Bunny, Bunny!

It's all about the experience. Taking as much understanding or knowledge from the exercise or game that you can. If you ran 500 miles and made it all the way to the end, you would feel so great for making it and for accomplishing that goal. But really it's at the 250 mark that you are truly going to learn the most about yourself and your body. It's about the journey not the out come. It's exactly the same with warm up games and exercises.

Why do we do warm up games? I’ve asked this question multiple times to groups of improvisers and usually get the answers: “To get our minds ready. “To relax and loosen up.” Or my favorite “I don’t need to warm up.” Something that doesn’t get the weight it deserves is the actual exercise itself. The people who slaved away coming up with these silly games did so out of necessity. They saw something people weren’t doing or struggling with and created a game to help solve the problem. They all have very valuable lessons in them. All of them are improv stripped down to its very basic form. Even the most silly and weird game, has things to be taken and applied to our scene work. Bunny, Bunny for example is a super silly zany game. (I have wanted to use the word zany for awhile.) This game has a whole lot of potential to look stupid. If the group is playing and a couple people in the group aren’t playing it like it’s the best game ever they end up making the whole group look and feel uncomfortable. Anyone who says improv is a way to look cool in front of people is doing it for the wrong reason. If the entire group is having fun, being present, ready and enjoying themselves then it stops looking silly and actually looks like a well orchestrated exercise in rhythm and movement. This is the same as unsupportive improvisers in a group.  If they are trying to look cool while doing improv they will only hurt the group around them by half assing everything they do. If they are reserved and holding back (creating rules) they end up hurting the whole group dynamic putting others in their heads. You are only as strong as your weakest link. If you feel that everyone is as invested as you then you will push yourself farther.

There are a million reasons we play games like Bunny, Bunny. Another reason is making good offers. This goes way further in its simplifying of an offer then just saying who, where, and what. It’s takes it to its core of how to make a good offer to your partner. Being clear to whom you are making the offer to. The surer of yourself you are the more clear your offer will be. By also taking the time to ensure your partner across the circle is ready for the offer and the more patient and calm you are in letting this happen the easier a great offer can be passed. Breathing, focus, connection, relaxation, trust and willingness to go all in makes this game work. These are also the things that make for great improv scenes. So not only are you doing this to get into this state of being or trance, you are also familiarizing yourself with how that state of being feels in practicing it. All of this work translates to how you will improvise. If you have a bad habits in these games and are aware of them, you can start to work on them and hopefully then improve your improv. You’ll start to catch yourself hesitating or not trusting people in your group. If you do then bang that stuff out in the warm up exercises. That’s what they are there for.

One more thing I’ll touch on is having fun. We as adults are not aloud to play. This is instilled in us as we grow up, get jobs and buy houses. Well this is something we improvisers get to do. We get to play and have fun. It takes a lot to shake off the rules we follow in our daily lives but if we feel safe and are surrounded by fun, positive caring people we will be able to play freely and have fun. It’s the same at any job you do. Time flies when you are having fun. You also actually get more work done when the mood is light. So if you find yourself about to do a warm up game or exercise and you say to yourself “I don’t wanna play that game.” Ask yourself why? What if you just said yes? Who knows what awesomeness will come out of saying yes and challenging yourself. Jumping in head first and trusting that it is for a reason. Then really watching and evaluating yourself to see where your bad habits lie. Just start saying yes and going in with everything you got and your scene work will drastically improve. 

Just a Ramble

The music plays softly. Pockets tapped for your wallet and phone, wallet and phone, wallet and phone. You’ve literally stood in this spot a hundred times. You know where the creak in the floor waits. The water bottle in your hand acts like a tent peg to the ground. There to calm the movement wanting to escape from within you. Twisting the lid on and off to the rhythm of the song playing creates a moment of tranquility.  Deliberately rock back and forth on the loose board to soothe and quiet the voices bouncing off each side or your head. Let the day go as you stand there. Check your nose, fly, shirt, and give yourself one last shake. Did you lock your truck? Yes of course you did. You always check the handle. Eye contact, establish eye contact. These five minutes hang like an eternity in the air. Breathe even, deep, calm breaths, in and out. Zoom in on what’s being said behind the thin flat. It’s your time to enter. Your name is called. Tap for wallet and phone, wallet and phone. As the audience calls out with cheers, a hush fills your body and mind. Take one last breath before you step through the curtain. The music plays loud. Step out into the quiet light and onto the stage as ready as you’ll ever be. 

Tattoo The Audience

I am always looking at other activities and art forms and comparing them to improv. For example one of my favorites to compare to Improv is Martial Arts, more specifically Kung Fu. There is a great book called Zen in The Martial Arts By: Joe Hyams that is an easy read and has lots of quotes and lessons from Bruce Lee that you can’t help but apply to what we do. I have been chatting with my tattoo artist recently about what she does http://blackrabbittattoostudio.com/  and it started to resonate something in me. She definitely leaves her client with something when the session is done. I am not trying to be clever but rather just find it very fun to see where similarities lie as well as what I can take from other art forms. So let’s get at er then.

