Creating Sudden Death Improv

It has been a long time since I have written a new post, partially because I have been a busy duder and partially because I haven’t known what else to write about. I assumed that if I started writing something would come to me and here it is. I did post something a little while ago but deleted it before anyone read it. It was a vent on my part rather then useful information. I may repost it in the future. The rollercoaster ride of taking over the theatre, casting 20+ people, logos, websites, tweeting, painting, cleaning, and creating a show has been a crazy ride. (None of this would have been possible without all the support around me. I hope you know who you are and know I am talking to you.)

It wasn’t until I was in Victoria that someone said to me, “Wow, you are basing your whole success and business on a show format that you haven’t even created yet! That’s ballsy.” I hadn’t really thought about that until it was said to me. I sure started freaking out after that. The name Sudden Death Improv came to me in Seattle when I was there for the Improv Festival in June 2011. (Thanks Trenton Shine of The Unscriptables for helping the inspiration) We cast the performers the last weekend of September and immediately threw up Vamprov for the month of October. This wasn’t too hard because it’s a format we have done before that uses short form games that pits humans against Vampires. Once Vamprov was up we were working on our scene work in workshop. I know the cast members were all wondering when they’d find out what Sudden Death Improv was going to be. The format came in a moment of being half asleep, half awake, and lying in bed stressed out of my mind. That was December 2011.

We started working the format seriously right after the idea for it came about. I was lucky and got to try it out on table23 during our Wednesday shows in December. I did it 3 times in its super early stage in front of an audience. It seemed to have a great feel. The improvisers loved playing it and the audience enjoyed it big time. I knew at this time it had elements missing. It was fun but nothing was on the line or important to keep you invested. With table23 we had great success because open scenes are where we feel most comfortable. I knew with newer improvisers this would be tricky to make it consistent and successful. So I went into the Xmas holidays still pretty unsure of what we were gonna do. I set the grand reopening for January 27^th/12. I attempted to take 2 weeks away from the theatre at this time. During these two weeks I surrounded myself with family and enjoyed the holiday season. It was great but it turned into the longest 2 weeks of my life HAHA. My OCD mind was in overdrive repeating all the things that needed to get done in a very short amount of time. I was losing sleep and a looked like a worried mess. Once we got back in there the work around the space started to come together. It was a relief to see things move along so quickly. Walls got painted, sets built, and LOTS of stuff got sold or thrown out.

Through lots of discussion and workshopping Sudden Death really started to take shape its elements of short form games squished between open scenes. You have 2 improvisers who will do an open scene not knowing what their suggestion is. Before the scene happens, the 3 remaining improvisers perform an improv game given to them by the host. The first 2 watch the game and then perform a scene inspired by it. They do the scene based only on what they see their 3 teammates do. After the scene they try guess the suggestion. (Thanks Richard Wiens for that one!) If they get it right they get a point. If they get it wrong the host gets a point. A very simple format to watch but a very hard format to explain. We have been attempting a few different ways and scripts to introduce the show. What we are finding works best is explaining it as it happens. The audience seems to be able to follow it more easily.

When we performed it the first weekend the scenes were too short (my bad) and there were no points being awarded yet. So it was game then scene, game then scene, etc. It was so fast paced that the night blew by like crazy and didn’t have that “thing” it needed yet. Once the point system between the host and improvisers was added the audience became more invested. We have had a couple audiences jump out of their seats when the improvisers have won the night. This is only week 6 at this point. We continue to tweak it and work it, all while doing scene work over and over. I love the openness and freedom of the open scenes and goofy element of the games. It has potential to grow and morph as we grow as a company and get more seasoned. I am really excited to be 10 years in the future and remembering how far we have come and yet I am soaking up and enjoying the hell out of right now. Maybe soon I can catch up on my sleep…………….Maybe!