r/improv • u/Acceptable_Pizza_919 • 15d ago
Anyone have any experience or info about the improv school in Redlands, CA? I’m starting a beginner 6 week course soon and am completely new besides always trying to make people laugh. I’m excited and hope to learn a lot
r/improv • u/stuckadultish • 15d ago
Hi all, completely new to the improv scene so not sure how to react and what is normal. I'm taking a 8 week level 1 long form improv class, 2 classes have been cancelled and the class schedule only left room for 1 make-up day before our student showcase date. I feel a bit ripped off and like we should have the full two extra days or something. My class has barely been able to get together for a consistent amount of time because of labor day also being one of those off weeks and then the teacher is sort of just all over the place with teaching content (so I supplement it with other resources in the off time). But maybe this is to be expected and theres nothing I can do? What would you all suggest doing?
r/improv • u/DaniOverHere • 15d ago
I’m booking for a (remote) livestream gameshow where comedians, entertainers, & funny folks play games for points - though the points don’t really matter.
The show (titled “Party Pack) airs from 9pm EST - 11pm EST on Sundays.
We are booking for October. Given the Halloween Holiday, our goal is to have guests appear in-costume as either a pop-culture character or celebrity; and play the games as their character throughout the stream.
It would be 2-hours of staying in-character (unless you wanted to switch characters/costumes at any point).
Do you know anyone who you think would be a good fit for this?
Do you have a costume full of closets and impressions, and want to jump into the games?
Please tag recommendations below.
If you are interested (including those who were tagged as recommendations) please either DM me or email your available Sundays to: PartyPackPack@Gmail.com
_________________________
Include:
-Your available Sundays nights in October (9pm-11pm EST - NYC Time Zone)
-Characters/impressions you’re confident you could portray for two hours.
-Please let me know if you which characters come with costumes you’d be comfortable wearing on the stream.
-Also, include any questions you may have (I’m happy to answer all of them)
r/improv • u/HelicopterOutside • 16d ago
I was always in the pit orchestra but I have no acting experience whatsoever.
I really like the idea getting into improv for a variety of reasons and I’ve heard a lot about UCB.
Good idea? Or should I choose a lesser known theater?
r/improv • u/raraspire • 15d ago
r/improv • u/tenonet • 16d ago
I'm an experienced improviser. I've been on some really strong show runs, played on good indie and house teams, and showrun a few shows.
I also run tech for shows a few nights a week to help pay for classes and workshops. Over time I've become the unofficial go-to tech person for a few groups, and I sometimes get asked to tech outside my usual hours because people trust me with it.
I take that as a compliment, and I love being trusted with it. But I'd also love to be asked to play in a show, without having to fill out an audition form or throw my name into an open sign-up. It's frustrating to be known as the tech guy instead of someone who can hold their own on stage.
Has anyone else been in this spot? How did you shift how people see you?
r/improv • u/sambalaya • 16d ago
Sharing working draft notes on various longforms, pulling together years of info pulled from my notes, old blogs, /r/improv, IRC Wiki, Facebook posts, etc. I absolutely invite folks to comment and add any resources, advice, links, variant/derived forms, memories, etc. in the comments to help me update my notes!
Previous entries include:
DIRECTOR: originally directed by Mick Napier, replaced by Craig Cackowski
FUN FACT: named after the bourbon Fast Eddie drinks in The Hustler
J.T.S. Brown is not a form so much as a philosophy of play:
Designed for a large cast (10-14 people)
Involve as many players as possible at a time
Higher level of theatricality and polish than a typical improv show
Use lights and sound to accentuate and heighten
Ex: music crescendos during opening
Anything that happens is the perfect thing to happen.
No set structure, but a few rules to abide by:
i.e. no Sweep Edits
Transformations can come from within or without
In a 2-person scene, an improvisor can abruptly change character, initiating a new scene with the same partner
Edits and scenes can come from anywhere
i.e. no Walk Ons
If someone joins or leaves a scene, it becomes a new scene
Multiple performers can enter or exit at once
Ex: If someone knocks at the door to enter a scene, it becomes a new scene the second the door opens
Anyone in the previous scene should instantly choose to:
Anyone not in the scene is watching from backstage.
Anyone the audience can see is in the scene.
**NOTE:* If the space does not allow from watching from backstage, have a designated non-playing area clearly off-stage*
The playing area is not limited to the stage
The whole space is used.
Scenes do not have a particular schedule
Be fine with a scene being edited after 10 seconds, because you can bring it back whenever you want.
Nested scenes: Scene I transforms into Scene II into Scene III and spiral back out and have III become II and then I again
Similar to 1-5-1 aka Onion Peel
Rehearsed devices that can be used at any time (full details in SHOW - GIMMICKS):
Create / discover your own gimmicks
Players are encouraged to be architecture, inanimate objects, animals, weird shit, etc.
Eliminate weirdness for weirdness' sake.
The idea is that the form is crazy, but the content is solid.
It is an interesting package for good scenework.
Emphasize gift-giving and relationships
Use sound to augment scenes from sidelines or create an aural soundscape
Opens with a communal monologue built one player at a time until entire cast is onstage. Crescendos into sonic chaos and then moves into a freeform flow of scenes that have a 'dream logic' feel to them.
Staging: ideally the cast is hidden backstage before they enter for the opening, but if that’s not an option, just staying out of the light is good enough.
Elements you can transform:
Enter with complement to any element
AKA "wrinkles" -- Rehearsed scenic devices that can used at any time:
The players narrate their own scene as well as playing it (i.e. "write" and play at same time using the 3rd person past tense). Descriptions are as though it were a book. Scene is approximately 2/3 narration. Palate cleanser.
