Santa Barbara Improv Workshop

Ben Whitehouse over at the Improvoker has written an interesting article about comedy in improv. He discusses the difference between going for a quick gag in a scene vs. building up a truthful scene that is funny in a complex, emotional way. The sort of difference you’d find between fast food and a complex, gourmet [...]

A couple of weeks ago, Bill Arnett at iO Chicago wrote up another interesting post, this time about “the right way to do a scene”. His point: there really isn’t a right way to do a scene. There are plenty of things you can do wrong, but there isn’t some absolute best way for a [...]

I want to direct you to series of posts by Ben Whitehouse in his blog Improvoker (which is a great name). He’s going through a UCB (Upright Citizen Brigade) class in New York: Improv 201. At this point, there are only two entries, but the class is focusing on long form work and “finding the [...]

Once again, Bill Arnett at iO Chicago wrote up a great post about scene work. This time he discusses the problem with being coy about an object or situation in a scene. We’ve all seen the problem where some object in a scene is described in indirect terms: how amazing or disturbing it is, how [...]

Dyna Moe at Nobody’s Sweetheart is putting together an Improv Infographic that explains a Harold. Roughly in the form of a flow chart, all the phases (beats) are illustrated along with an indication of the flow, timing, and points of focus. It’s a pretty fun graphic although she hasn’t finished it, yet. It’s possible that [...]

This post doesn’t directly address improv performance, improv in Santa Barbara, nor improv techniques. This is more along the lines of my post on Soviet Era humor. I see these as examples of how humor is a common component of the human condition, no matter how horrific or oppressed that condition may be. This post [...]

David Razowky has a great little article discussing what to do when a scene has spun out of control. To summarize:

Make sure each line of dialog starts with “You …”, keeping the focus on each other
Be honest when confused or lost
Tell your partner how you feel about them
Slow the scene down - allow silences and [...]

Hmm, another interesting exercise from Bill Arnett at I.O. I really like the way he deconstructs improv and gets to nice little nuggets of improv insight.
In his short article, he talks about the tendency to overly focus on coming up with a funny line, rather than staying true to the character we are creating. The [...]

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.