is anything more awesome than Jeremy flinging a cobra at the audience? 

2.0 Thank You Robot Second Anniversary Show

In case you didn't know (which is highly doubtful if you actually know me), my improv group Thank You, Robot is celebrating 2 years of performing on Friday Feb. 20th at midnight (by that I mean late Friday night and not super early Saturday morning... midnight shows can be very confusing that way).  We're pretty darn thrilled.

(1) Two years in improv years is weirdly a lot.

(2) It is at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (307 W 26th St, NY, NY).

(3) The amazing team 5 Dudes is performing two.  (When I say amazing, I mean AMAZING.)

It costs $5.  You should try to come.

Anywhozits, here are some promo vids.

Deconstructing (pt. 2): Better To Give Than Receive (actually, both are great)

(Continuing from pt 1.)

One of the liberating things about this opening (and the form that follows) is that it is a free pass at endowing yourself and everyone else with stuff to play.

Normally, openings tend to interpreted pretty loosely. This is by design. You want to surprise the audience and yourself. You take bits and pieces and themes from the opening and then explore, riff, whatever off them. Part of the magic of improv is the discoveries that happen during a show. It is something that the audience and performers get to share at the same time. They aren't sure who you're going to use the opening and neither are you.

This form, because you are drawing so directly from the opening, makes that harder. Everything is played much closer. (I'm going to discuss the difficulty and freedom this causes in a later post.) But because things are played closer it does allow you to do something which is semi-frowned on in most improv... but can also be so so fun.

Pimping. (In improv, for those few readers who don't know, pimping is that act of forcing your scene partner to do something. The classic example is handing them a 'book' and saying, "Read this poem out loud." You have now forced your partner into making up a poem on the spot.)

Now, this is true pimping. It is more endowing. Because you know that if you mention a one legged French ballet dancer who sells knifes door to door in the opening someone on the backline is going to play the one legged French ballet dancer who sells knifes door to door, it can be quite fun. Once I realized this, it took some of the pressure off the opening for me. I knew whatever I said was going to be something for someone else to put on. Of course this heightens the fact that you don't want to explore anything to deeply in the opening. If you paint to main details about something/someone in the opening, it gives them nothing to explore later. If you describe the whole 'game' of a character in the opening, there will be nothing to be discovered when we finally see that character. (And if you spend too much time on one thing, you'll not have enough time to get out other things for other people to play.) Again it is such a gentle balance.

Not unique to this form but perhaps heightened by it, is the "I Want That!" syndrome. When on the backline during the opening, you hear something that appeals to you strongly, you suddenly think "Oh god. I want to play that!" You of course have to keep listening but you jam it into your back pocket. Now in most openings, I jam a handful of things into my pockets and am all set to bring it up whenever I need to. But because the ideas from The Gossip opening can be so strong I find myself being, well, selfish. I want to jump out with the one thing that most appeals to me as quickly as I can... before anyone else can. This is good (because you are excited about the gifts that are being given to you) but so dangerous. Besides it just being greedy and not so supportive, it can also screw the pacing of the whole piece. If there is one idea that is clearly so fun and so good, you probably want to save it for a few scenes in. The audience probably keyed in on that idea too. It is probably strongest in their mind right after the opening and they want and expect to see it. If you go straight to it, you are just giving them exactly what they expect. But if you wait, it leaves the from of the audience's mind and becomes exciting when it finally does show up. One of those keys to comedy is to get the audience to expect and anticipate something and then not give it to them until they don't expect it. Giving them that moment of "Oh yes! I remember that!" is so much better than "Oh yes. I knew that was next."

But something else I realized is that you need to take care of yourself. Because the characters in the opening end up (just by the nature of it all) being the center of the world (although they might not be the focus), they will (most likely) come back in the body of the piece. And if you don't give yourself something you want to play, you are screwing yourself. This is hard because you are trying to NOT play game in the opening, a character game might not get developed at all. So, especially early in the opening, giving you something strong to grab on to is just watching out for yourself. But of course, you don't want to play it strongly during the opening. You want to leave something to explore later on. An example from my previous post is the touching thing. It gave me a strong character trait. When I was called off the backline and put into a flash back scene of having my boss/lover over for dinner with my wife, I immediately started touching both of them. I knew exactly who I was and what I was thinking and what I was doing.

I tend to be pretty shy about endowing myself. I'm more comfortable supporting others with moves. Heck,one of my problems is playing game so hard and straight that there is too little discovery. I think I'm getting better. With this form (especially the opening, either in it or on the backline) I feel like I am being set free.

