Improv Class 25 March 2009

Tova, Lillia, and Li-At are acting out a scene from the movie being reviewed by Nancy and Patrick in the Movie Review game. Wow, there were a LOT of photos from this class. I narrowed them down to 149 (from over 400) in the this week's album. We bagan the class with our warm-up exercises including the ever present 1 Word Story. We then did a series of 5 Letter Word scenes.

We worked on the Blind Dubbing scene which was new to most folks in the class.  And then everyone participated in the Irish Drinking Song.

We ended with a series of Movie Review scenes.

My favorite line from the night (just because it's the sort of line that could only happen in an improv scene) was

Wow! My nose spray is lost in space.

Improv Class 18 March 2009

Tom, Mark, and Lisa are in a Random Offer scene, creating sense out of unconnected offers. I like the physical poses in this scene. You'll find more photos from the rest of the night in the album. We started off with our usual warm-up session including the 1 Word Story. Then everyone had a chance to participate in a Questions Only exercise.

Next was a round of Irish Drinking Song. After that we introduced a new game called the Swedish Scene and everyone had a chance to try it out.

We ended the night with Spoon River.

Improv Show April 4, 2009

The next Improvisational Comedy Show from the Santa Barbara Improv Workshop will be:

Date: Saturday April 4th, 2009

Time: 8:00 pm until about 9:30 pm

Location: Jefferson Hall, 1525 Santa Barbara Street (near Anapamu)

Price: $5 at the door

Improv Class 11 March 2009

How could I not choose this picture for the album cover? It's a scene from the TV Clicker exercise with Nancy watching Brian perform some sort of a jumping rope maneuver. You can see the rest of the images from the workshop over at the album. Once again our warm ups include the 1 Word Story exercise. Then we moved on to the TV Clicker exercise and got everyone into the two sets.

We tried something new with a 9 Lines exercise. I liked this exercise since it requires everyone to limit the chatter and focus on other aspects of the scene without turning it into a bad silent film parody.

Next was my favorite of the night - Hands Through (sometimes called Helping Hands). I must say, there were a lot of women with HUGE hands in these scenes (check out the pictures of Roberta with Andy's hands poking through - Nancy was the "straight" person).

We worked a bit more on Madrigal, this time with Mark directing the scenes a little differently. This still needs some work, and I'm going to see if we can find a good video of it being performed.

We ended the night with 3 Line Drills.

My favorite line of the night came from Lisa (and I'm still not sure what it means):

That's because you're the hen and I'm the pecker.

Improv Class 4 March 2009

This shot is from one of the Irish Drinking Songs of the night, and shows Andy directing Paula, Manot, Alan, David, and Guy. I chose this shot because it shows everyone in a dynamic pose, it's a good representation of a typical class, and it features some of the new players along with Andy directing. However, my FAVORITE picture from the night is at the end of the post. The rest of the pictures can be seen in the album. After our usual warms ups including the 1 Word Story, we started our scene work with 5 Letter Word. Then we tried something new, First Line/Last Line. Everyone participated in that, and I think it went fairly well.

Next came the Irish Drinking Songs, and a complete set of Half Life scenes. We ended the night with Double Blind Line Freeze Tag.

And here's the picture that cracked me up when I was editing the album:

Improv Show March 7, 2009

The next Improvisational Comedy Show from the Santa Barbara Improv Workshop will be:

Date: Saturday March 7th, 2009

Time: 8:00 pm until about 9:30 pm

Location: Jefferson Hall, 1525 Santa Barbara Street (near Anapamu)

Price: $5 at the door

Improv Class 25 February 2009

Alright, if  you were at the workshop you KNOW why I picked this picture. If you've been coming regularly but just happened to miss that class, then NEWS FLASH. If you are checking out the blog to see if  this workshop is something you're interested in, then I CANNOT guarantee that you will participate in this kind of scene, nor that this happens very often. I CAN say that this is from a 3-Line Drill, which is reserved for the more advanced members of the class, and that you can find more pictures from this workshop (with less lip lock) at our album.

After our more typical set of warm-up exercises (including 1 Word Story), we started our scene work with Step Word Scene. It starts with everyone giving a 1 word line, then everyone giving a 2 word line and so on to everyone giving a 5 word line. Then, all the players count down so that the scene ends with a set of 1 word lines.

We did some group work with the Blank Family scene. We saw the Stupendous Family, the Blind Family, the Mystic Family, and the Gorgeous Family.

We went back to the Irish Drinking Song this week, and then did a full rotation of 3 Line Drills. We had enough time to do 3 groups of Montage so that we could finally get back to some open scene work. We need to keep practicing this.

And my favorite line of the night came from Roberta:

Here, you can have the pussy

Improv Class 18 February 2009

This image cracks me up. Lillia, Karla, and Mike have created a vehicle in a Transprov scene. You can see the rest of the images in the album from this class.

After our warm-ups, Transprov was our first stage work. Everyone took part in the rotation, creating their own vehicle. Then we tried a new exercise called Stop and Go where you had to be frozen while talking and moving when not.

We also tried our hand at Random Counting Words scene, a variation on our more familiar Counting Words scene. For this piece, I would randomly call out a number and then everyone's lines had to have that many words.

We revisiting the Madrigal for our musical piece and ended the night with Switch Dubbing.

I wrote this line down, although I can't remember where it occurred in a scene. It made me laugh.

Save it for the scientists

Improv Class 11 February 2009

I'm not sure that I need to add much description to this image. That's Cora and Zoe commingled on the floor with Robert watching. This is from a Movie Critic scene and you can see more photos from the class (with a lot less girl on girl action) at our album. We started the night with Character Intros and then continued our warm ups with a Physical Offer Line. We finished with the traditional 1-Word Story.

