Intro to Improv Week 2 - Beginnings and Endings
A to C Instant Brainstorming
We don’t want the audience to get bored with our show. Sometimes we can get into a rut or get stuck on a singular idea over and over again. Audiences like variety. One easy way to get unstuck and generate a new idea on the fly is to A to C it.
So let’s say we get the word ‘grasshopper’ and we have WAY too many scenes that are focused on grasshoppers or we’ve said the word ‘grasshopper’ five times too often. Here’s how you can fix that:
It’s as simple as saying to yourself:
“Grasshopper (A) makes me think of legs (B), which makes me think of shaving (C). I’m going to start the next scene by shaving my legs.”
We’ve now created a brand new thread for the show.
You can easily keep a show fresh continually by watching the previous scene, picking something out of it to A to C, and then spinning off in a new direction.
How to Start Scenes
The biggest hurdle for many starting out in improv is getting a scene started. There are a few easy ways to get things going without much stress:
Start with a Sentence
Start with any normal sentence. Don’t worry about saying something clever or funny. Just start with ordinary. The yes-anding will usually get you to a fun place. “You need to take out the garbage.” is a great grounded way to start a scene. As we’ve stated before, sentences gift information to your scene partner, so that’s a very good thing.
If you ever get stuck for what to say “I don’t know what to say.” is a little meta, but it’s a sentence and we will totally accept it. Consider it your ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card to use anytime you need it!
Start with an Emotion
Come out and show a big emotion – happy, sad, angry, scared. Don’t have any words yet, just pure emotion. Then let the other person come out and exactly name why you feel this way. “Oh you got a D on your report card…” and then you agree that is the turth of the scene. It’s pretty simple and easy to create a solid scene around an emotion!
Start by Naming the Other Character
Simply come out, make eye contact, and name the other character. Just naming the other character will often spur where the scene can go next. Let the name come out of the moment rather than pre-planning it.
We’re going for Seinfeld level “Jerry…” “Newman…” emotional vibes with these, which can be very funny. You can also name the relationship. “Honey…”, “Mother…”, “Boss…” etc.
Pro tip: After naming the other character, challenge yourself to use that name a few more times within the scene. This will help you to remember character names.
Start with Object Work
Come out and silently start doing some object work (folding laundry, making breakfast, working on a car, etc.). The second person should also come out silently and join in the activity or something that compliments it. Give yourselves a few seconds of silence together before making eye contact and starting the conversation.
Object work initiations are great for people who have a hard time thinking of what to say. It gives you some time to think, and takes a lot of the pressure off.
Scenes should always be about the relationships between people in the scene more than the objects in the scenes, but object work can go a long way to establishing the environment. We’ll dig deeper into object work in Week 3.
How to End Scenes
Once a scene is over, it is up to the rest of the troupe to edit it in order to end it and start a brand new scenes. There are a few different ways to edit a scene.
A Sweep Edit (also called a Wipe) works like this:
Once a scene is over, someone from the back line runs across the front of the stage to signify that it is done and a new scene should begin immediately.
By doing this, you are the human equivalent of the line that transitions from one scene to another on a movie screen. In Star Wars, the scene is on Tatooine and the line moves across and now it transitions to the Death Star. You’re the human equivalent of that line. It could also be thought of as pulling a curtain to end and start a new scene.
Sweep Edits will happen when:
- A funny button line is found – a moment that is the perfect end to the scene.
- The scene isn’t getting traction after a minute or so – go ahead and get it out of there. We’ll teach you some strategies for saving those scenes later in the curriculum, but for now, wipe and move on.
- Extremely rare: You have a Banana-banana-banana inappropriate moment on stage. You’ve made the audience uncomfortable (not in a fun way), wipe the secne and move on to something else. Audiences are very forgiving if it’s taken care of right away.
For Intro, we want you to learn to trust and depend upon your scene mates, so we’re going to ask that you stay in a scene until someone from the troupe’s back line (anyone not currently in the scene) runs across in front.
Who What Where
When starting new scenes, you want to hit three main things near the top of the scene: WHO (the relationship), WHAT (what the scene is about), and WHERE (the current location for the characters).
When a scene doesn’t quite work, it’s usually because one of these elements is missing from the scene.
For Intro, we have a solid ‘training wheels’ start to scenes that will hit Who, What and Where easily and consistently, but we’ll also teach you later in the semester how to rescue a scene that is missing one or more of these vital elements.
The PERFECT Scene Starter: Do > Feel > Know > Say > Play
We’ve developed an easy sure-fire way to start a great improv scene that sets you up for success every time. This is a great set of training wheels as you get used to starting improv scenes.
It’s super easy: Do > Feel > Know > Say > Play
It builds Who What and Where into your scene right away and will get you on the right foot for scenes!
DO: Object Work
We’ll dive more deeply into Object Work in Week 3, but it’s simply making up chores that utilize improv objects in a scene. Dig a hole. Fold laundry. Work on a car. Stand on the shore fishing. As long as you are interacting with real objects in this part of the scene, you’re good! Running, yoga, dancing, etc don’t usually have you interacting with improv objects – and can also be exhausting!
Do establishes WHERE you are in the scene pretty solidly.
Simply come out and start silently do object work for a few seconds. Don’t worry about what to say yet.