Deconstructing (pt. 1): Create More, Explore Less

This post will be rambling and probably insanely boring to non-impov people. (Chances are that it will be boring to improv people too.) This is at least me third attempt at it but each thought leads to a new thought and by the time I get three paragraphs in and I end up contradicting myself. But I do love thinking about this stuff and my brain has been pretty fixated on this topic for the last two weeks. Writing/discussing about it helps me process my thoughts which actually helps me get out of my head when I am actually performing. Anywhozits, enough with the qualifications. I should just get on with it.

(Off topic, the radio just mentioned that Disneyland was closed last night for Miley Ray Cirus's birthday. Yes, I wish I was her. Just this once.)

Background: Right after I finished my last 501 class (which was one of the great classes of my short improv life), I started a 600 class. 600 classes are kind of the master classes at UCB. They focus on a specific thing or form, often something new the teacher wants to create or explore. It is the same teacher as my last 501 (who I adore because I think she "gets me"). The 600 is filled with great performers, most of whom I have know of for a long time but never have had a chance to play with.

I went into the class not having very clear idea what the form was going to be. (I had a guess that was completely wrong.) It is a form of deconstruction... sort of. It is almost a reconstruction. No, that's not the right word either. One of the big problems with discussing improv (as is the problem with discussing most art) is that the vocabulary is so slippery. Very little is concrete form person to person, place to place, time to time. Hell. I don't want to get too deep into what it is because that might spoil some of the fun for those who see it. But I want to talk about some of the ideas behind it.

One of the cool/difficult things about the way we are doing this form is that it involves breaking a lot of the "rules" that have been drilled into our heads. Of course there are no rules in improv. There is often structure (which can also be broken).

(A lot of 600s are about learning new tools and skill sets but don't actively break any of the previous rules. Forms like The Documentary or The Movie are different forms that give you different styles and editing tools with which to play (and does brake the "avoid plot/narrative"). Other 600s like the phenomenal Raw Harold was about really removing all the rules. This 600 has moments that remove some rules and tweaking others but staying very true to others. We are being given a lot of freedom with which to play... which means you have to be so more diligent about certain other things.)

But there are things that are trained into you that are make it easier and smoother. For example, "Don't talk about things not in the scene." You want to make the scene about the present. Simple enough. Who wants to watch people talk about what the crazy night they had last night or what they are going to do tomorrow or that weird guy done the street. You want to see those things on stage. Of course, you can have very funny/engaging scenes with people talking about other things... it is just a lot harder to do well.

The opening of this form is specifically breaking that rule. You want to talk a lot about other people and things. You want not get stuck on playing the game of the scene because that will stop you from getting information out for the rest of the piece. I took a workshop with Matt Walsh during the Del Close Marathon this year. The best thing I took away from it was a simple sentence, "Create less, explore more." Basically, find that information and stuff in those first few lines and explore those. Don't keep adding new vaguely related stuff. But here we have to do a five minute scene, layering more and more info, never delving to deeply into anyone thing. It goes against one of the base instincts we have had imprinted into our brains. In someways it become the reverse of that rule: "Create more, explore less."

While difficult to shift gears, I am finding this aspect so rewarding. In my head I am creating new little rules in my head, new ways to think about the doing the opening scene. The idea is to paint the world around the people in the scene. Step one (like any scene), is to establish where you are and who you are to each other. The where is important. Not just "we are in our living room" but where that living room is. Is it in a New York apartment? A suburbs? A farmhouse? Those are all questions you should be asking in any scene but here it is even more important. And once you know who you and your scene partner(s) are, just start painting that world around you. Who would these people know? Who would be important to them? Who would intrigue them? The teacher calls the opening the Gossip and for good reason. Who would they talk about and why would they talk about them?

Normally, it is important to me to figure out my view point through specific emotions and actions. But this becomes some what secondary. But I am finding that is okay. Given five minutes (which is actually a life time in an improv scene), you can take your time and figure out who you are through who you talk about. I like having that time and discovering things indirectly. Once I realized that, it suddenly became easier to think about. (I'm not saying I'm doing it well yet but I think I am starting to get it in my head.)

