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Upcoming Events
- May 18, 2012
Roadside Couch $10
9:00 pm - May 18, 2012
Late Night Improv $10
10:30 pm - May 19, 2012
Victory Point $10
9:00 pm - May 19, 2012
Late Night Improv $10
10:30 pm - May 22, 2012
FREE Open Mic
8:00 pm - May 23, 2012
FREE Improv Jam Session
8:30 pm
- May 18, 2012
Improv What You Know
Playing a character on stage is not always easy or comfortable for a lot of improvisers. Usually, actors have costumes, masks or props that help them get into characters. Improvisers don’t have these luxuries. They make do with imaginary worlds and items.
There are many ways, though, you get into a character. One easy way is to change your voice. Another is to have some sort of physical attribute (e.g., a limp, a nervous tic, etc.). You can also pretend to be someone you know and impersonate them.
Pretending to be someone you know is similar to the phrase, “write what you know.” It’s a phrase that’s often misunderstood, according to author Nathan Englander. He says in a recent Big Think video that writing what you know isn’t necessarily about writing from an autobiographical viewpoint. It’s about something else.
“Write what you know” isn’t about events, says Englander. It’s about emotions. Have you known love? jealousy? longing? loss? Did you want that Atari 2600 so bad you might have killed for it? If so, it doesn’t matter whether your story takes place in Long Island or on Mars–if you’re writing what you know, readers will feel it.
The same advice applies to improv. Create characters based in emotions first, and you’ll have solid scenes. Get comfortable expressing emotions. Then it won’t matter if you’re playing a ditsy grandmother or a Bronx bully, because audience members will remember how you made them feel, how they related to your emotions on stage.
How do you get into characters? Do you find it easier or harder to perform improv as a character? Please let us know in the comments.
Bonus Video: Nathan Englander on writing “what you know.”
(Photo via Flickr: René van Belzen / Creative Commons)
Touching You, Touching Me
Too many times we witness scenes of talking heads. While there is nothing incorrect about that, it’s more exciting to see a scene that involves movement, maybe even….touching.
Consider the relationship scene. Couples in real life touch each other, make small gestures of intimacy. It may be holding a hand or giving a pat on the back. However, too many times we watch performers stand or sit and just talk.
Maybe all your relationship experience involves no touching. I bet, though, that for a majority of you–and audience members–touching plays a role in life. You’re probably not aware of it, but when you’re watching a show and two performers who are acting in love don’t touch, it sticks out.
“Most improvisers are not in touch with their bodies…,” Mick Napier wrote in Improvise. “They often believe that improvisation is all about the words and the funny, not about the body or the physical.”
Physicality is a sure-fire way to help you create more realistic improv. Don’t be afraid of a little body contact every now and then. It will definitely help you get out of your head.
What are your thoughts on physicality on stage? Do you ever use body contact to initiate scenes? Or are you a hands-off performer? Please let us know in the comments.
(Photo via Flickr: Bárbara Fonseca / Creative Commons)
Comedy Centerfold: Steven Good
Each week, or maybe every other week if we’re lazy, we’ll feature a Dallas Comedy House performer and get to know him or her a little better by using questions that Playboy centerfolds are usually asked. If you’d like to volunteer to be a centerfold before we come for you, email us and let us know. The only requirement is that we need a full-length, CLOTHED, photo of yourself for, you know, the centerfold part.
This week we feature Steven Good, who started improving in 2006 when he began taking classes at the Four Day Weekend Training Center. He discovered DCH in 2010 and graduated from the DCH training program and was a member of the now defunct groups Tweet Tweet Bang Bang and Spies! He has also performed on the Pre-Recorded Late Night Show. Currently, you can find him playing in the Wednesday night Jam at DCH and writing the Internet. Yes, you read that correctly, he writes everything you find on the Internet.
Hometown?
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It’s super cold there. Stay away.
Guilty Pleasures?