FEEL: Emotions
As you silently start digging that hole, think about how your character feels at this moment. Are they happy? Are they angry? Show that emotion. Emotions + Object Work = Gold!
Make the emotion big so it’s clear to the other person as they enter the stage. Continue to do your thing silently and with full emotions.
The second person now enters the stage area and joins you silently in that activity – either do the same thing or something that goes along with it. They will have their own emotion towards this as well. It can be the same emotion or it can be completely different – both will create a fun dynamic.
DO and FEEL this silently together for around 10 to 20 seconds.
KNOW: Relationship
Characters should almost always know each other. You can have a perfectly fine scene between total strangers, but you can get to the meat of the scene much faster if the characters know each other well and have strong opinions of the other person.
Naming the other character, or naming the relationship is a great way to establish that history together.
Once the Object Work and Emotions are underway with both characters, pause and make eye contact for a second or two and then state the other character’s first name or establish the relationship. Also let the name be inspired by the scene – try not to pre-plan or use in-real-life names.
Let the emotion come through in that naming.
“Samuel…” “Stacy…”
“Mother…” “Ethan…”
“Johnson…” “Mr. Stern…”
“Newman…” “Jerry…”
Naming goes a long way towards establishing that the characters know each other and have a relationship. Going even further by establishing if they are friends, neighbors, family members, spouses, co-workers, etc. is a gift that will fuel the scene.
SAY: Sentence
Once the Object Work and Emotions have been established, and the characters have named each other (or named the relationship), pause for a beat and then either character can start talking.
Normal everyday conversation is best with improv. Resist the urge to say something crazy or ‘funny’.
Trust the Yes-And process. The funny stuff WILL happen!
PLAY: Have Fun!
Now just have a nice scene. Eventually the WHAT of the scene will figure itself out. When it does, play with it.
You don’t need multiple things to play with, just the main WHAT. If Mom steals cars, what else is true about Mom?
Putting it All Together: DO > FEEL > KNOW > SAY > PLAY
Here are the steps:
- Get a word from the audience or use a word, concept or idea from a previous scene as your initiation – A to C it to create even more diversity of scene subjects so you don’t get stuck on the same concept over and over.
- Step out silently and use the word as inspiration to start object work along with a strong emotion. Don’t speak, just let it be silent for a bit.
- A second improviser will come into the scene and join you in that activity, silently either doing the same thing or doing something that goes along with what you are doing.
- They are also going to add their own strong emotion to what they are doing – it can be the same as the first character or completely different. If the first person is happily wiping tables, the second person might be angrily sweeping the floor. And the second person should actually interact with objects – not just supervise the first person!
- Give it about ten seconds or more of silently doing the object work together. Let the emotions flow.
Both characters, who know each other well, will pause, make eye contact, and silently hold that eye contact for a second or two. - While making eye contact, each character will say the other character’s first name – let this be inspired by the scene
- Now either character can kick things off with a sentence. Go for truth and honesty over crazy. Trust us: truth is far funnier!
- Play out the scene.
It’s a formula, but it works consistently and is a great way to get things going while you are learning.
After a bit, we’ll drop the formula, but the WHO WHAT WHERE elements should still be established near the top of the scene. Trust the Yes-And process to bring the funny part to light as you discover the scene together
The Anatomy of a Montage Improv Show
This is how to do a simple and diverse montage improv show with just a single word from the audience.
- Everyone comes out with high energy, hooping and hollering.
- A designated person will introduce the troupe and get a suggestion from the audience.
- The first person who steps out will use the word as an inspiration for their silent object work and big emotion. If you get “sunshine” from the audience, maybe you’re excitedly putting on sunscreen, or frustratingly adjusting the blinds.
- A second person will join in the activity, silently doing the same thing or something that goes along with it, also with their own emotion that doesn’t have to match the first person’s, but can.
- After a few seconds of silent activity, make eye contact and name each other, letting their emotions through as they say the name – let the names be inspired by the scene and don’t pre-plan. “Jessica…” “Trevor…”
- Now start talking and Yes-anding.
- When you find out what the scene is about together, play with what emerges.
- When the scene hits a funny moment (or stalls out), someone not currently in the scene will come from the back or side line and wipe the scene.
- Everyone that wasn’t in that scene should be picking something from it to A to C and then use that as potential inspiration for the next scene.
- Blinds make me think of cords which makes me think of computers. I’m going to start the next scene by happily typing in an office.
- Every scene try to find something from the previous scene to use to A to C for the next scene.
- If a third character is named that isn’t currently in the scene, someone from the back line can enter as that character. “My boss is coming over for dinner.” Keep Walk-ons to a minimum for now and only when someone is named – we’ll teach more on that topic later!
- String scenes together like this for the allotted time. A to C something said in the previous scene. The more tangental the better! This will create a thread through the entire show that connects each scene together, but doesn’t get repetitive or stuck in a rut.
- When the timer hits zero, everyone throws their arms up and says “THAT’S OUR SHOW!!!”
- Take a bow and exit the stage.
Improv Video of the Week
iO Theater: The Living Room
Want to see Amy Poehler (Saturday Night Live, Parks & Recreation), Tina Fey (SNL, 30 Rock), and Neil Flynn (Scrubs, The Middle) in the mid-90’s doing improv in Chicago several years before they were famous? Here you go…