I've established a bit of a pattern in my head. Establish where we are by environmental work and who we are to each other. (I still need to get better at naming people... I am bad at that.) As soon as we are done with that, start talking about other people. Right away. Don't worry about finding something important about us in the scene. That will come. Once someone has been mention, give two or three things about them. Just yes-and. If your scene partner mentions the new pet shop down the street, immediately think about pet shops I know or what pet shops make me think of. "Oh, yes. I walked in there yesterday. Jenkins, the owner, sure seems to specialize in exotic reptiles." Doesn't matter what it is. Yes-and once or twice then move on. That is hard to relearn but I'm starting to get my brain to do it "two, three facts and drop it." From there it is to A to C off of who we are, where we are, or what what has already been mentioned. For whatever reason, I think pet shop, I picture a barbershop next to it. "I so need to get my haircut but I swear that my barber is trying to cheat me." Or when I think "reptiles," I think of people who are scared of them. "Speaking of snakes, my sister still hasn't recovered from that time she got lost in the Reptile House at the zoo." Or go to the environment we're in. Maybe my scene partner has gone to the fridge. "Oh, by the way, I gave the last of our eggs to the neighbors. You know how hard it has been on the Dickersons since Fredrick lost his job at the paper mill."

The hard part for me has definitely been to not play any game that has popped up. It is so ingrained in me that if I see a way to play something already established to not come back to it. For example, last night I was doing a scene where we quickly discovered we were a married couple and I had recently told my wife that I had always been gay. We had a few mini-games very early including the fact that I was touching her gingerly but a lot. It was so difficult to get away from (1) that very loaded and emotional relationship and (2) that mini-game. We had, in any other case, everything you needed for an easy and fun scene to just play. But we needed to give info for the body of the set. We (well, mostly my great scene partner) would quickly add more things/people in the world, but almost everything was presenting a way to play the game we'd established. I actively had to keep steering myself away from it.

One lesson I took from that scene, is that you can play those mini-side games (like the touching) but you can never fixate on them. They can help ground you and give you something to do but you can't comment on them more than once. And you can save any game you find for the scene for later. When you feel you are getting closer to that five minute mark and feel you have laid down a lot of stuff for everyone else to play with, it can give you something nice to give the backline something to edit you on. For example, last night I realized that has the scene went on I was becoming more comfortable being gay around my wife and I just said, "Wow. I am become more gay by the minute." (Yes, not the greatest game. Just an example.) And we were edited.

Okay, this is already too long and I haven't come close to everything I want to say/am thinking about. So I added a "pt. 1" to the title. Later (when I get time) I will discuss...
• In the opening, endowing yourself with something strong. • Pimping the entire backline, or why it is better to give than receive. • Playing specifics but not plot. • Laying game, playing game, discovering game. • The easiest from of connections ever: Mix and matching characters.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more

The Del Close Marathon begins in earnest today but I have been doing it in spirit since Monday (as is clear by the DCM Body Counts). Last year I planed poorly and, while I saw a lot, I saw not nearly as much a I wanted to. So this year I am embracing it more, attempting to see things I don't get a chance to normally. Diving in and breathing deep.

Monday started with The Improvised Shakespeare Company (ISC) (more on that later), followed by Baby Wants Candy (which I follow with great interest because (1) some of my favorite performers are on it... although sadly one of my favorites was not performing on Monday), (2) of VEAL and studying the musical improv form(s) and (3) they are just darn fun). I capped Monday with Couples Skate. I've been really enjoying Couples Skate for the last few months, seeing improvisers doing things I don't normally get to see them do. I am finding that, seeing them in new contexts, allows me to see their individual talents better. That sounds horrible. I suppose I mean that it is easier to zero in on what makes specific performers so good and am able to say to myself, "Ah! I want to try that and I want to get better at that!" It sounds cold and analytical (which I certainly can get). It is also just a joy. On Monday Billy Merritt and Ellie Kemper did a set. I've missed seeing both of them.

Tuesday was basically a repeat of Monday. I had become entranced by ISC and wanted to see it again (I told you! More on that later!). It is rare that I yell out suggestions. I always feel a weird responsibility for the show when I do. If the show (for whatever reason) goes poorly I (irrationally) worry that my suggestion contributed to the failure. But I did get mine in for ISC on Tuesday (they ask for the name of the play they are to perform): The Three Laws of Asimov. Yeah, I'm kind of proud of that. That was followed by BWC again – for which I also gave the suggestion, although I pre-planned it a bit: H.G.Wells' Vegas! Vegas! Vegas! I have to say, I love that title. The night ended with Jammin' With Ralph which, to be honest, was a lot more enjoyable that most Ralphs I've been to. (I was brain dead and not much help in any of my scenes but I certainly enjoyed watching.)

Wednesday I had workshops from 3pm to 11pm. They were good. One reminded me how I want to open more doors and possibilities in my improv (and should be worrying less about dong it "right"), and the other helped me zero in on some very simple things make myself better. The night ended with karaoke. I got there so late so never got a song, but I had two very nice gin and tonics, danced with friends, and basically blew off some steam/energy that had been building up from sitting in chairs listening to others awe me.

