We had 24 people in class this week, and we started with the Mirror exercise along with 1-Word Story. I brought a couple of bins worth of hats and props, and out first exercise using them was Video Dating. Lots of great characters were created, and I really liked the times there were two character scenes. Nice work.

We got in a set of Standing Sitting Bending scenes before our next big challenge, which was a new song (or at least one we haven’t done in a very long time). For the 50’s Do Wop song, Andy was gracious enough to bring his guitar and keep us all on-beat and on-key. And I think everyone was excited to be working on a new song, even if the pattern is a bit more difficult. We did pretty well for the 5(!) rotations.

We ended the night with a Character Pass scene. It was another chance to use the hats and create bold characters. It was pretty challenging to be changing characters throughout the scene, but it was a lot of fun.

Story Story Die was the first bit of stage work we did after our usual warm-ups. We followed that with a series of ABC scenes.

The Irish Drinking Song came next, and everyone seemed to belt out particularly good songs that night.

We ended with a series of Typewriter scenes, an appropriately more difficult exercise to keep everyone on their toes.

After our Character Intros and 1-Word Story warm-ups, we did some Transprov and then History of an Object. We haven’t done History of an Object in quite awhile, and I think we all got a pretty good historical perspective on the egg-beater, the zipper, and lipstick.

Our scene work started with rounds of 5-Letter Word. But that was just a warm-up for the real challenge I had in mind for the night. Everyone participated in Speaks for Other scenes, sometime called A Speaks for B Speaks for C Speaks for A (which is why I prefer the shorter name). It’s a very difficult scene, with each player having to keep several characterizations active in their head. But I think everyone stood up to the challenge and performed it well.

The Irish Drinking Song was restful after that. And we ended the night with TV Clicker.

I’ll be out of town most of next week, and so Mike will be teaching the July 23 class. Mike’s one of those substitute instructors for whom I get nothing but good reports (damn…)

I’ll see you all the following week, July 30!

It was another big class with 25 players participating, 5 of whom were brand new to the Santa Barbara Improv Workshop. Pictured here are Karla, Sienna, Addison with Andy’s Jazz Hands coming out of her head, and Tracy. They’re in the middle of a Machine exercise. You can see the rest of the pictures from this night at our album.

After our standard set of warm-ups (Character Intro, Whoosh Bang Pow, Relay, and One Word Story), we began our stage work with a full set of Yes And exercises. Then came Machine. We got to do some scene work with Continuing Scene Changing Genre.

Then we all participated in a set of Irish Drinking Songs and moved on to Entrances and Exits. We ended the night with a big Freeze Tag group.

Thanks to all the new players for getting up on stage and joining in!

We had 24 players in class this week, including a couple of brand new players to our group, as well as a few returning from the improv noir of last week. Thanks for coming back!

We warmed up with Whoosh Bang Pow, getting through all 6 actions, and then broke up into 3 groups for One Word Story. Back on stage, we did a full rotation of Hitchhiker followed by Surprise Lines. We also got in Party Quirks, a game we haven’t played in quite awhile.

We had a full five sets of the ever popular Irish Drinking Song and then ended the night with several World’s Worst performances. Everyone had a chance to portray three or four different professions.

And that’s a quick thumbnail review of the night (posted before the next class!)

And the challenges kept mounting as we found out the bathrooms were unavailable due to construction at the site. We eventually found the key to a porta-potty set up by the construction people.

And, we just happened to have a large number of new folks show up this night. There were over 20 people in the class. I don’t have an accurate count because I couldn’t tell when folks were coming & going.

And, we were also getting ready for a recital the next Saturday, so there was a fair amount of preparation and review for everyone who was in the show.

However, the night was fabulous! I don’t know if it was the anonymity of the darkness, the adrenaline of the fires, nerves around the recital, or everyone just having the right attitude to overcome all the adversities, but we had a wonderful class.

I don’t have a complete list of the exercises from that night (it was DARK!) but I know we did an Emotional List set and Alliterations. Of course we did the Irish Drinking Song. And because it was so dark, we ended the night with Spoon River.

Thank you everyone for really pulling together on what could have been a difficult night!

We had a big class on 6/4/08. 25 players by my count, with photographic evidence stored in the album.

With that big a group, my notes suffered a bit. I show that we did a Yes & exercise (Advertising), Story Story (without the Die), Entrances and Exits, and (of course) the Irish Drinking Song.