           
         We talked about the fact that tattooing is very intimate and very physical. A tattoo artist must be comfortable around their clients also not be shy to touch them. Some people that come in to get inked come with cliché ideas and get butterflies and tribal. These people may only get one tattoo as there wasn’t much meaning behind it, or they may get a whole bunch because it’s really addictive. Then there are people who come in with meaningful ideas and stories to tell about why they chose the design they chose. A tattoo artist must be someone people will open up to. I know my longest session was 5 hours. There is not much to do but talk. I have experienced tattoo artists that were not personable and I swore I’d never go back to them and never did. Connecting and sharing should be part of the process. You come in to have this person take a part of you and literally put it on your body. So in the end you leave and that artist has permanently left a reminder of that time together on your body. That’s something that no matter how much time passes will be there and when you look at it you will be taken back to the time you got it.

           

What my goal is with improv is to leave the audience with something that reminds them of the experience we all had together during the show. The people who come to get a generic un-meaningful tattoo are perhaps like those that come to see a short form show where they can drink and just laugh for a bit and go home. They won’t invest fully in the show or the experience of getting a tattoo. If they laugh they are fulfilled. They probably attend that show or get that tattoo because their friends are doing the same. We don’t have the advantage tattoos do. First off we can’t actually leave something on our audience’s body that will be there for the rest of their life. (Permanent stamps at the door?) People coming for a tattoo at least have an idea what they are walking in to when they come through the door because tattoos are becoming quite widely known and accepted. Also we don’t really have that ability to make the same kind of intimate physical contact with each person in the audience. So what I’d like to do mentally a tattoo does physically.

           

I want to try and touch someone in a personal way that will stay with them for as long as possible. Most people get that first tattoo because it means something to them. They are doing the same when giving a suggestion that means something to them. We as improvisers need to take that suggestion and honor it as best we can by giving them what they want. We need to play that suggestion and hopefully relate to not only that audience member but as many others as possible. This concept of leaving them with something at the end of the show has ummmm stuck with me. I think I apply this a lot in my workshops and shows. I want people to leave feeling better then when they got there. I want them to walk more confidently after the workshop is done much like a tough guy with his first tattoo. When they first walk in they may be a bit tentative. Also they may be a bit intimidated by my “passion”. Once you get past all the built up expectations and open yourself up you realize how awesome the experience can be. You can really be present and take so much away from both getting a tattoo and learning this awesome thing called improv. I know walking in to get my first tattoo I was scared to death about how much it was gonna hurt. People walk into their first workshop worked up and scared about how embarrassed they’ll be. Some audiences walk in scared they will get called up and made fun of. If we do our job and connect with them this should help relieve all this anxious energy and put everyone at ease.

 If nothing else the image of us tattooing our audience with ideas and a group mind seem like a good way to describe what I am trying to do. Some people will just come watch the show and leave happy because they had a good time. Some may come and really be brought in to what we are doing and if we do our job they may really connect and have a piece of that show stay with them. Just the other day I was outside the theatre and a woman came up to me and said “Hey, Too Tall Tim.” I had no idea what she was talking about until she explained that like 7 years prior she had seen me in an improvised Christmas Carol and remembered that instead of me being Tiny Tim I was Too Tall Tim. That blew me away. She said she had seen me around town and always said to whoever she was with, “There is Too Tall Tim.” That is incredible when you think about how long ago that was. So by being conscious and aware of this power we will definitely have a great tool in the old belt.

Should We Be Accountable?

I’m sure we have all been in a show where we were so fully invested and committed to our scene or character that we said something over the top offensive. Not intentionally or to create a reaction from the audience but rather just spitting something out that immediately after made you go “oops!” I try to live by the rule of, no regrets but even I have crossed the line on occasion. I won’t get into dirty details but trust me when I say I have said some pretty bad things. This is all coming up for me because at two separate shows recently something very “racy” was said. Now normally I wouldn’t have paid much attention to it but in these two cases the one who said the risky thing ended up apologizing for it after the show. One time forced by a host and another time on their own because they truly felt bad for what they said. What I want to look at here is, should we as improvisers be held accountable for what we say or do on stage?

Unlike Stand Up where the jokes are pre-meditated, practiced and executed, improv is literally us just saying what’s already there. As long as the thing we say isn’t intentional, or meant to be hateful (Unless a character calls for it) I don’t think we should ever apologize for our actions. In order for us to evoke honest laughter from an audience we need to be honest to them with our reactions. We also shouldn’t have to edit ourselves because that takes us out of the moment. If we are gonna play the Fool for the audience then you would think we could get away with anything and everything. In some cases it seems we can because of certain expectations set up by the Host of a show. They may let the crowd know that everything we do is coming from something in our own lives or experiences, people we’ve met or dealt with. Also that we will play every character with as much honesty as we can so if we do go somewhere racy it’s our character doing it not us. Also the whole idea of lowered expectations plays into this. If it’s set up that we may fail then racy mistakes will almost be expected.

