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Jun
3rd
Mon
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Montreal Improv is growing!

So, here’s the official annoucement: Montreal Improv will be opening up a brand new theatre space! 

It’s just a few doors south from our current location, above the Second Cup. We’ve been renting it as an extra classroom for the last few months but signed the lease and got our city permits on Friday.

It’s in a pretty raw state right now but the renovations have already begun. As soon as we have a Grand Opening date, we’ll let everyone know.

A few extra answers:

  • Yes, we plan on keeping our current space as classrooms and as a smaller venue.
  • No, we’re not allowed a full liquor license.  But we will probably be able to get an event license for things like our anniversary and Mprov.
  • Yes, we will need your help.
  • No, it couldn’t have been done without the awesome work of Marc, Bryan, Kirsten, Brent, Christine, all of our amazing teachers & students and Montreal’s thriving improv community.

*fistpump*

- vinny & marc & bryan

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Apr
25th
Thu
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Diaries of a Wannabe Improviser: A Note to Self

Hey, I know you. You’re the student who doesn’t recognize that the feedback given to you by a wise and experienced teacher is a precious gift. You say things like “yeah, but-” and “I was trying to…” instead of LISTENING to the feedback and using it to grow. 

Listen, I get it, Tasha. Notes suck. They’re an inconvenient reminder that no, you are not perfect. Your mama lied. You can deny this fact and stunt your growth, or you can accept it and use it to improve. Okay? Now, take out your pen and paper and start taking notes on how to take notes.

The Basic Rules:

LISTEN.

Don’t talk. Don’t. Say. One. Word. Listen.

SAY THANK YOU.

You heard me. You may feel like you’ve been insulted or picked on, but what actually happened is that someone took time out of their life to help you become a better person. What a friggin’ awesome gift. You better say thank you.

SHARE NOTES ABOUT YOURSELF, NOT ABOUT OTHERS.

If you’re in a class setting, don’t give notes to other students. Be quiet, Tasha. No one wants to be criticized by his or her peers. However, if you have any self-notes that you realize you need to work on, or if you had a sudden epiphany about something, you should share these little discoveries with the group. What helps you may very well help them too.

IF YOU DO SAY SOMETHING, PAY ATTENTION TO HOW YOU SAY IT.

Opinions don’t matter, only constructive criticisms do. If you’re going to give someone feedback, think of what you can do to make sure it’s helpful:

1. Provide solutions, not problems.

Brainstorming examples about how to handle a difficult situation, rather than focusing on what someone did wrong, is so much more powerful and easier to put into action.

2. Don’t make it personal.

If a scene doesn’t work, talk about the scene, not the person. Say,“I feel like there was a missed opportunity” instead of “you blocked me.”

QUIT BLAMING PEOPLE.

Okay, so you had a bad scene. But really, your ideas were blocked and your partner was nervous and it’s not actually your fault, right? Get over yourself. Stop looking at what everyone else did wrong and start thinking about what YOU could have done to make the scene better. That’s all you have control over anyways.

QUIT BLAMING YOURSELF.

Hey, you tried. You got up there and you did something, and that’s a damn hard thing to do. Instead of beating yourself up for all the things you did “wrong”, remember that you’re a brave-ass Mummer Flubber and give yourself a pat on the back. Treat yourself to some ice cream. Take a look in the mirror and wink at that sexy beast staring back at you. Show yourself some well-deserved respect.

Now, take those notes and use them to become even more awesome than you already are, you crazy, magnificent example of human excellence, you. 

BONUS: 

My brainstorming notes

image

By: Tasha Lovsin

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Apr
9th
Tue
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Diaries of a Wannabe Improviser: Let’s Play God

image

Let’s create a world.

The sky is grey and overcast with threatening clouds. An airplane flies overhead, creating a low rumble in the town below. Five black birds are perched on a telephone line, silently observing as the day unfolds. There is an old, cracked sidewalk outside of Johnny’s Deli, where passersby always trip on the same spot. Johnny’s worn-out sign hasn’t changed in the past 20 years, sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the newly renovated fast-food chains and specialty shops that surround it. Inside, his shop smells like home-made apple pie and fresh smoked meat, mingled with the pungent aroma of coffee and the sickly-sweet smell of Beatrice’s perfume. Beatrice, the friendly matron who has been waitressing there since the Deli first opened, is wearing a faded pink uniform with a name tag that simply reads “Bea”. She’s now well into her sixties, but her smile is as radiant as when she was sixteen.

Now that we’ve imagined this world, it exists. Like a deity, I’ve created a character and given her life and a realm to exist within. I’ve summoned her in your imagination and together we’ve willed her into reality.

You see, once a world is established, stories will naturally come to life. In the world I described, we could tell the story of old Johnny and when he opened the shop. We could tell the story of Beatrice, or of a small town that is changing quickly. We could become the birds observing the scenery. We could be a passenger on the plane that flies above the city. The opportunities are endless.

Jumping on stage is like jumping into a big black box. Within the box, nothing exists until we create it. We are Gods. We mention the street lights against the foggy night air. BOOM. Like magic, they appear. We mention a sudden chill; the room grows colder. We mention an eerie silence on an empty street and the world goes quiet as the audience is transported outdoors on this strangely mystical night. We have entered a scene together, and now our adventure can begin.