Thursday started out with Sheer/McBrayer. As expected, it was brilliant. In particular their classroom during a sex ed class. No less than eleven characters performed by two actors. Just a wonderful example of how much you can get with simple character games. Then, I am slightly embarrassed to say, I saw ISC again. My plan to see as much new stuff as possible was being tossed out the window by my new found love. (Hold that thought.) The night end with I Got Next! which was just goofy and silly. I don't want him to get a swelled head and all, but David Bluvband showed me yet again what a powerhouse improviser he is. So good, so present in his scenes and in his characters. If nothing else, I am so glad to being doing improv right now so that I can watch him grow as a performer.

(Okay, I've gotten to my actual point now.)

Shakespeare obviously has me in its spell. I went to see it the first time because I love improv and I love Shakespeare, but I was half expecting something very gimmicky. "Oh, look! They are making for of Shakespeare plays. Ah, they found away to do a balcony scene between two lovers... but they are hip-hop kids. How clever." (Clever is a bit of an insult in improv circles.) But it is not that. It is certainly in the style of Shakespeare and poke fun at the conventions of it, but it is more in honor of it. Mad and crazy, sure... but also grounded in character first and foremost. Bawdy, physical, thoughtful, sweet, violent, heartbreaking, funny, sad, shocking... all the things that make Shakespeare great. And so smart... while being, well, silly and stupid.

After watching it three times, I am just starting to grasp some of the structure and "tricks." Suggestions of a play title followed by an introductory character soliloquy. It is there that we are given themes and broad setting. The broad structure is a narrative so nothing too complicated. At least three scenes of different characters and setting up of plot and then plowing a head to they end. On Monday they had a wonderful wonderful aside scene that related little to the plot but helped paint a bigger picture of the world.

The biggest thing that amazes is the language. First, they ease at which it pours from their mouths. Much of that must be practice. But it would be easy to make fun of the language. Certainly, humor does come up from it but rarely is it just a joke about the language. The humor comes from the wordplay... like god damn Shakespeare. Well, I love a good pun but they kill normal improv scenes (being "clever"). With Shakespeare it is beyond puns. It is metaphor. And that, I realize, is such a key. Every setting, object, action can be metaphor... and should be. If a character starts a scene as a maiden milking her cow, her hands are described as "milky white." If someone is throwing their zephyr into a river in preparation of taking their own life, they can wax about how a river is like a string of music, the zephyr notes floating away into nothingness... and this then becomes a metaphor for life itself. Setting inspires metaphor which inspires character which inspires plot which inspires action which inspires metaphor (or any combination). And in that, beautiful (and hilarious) language can form from seemingly nothing. It is not something you can get away with in most improv. A couple at the breakfast table in 2008 will rarely compare their children to eggs and bacon. And if they did, THAT becomes the game of the scene. In Shakespeare, metaphor is just part of the style that can inspire the game of the scene. (Of course, this does happen in normal improv... it is just often happening in the performers' heads. A breakfast of bacon and eggs is very different from oatmeal or from poptarts. Each informs/inspires the world of the characters and what types of people they are. But to do it blatantly and to let it fully inspire larger themes and ideas... oh, magic. I've been trying it around the house today... both easier and harder than one might think.)

Anywhozits, I must get ready for the long evening ahead. Long shower, back provisions, a bit of food shopping. It has begun to rain which is no fun at all considering my $5 umbrella is on its last legs, a poor protector from the elements. On this eve of revelry, the gods cry and thunder. In defiance of man's hubris of creation? For is that not what the improvised play does upon the stage? To form from the void of nothing new lives that live and die. And we as an audience sit and laugh at these divine like acts. Perhaps the goods are weeping tears of joy at the magic of their creations. For they created us and we in turn create ourselves. But that is neither here nor there. My wilting structure of portable shelter will do little to keep me dry of their tears. And I will enter the theater soaked to the very bone in their wet, be that wet of anger, sorrow or joy.

Yeah. I like it. I am taking a workshop in it tomorrow at noon. I am all atwitter.

Del Close Marathon

The 10th Annual Del Close Marathon is this upcoming weekend. What is that you ask? (Well, very few are asking that since 93.3% of my readers are NYC improvisors.) It's a long-form improv festival. 134.25 hours of improv (if I did my math right) over three days on 5 stages. Over 150 teams from across the country. Improv around the clock. Now it would be impossible to see all of it short of using a time machine. Still, if you have nothing to do this weekend, a $25 dollar pass gets you into access to 93% of the shows (some shows cost an extra $10 per and reservations... all of those shows are worth it). That's more made up comedy than the brain can handle in one weekend.