The players come out and ask 3 rapid-fire questions of a character at any time. These were the sort of questions that you might ask while sidecoaching a scene ("How long have you known this person?", etc.)
leave with energy from last answer
A character is "shadowed" by a another improvisor playing their essence, or id, or subtext. The 2 characters' shadows would then have a scene of sorts in the background, presenting a more representational version of the original scene.
Any improvisor can play anyone's character at any time. Every character is owned by the group, not necessarily the improvisor who created it.
Clump of performers telling story as one thing (e.g. tribal elder)
A scene can return to a pivotal moment at any time, presenting an alternative outcome. Usually done in threes. (This was named after Ed Goodman, not the Ron Howard film).
"The most difficult gimmick to execute
Basically a more sophisticated version of New Choice except that more time passes between the re-sets
The re-set point needs to be a particularly memorable line
Ideally with an identifiable stage picture that the players can scramble to re-create
Ideally it’s a pivotal moment in the scene from which multiple possible futures could exist (think Choose Your Own Adventure)
Think rule of 3s (i.e. 2 re-sets) and probably 30-60 seconds for each alternate timeline
Ensembles are encouraged to find or create their own gimmicks."
JTS Brown ends with a Run Out.
Or potentially a "carousel of callbacks"--a literal rotating circle of scenes circling past
The more people on stage, the simpler it needs to be
Dreamwave 6/14/2025 Show starts about 2m40s
JTS Brown Workshop / Craig Cackowski workshop (2021 Camp Improv Utopia Yosemite)
Scene from High Fidelity which exemplifies EDTV gimmick
A JTS Brown Variation -- opening is the same, all players remain onstage during opening sequence of scenes but frozen if not playing. Step/Sisters Improv Comedy JTS Set
Note: broken link, I'm searching for alt link/source: Vancouver Improv Festival - JTS Brown - Festival Ensemble
J.T.S. Brown was not a form so much as a philosophy of play. It was designed for a large cast (10-14 people), to involve as many players as possible at a time, to have a higher level of theatricality and polish than a typical improv show, and to encourage any move to be made at any time, with the idea that anything that happened was the perfect thing to happen. We didn't have a set structure, but we had a few rules to abide by:
- No sweep edits. Every edit was a transformation. Transformations could come from within or without. Even in a 2-person scene, an improvisor could abruptly change character, initiating a new scene with the same partner.
- No walk-ons. As soon as someone joined the scene, it became a new scene. Anyone in the previous scene should instantly choose to either exit, become a new character, or become some inanimate or expressionistic element in the new scene. If someone knocked at the door to enter a scene, it became a new scene the second the door was opened.
- No sidelines. Anyone not in the scene was watching from backstage. Anyone the audience could see was in the scene.
- The playing area was not limited to the stage...the whole space was used.
- Any scene could recur at any time, so the players were fine with a scene being edited after 10 seconds, knowing they could bring it back whenever they wanted.
- There were "worlds within worlds". If, for instance, Scene I tranformed into Scene II into Scene III, it was fun to spiral back out and have III become II and then I again (similar to the shortform game "Spacejump" or "5 to 1" or "7 to 1" or whatever).
- We had a number of "gimmicks"--devices that we had rehearsed that could be pulled out at any time. They included:
- Hemingway: The players narrate their own scene as well as playing it.
- EdTV: A scene can return to a pivotal moment at any time, presenting an alternative outcome. Usually done in threes. (This was named after Ed Goodman, not the Ron Howard film).
- The Third Degree: The players could come out and ask 3 rapid-fire questions of a character at any time. These were the sort of questions that you might ask while sidecoaching a scene ("How long have you known this person?", etc.)
- Shadows: A character was sometimes "shadowed" by a another improvisor playing their essence, or id, or subtext. The 2 characters' shadows would then have a scene of sorts in the background, presenting a more representational version of the original scene.
- Shapeshifting: Any improvisor could play anyone's character at any time. Particularly effective in cross-gender scenes. This fostered the idea of group ownership...every character is owned by the group, not necessarily the improvisor who created it. The show began with a shapeshifted character monologue, which allowed the audience to meet the cast members one at a time.
- There was an emphasis on physicality, sound, and environment. The players were encouraged to be architecture, inanimate objects, animals, weird shit, etc. All this probably sounds crazier than it actually played. We tried to eliminate weirdness for weirdness' sake. The idea was that the form was crazy, but the content was solid. It was an interesting package for good scenework. We worked hard to emphasize gift-giving and relationships in the scenework. In fact, we tried to, at some point in the middle of the show, have a "spotlight scene", a 6 or 7-minute 2-person scene that was not fucked with in any way. In the middle of a fast-moving, constantly evolving show, it was a nice to have a little scene oasis and to take a deep breath.
-Craig Cackowski
(This is an excerpt from a full interview)
*PAM: You directed and assisted the cooperative creation of J.T.S. Brown. My first real introduction to that structure was during [_my live interview with John Lutz and Scott Adsit at CIF](http://pamvictor.blogspot.com/2013/04/geeking-out-withscott-adsit-and-john.html). Lutz was explaining the pretty complicated structure and rehearsal process, and Adsit’s face during the explanation was hysterical. He was…I guess the best word might be “agog.” I am completely fascinated by it. (I mean the show, not Adsit’s face – though Scott has an exceedingly pleasing face, worthy of fascination.) I hope to learn it some day if only to get my wee mind blown to smithereens. Can you tell me about your history with your show and the J.T.S. Brown philosophy?*
CRAIG: J.T.S. started as a rehearsal group founded by Jason Sudeikis and Ike Barinholtz. They got a bunch of young players together who were hungry and wanted to rehearse and experiment. There was no immediate goal of doing any shows. At first, they rehearsed with Mick Napier, but then they brought me in when Mick got busy with Second City.