The 6/11/08 workshop was down to only (!) 20 people. I picked this album cover because it’s such a flattering shot of Karla. And Tom, on his first night at Improv, looks properly intimidated.

We got quite a few exercises in after our usual warm ups. We did a full round of Tag Out Story, then Build A Scene. Next was Switch Dubbing followed by the Irish Drinking Song. We ended the night on a set of Survivor scenes.

For the workshop on 6/18/08, we had to find a new location. Our usual practice space at Jefferson Hall was unavailable as they began some major remodeling of the facility. Luckily, Nancy was able to provide a fabulous space at the Jewish Community Center. We were surrounded by beautiful artwork, and you can see all the pictures in the album.

I also want to thank everyone who followed the signs to our new location for the night. Especially all the new players!

Once again, my notes were not very good from that night, but I’ve recorded 18 people participating in our 5 Letter Word scenes. I know we also did Story Story Die and TV Clicker. And, of course, the Irish Drinking Song.

The last workshop in June (6/25/08) had us back in Jefferson Hall with 16 players. For some reason the photographers went nuts and we have a LOT of photos in the album. Enjoy!

After warm-ups, the night consisted of Pillars, Expert Panel, and the Irish Drinking Song. For the advanced part of the night, we did the long form exercise Assigned Professions. We got quite a few rounds in, and I think everyone got a chance to see their characters evolve over several scenes and interacting with other characters.

And that’s the summary of the June workshops. Let’s see if we (okay I) can get back to a weekly update schedule.

The class on 5/7/08 had 19 players including some brand new players and one returning player who’s been sorely missed. You can see it all in the album.

We tried out a new exercise called By The Numbers which went pretty well, and then did a round of Quirks to practice character work. We also got in Entrances and Exits as well as an Irish Drinking Song and then Who Am I.

On 5/14/08 we had a smaller class of 13 people, and the pictures are in the album.

We did 5 Letter Word scenes, and then a new exercise called One Syllable Words (and yeah, the name says it all). We did a long round of Puppets where everyone got the chance to be a puppet as well as a puppeteer. After the Irish Drinking Song, we did some open scene work with Assigned Professions.

The 5/21/08 class again saw the return of some familiar faces that have been missed the last few months. See them in the album for that night.

We did a few new exercises starting with the 9 Line Scene and then the X Word Scene. Everyone did quite well with both exercises. We also did Playbook and the Irish Drinking Song. We ended the night with the 3 line Drill.

The last class of May (5/28/08) had 15 players, and you can see the photos in the album for the night.

In addition to the warm-ups, we did a set of Art Museum exercises. We went on to Decreasing Time Scenes and Irish Drinking Song. For the advanced part of the night, we did 3 Line Drills and Assigned Professions.

And those are the classes we had in May 2008.

Only a few pictures made it out of the 4/2/08 class alive. Those that did can be seen at the album. We had 11 players there for the night,all of whom were repeat players.

In addition to our usual warm-ups, we got in a round of Mutant, a round of No P, and a round of Repeating Scene Changing Genre. Then came an Irish Drinking Song. For the last part of the night, we got a full set of 3-Line Drills and then had a chance to work on some One Acts.

I have no idea what this picture is about, but I like the physical pose. I know it occurred at the 4/9/08 class because it’s one of the photos in the album (and there are quite a few pictures from this class).

We did a little bit of status work with a Pecking Order scene. Next came Sound Effects in which everyone had a chance to give sound effects as well as play against them. Our standard Irish Drinking Song was next, and then we ended the night with a 3-Line Drill.

I normally try to downplay pictures of myself teaching, but I made an exception for the 4/16/08 class. I unveiled the new, sleeker look on that night, as you can see in the album.

The 16 players got a chance to play 5 Letter Word scenes and Standing Sitting Bending scenes. Then came the ever popular Irish Drinking Song, followed by 3 Line Drills and then the night ended with some One Act work.

The 4/23/08 class was a big one with 21 players. You can see them all in the album for the night.

After the warm-ups, we started with a Class Picture To Scene exercise. Then we did a rotation of Pillars scenes where everyone got a chance to be the pillars as well as playing with the pillars. After the song, we then did a round of Entrances and Exits since we had such a large number of new players.

Once again, I don’t think I need to explain the album cover for the night of 4/30/08. You just need to appreciate the stage positions.

After warm-ups, the 16 players did a full set of Machine exercises. Then came Decreasing Scene and Progressive Freeze Tag. An Irish Drinking Song was followed by a 3 Line Drill, which ended the night.

And that wraps up April of 2008.