There will be great improv and bad improv. There will be insane stuff like a stage of ten Bill Cosbys. Stuff will blow you minds, stuff that will make you ears bleed, and stuff you will just sleep through.

I'm excited because I've never done the DCM full out. My first year of improv I didn't quite understand what it was and didn't go at all. Last year, I didn't plan well and didn't go for the long haul. But this year I am prepared. Catching up on sleep, hydrating well (there's a lot of drinking). I'm prepared to watch improv until it stops being funny and then becomes funny again for totally different reasons.

This is also the first year that I am performing in it.

Thank You, Robot is at the UCB Stage (307 West 26th St. New York, NY) at 8 AM (yes, the morning) on Saturday. Veal is at the Urban Stage (259 West 30th St., New York, NY) at 11:15 AM (late morning), also on Saturday. Sadly, you cannot buy tickets for individual shows. But if you want to spend a very weird Saturday morning, come see TYR at 8 AM and see a bunch of shows through the afternoon (catching Veal in there). If you make it through to 2 PM, you have just seen 6 hours of shows for $25, which is less that 7¢ a minute. And you will get to see me make up songs while totally brain melted. Tempting, ain't it?

(TYR also has a show at The Broadway Comedy Club – 318 W 53rd St – on Monday, August 11th. Wardrobe Army is hosting and the world-class Fat Penguin is playing too. $6 plus 2 drink min (yeah, I hate the two drink min too... sorry)).

Sing it!

After a weekend+ of Musical Improv, here is one last note:
If you have taken 301 Improv at UCB, you should take Eliza Skinner's 101 Musical Improv class. I plug this for selfish reasons. The more people who take it, the more classes they'll make available, the more advanced classes that will come up, the more I get to do stuff.

Do it.

And, yet again, I sing about sex

Veal was in CageMatch at UCB last night. Damn good fun. CageMatch audiences are pretty darn good. They want to have fun. Which is slightly weird because you'd think the competition thing would undercut the fun. I think kudos should go to Charlie Todd and all of UCBW. Comedy professional wrestling, with all of it's over-the-top-ness and riling up the crowd both gets the audience excited and makes the whole competition portion of the "improv division" just that much sillier. It's a good combo. Like cheddar cheese and cracker Combos (and not like the pizza ones... those are disgusting).

I'm pretty proud of Veal. We put on a good show. I can nitpick (because it is my nature to nitpick... I love to nitpick) but won't. I am particularly proud that we did a musical harold. They're tricky, especially to get in at 25 minutes. A lot of the editing is taken out of the hands of the backline. Once a song starts, there's not a lot that can be done until the song is done... and that's up to the singers and the accompanist. You an help and support the song but the singers have to find their own end. Luckily (if done well) song naturally end on a heightened note. The audience will clap after a song and things natural edit there.

(I would never say musical improv is full of cheats – there is a whole set of skills and instincts you must learn to do it well – but by the very structure it fits naturally into a lot of the "rules" of long form improv. In fact, it has informed a lot of my non-singing improv. Heighten like a song. Get to what really matters. Find the game and play it.)

Anywhozits, we managed to do a musical harold and one I'm very happy with. I think I played to my a lot my strengths. More and more I've realized that I'm pretty good and playing games once they've been established. I love structure and patterns and finding unexpected ways to follow those patterns. I had a few last night. One was particularly meta. (I love meta when done well and it doesn't take over the show.) We had a game of an echo in a cave coming from the backline. The echo kept being more and more irregular, sometimes repeating the last word said and sometimes calling back to a line 30 seconds before. In the 2nd beat, I was about to do an echo of the chorus from the 1st beat ("jackpot") but just as I was about to do it, Doug said it. (Man, I love those moments when you and a teammate are thinking the exact same thing and they beat you to it. Often it feels better than doing it yourself.) I tossed in "Why didn't you do the dishes," echoing a scene we never saw. It was a fun heightening from the first scene. My meta move came when I called out "Can we have a suggestion of a location... location... location," calling back to before are show even started. The improvisors in the audience seemed pleased. (I love that a lot of my closest friends have distinctive laughs. When I hear them laugh I feel supported. It's nice to have people who "get you.")