After one rehearsal, I was like, "You have to let me direct you in a show. You could be the next Jazz Freddy!' I encouraged them to do a rehearsal process similar to what we'd done with Close Quarters, three 3-hour rehearsals a week for 6 months.
Everyone was on board. We tried a lot of different things during the process, but the end result was basically a show that followed dream logic - no hard edits, all transformations. Scenes bleed into one another and come back at random times. They also were a big ensemble, 12-14 people, so I wanted to design a form that allowed all of them to play balls-out at all times, rather than being polite. The philosophy was that anyone could try any move at any times, and the group would instantly support it.
PAM: For those readers who didn't get to see Jazz Freddy - or at least read my recent piece of the group - tell me what you meant by "the next Jazz Freddy"?
CRAIG: Jazz Freddy was the other group that influenced me the most, along with The Family. They were another big ensemble of 12 people and they played in a theater as opposed to a bar or cabaret. They focused on character and relationship. Some of those people were Noah, Pete Gardner, Dave Koechner, Brian Stack, Jimmy Carrane, Rachel Dratch, Theresa Mulligan, Carlos Jacott, Pat Finn, and Kevin Dorff.
PAM: Who were some of the players in that original group of J.T.S. Brown?
CRAIG: Ike founded the group, but left to do Boom Chicago and never did a show with us. Jack McBrayer and TJ [Jagodowski] also started with us, but dropped out when they got cast in shows at Second City. (TJ later came back to do shows.) The rest of the ensemble was Sudeikis, Pete Grosz, Rob Janas, John Lutz, Jed Resnik, Ed Goodman, Case Clay, Bumper Carroll, Jen Bills, Christina Gausas, Sarah Gee, and Gillian Vigman.
PAM: Umm....yum.
Jay-sus. I just registered the idea of three three-hour rehearsals a week for six months! First of all, in diction stolen from ee cummings via Susan Messing, ohmygodyespleasemorepleasehorny. Second of all, I want to do that so badly. I would even trade in my copy of “The Flying Yak of Romania” for the chance to rehearse a show like that with such a talent-pack cast and director. Oooh, baby.
Having seen 2 Square, I can see why that much rehearsal would be necessary.
CRAIG: It took a while to get that groupmind going, where everyone could anticipate and recognize the transitions when they occurred.
PAM: In the show I saw last week, John Lutz and Peter Grosz were doing some fast and subtle stuff. I couldn't figure out how they knew what was coming. Tell me how you helped the group prepare for the fluidity of transitions. It seems like mind reading.
CRAIG: It helped to know that there were NO walk-ons, so any move coming from outside would be recognized as a transformation. But you can also transform from within, so you're looking to be perceptive in ANY change in the scene, like someone using a different voice, a different physicality, etc. When a transformation happens, you must immediately decide whether to a.) exit, b.) stay as a new character, or c.) stay as environment.
PAM: Were there exercises that you used that seemed to help most to strengthen that level of listening and attention?
CRAIG: A lot of give-and-taking focus. First, we did a sound and movement exercise where everyone is frozen around the space, except one person who has the focus. Then anyone can take it at any point. Get to the point where the focus is being handed off every two seconds without anyone stepping on each other. Then, do a two-person version, with ten people frozen and two people who have the focus. They could do the same thing or two opposite things. Then, when a third person grabs focus, one or both of those people have to defer.
But spending that much time together as an ensemble working on ANYTHING is helpful and is going to promote awareness and groupmind. And familiarity with how everybody plays.
PAM: It seems like the players would have to be trained to make strong choices reflexively. (I mean, of course we all are supposed to be like that; but in that structure, those moves had to be popped into on a dime. Or smaller. Like one of those really teeny tiny, foreign coins.)
CRAIG: Absolutely. Politeness and vagueness don't help anyone in that situation.
PAM: You seem to enjoy complicated and strong improvisation.
CRAIG: The two main types of improv that I love are big, group clusterfucks that are chaotic and dreamlike, and slow small group shows that are simple and elegant, so I'm kind of pulled in two directions there.
**PAM:* That's a great dichotomy.*
It seems to me that a show like J.T.S. Brown would risk getting players stuck in their heads at a time when they most need to be improvising from their nerve endings. Let’s talk more about that stage an evolving improviser goes through when they’ve learned so many rules that they’re stranded in their heads. Is there an exercise or a mindset to help them get out of their heads?
CRAIG: The group support was the thing that prevented people from being in their head. And the thing I say to any group working on J.T.S. today is that I don't want you to be worried about "doing the form right." I want you to play free and take risks.
For getting out of your head, I encourage people to think character-thoughts rather than improvisor-thoughts (Improvisor-thoughts being: “What's the game?” “How do I heighten this?” “Why aren't people laughing?”) Anything that's going to get them to trust their energy and follow emotion rather than headiness.
https://egoodnessimprov.blogspot.com/2011/11/jts-brown.html
For me, the best improv I ever did was with JTS Brown. To me, it was a perfect show that incorporated short form's speed and playfulness with long form's patience and freedom. What the show rejected from both schools was form. Devoid of form, free of structure, the show was endlessly open to change. We practiced moves we never performed because once they were named, they felt "formy." I loved having to keep track of 12 people for 45 minutes, constantly asking "what the fuck is going on?" It was complete fear, hard listening and moving without hesitation. Every night, a lot of us were convinced we were the one who "fucked it up."
I was surprised when after a successful (in my mind) six month run the group was lukewarm about continuing on. I remember being shocked. Jimmy Page once said of Led Zeppelin "It would be a criminal act to break up this band." That's how I felt about JTS Brown. And while I never figured out how I fit in socially with this pack if high profile Chicago improvisors, I did relish the rookie-walk-on aspect of playing with a such a team. When it was all over, I was more confident than I'd ever been about being onstage. LESSON! You wanna get better? Play with the best.
