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Intro to Improv
Week 5: Recurring Scenes
Week 6: Improv Performance

GAME

Game is anything that is fun to play with within the scene for the improviser and the audience. We usually know we have stumbled upon game when the audience laughs or reacts big in other ways.
 
For Intro we focus on patterns for game but it can also be heightening, emotional reactions,  emotion shifts, etc, etc. (all of which we dig into in the Level 2 class).
 
Patterns
Discover patterns such as catch phrases, movements, etc. We forced them a bit in the class exercises to show how and why they work, but, when doing scenes, it is always best to stumble upon them naturally (and you won’t always have them). As stated above, you will know you’ve found it when the audience reacts strongly.
 
Patterns can also have variations. The rule is if you do it the exactly the same the second time as the first, then do it exactly the same the third time – if different the second time, then make it equally different the third time.
 
Let patterns breathe for awhile in between returning to them. It gives them more weight if you let there be around 30 seconds or more between coming back to them.
 
Rule of Threes
If you find something that the audience clearly likes, do it again, and then do it again for a total of three. Game usually happens best in threes. If you have a pattern, do it three times. If heightening do it three times. Return to scenes in threes. Our brains like the number three and find it entertaining and satisfying.
 
Multiples of three also work, so if you go beyond three, go ahead and make it six. If beyond six, go to nine.

RECURRING SCENES

Bringing characters and situations back is one of the hallmarks of great improv. 

 

If you have an idea and want to bring a scene back later in the show, motion silently to the player(s) you want to have return. Once you there, you use your idea to start the scene and make it extremely clear in your first line who your character is so your scene mates will pick up that it’s the same characters as before – don’t pull them out there and then expect them to start it. 

 

Once you get started, however, let go of your idea, because you can’t really control where it goes. You can just put the starting line out there. Sometimes you’ll have a mind-meld with your troupemates and it will go where you thought, and other times it won’t and both are okay. 

 

Try to bring back phrases from the prior scene to establish patterns. Recurring scenes should have a sense of deja-vu to them, but mapped to new and heightened information. 

HEIGHTENING

Heightening is when you make something bigger and more extreme, and then make it even bigger and more extreme again. This is why starting grounded and normal in scenes is important, because it gives you space to heighten to the weird and crazy things.
 
Good example of heightening:
Guess what? I bought a boat!
Guess what? I bought a yacht!!
Guess what? I bought a cruise ship!!!
Extreme Heightening

FOUR SQUARE

A simple and very fun show format that exercises pattern and heightening game. It also lays the foundations for more advanced show formats down the road like ‘The Harold’. It is designed around recurring scenes and creating patterns with the lines you say.
 
Within the format, there are four 2-person scenes, and each scene will return three times (for a total of 12 scenes). The two players in the scene will find a pattern to repeat and something to heighten each time their scene returns.
 
Each time around it gets sillier and faster paced. Sometimes the third scene will be just a punchline because the audience will already know exactly where the scene is going to go based on the first two versions of it. I call those mic-drop scenes! They are very satisfying for both you the player and the audience!
 
Great example of mic drop scene (courtesy of Annapolis Summer 2021 class):
1st scene: Would you like some ice cream? – I really can’t… I’m lactose intolerant.
2nd scene: Would you like some cheese? – I really can’t… I’m lactose intolerant
3rd scene: C’mere Bessie… (pulls on leash for improv cow) – mic drop. Scene ends.
 
While playing with Four Square, don’t try to remember everything from the scene. Try to remember your first line that you said, and bring it back but heighten the information. Your scene partner should remember their response and give a similar response, but relevant to the new information. Then, between the two of you, try to remember either what you got a big laugh with, or the final line of the scene. 
 
If, between the two of you, you remember First Line, First Response, and Big Laugh Line, that’s THREE things and will be a very good place to be. Often once you get into the rhythm of the second scene, your brains will fill in the blanks and you’ll hit more elements organically as well. 

This is an excellent show format, but also great exercise in recurring scenes, remembering patterns and heightening.

STAGECRAFT

There are a few things to keep in mind when you are on an improv stage to make sure you are seen and heard, and to make sure that others are seen and heard, especially when you have a full audience watching. 

Share the Energy

If there are more than two people on stage, you will need to share the energy, otherwise the audience will hear static if improvisers are talking over each other. Talk popcorn style. Remember the Energy disc/object from the Share the Energy exercise. You can give the energy to someone else or you can take it through body language and eye contact. 


Project Your Voice (even when whispering)
Talk louder than you think you may need to. We are generally not mic’d up, so you want to make sure that the person on the back row of seats can hear you clearly. If you are naturally soft-spoken, push your volume up. 
 
If whispering in a scene, do a ‘stage whisper’ and change the tone of your voice to that of a whisper, but try to keep your volume up. The audience will understand that it’s a whisper. 
 
Cheat Out Towards the Audience
When you are on a stage, be aware of how you are facing the audience. You always want to have your face towards the audience and never have your back to them. Sometimes this will feel awkward to you on stage, but it looks correct to the crowd. We call this Cheating Out. 
 
If you’re in a scene where you might normally be facing the other person directly, instead face them at an angle so most of the audience can see both of your faces. This also will enable them to hear you. 
 
Backline Etiquette
When you are on the backline or sidelines, you should be standing up, leaning in, and intently watching the scene, ready to provide support like sound effects or pop-ins at any moment. Don’t slouch against the wall, look disinterested, or be chatting to each other behind the scene going on. It’s okay to have a quick whisper to someone if you have an idea for the next scene, but it should not be distracting from what’s going on in front of you. 
 

Video of the Week

Community's Beetlejuice Rule of Three's Joke

One of the most patient Rule of Threes example took three seasons. Watch the background after the third mention.

Podcast Recommendation

Yes, Also Podcast with Suzi Barrett

Suzi Barrett is an actor/writer/improviser based in Los Angeles, who is a frequent guest on After Midnight and Comedy Bang Bang. She has studied and performed with iO, Second City, UCB, and Boom Chicago in Amsterdam, as well as taught all levels at UCB, and tours with Holy Shit Improv and Ben Schwartz and Friends.

 

Her Yes, Also Podcast is a masterclass in the history and philosophies of improv, with a weekly interview of people with deep histories in the various improv scenes over the years. I highly recommend her podcast if you want to learn more about improv, where it has been, and where it might be going.

Go to the Yes, Also Podcast Page

Intro to Improv Exercises

Here are descriptions of some of the improv games that were played this week if you want to share them with friends and family!

Bunny Bunny/Toki Toki

Teach this one piece at a time, then combine it all together. 

 

First part: Make a bunny motion with two fingers (both hands) towards yourself and say BUNNY BUNNY. Then make the same motion towards someone else and say BUNNY BUNNY again. Some people will get the motion backwards, but it’s not a huge deal. Let that go for a bit to solidify. 

 

Second part: The two people to the sides of BUNNY BUNNY face that person, throw their arms out, and rock side to side saying TOKI TOKI in the same rhythm as BUNNY BUNNY. Let these play for awhile until it solidifies. 

 

Third part: Everyone who isn’t BUNNY BUNNY or TOKI TOKI will keep the rhythm by saying OOM-CHA OOM-CHA and slapping their own thighs gently to make a clap sound. Start everyone doing this, then once the rhythm has been established, start the BUNNY BUNNY-TOKI TOKI up. 

 

After they get good at it, you can speed it up slowly. Keep going faster until it falls apart.