I did fall back on my standard of singing about sex. Man, why is that? (Nevermind. Please don't answer that.) I ended up with the tagline "...jack me off." I feel like I found an interesting take on the subject... and an audience loves a heartfelt hand job song... but I need to broaden my topics. Not everything is a metaphor for sex. Yes, it can be but it doesn't have to be. I would say that if it was happening to me I might not sing about it as often... but I know me better than that. I think about as much if not more when it is actually happening. Perhaps I need to thing about baseball or dead puppies before I perform.

There were really only two people I wanted to impress yesterday: Veal's coach/director Stuart and my musical improv teacher Eliza. Those were the two people (beyond my fellow Veal-ies) that I was playing to. They both seemed to enjoy it so I'm glad I did well by them.

Oh, Veal lost to Death By Roo Roo, 79 to 109. That actually puts us in 6th place since it is the most votes by a team that did not actually win. We are very very unlikely to stay in 6th unless Roo Roo manages to continue winning all the way through October. But it's nice to be there for now.

(Note: If you missed Veal last night, shame on you. You'll have more opportunities. We are in the Del Close Marathon... of course our show is at 11:15am on Saturday, Aug. 9th. We will have other shows in the near future. You can also catch my 201 Musical Improv class at UCB this Sunday at 5:30pm. It should be a magical musical la ronde.)

1am Improv Quick Thoughts

Just two observations about seeing shows tonight.

The Brothers Hines is a perfect example of how much you can get from having characters with clear points of views/philosophies.

Hot Sauce is about Yes And-ing the shit out of everything. Step by step, yes and yes and.

So much to see, so little time

This is going to be one of those weeks. Actually, I never have anything BUT one of those weeks lately.

Tuesday, July 22nd. 11:00pm.
Hot Sauce / The Brothers Hines at Upright Citizens Brigade.
Two shows, five of my favorite performers. Both teams are just, well, fun. A crap load of fun. Weird, crazy, kinetic. Intelligent and silly. Fast and slow. Hard and touching. Okay, I have now actually described a one night stand I had two years ago. This show won't leave you feeling dirty and make you break out in hives.

Wednesday, July 23rd. 9:30pm.
The Spin / As The Diamond Burns at Upright Citizens Brigade.
The Spin is a daring show that explores a current event in the news. And two of my teammates/friends/favorite people are in it. If you listen to NPR or read the paper or at all give a crap about the world, see it. Because the world is funny.
As The Diamond Burns is an improvised soap opera. Another of my teammates/friends/favorite people is in it. "Sublimely ridiculous" would be my quote in Soap Digest about this show.

Thursday, July 24th. 11:00pm.
Veal vs. Death By Roo Roo in CageMatch at Upright Citizens Brigade.
In case you didn't know yet, CageMatch pits two improv teams against each other. Each team gets 25 minutes. The audience votes. The winner comes back next week. Veal is my musical improv team and I adore them. This is a big night for us. Big audience, big(ger) stage, bigger stakes. Death By Roo Roo has been on an absolute tear lately. 10 victories. They have been doing amazing work in CageMatch. So Veal could use all the support we can muster.

Friday, July 25th.
God willing, nothing related to improv... and certainly not at UCB. No offense, UCB. But in less than 3 weeks, I'll be spending WAY too much time with you. I think it is okay if I don't see you on Friday of this week.

Saturday, July 26th.
Class/practice... then at...
7:30.
I Eat Pandas at Upright Citizens Brigade.
Ah yes. IEP is like being whisked away on a candy cloud to a land of broken glass castles. I'm not saying it is all sweetness and things you can cut your feet on. Words fail me sometime. Let's try, "Two person musical improv of the highest/most fun order. Yum."
Then, later, a party.

Sunday, July 27th. 5:30pm.
Musical Improv 201 Class Show at Upright Citizens Brigade.
My class show for my musical improv class. Should be a total hoot in your snoot. Sadly, I won't be hanging out afterwards because I have to run to a class at 6:30pm.

Monday, July 28th. 8:00pm.
Gravid Water at Upright Citizens Brigade.
I've pimped this before. It is still one of my all time favorite shows. So I shall continue to push it on all of you until you finally go see it. Stephen Ruddy keeps presenting it as an "experiment." I'm not sure when experiment stops being an experiment and you can call it a success. I suppose all improv is an experiment. Maybe all art is. Maybe I just need more coffee.
11:00.
Farebeater/Improv Verté at Upright Citizens Brigade.
Farebeater starts by talking to a real NYC cabbie and then improving scenes from that. All of the scenes take place in taxis. It might sounds claustrophobic, but it actually shows how much can be explored when you give yourself restrictions. And my friend is in it.
Improv Verté is an improvised documentary. Because real life is funny, damn it. More friends in this one.