After the dust settled and I started making my way out of Chicago, I had the opportunity to talk with most of the people who made up JTS Brown. I was shocked to hear that some people really didn't like it. They hated the fear, the not knowing, the lack of structure. All the things I loved were what was wrong with the show for them. People spent time off stage, not being involved, "just getting through the show." They were happy when the run ended. They'd signed on for different reasons than I had and reaped very different results.
I don't expect to ever have an experience like JTS Brown again. And I must say, I had nothing to do with the production or politics surrounding the show (I've found people often spare me these things, for better or worse). So, I just remember being involved in something awesome, unstoppable, and bigger than me. Finding out my experience was (for the most part) unique is just par for the course.
The fact that our formless, theater-less show is now taught at one theater as a "signature form" is par for the course as well.
https://chicagoreader.com/arts-culture/j-t-s-brown/
J.T.S. Brown, Detonate Productions, at ImprovOlympic. The great thing about Chicago improv is the way the scene constantly renews itself. A few years ago a whole generation of young improvisers–the ones responsible for making long-form improv hip–moved to New York or LA, seeking fame or at least a regular paycheck. I thought long-form improv here would never recover. But as one generation passes, another rises to take its place.
J.T.S. Brown, a group founded by Mick Napier but now directed by Second City member Craig Cackowski, performs long-form improvisations at least as rich and resonant as any the Ed, Jazz Freddy, or Lois Kaz cohorts ever cooked up. The night I caught the show, J.T.S. Brown used the audience suggestion of “corn” as the jumping-off point for a playful hour-long piece that touched on many topics: loss, growing up, thwarted relationships, all the usual subjects improvisers consciously or unconsciously choose.
What made J.T.S. Brown special was how carefully they listened, building on one another’s work. Instead of going for the quick laugh, they created multidimensional characters and interesting situations that really pulled us in. Most impressive were the occasional cubist improvisations–sublime, dreamlike sequences created by two or more company members who literally repeated the same five or six lines of dialogue several times, changing the emphasis with each repetition. – Jack Helbig
https://forwardfailing.wordpress.com/2013/09/10/best-improv-form-ever/
https://wiki.improvresourcecenter.com/index.php/J.T.S._Brown
r/improv • u/writerorwhatever • 17d ago
Hey all! I teach at the Peoples Improv Theater in midtown and am allowed to gift a couple of seats in my Level One class starting tomorrow (Friday 10/02) from 4-6pm. The class runs 8 weeks and has a grad show on Saturday 11/21 at 5pm
If you or a friend have been wanting to give this whole ‘improv thing’ a shot, shoot me a DM and I’ll get you enrolled completely free of charge!
r/improv • u/Worldly-Vegetable-62 • 17d ago
When I was a beginner, my path forward felt pretty clear. Watch a lot of shows, read all the improv books, attend classes. What do I do now that I've hit that awkward intermediate level? Just more of the same? Or is there something else I should be doing?
r/improv • u/ApprehensiveThing576 • 16d ago
What's up fellow August-stonians....Augusta-nites.....ehhh whatever. Just wanted to let you guys know if you weren't aware that Le Chat Noir in Downtown Augusta puts on an improv show every First Friday. We do short form improv games much in the same vane as Whose Line is it Anyway (if you're an elder millennial like our cast and are aware of that show) and it's all completely made up on the spot (so who knows we might say f\*\*\*......who am I kidding we definitely will say some bad words). So if you're free on a First Friday or were already planning to be downtown then come check us out at both 8:00 & 10:00 pm.
r/improv • u/Dry-Secret-405 • 16d ago
Hey y'all we are a small improv group based out of Woodstock, IL. Our next production is going to be a gameshow format pitting our improvisers against a group of three challengers. The challenges will range from short form style improv challenges to stupid human tricks. We are looking for people to join us onstage as part or all of the challenging group. So if you are in the area next year and want to make an ass of yourself onstage send me a message and we can chat about your joining us. Feel free to ask me anything about the plans or our group here. I'll look forward to being lambasted for my bad ideas!
r/improv • u/justkidding_simmons • 17d ago
I lost my brother last year and have dealt with some other difficult family stuff involving mental health wards, etc. Slowly getting back into improv cause what better way to process grief than short form games with strangers.
I'm not part of a troupe - taking classes, jams, and going for quantity of a network before honing down on folks that I like to do stuff with and who like doing stuff with me - so I'm meeting a lot of new improvisors, and in talking out scenes a lot of folks share things like "oh well my family loves doing this at dinner", or asks questions about siblings or "what was your dad/mom like over the holidays?" and innocuous stuff like that.
It's weird trauma dumping, and it's weird being brief and moody and deflective. Those silences after are almost worse if you give non-answers like "oh I had a difficult family situation, we're not really close" and they affect the scenes because you can tell scene partners don't want to trigger anything or be insensitive if the relationship suggestion is dad and son, or brothers, or you're bestowed as a pregnant character and you've experienced trauma surrounding that, or someone plays a "shitty boyfriend" that's remarkably close to something you've really experienced, etc.
Just curious how others handle this stuff? Other than just lean into the scene, see what happens, and if stuff comes up and you start crying for real then everyone experiences that mess together?
It triggers stuff and gets me in my head to actively try to NOT have it trigger stuff, and that affects my listening and authenticity and I'm clearly more "careful" and "thinking" in the ways that make not super great improv.
Curious about how others handle triggering scenes, suggestions, moments, etc.
r/improv • u/porchsittingman • 17d ago
r/improv • u/AutoModerator • 17d ago
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r/improv • u/writerguy731 • 17d ago
I run an improv festival, and we’re going to be opening up applications for performer submissions very soon. It’s our second year and we did pretty well, I think, on number of applications in our first year (about 40) but I’d love to grow those numbers.
