Santa Barbara Improv Workshop

Look! A picture from the class! If only it were an actual picture from an actual scene. No, I have to admit that this was posed. Thanks to Ben and Karla for taking pity on me when, after the class had just ended, I once again realized I had no pictures. Damn.
Anyway, we had a [...]

Okay, how the heck did I miss this?!?
Apparently, at ComicCon, the folks at the Jim Henson Company put on a performance called Jim Henson’s Puppet Improv. Here’s a clip from the show. After the introduction, they do a translation improv game. The sound isn’t great, but you get the idea. I was astounded at their [...]

Bill Arnet is an experienced improviser at I.O. Chicago (Improv Olympic) and wrote a short piece about various ways of approaching an improv scene, especially at the opening. It definitely got me thinking, and I plan on trying his “slice from typical life” opening this Wednesday during the last hour.
By the way, the heading for [...]

This is a goofy story with an improv twist. Apparently, a discarded prop from a Second City improv show was mistaken for a bomb in Chicago.

That group auctioning off the right to name their performing troupe has successfully completed their auction. The GoldenPalace.com (an on-line gambling site) had the highest bid ($1,385) and has named the group:
The GoldenPalace.com Ha Rollers
Ouch! Well, the publicity probably made it all worthwhile.

Whoa! It’s been over a week since my last post. I’ve been hosting family and traveling so no time for keeping up on the latest improv news. I went down to the San Diego ComicCon, and in addition to all the geeky things that happened, I ran into several improvisers. A couple from Vancouver are [...]

Okay, Improv is not about the jokes. We work to avoid “going for the joke” in a scene. The humor comes from the situation, interaction, and relationship. We all get that, right?
Good, because now I want to talk about an interesting article that won’t really help your improv skills, but instead discusses jokes … communist [...]

We had a fairly big class last night; 15 people total. With that big a group, we don’t get a lot of open scene work done, but I think everyone is really improving on the three line drill. I find myself wanting to see more of the scenes fully played out. Depending on time and [...]

I just read an interesting article by Jeff Miller titled Emotional Truth in Improvisation. He discusses the problem I see in a lot of improv scenes (mine very much included) where the player is so focused on an interesting response, that he or she loses any real (or believable) emotional reaction to an offer. He [...]

I came across the Improv Everywhere website which organizes what I would call “street improv” in NYC. In their own words, “Improv Everywhere causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places”.
I have a real fondness for this form of guerrilla theater, and envy/admiration for what they’ve already accomplished. I [...]