Reality television. I enjoy seeing people I have no emotional connection to in horrible and tense situations.
Ambitions?
Right now? I want to learn how to pick locks. In general, to someday get one of those “World’s Best Dad” coffee mugs.
Best Concert?
Wilco – Austin City Limits 2007
Favorite Book?
The Amazing Adventures of Kaviler & Clay by Michael Chabon
Favorite Movie?
The Princess Bride
Favorite TV Show?
The Wire
Pets?
Can I say my son here? Legally, can I? I’m going to say my son.
Foods I Crave?
I love cake. Seriously, it’s love.
People I Admire?
Steve Martin, Jon Stewart, Neil Degrasse Tyson, Douglas Adams
Dream Role?
Let’s remake The Princess Bride and cast me as The Man in Black. How about it?
Favorite Song to Sing?
“Piano Man”
Good First Date Idea?
Is this questionnaire hitting on me? If so, I’m taking this questionnaire on a picnic…a sexy picnic.
Ear Candy: TIP and Pre-Recorded
I just got back from New Orleans, and boy oh boy do my eyes need a rest. If your eyes are tired of eyeing, then check out the following podcasts from DCH players and shakers.
The Improvised Podcast with Amanda Blake Davis
Pre-Recorded Late Night (click to download MP3)
Aware of any other DCH-affiliated podcasts we should know about? If so, please let us know in the comments. Thank you.
Andy St. Clair’s Workshop Secrets
We recently spoke with Dina Facklis about improv and some upcoming workshops she and her buddy, Andy St. Clair, would be conducting at DCH. She offered some great advice and choice quotes. But you know what was missing? Andy. Andy was missing from that article.
Not anymore. We have some Andy now, and he has seasoned our questions with answers.
Why do you think people have such a difficult time initiating scenes?
Because people are too busy playing plot man. Plot will kill you. It’s boring. I want to see relationships and how you treat that person or how you and that person interact with each other. Great ways to initiate scenes? Give that person a gift about their personality. Also, emotion. I’ll also give you a workshop secret…..ready….here we go.
Workshop secret No. 1: Dina has mastered the art of watching improv scenes while playing Angry Birds on her phone. She’s a master at it.
Most improv is based on short exchanges of dialogue. How can monologues help with scenes and character development? How can improvisers perform monologues without being thought of as scene hogs?
Monologues help with scenes and characters because it can set up who you are to people/fellow improvisers, almost making it easier and giving them (fellow improvisers) an easier time helping them have an opinion on your character. Also, keep those monologues short. Don’t give it all away in the monologues.
Workshop secret No. 2: Dina loves drinking a gallon or two of vodka before any “rehearsal.” You can’t smell it. Girl can put it down! Don’t be afraid to buy her a drink or seven. Watch out Texas!
What can improvisers learn from scene writing that they can bring to their stage work?
Kinda similar to question No. 1 to me. Let the character move you forward and not the plot. Did Dina say that?
Speaking of Dina, workshop secret No. 3: When Dina says in a workshop “Look, I know it’s hard when you’re 27. Hell, I’m 27, and I get OUR problems.” She’s not 27, everyone. She’s 77. But she looks great.
How do you remember to keep fun top and center while improvising?
It’s improv. It’s not rocket surgery (see what I did there? Don’t steal it. I’ve been saying that for years). It has to be fun otherwise the sadness/anger you feel about it not being fun will make its way onto the stage. Nobody wants that. It’s comedy!
You think I’m doing a workshop secret No. 4, don’t ya? Nope. Rules of three guys. Brain science everyone…..brain science! (I really forced that in there but I did it.)