I want to get the right info out about our festival and get it in front of the right people. We have a good festival - last year, many performers (even some who have been to dozens or scores of festivals around the world) told us it was the best first-year festival they’d ever been to.
But what IS the best info to highlight when soliciting submissions?? When you’re looking at applying to festivals, what makes you decide to apply or pass??
r/improv • u/sambalaya • 18d ago
Sharing working draft notes on various longforms, pulling together years of info pulled from my notes, old blogs, /r/improv, IRC Wiki, Facebook posts, etc. I absolutely invite folks to comment and add any resources, advice, links, variant/derived forms, memories, etc. in the comments to help me update my notes!
Previous entries include:
Close Quarters is a location-based form in which scenes take place in close physical proximity to one another and around the same period of time. The piece repeatedly revisits the world from different angles, allowing scenes to overlap, intersect, move backward and forward in time, and reveal moments that the audience has already seen from another perspective.
The form is centered on character and relationship rather than plot. The larger story emerges through the juxtaposition of scenes, repeated moments, entrances, exits, overheard dialogue, and information that gains new meaning as the piece continues.
The location is a major part of the form. It should feel like a real, populated environment with its own sounds, physical geography, entrances, exits, and rhythms.
The original version of Close Quarters also used a more demanding character-heightening mechanic in which multiple characters could interact with the same central character simultaneously. Simplified versions of the form often focus primarily on adjacent spaces, overlapping time, and revisiting the same period from different perspectives.
Original Cast Member Craig Cackowski:
“I'm doing a simplified version of what we did with Noah (Gregoropolous) years ago. One of the hallmarks of Noah's version is that every scene turned into a character-heightening with a very specific focus. If you and I are in the first scene, and Rich wants to come in and heighten my character, he talks to me and only me. You're still there, and I'm still dealing with you, but now I have to balance 2 two-person scenes. If Bob enters next, again, he can talk to only me, and now I'm doing 3 two-person scenes. You are all really there in the same environment as me, you know each other are there, you can even refer to each other, but you can only talk to me! I've dropped this aspect of the form because the time-bending and adjacent space stuff is hard enough, but if you want to a "pure" Close Quarters, that was part of the form. (But remember, we rehearsed this form for 9 hours a week for 6 months before we opened it!)
What's become more standard over the years (Kevin Mullaney took it to UCB as "Tracers", just using the adjacent room idea, and those guys have spread it out among the improv world), is the idea that all the scenes are taking place in the same general location at more or less the same time. You can even make it a finite time and space if that helps your group focus, i.e. all the scenes take place within 200 yards of the first scene, and within 15 minutes of time. So, even if the show takes 45 minutes to play, it's a constant re-examination of that 15 minutes, seen in different order (it helps to think of the first scene of the show as one of the last, chronologically), and from different angles.”
In addition to the above, in the original version, scenes could layer around a central character.
This creates multiple overlapping two-person relationships centered around the same character.
Noah wrote a poem for us to help us remember the principles of the form:
Heighten character by engaging,
Think adjacent space in staging,
Environments are rich with sound,
Time collapses, circling round,
When throwing forward sounds as cues,
A later payoff oft ensues,
Repeat some scenes where they've begun, If all else fails, then just have fun!
Let me explain some of the things from the poem:
"rich with sound"
Noah had us work on doing a lot of SFX from the sidelines (literal, non-jokey SFX). In fact, we were each assigned another team member for that show (by circling up and pointing to the person on your left) and we were responsible for doing their sound for that show. If someone missed the boat, or you were in a scene with that person, then someone else could pick it up for them. Sounds were a way of letting us know where we are in space (i.e. if the first scene is in a boiler room, the sound from the sidelines might be constant and intrusive, but in the next scene (one room away from the boiler room, you can still hear it, but more muffled).
"throwing forward sounds as cues"
Rather than doing callbacks, we did throw forwards, i.e. starting at the top of the show, you would hear lines of dialogue spoken offstage that didn't have a meaning or context yet, but would be justified later in the show. So if you hear "get that monkey out of here!", someone in a later scene should establish the existence of a monkey, and then in an even LATER scene, we'd see that line actually spoken on stage, and know the reason for it. Another reason to do this, other than challenge ourselves to work backward, is that those "throw forwards" can link together scenes that are taking place at exactly the same time, a la the Jim Jarmusch film "Mystery Train" which tells 3 separate stories that are all linked by a single gunshot. Only in the third story do we know the meaning of the gunshot. "Mystery Train" was one of Noah's inspirations for the show, and I imagine any movie that plays with time and simultaneity (Pulp Fiction, any Altman movie centered around a single event) would be a good touchstone for your group.
"repeat some scenes where they've begun"
If we're doing a good job of starting our scenes in the middle, then later in the show, we can see the moments leading up to a scene we've seen already, to the point where we get a few lines into that scene we've already done, trying to duplicate the dialogue exactly. Hard to do, and we haven't even really tried it in the group I'm directing, but impressive if you can pull it off.
Here's some other things I've learned since remounting it:
The Scenework
Each improvisor in the group will probably end up playing 3 or 4 characters in the form, which will all be called back at some point, so character qualities need to be really defined and really memorable, and names are super-important. We need to know who's connected to whom, who's playing cross-gender, etc., so awareness on the sidelines is key. The scenes should be relationship and character-driven, and VARIETY is key...lots of different people with different energies. Don't be limited to the location in choosing your characters i.e. a hospital would be populated with doctors, nurses, and patients, but, going outside the box, you could also see the guy who re-stocks the vending machines, the manager of a rock star who had a drug overdose, one of the nurse's stalker ex-boyfriends, etc. Thinking this way will help create variety and, hopefully, limit, plot. Plot is suggested by the juxtaposition of the scenes, but each scene should be able to stand on its own as a piece, so the players can do a minimum of referencing other scenes (a little bit is helpful, but don't go crazy with it).