If we fail to fill the box, our characters exist in thin air. Their stories take place in emptiness. They are isolated figures that live in a vacuum outside of time and space, making their story limited and difficult to relate to.

My challenge to you, (and myself), is to see the world that you play in. Use this opportunity to play God. Create spaces and worlds that don’t exist. Bring them to life with your descriptions, actions and interactions.

Start with something small. A gust of wind, a ray of sunshine in a park, a deflated yellow ball in the schoolyard. Keep adding and yes-anding until these small details have given you a world of opportunities to play with. Take your big black box and turn it into a scene for adventure that enraptures your audience and tickles all of your senses. Use your imagination to discover new sights, smells, textures and sounds. Breathe life into the void, and watch as it transforms in front of you.

Go.

Written by: Tasha Lovsin

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Jan
28th
Mon
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PGraph is coming this week to light up our stage and bring some of that great Austin improv to our fair city. They’ll be doing two shows: Friday 10pm and Saturday 9pm (FB event).

They also are running a weekend narrative improv intensive. If you’d like to sign up, we still have a stand-by list available. It’s possible (likely?) that someone drops at the last second. It runs 10a - 5p Saturday and Sunday (with an hour break for lunch). Email pgraph@montrealimprov.com if you want to know more.

They came to visit here in 2009 for Mprov and we loved them and they loved us. So now just before we get to give each other improv cuddles, you can take a look at the opening from the French Farce format they did three years ago.

- vinny

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Jan
18th
Fri
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You know that improv game where you get an audience member or another player and they can only say one of three things:

  • Okay!
  • Sure!
  • I’ll go along with that!

With one simple tweak, this game becomes the Dave Chappelle / Lil’ Jon version:

  • Okay!
  • What?
  • Yeah!
You should probably play this ASAP.
- vinny
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Jan
11th
Fri
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Jan
9th
Wed
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Jan
4th
Fri
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The Three Relationships

You can have three relationships in an improv scene:

  • With your scene partner(s)
  • With your environment
  • With your activity

The first one is covered often in classes and is easily the most important one. But there are two more that I don’t always get to see on stage and are great options to explore in a scene. Both of them can be best understood in the context of being alone onstage.

Relationship with environment

The character you’re playing in a scene can have a relationship with their surroundings. For instance, if you’re a CEO in your own office, then you’re likely to be comfortable in your home base. You know where everything is. You own everything in there. This is your domain! But if you’re a new hire coming into this office, it’s the opposite. You might enter gingerly, looking for permission to sit. You shrink into your chair. This is the lion’s den!

Some of this is status work but it’s also a relationship. And just like any relationship, it can change over time, especially if we put them together. Maybe the new hire gains confidence and the CEO loses theirs? Or we can start with their environment relationships swapped with the CEO uncomfortable in their office and the new hire strolling in as though it was their home.

If you’re alone on stage, you can choose this relationship to explore right away. Let’s say you’re camping. Are you an expert, familiar with camping from years of experience? Are you terrified of nature? Are you one with all around you and birds float to your outstretched finger? Are you happy to be out there? Angry at the campsite? There’s a lot to play with here and it’s totally up to you since you’re out there by yourself.

Relationship with activity

This is similar to the last one but now we’re talking about how you do what you do. Let’s say you’re getting dressed. Again, the world of options opens up. Are you putting on the clothes with resentment? Are you exhausted and doing it slowly? If you’re up there, getting dressed neutrally is a fine choice but you can tell us something about your mood, your character, your view by choosing a relationship to what you’re doing, no matter how trivial it is.

  • You can iron clothes with zest!
  • You can get into a car with sadness.
  • You can wash dishes while being paranoid.

It’s up to you to make that choice and let that inform you and the audience as to what is going on. Let your mime/object work sell it. Use your whole body, your face and make sounds like giggling or groans of fear.

And have fun with it! Keep building. Don’t drop it. If you’re angry at doing the dishes for the hundredth time in a row and your lazy roommate walks in, bring it up! Come back to it after they fail to apologize. Get angrier! Whatever you like.

==

These last two relationships are hugely important in the world of clowning. If you ever get a chance to take a class, jump on it. You know what? Lemme see if I can’t make that happen at MIT this year; a one/two day class would be a perfect intro.

It’s good to know that even if you’re on your own in a scene (maybe you’re starting the scene or maybe it’s a solo scene), there are a couple of options for you to play and have fun with.

- vinny

9:58am - Comments (View)



Jan
3rd
Thu
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A Bit of Class

It seems all our English classes are full (or nearly full) except for one that still has space left…

Level 3 : Saturdays, 3:30-5:30pm starting Jan 12

Here’s the others that are almost complete:

Level 1: Sat, Jan 19th, 1pm
Level 2: Tue, Jan 8th, 7pm
Level 2: Sat, Jan 12th, 3:30pm
Level 4: Mon, Jan 7th, 7pm FULL
Level 4: Sun, Jan 13th, 3:30pm

If you’ve been thinking about signing up, don’t wait too long. They’ve been filling up pretty quick.

Don’t forget our free drop-in class coming up:

Free Open Workshop: Sat, Jan 12th, 1pm

I’m pretty excited to be teaching the level 2 class coming up. I took a couple months off from teaching and I miss it. YEAH!

- vinny

9:46am - Comments (View)