the Montreal Improv blog

First Show Recap

We gave the new theatre its first test drive in front of a live audience last night.

I’m delighted to say that the theatre works.  You sit in the audience, you look at the stage, and yes, the vibe is right.  You stand on the stage, you perform for the audience, and yes, the right mood is there.  It’s unofficial, it’s still being beta-tested, but we have an improv theatre.

We don’t have the sound system set up yet, so it was a quiet, intimate opening as Vinny and I took to the stage for some banter about how polar bears can defeat any animal one-on-one.

T & A (Tall & Awkward) took to the stage and introduced themselves by saying “We are Tall & Awkward”, and then there was this deliciously awkward moment.  They did scenes about, among other things, a Chinese laundromat, a suicidal Hospital patient, and a married man having second thoughts.  Catch them again tonight at the inaugural Smackdown!

Vinny and I then told a story about a Russian Tetris software designer looking for adventure, and a Floridian kid getting hooked on the rush that comes from breaking the law in New York City.  It went long, because I was having too much fun to concentrate on finishing the story.  So let that be a lesson: don’t have too much fun!

We closed out the show with a couple of scenes with T & A about a Code Yellow terrorist alert, and a terrible date at a bring-your-own-chair restaurant.

First show documented!

Wrong is right, you figure out how

A manipulation is a game in which one or more players are manipulated by the other players into saying or doing something. (I prefer the term manipulation to endowment, because an endowment need not be secret.)

In Improv, everything you say becomes true. Manipulations are a great game for re-enforcing this principle. When the guesser says the “wrong” answer, it is still right. The other players are forced to justify why the “wrong” guess is also true. This should happen in all scenes when your partner says something unexpected or that you think is “wrong”.

Open House Random Thoughts

Thanks to friends, old and new alike, for coming by our open house today.  It was nice to have such a large turnout, and it was pretty special watching Marc lead people through the first class on our new stage.

Just like when I move into a new home, an instinct kicks in such that I have to clean everything.  I want my germs here, not someone else’s.  Scrub, sneeze, repeat.  Yo, that kitchen is something filthy.  Are we the only improv theatre with an oven?  Scratch that: two ovens?  Somethin’s cookin’ at Montreal Improv.  No literally.

The colour of the walls is subject to some debate.  I think most theatres are painted black because people are afraid of mistakes.  But… we do improv, right?  Shouldn’t we paint the walls a multitude of colours, and justify later?

The noise from Club Tokyo does not penetrate our walls; the noise from Spanish fútbol fans does.

If you feel like giving us a hand doing some painting tomorrow, drop us a note.  Colours tbd.

Thanks again!

—beej

1-person vs. 2-person scene opening

Ask for: Horse

Standard 1-person opening:

A player walks on stage, begins miming an action (with sound effects).  When it’s clear what the action is, a second player walks on and opens the dialogue.

Player 1: [mimes brushing a horse]

Player 2: [walks on] “Sir, may I ride your horse?”

Player 1: “You can ride behind me, kid. Only one person can tame this horse, and you’re lookin’ at him.”

Standard 2-person opening:

Two players walk on stage.  One player makes a verbal initiation.

Player 1: That’s the horse I’m betting on.

Player 2: Are we allowed to be here in the owner’s backyard?

Player 1: I just want to make sure the horse is healthy before the race.

When I started doing improv, I was taught the standard 1-person opening.  Its strength is that it’s a controlled opening: it establishes what you’re doing, it might set up where you are, and there’s little room for confusion off the top unless the mime work is poor.  It allows you to take your time.

Its weakness is that it’s safe and low-energy.  If you leave someone on stage for 10 seconds miming something, the energy bottoms out unless the miming is very big.  It also invites the players to talk about the action or the object of the scene, rather than making the scene about the people involved.

I like 1-person openings as a change-up.  If the end to the last scene was big, loud or busy, it’s a nice change of palette.  I also like them if I have an idea for an initiation that involves setting something up before the next person enters. 

However, over time I’ve switched my default opening to 2-player.  The difficulty in just beginning a scene without a quiet setup is overcome by a strong initiation. Particularly in long form, you’re opening the scene with an idea.  It’s always best to articulate that idea off the top, rather than trying to play coy.  Put your cards on the table, and start improvising from that point.

Thanks to those of you who came out to the Level 3 Showcase Wednesday night.  I saw classmates become a confident cohesive unit.  They supported each other with timely entrances and exits, and didn’t try to hog the limelight.  And, they were funny!

—bj

Hour Blog reviews Meteor (again!)

Two bloggers at Hour reviewed yesterday’s show.  Here’s the second:

Review: METEOR is made of all-natural ham

Juicy bits:

I was so impressed by the genuine light-heartedness of their spontaneous creations, I actually managed to surrender to the ride. Natural hams… these three comics made the most of nothing and proved to be at their best when the strains of managing the story-line reached the weirdest levels of absurd… and the packed crowd at the Petit Campus stage loved every minute of it.

Montreal Improv Recommends: Poison The Well

I saw Poison The Well on Saturday, and immediately decided it would win the Chapters award for Best Text.  Poison The Well is a gripping thriller—emotionally-charged and full of surprises. Hey, there are even a few laughs thrown in to break the tension.

—bj

Listening for Clues

Joe had a great comment in class last night.  Let me paraphrase him: “When we’re listening, we’re listening for clues.”

Setting up your whos, whats and wheres at the beginning of a scene is important, sure, because it grounds the scene and gets the players on the same page.  But that’s not what a scene is about.  If you had to summarize a story, you wouldn’t say “It was about two guys fishing on a lake.” Otherwise, you’d be asked “Yeah, but what was it about?”

You have a story; it just hasn’t been written yet. The clues to unearthing this story are: what are your motives, what is your relationship to your partner, and how are you feeling. All the other details in the scene (your status, the location, how big your moustache is) are in support of your motives, your relationship and how you’re feeling.

We did some scenes where at a given point, one player has to say “that’s important”.  The reason why I like that phrase is because it places an obligation on the players to make something important, and it signals to both players what it is that’s important.  The something important is almost always a player’s motive.

—bj