Note to friends: Please stop being in shows that I want to see. Of some of you would please start doing some crap, it would make my life easier.

EDIT: Actually, I probably won't be at Gravid Water. I'll be at another event. More details when I have them.

Why DOES that damn caged bird sing?

I am scared of singing.

It's true. I enjoy it. I enjoy it a lot. I do it constant around the house... when I'm alone. But in public? Big fear. I am not confident with my voice. I often suddenly find my self unable to pronounce even the simplest words. Any time I try to hum a popular song to someone it comes out as random discordant notes, like John Cage on lithium. In fact the whole Scott family is a bit infamous for not singing. Yes, I do not enjoy karaoke.

But I do like musical theater. It allows you to break so many of the conventions of "normal" theater. You can go from dead serious to wild camp in seconds. Emotions can be heightened way out of proportion. Slipping into an internal monologue is not only okay but expected. Music gets straight to musical core of things. You can gloss over subtlety. A character loves someone more that they love there own life? They can say that. They can say that over and over if it is in the chorus. And it isn't overblown or silly. It's frackin' moving.

So a while back I started to take a musical improv class with Eliza Skinner (of I Eat Pandas and many other swell things) at UCB. I was pretty sure I'd suck at it. I wasn't even sure I'd like it. Turns out I do like it. Enough that, when asked, I joined a musical improv team.

I had my first show with them last night. And it was magical. Audience get very excited by songs... especially improv ones. And as a performer, you get swept up in the song and your brain shuts down, and you just react in the moment.

I don't know how good I am. I am pretty good with structure. I commit to moments well. My actually singing goes all over the map. The notes I hear in my head rarely come out of my mouth. But that seems some what secondary. And it help that my team, Veal, rocks out on support.

Thing is, I totally burnt out on improv recently. I forgot the fun. I took a few weeks off, gave it a lot of thought, tried to put it all in perspective. Coming back, even after that short break, seems to have made me stop sweating the small stuff.

Yeah, that little bit was pretty cliché. But if I sang it....

More of Awkward Boy

Link.

Most Awkward Boy in the World

Chris Gethard and Zach Woods (and a cornucopia of UCB folks in cameos) have made a series of videos. Enjoy.

Stuff I've Seen

First, I know the second and third and fourth parts of my Idiotarod observations are way way late. They are still coming. I have just been plowing hard into my new novel. I caught the wind and once I do it is hard for me to focus on much else.

I have been working on a large Idiotarod project that the vast majority will never see. I'm proud of it and I hope it is appreciated. It has been a great way to think about the entire thing. Sorry I can't go into it right now. (Doesn't really matter since you'll never see it.)

As I mentioned before, I saw a mass load of improv this week.

On Saturday I had my class show but I already mentioned that. I tried to see Asssscat 3000 on Sunday, but after waiting in line for over an hour in the icy winter air, they cancelled the 9:30 show. But I also talked about that.

On Monday I saw the sketch shows Making Lemonade and KROMPF: The Ol' Factory. A very very small audience which can kill many a show. But both were good. Making Lemonade is a fairly standard one man show. Five characters, one messed up family. Nothing too ground breaking but well done. KROMPF is of course on of my big improv crushes, so I was very interested in seeing their sketch. Even with the small audience, I still laughed hysterically. Part of that is that they are just my type of comedy. Very much the Kids In A Hall melancholy/absurdity. I think my only regret is that I would love to see them explore characters more, but that would basically require they be given an hour show. Anthony King, give KROMPF a full hour. Anyway, go see it. You probably won't like it as much as I do, because it is hard for me imagining that anyone could.

Tuesday I went to Harold Night, as I often do. UCB has joined the usual two Harold Night shows, allowing them to include a fifth team each Tuesday. I hope it stays (although it ended at 10:57 this week so it might just be to tight). It was a good night. Creep impressed me. I just love their playfulness. Watching them is a bit like the joy of watching children play. That my sound like an insult, but far from it. Fwand, of course, awed me. Of all the Harold teams right now, they are doing the most exciting stuff. Watch their transitions. Their seamless version of the Harold is just gorgeous. I am very very happy that Thank You, Robot is opening for them and Tantrum on Feb. 16th. You remember that right? Under St. Marks. 10:30pm. See my first non-class improv show EVER. There is only one first.

Tonight I am off to see Gravid Water. Everyone is sick and tired of me talking about that show so I won't. But it is definitely the most overlooked show at UCB right now. I may stay for Cage Match.