Thank you, Andy. Now, readers, improvisers and countrymen, go forth and take Dina and Andy’s workshops.
| March 26-8:30 p.m.Scene Intensive with Dina Facklis | Believe it or not, starting a great scene is easier than you think–you’re the only thing getting in its way. This intensive will get you out of your head and into a place where successful scenes can’t help but happen. Get ready for an early evening of effortless scenework that will help you figure it all out! (14 person maximum) | Register |
| March 33:30-6 p.m.Finding the Comedy Gold in Your Improvisation with Andy St. Clair | The No. 1 rule of improv: have fun! How many times do you forget that little gem? From personal experience, my guess would be A LOT. Hell, with all the rules and nuances of improv, who wouldn’t forget? This workshop will show improvisers how to make the rules work for them while having a ton of funso that you have a ball while mining every single piece of comedy gold you can from a scene! (14 person maximum) | Register |
| March 3 & 4Noon-3 p.m.Monologue Development with Andy St. Clair | You can count on this: You have more characters in yourself than you think. And this workshop is not only about finding them, it’s also about developing a written piece from them that is carefully structured with perfect timing. This workshop will conclude with a showcase of these monologues on that Sunday night at DCH. (14 person maximum) | Register |
| March 3 & 43-6 p.m.Writing Scenes from Improv with Dina Facklis | How many scenes do you have in your improvisation past that you wish you had written down? I personally have ABOUT ONE MILLION. This workshop will allow you to either bring in beat outlines for a scene that you’ve already improvised or find your scene with a partner through improvisation. You will then work with me to write this scene as to maximize its potential in terms of timing, character development and story arc. This workshop will also conclude with a showcase of these monologues that Sunday night at DCH. (14 person maximum, please feel free to sign up in pairs) | Register |
Improv Memes
There’s a Facebook group that’s all about creating improv memes. You might even recognize some of your favorite improv-isms (yes, I made that word up, so it’s totally real now; just call me Shakespeare). My favorite so far is this one:
You can create your own meme at Quickmeme.com. After you do, upload it to the group and we’ll all laugh and sigh and say, “Oh, so true.”
We’re Up for an INNY Award
The Dallas Comedy House has been nominated as Best Venue for an INNY Award. Sponsored by Improvisation News, the awards recognize excellence in the improv industry.
FrankenMatt, who will be at the Dallas Comedy Festival, are nominated in the Best Comedy Duo category.
Craig Cackowski, also a Dallas Comedy Festival performer and teacher, is nominated in the Best Instructor category.
Wouldn’t it be great if DCH, FrankenMatt, and Cackowski won their categories? Yes. Yes it would.
Please vote! We can all raise the INNY statuette when we win.
Upcoming Workshops: Dina and Andy
There’s a new business-world trend that has a direct relation to improv: Asking why. Business leaders are asking themselves why they’re doing something, rather than asking what they do or how they do it. It’s a great trend, and I hope it sticks.
For improv, stating why (or attaching the world “because”) will also help you during your scene work.
“Emotions are always great for improvising scenes, but you have to be specific,” said Dina Facklis, a Chicago-based improviser who was recently named Improviser of the Year at iO Chicago. “For example, ‘I hate that you got the last cheeseburger; I’m so happy that I don’t have to get married now.’ These are just teasers, but they start giving insight into who we are by being more specific. When I say emotions, people just want to say ‘I’m so happy’ or ‘I’m so excited.’ That does nothing. Specifics are key.”
Facklis and her improv partner, Andy St. Clair, will be coming to the DCH March 2-4 for a show and a series of workshops focusing on initiating scenes, monologues, writing, and remembering to have fun while performing.
Monologues can be tricky, because you don’t want to be considered a scene hog.
“Economy is key,” Facklis said. “A monologue can be three sentences long, if it gets to the point.”
An example, Facklis says, could be a guy with a Southern accent entering a scene with a girl.
“‘Mama wanted me to come and apologize,’ the guy says. ‘She knows I don’t like saying sorry, so she also made me bring this casserole. She said you liked casserole–which seems stupid to me.’ That sets up a multitude of stuff right away.