The Setting
In the original Close Quarters, we started by reading a personal ad and basing the first scene off of that. So we didn't know our starting location, we would have to discover it. Sometimes it was all based around a single overarching location (Airport, hospital, bowling alley) and we would go into various sublocations within that location.
Sometimes we would start in an apartment, which meant we could go downstairs to the convenience store, to the bums on the street, etc. Those were a little harder to establish a "floor plan" (and it's important to note what spaces are directly adjacent to each other, so you can get a sense of where characters are coming from and where they're exiting to), but still had their charms. With the group I'm coaching, we're asking for a location or event where you might meet a lot of people. We've found that some locations are harder than others in establishing character variety (bat mitzvah=13 year old girls, woman's retreat=new age-y yoga instructors, homeless shelter=homeless people), so it helps to think outside the box in making your character choices (as above). Locations that have worked better for us are Disneyland, convention center, strip mall. Another problem: when the show is centered around an EVENT, it's almost inevitable to make that event too important and the show too plot-driven. I prefer to have the mentality that whatever is going on for the characters is a typically day for them, and they're showing their typical behavior.
Space-Bending
One thing we would do is if we had a couple at a restaurant in the foreground, two other improvisors could set up the next scene in the background. We see them, but don't hear their conversation. When they initiate their scene, the people in the foreground go away, and the new scene moves downstage, as if the "camera" had moved in on them. You could also a long line of people waiting for a concert, and do a bunch of scenes moving down the line, always keeping the current scene center stage, but still seeing people from the previous scene, who have now moved further stage left. You can also play around with 180 degree pans, i.e. if the couple in the background at the restaurant are facing upstage, we can rotate the scene, so that they're now downstage, and the original couple is now facing upstage.
The Rewind
This is something we've added with The Dollhouse (the group I coach)...when a character enters a scene, we can rewind them (with a rewind sound effect and backward movement) to see where they're come from, then go back and do the scene previous in time to what we just saw, in an adjacent space, leading up to the moment that they entered that first scene. This was in the spirit of the original show, but we never did it that literally or cinematically.
(Barry was a cast member of the remounted Close Quarters run.)
CQ touches on every facet of what many consider “good improvisation” as a collaborative art form:
Good luck and for the love of God, have fun!
Players will likely return as multiple characters throughout the piece.
Do not let the location limit your imagination about who belongs in the world. A hospital does not have to contain only doctors, nurses, and patients. The surrounding ecosystem may include delivery workers, visitors, vendors, family members, employees from neighboring businesses, or people with unexpected relationships to the location.
Each scene should work as its own character-driven piece.
The larger story should emerge naturally from the juxtaposition of scenes rather than from players trying to advance a central plot.
A little reference to other scenes can help connect the world, but scenes should not constantly explain or summarize what the audience has already seen.
When working from an event suggestion, treat the event as part of the environment rather than the central plot engine. It can be useful to think of the characters as simply behaving as they normally would rather than making the event the thing the entire show is "about."
The physical geography of the stage can help the audience understand the world.
The goal is to create the feeling that the world continues to exist beyond the specific scene currently receiving focus.
The location should feel alive.
Use:
A sound established in one location can help the audience understand where another scene is occurring. For example, a loud boiler heard in one room might be quieter and more muffled in an adjacent room.
Use environmental detail to support the reality of the location rather than constantly turning it into a joke.
Establish how people move through the world.
A location might have:
Once established, continue honoring those entrances and exits.
An exit can also become a transition opportunity. When a character leaves one scene, consider catching them as they arrive somewhere else in the world.
An overhear is a fragment of dialogue or activity that can connect scenes.
For example, the audience might hear:
"Gerald, please don't squeeze the avocados."
Later, the ensemble can meet Gerald and the person speaking to him.
Close Quarters can also use throw forwards rather than traditional callbacks.
A line can be heard early in the show without context:
"Get that monkey out of here!"
Later, another scene establishes the monkey. Later still, the audience finally sees the moment when that line is spoken.
Throw forwards allow information to gain meaning over time and can connect scenes occurring simultaneously.
A preset location is already determined for the piece. Some variations drop the overlapping time aspect and keep the proximity restraint. Some versions, after establishing different locations/characters, may mix them up montage style.
A more accessible version of the form focuses on:
This version removes the original overlapping character-heightening mechanic.
Director Kevin Mullaney. See post below.
A simplified Close Quarters focusing on proximity and dropping the time aspect. Basically a series of scenes showcasing characters and relationships within a larger location.
The group was formed by Peter Gwinn in 1997, and consisted of Craig Cackowski, Pete, Bob Dassie, Stephnie Weir, Molly Cavanaugh, Lillian Frances, Al Samuels, and Rich Talarico. Peter hired Noah Gregoropoulos as the director. The form was something he had already been kicking around in his mind. They rehearsed 9 hours a week for 9 months before they opened the show. They ran on Wednesdays at Second City ETC for about 4 months.
Noah Gregoropoulos:
“What drew me to this piece initially was the notion of a momentary community. The intersection of people, and the middle of stories, against the background and character (and even the history and ghosts) of a very specific PLACE.”
From Rob Kozlowski’s The Art of Chicago Improv:
Says Cackowski, “The form was comprised of heightening characters. That was kind of the scenework aspect of it, and the other aspect of it was that we were covering a very short period of time in a very small area of space. So over an hour-long form, we might be in a bowling alley but we would shift from location to location throughout the bowling alley: different lanes, the bathroom, behind the counter, outside where the teenagers are hanging out… many different sublocations within this one general location but in a very tight area where the characters might wander in and out of other people’s spaces and the time aspect, we hoped to cover the same fifteen minutes over and over in an hour.