I also wonder if by revisiting the incident, and saying sorry for it, the situation was actually made worse. (The apology forced by the Host was very goofy and not a genuine apology) In the heat of a scene the inappropriate statement or action may seem less offensive because it fits within the walls of that scene. Either way isn’t what we are trying to do is evoke emotion from the people watching us. It was Del Close who said we should try and actually kill our audience with laughter to bring them out of the comatose state. For us to do this we will need to take chances………… Now here is where I’m hung up. That last sentence makes it sound intentional, like we will purposefully try to be more risky in our improv. I don’t think its okay to do risky improv for the sake of doing risky improv. I think its okay to do truthful scenes that depending on what happens in them may end up being risky. Also I guess we need to just take ourselves seriously. For example if for whatever reason I end up playing a bigot I need to play that bigot honestly. Chances are I am gonna offend someone in doing so but we wouldn’t have a chance to go there if I steered clear of that character. We wouldn’t have had a chance to perhaps shed light on a dark subject if I didn’t fully dive in and do that bigot justice (That sounds funny).

So where is the fine line drawn between risky improv and honest improv. I’m sure the line blurs depending on many factors. I need to have no fear of prosecution when I offend someone. As soon as I have fear I will not be able to fully jump in. I am here to entertain, challenge and bring an audience into our show. I am accountable to the audience to play each character or scene as honest as I can. If they judge me then so be it. You will never make everyone happy, nor will you ever know what may offend certain people.  In the end hopefully all the other improvisers will support me and accept my decisions. So to answer the question: Should we be held accountable for our actions? We should be accountable for doing the best quality show, scenes, characters, as we can. We should not be punished if those happen to have unintentional mishaps that offend people in the process. In the end of it all those “mishaps” may actually evoke great conversations that would have otherwise never happened. The key may be to never try to offend but if it naturally happens don’t ever apologize for it. 

Break Down The 4th Wall

We break down the fourth wall as soon as we step on stage. We get suggestions and do an audience warm up. There are games we play that are directly influenced by the audience. They yell “change” or “sounds like a song”. Most games are direct interactions with the audience. The audience warm up is a chance for the host to create a relationship with the people there to see the show and let them know how breaking the fourth wall works. A good host is almost trained to be a pick up artist. The smoother and the better spoken they are the easier it is for them to pick up the audience. I compare this to a first date. You have a very limited time to let the audience know that you can be trusted and are loyal to them. The host has to be genuine and not a slimy pick up artist or he will fail in his attempt to create a comfortable environment. What I am exploring right now is ways to take some of this onus off the host and put some on the other improvisers. Something that happened during a show I hosted that I really focused on the audience was the improvisers actually felt left out and not included. The audience really loved it though. So obviously there is a balance that needs to be found so everyone can be invested equally. 

Something the host and improvisers also need to do is give as much as they expect to get back from the audience. You can’t expect personal embarrassing stories from someone when you don’t reveal something about yourself first. This can be done in a subtle way by just being present on stage being honest and yourself. I am finding though that subtle isn’t always the best course of action. I am not one who thinks you need to treat your audience like children. There are a people who think you should treat the audience this way and preach it. That’s not what I’m saying. I guess what I’m saying is, just say it like it is. If you want the audience to open up to you and really invest in the show, then show them that you want to be open and that you are invested in them. Don’t just do a standard improv warm up, really take the time to introduce yourself to them and let them introduce themselves to you. The short form games can all be set up using personal information from the audience. We tried playing a fitting game based on what info we got from the audience. It was tricky but we as a group have a deep list of games so we pulled it off and it was awesome.

What was great when I focused on the audience was that they started doing the work for us. We did short form first half and a Harold in the second. Because we had been so focused on them they started breaking the fourth wall helping us along. This was a big lesson for me on how to get the audience more involved in our long form. Let them break the fourth wall rather then us doing it. This allows us to stay in our scenes and committed. We are all hyper aware on stage (http://find-the-sore-thumb.blogspot.com/2011/05/hyper-awareness.html) so we just need to extend this out towards the crowd. I am still playing with tools to give the audience in order to help them do this. The most important thing is them feeling supported and safe to come in. Help them understand they are another performer coming along for the same ride. It just felt very unnatural to break a scene to go out to the audience.. I am trying to find ways to keep the flow. If you think of the booing and cheering in a Melodrama perhaps this idea will make more sense. The audience is more involved and routing for their favorite characters in these plays. Use similar concepts to bring them in during the Harold.

One thing the theatre is going to start doing is warming up before the doors open. This will allow us to all cover a shift at Front of House and Concession and have us interact with our audience before the show starts. We will all be out there rather then hiding in the green room. If we are gonna break that fourth wall let’s see what happens if we never put it up in the first place. It will be important that we are not out there trying to interact with our audience (this would be so forced and unnatural) but rather just be there. Something we decided is that we all need to have something to do while we are out there. If we don’t then everything will seem forced and awkward to us and the audience. We will see how it goes as we implement it. This has been a very satisfying experiment so far and seems endless in fun possibilities.