“The secret to improv, I believe, is saying the least possible and showing the most possible,” Facklis continued. “Maybe your character is long-winded, but I would never want that to be someone’s go-to. Think of comedy’s best characters and how they communicate who they are–Kramer on Seinfeld, for example. He walks into a room, and you immediately get a feeling off of him before he says a word.”
Even though adding specifics and being economical with language are good guides, your overall strategy should be to have fun. Isn’t that why we perform improv, because it’s fun?
“I don’t do anything that I’m not inspired by,” Facklis said. “Even if that means taking an extra second to respond. I also perform with people who make me laugh and make me want to be better.”
A sure way to make yourself better on stage is to take one (or all) of Facklis and St. Clair’s workshops. You’ll get to work with some of the best country’s improvisers and perform with new people you may have never met. Taking their workshops should be a no-brainer answer to “why.”
| March 2
6-8:30 p.m. Scene Intensive with Dina Facklis |
Believe it or not, starting a great scene is easier than you think–you’re the only thing getting in its way. This intensive will get you out of your head and into a place where successful scenes can’t help but happen. Get ready for an early evening of effortless scenework that will help you figure it all out! (14 person maximum) | Register |
| March 3
3:30-6 p.m. Finding the Comedy Gold in Your Improvisation with Andy St. Clair |
The No. 1 rule of improv: have fun! How many times do you forget that little gem? From personal experience, my guess would be A LOT. Hell, with all the rules and nuances of improv, who wouldn’t forget? This workshop will show improvisers how to make the rules work for them while having a ton of funso that you have a ball while mining every single piece of comedy gold you can from a scene! (14 person maximum) | Register |
| March 3 & 4
Noon-3 p.m. Monologue Development with Andy St. Clair |
You can count on this: You have more characters in yourself than you think. And this workshop is not only about finding them, it’s also about developing a written piece from them that is carefully structured with perfect timing. This workshop will conclude with a showcase of these monologues on that Sunday night at DCH. (14 person maximum) | Register |
| March 3 & 4
3-6 p.m. Writing Scenes from Improv with Dina Facklis |
How many scenes do you have in your improvisation past that you wish you had written down? I personally have ABOUT ONE MILLION. This workshop will allow you to either bring in beat outlines for a scene that you’ve already improvised or find your scene with a partner through improvisation. You will then work with me to write this scene as to maximize its potential in terms of timing, character development and story arc. This workshop will also conclude with a showcase of these monologues that Sunday night at DCH. (14 person maximum, please feel free to sign up in pairs) | Register |
This Is Your Brain On Comedy
I love watching TED talks. They make for some good learning while you’re lunching at your desk.
In this particular TEDxRainier talk, comedian Chris Bliss discusses how comedy can help produce a greater understanding of the world and create real change. He also says that the best comedy is based on honesty. That’s something that we here at DCH say, as well (you know, that whole truth in comedy thing).
It’s a good TED talk and totally worth 15 minutes of your time.
Un-Scripted’s “Act One, Scene Two”
Dear writers, here’s a production you should consider submitting work to. It’s called “Act One, Scene Two,” and it’s organized by San Francisco’s Un-Scripted Theater Company. What you do is…well, they say it best:
For every performance, we will feature one playwright, and the first scene of a play in any genre (comedy, tragedy, drama, tragicomedy, absurdist, postmodern existentialist feminism, etc.) that hasn’t been completed yet. We’ll interview them onstage, perform a cold reading of that first scene (Act One, Scene One), and then continue the play to its end–only now we’re improvising–from Act One, Scene Two.
Un-Scripted asks that you submit an opening scene that is 5-9 pages in length. That scene can be the entire first scene or just part of the scene. After the cold reading and author interview, they’ll continue the play for 90-120 minutes (with an intermission). Wow, that’s a lot of improv!
Submissions are open to anyone worldwide, and more information can be found in the submission guidelines.
Now, anyone up for doing something similar (maybe on a smaller scale) at DCH?