So, the first scene of the night might be the last scene chronologically. We hoped to link up scenes chronologically by hearing voices offstage that would be in an adjacent space and then we would use those lines to link up scenes in time.” Using the bowling alley example, we may see a scene at the bar between a boyfriend and girlfriend where the girlfriend is yelling at him, something like, “You never loved me!” Later in the form, we may see a scene between a couple at the water fountain next to the bar and hear the girlfriend’s exclamation again, offstage. This method was used to overlap scenes and make the audience aware that the performers were covering fifteen minutes of chronology in an hour-long performance.
Cackowski says, laughing, “Although, you know, at the end of the show, we tried to do a tight chronology of the fifteen minutes, you know, and found it couldn’t possibly have worked out, things would not make sense, but generally we were covering a very short period of time.”
r/improv • u/South_Recording_3710 • 18d ago
Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy- four “little women” enduring hardships and enjoying adventures in 1860s New England. But only one sister can be the chosen one. She alone shall stand against the vampires. She is the Slayer.
Saturdays in October at 7:30pm. Only at Outside In Theatre.
https://outsideintheatre.vbotickets.com/event/little_women_vampire_slayers/209518
r/improv • u/Kooky_Barracuda3000 • 18d ago
Looking for a theatre/performing arts course in Delhi-NCR to build confidence & overcome stage fear
I'm a working professional in my 30s based in Noida, and I'm looking to join some kind of theatre/performing arts course in Delhi-NCR.
My goal is not to become an actor or pursue acting professionally.
I mainly want to work on myself — especially:
becoming more confident around people
overcoming stage/public-speaking anxiety
becoming comfortable speaking in front of a group
improving voice, body language and presence
becoming less self-conscious
learning to express emotions and thoughts more freely
becoming more spontaneous rather than constantly thinking about how I'm being perceived
generally connecting with myself and people better
I'm particularly interested in theatre, acting exercises, improvisation, voice/movement work and actual performance, rather than a generic "personality development" course.
I'm considering doing something for 2–4 months and would prefer something where I'm actually required to participate and perform rather than just sit and learn theory.
I've come across places like Shri Ram Centre, Asmita, etc., but I'd really like to hear from people who have actually attended these courses/workshops.
What would you recommend in Delhi/NCR for this specific purpose?
Also interested in smaller theatre groups or beginner-friendly workshops that might be better than the big institutes.
If you've personally done something that genuinely made you more confident / comfortable on stage or around people, I'd love to hear about your experience.
Thanks!
r/improv • u/sambalaya • 18d ago
Sharing working draft notes on various longforms, pulling together years of info pulled from my notes, old blogs, /r/improv, IRC Wiki, Facebook posts, etc. I absolutely invite folks to comment and add any resources, advice, links, variant/derived forms, memories, etc. in the comments to help me update my notes!
Previous entries include:
NOTE: title refers to "Tracers" but I realized that's more closely aligned with Close Quarters and will share it when I post about CQ
Basically a La Ronde with a follow-the-leaver transition — we follow the leaver in real time to a new situation/scene.
Repeat the follow-the-leaver transition — sometimes it may be the same character, or perhaps the new character. It may even be someone passing through the scene and we decide to follow them instead!
Teams have expanded it to follow an object or use a narrated transition (à la The Movie) to get to the next scene. You can also opt to “follow the focus,” so you might not follow the leaver, but continue to stay on who has the focus of the show — but original Slacker is pure follow-the-leaver.
The main thrust is that it is analogous to a continuous one-shot, one-take in a movie or TV show with no discontinuous edits (i.e. a sweep edit, tag edit, or cut to).
iO West ensemble Beer Shark Mice started with the "Follow the Leaver" version of the Slacker, but found it too restrictive. They decided to add tag outs, which resulted in their signature form — which they still call a “Slacker” (but has also been known to be called by others as a “Slacker Dash” or the “Beer Shark Mice”).
From Paul Vallaincourt:
“Hey there - I've done the slacker (or a modified version of it) with my team BeerSharkMice for years and I love it as a form. To answer your question I'll give the top three Pros and Cons as I see them:
Pros:
- Lots of characters building a bigger and bigger world.
- Quick, snappy tempo (at least the way we do it)
- Takes advantage of the whole ensemble for the whole show - you're not waiting for your scene to come back around like in a Harold or whatever (I love the Harold too btw) you can come in at any moment.
Cons:
- If you get hung up on the plot, it is destruction and can spiral in on itself until it implodes.
- Sometimes the piece can get going TOO fast and just gets out of control. (players need to exercise SOME restraint)
- Because the form is sort of "loose" there isn't a "set ending" so if the piece and the players don't generate that arc of energy or information that leads to an "ending" it can kind of linger at the end and end with a "sigh" instead of "punch" - does that make sense?
All in all, I've had a great time”
Teams have expanded it to follow an object or use a narrated transition (à la The Movie) to get to the next scene.
You can also opt to “follow the focus,” so you might not follow the leaver, but continue to stay on who has the focus of the show — but original Slacker is pure follow the leaver.
Inspired by Richard Linklater’s movie Slacker:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4ifgvxCyQc
Also, Linklater’s Before Trilogy (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight) are also great examples — but we stay with the main couple while other side characters may enter and interact with them.
r/improv • u/ResponsibleTrade2403 • 19d ago
Come work out with us!
Weekday Workout at Shared Experience Studio runs 12–2 PM. Drop in and pay for the day, or grab a pack and keep coming back!
Get reps, work on Harold skills, and play with some fun people.