I thought long and hard about seeing The Stepfathers on Friday as it has been a long time and Silvija Ozols is playing with them all month. I can't go next week (Under St. Marks, 10:30pm, $6)... but I am oh, so close to improv overdose. I think I desperately need a night NOT going out. It has been too damn cold for all of these trips to Manhattan.

Next week will a non-improv week. Except Sunday. I have a class show to go watch (6 of the Thank You, Robot folks). Maybe Harold Night on Tuesday.

What You Know

I had a class show this afternoon. Went pretty good. I have of course nitpicked my performance to death, but I did it in my own head as not to annoy my friends and classmates. But everyone stepped up, I felt. It was nice to see.

I started my first scene and realized I was operating from something personal and very recent. It was a strange experience. Sort of transcendent, to be overly haughty about it. It was definitely cathartic, but could have been more so. Because I held back. I didn't take it where it should have gone. I got a bit scared.

Man, I have to stop that.

My Schedule, My Slump

I've been trying to be better about updating my "Where To Find Me" section that you can find to the right. While it isn't always accurate since I sometimes decide to stay home at the last moment, it probably hit about 90% true.

I was noticing that I am doing or seeing improv almost constantly this week. I've been accused of being a UCB junky before (or worse, a UCB groupie). Whatever. I like the craft.

But lately I have been in a slump. Maybe I am just seeing my flaws more. Maybe I am seeing my flaws and that is making me skittish... making me make even more mistakes. (Yeah, yeah. "There are no mistakes in improv." That is a lie. You make mistakes all the time. It's just that if you are good you can make beauty from the mistakes.) Maybe I'm plateauing. Happens to lots of people at a similar place to where I am. I just wish my plateau was at higher level.

Either way, I have to slog through the slump. One way for me to do that is to keep working my ass off. And to keep watching. One, to learn from others. And two, to keep my passion for improv high.

Also in the post-Idiotarod world (and post-other things), it's good to keep busy. Improv is cheap (especially if you are taking classes). In the 7 hours of improv/sketch I plan to see this week, I will spend a grand total of $5 (not count PBRs).

But even I will admit looking at the list... I look pretty one dimensional. So if anyone out there has something better for me to do, speak up!

thenametag.com ads

Yes, yes. I will finish all of my Idiotarod stuff soon. But while you're waiting, watch these leaked SuperBowl ads for TheNameTag.com.




(If you don't know, there is no thenametag.com.)

(via Adam Pally)

401 Class Show on Saturday Feb 3

I almost forgot.

I have a class show on Saturday at 4:00pm. At UCB. Come.

401, Thank You Robot, Gravid Water & Cage Match

My 401 improv class this week felt like a mini breakthrough moment. Certain things that had seemed contradictory in my brain just started to fit together. Things that seemed like constraints are now opening up, giving me freedom. I might be deluding myself but I think I'm making progress.


The lovely performers that I have been working with on Sunday practices have formed into a true improv team. We even picked a name: Thank You, Robot. Okay, admit it. That is an awesome name. Go make us your MySpace friend. We have lovely pictures of robots.

Last night I went to see Gravid Water at UCB. As always, it blew my socks off. Again, I never know how that show is viewed by non-actors and non-improvisers. There is so much of it that tickles me on technical/intellectual level. Last night they did the same scene twice, switching which character was player by the improviser. Fascinating to watch the subtle changes in tone and content. Gravid Water just reminds me how slippery words are and how poor humans are at communicating. That sounds like a back-handed compliment. It is meant as a true compliment. I think some of the truest character work I've seen in improv.

Anywhozits, it was fun to watch Dan Bakkedahl be an actor this time.

The Cage Match finals were last night too. Reuben Williams went up second and they were great. But they had a hard fight because of the stellar set Hot Sauce put up. Normally only a three man team, they were short on because Adam Pally was off exploring the Amazon (or something). So it was only 2/3rds of Hot Sauce but they put out an amazing amount of work. They are known for very quick scenes and they upped it with just Ben and Gil. It was like watching, well, a tornado of ideas and characters. Amazing callbacks and connections. So it didn't surprise me when they won. Props to you, boys. When Adam gets back and if he hasn't succumbed to malaria, I am sure he will be darn proud.

I also bruised my hip and ankle while performing acrobatics on the poles and overhead bars in an empty 1 subway train last night. My fellow acrobat apparently missed me falling four feet onto my back. But she had circus training so it wasn't a fair match up. Not that is was a competition. Either way, I feel like I got hit by a train... which is basically what happened.