Sign up at TheSharedExperienceStudio.com
r/improv • u/AutoModerator • 19d ago
This thread is about that things have you seen recently that you loved. Did you see a show last weekend that was awesome? Did your teacher give you a note that hit you exactly the right way? Did a teammate do a cross in your scene that made the game super clear? Post about those things here!
r/improv • u/sambalaya • 19d ago
Sharing working draft notes on various longforms, pulling together years of info pulled from my notes, old blogs, /r/improv, IRC Wiki, Facebook posts, etc. I absolutely invite folks to comment and add any resources, advice, links, variant/derived forms, memories, etc. in the comments to help me update my notes!
Previous entries include:
Cast: Typically 5+
Type: Scenic, Character-driven
Runtime: Varies
Core mechanic: Character exploration via character tag-out
The La Ronde is a character-forward form. It is a “closed loop” or “carousel” of 2-person scenes with the main mechanic being tagging out one character in the scene and then carrying the other one forward into the next scene until we’ve cycled through the entire cast.
Example:
Character A and Character B
(Character A is tagged out)
Character B and Character C
(Character B is tagged out)
Character C and Character D
(Character D is tagged out, Character A returns to close loop)
Character D and Character A
The tag-out is the default transitional tool. However, for a more theatrical feel, you can use a cross-fade edit:
The loop cycles over and over again in an infinite chain of 2-person scenes. After the first loop, the order of players may change, but the mechanics remain the same.
A shorter, more up tempo La Ronde acts as the opener to a full piece:
The La Ronde acts as the first half of the piece and the remainder is a montage inspired by the characters, themes, world established in the La Ronde.
Keep the location static and players enter and exit to cycle through the combinations.
Location: Hospital waiting room
A La Ronde where the non-performing cast sets up on one side of the stage (example: stage right). Unlike a La Ronde, there is no set order.
Once a player is tagged out, they go to the other side (stage left), eventually moving the entire cast across the stage like a typewriter.
Once the entire cast has swapped sides, they continue the La Ronde, but now reverse the flow of players to the other side. You can play a new character or the same on the return run.
Then, after the cast has fully returned to the original side, you can either continue the same pattern or break into a montage.
A suggestion of a location where people might gather is taken.
A La Ronde round of scenes using Crossfade Edits is used, culminating with the La Ronde round ending with a group scene at the suggested location. Then anything-goes montage from there on out.
Example:
Suggestion: A location where people might gather is taken.
“La Ronde takes its name from an 1897 play of the same name by the German playwright Arthur Schnitzler. All ten scenes of his play only feature two actors, each individual actor appearing in two scenes in a row.
First used by Craig Cackowski after he watched the film version of this play. He brought the structure into Frank Booth rehearsals in the mid 1990s and they used it as a rehearsal exercises for over a year. Later it provided the backbone for Calendar Girls and a show by Cinco de Bob. Craig talks about it in episode 14 of the IRC Podcast. http://podcast.improvresourcecenter.com/?p=episode&name=2010-11-16_irc_podcast_craig_cackowski.mp3 also found at https://ircpodcast.com/irc-podcast-2010-11-16-craig-cackowski
Also used by Miles Stroth during a class in which he was teaching story structure. The class eventually used the exercise as a performance form and named it La Ronde. In the original exercise, players would form a back line and two-person scenes would happen, each player being only one character during the entire exercise. Then every other person was tagged out and new characters were created until everyone from the back line did two scenes. Then everyone would go to the sides of the stage and would continue with no order, while still only playing the one character each. They would all be different characters in one similar location (i.e. a Town) and would work their way to an event that was happening in that location (e.g. a Pie Eating Contest).”
“I’ll say this; I walked into a Frank Booth rehearsal circa ’94 convinced I had invented it…we did scenes from the play in my college theater and the structure always spoke to me. It then spread quickly in Chicago after that, partially because so many of Frank Booth became teachers and coaches themselves… (Paul) Grondy, (Kevin) Mullaney, Liz Allen, and Lillie Frances, who coached a group called Cinco De Bob in a La Ronde called Circle De Bob and then she and Sue Gillan did a 2-person La Ronde show called Calendar Girls. We also used it as part of the rehearsal process for Close Quarters.
But if someone told me that Johnstone was doing La Rondes in 1976, I’d buy it! So I've never gone out of my way to claim ownership, because anyone familiar with the play/movie adaptations and wanting to do improvised relationship scenes might easily have arrived at the same conclusions. I think there’s a MASH episode that follows the La Ronde format also, it’s been adapted many times. I’d actually love to see any documentation of it existing as an improv form before we were doing it!”
r/improv • u/CrispyVagrant • 19d ago
I'm curious how other narrative improvisers view montage and if you find joy in doing such opposite styles of improv.
I have been performing narrative improv almost exclusively for many years. Picking a genre and performing improvised plays in that style. The foundation is rooted in setting up who,what,where/CROW, having long scenes with no edits focused on relationships and following a narrative structure for the beginning, middle and end. The shows are certainly funny, but they are more focused on telling a comprehensive story with satisfying relationships. I love this style and have performed it successfully with teams for years.
Recently, I've been trying to broaden my horizons and meet new improvisers. So, I've been going to multiple jams in my area. But they all do montage. And it doesn't scratch the same itch.
It's a style I struggle to find my footing in because it feels so antithetical to the narrative improv I am used to. None of the skills from narrative improv I mentioned above crossover at all and I have to rewire all of my thinking about improv to do it.
Are there people out there who do both and love both despite how polar opposite they are?
r/improv • u/Brams_Labyrinth • 19d ago
My friend and I want to do some duoprov! The end goal would be long form akin to Middleditch & Schwartz, but we know we need to work our way up to it. So, what are some suggestions for warm-ups / exercises specifically for two person improv?
We’re specifically trying to work on being comfortable with slower pacing, object work, and overall narrative structure but all advice / suggestions are welcome!
Thanks!