Our scene work started with a full rotation of Hitchhiker. We moved on to Movie Critic, which was a new scene for a lot of players. But as you can see from the photos, folks threw themselves into it.

We also worked on a new music piece - Madrigal. It was a challenge, but the pieces got better as we progressed through the rotations. We'll revisit this one.

We practiced some open scene work with several sets of Scene On Scene. And then we finished the night with an extended run of Line Freeze Tag.

My favorite line of the night occurred in the Madrigal:

To your own backdoor be true

Improv Class 4 February 2008

This shot is from a Create Objects To Speak exercise, with Ben, Robert, Zoe, and Brian. As I recall, all the characters in this scene were related and getting married. The rest of the pictures can be seen in the album from this workshop. Due to a rummage sale filling our usual space, we met in a larger hall with a stage. Unfortunately, the stage was being used for storage, so in the pictures you'll see we were performing in front of the stage. Still, the theater stairs were used quite a bit, and I think the players enjoyed them as a prop.

After our usual warm-ups, we started with a set of full on Story Story Die scenes. Next, came Stinky, Sexy Silly scenes, and then the Create Objects To Speak exercise. All of them were done to prepare for the next show.

A round of the Irish Drinking Songs was followed by Entrances and Exits, which ended the night.

Improv Show February 7, 2009

The next Improvisational Comedy Show from the Santa Barbara Improv Workshop will be:

Date: Saturday February 7th, 2009

Time: 8:00 pm until about 9:30 pm

Location: Parish Hall, 1535 Santa Barbara Street (corner of Anapamu)

Price: $5 at the door

We are changing location just this month due to the Rummage Sale happening at the Unitarian Society. Parish Hall is next door to our usual location, right on the corner. We'll have signs up directing you there.

Location Change for 4 February Workshop

Just a quick note that this week's workshop (4 February 2009) will meet at the Parish Hall at the Unitarian Society rather than Jefferson Hall. There's a big rummage sale happening this week, and so Jefferson Hall (our usual location) will be in use. The Parish Hall is next door, on the corner. See you there!

Improv Class 28 January 2009

This photo just makes me laugh. It's from a Standing-Sitting-Bending scene with Joanna, Tova, and Patrick, and it just captures the movement in the scene. Of course Tova is flying through the air. Wonderful! The rest of the photos from the night (and there are a lot) are in the album. Our warm-ups included the 3 Part Narrative and the extended Whoosh-Bang-Pow as well as the 1-Word Story. We began the scene work with Standing-Sitting-Bending and then moved on to a series of Last Letter scenes. After that came Spoon River which is surprisingly popular. My favorite line of the night came from that scene, and I'll put it at the end of the post.

We did our usual set of Irish Drinking Songs, and then we did Three Person Freeze Tag. I like that exercise because it forces you to get through the hardest parts of the Freeze Tag exercises - getting in and starting a new scene with only the physical position as a starter. You can't wait for the perfect inspiration; with only three poeple you've got to get in there.

We ended the night with Open Freeze Tag, and I think the practice helped get more people mixing it up.

Okay, my favorite line of the night:

I was eating Twizlers and watching

Improv Class 21 January 2009

I like the range of emotions in this shot. We were doing a Story-Story-Not Die scene, and Lori, Justin, and Andy are pictured with just a hint of Joanna's arm. You'll find the rest of the photos from this workshop in the album. Our warm-ups included Lymericks and 1-Word Story. Then we moved on the the Story-Story-Not Die scene, which had some great moments. We tried the Rhyming Scene with 4 people at a time, and it worked pretty well. I think the forced rhythm of the scene kept it from becoming too chaotic.

We continued on with the Irish Drinking Song and ended with a Panel Of Experts. As a variation on our usual panel, each player was assigned a magazine. Their characters were reporters or editors from that magazine, and that helped to strongly define the attitude of the characters. It was really strong work.

Improv Classes 7 & 14 January 2009

Victoria rocks!

I'm sorry I missed the first two classes of this new year, but it's good that, from time to time, you all get a different perspective on improv from different instructors.

Victoria has her own theatrical style and a great way with characters. The more methods and techniques you are exposed too, the easier it is to find your own style.

Everyone spoke highly of the classes, and my only regret is that I didn't get to take them myself.

I think that this year, I'll plan on having others teach the class when I''m in town so that I can sit in. I could certainly use that different perspective!

New Years Eve Workshop Cancelled

Happy New Year everyone! I decided to cancel the class on New Year's Eve since an informal survey indicated that most folk (myself included) had plans for welcoming in the new year.

Don't forget that we're having a show this coming Saturday, January 3, 2009.

I'll see you all next year. Our first class will be Wed. January 7, 2009.

Take care!

Improv Class 24 December 2008

It seems like my ability to intimidate new players isn't as successful as I'd like to think. Leslie and I are in a 5 Letter Word scene, along with Delois who isn't in this picture. Considering the workshop is being held on Christmas eve, we still had a good sized class of 14 players. You'll find the rest of the pictures from the night at the album.

Our warm-ups included Whoosh-Bang-Pow and 1 Word Story. The we started our scene work with a series of It's Tuesday scenes. We moved on to 5 Letter Word scenes and then a set of Pillars.

About mid way through the night we sang some Irish Drinking Songs and then a couple of 185 exercises. And we finished the night with Freeze Tag.

Improv Show January 3, 2009

The next Improvisational Comedy Show from the Santa Barbara Improv Workshop will be: Date: Saturday January 3rd, 2009

Time: 8:00 pm until about 9:30 pm

Location: Jefferson Hall, 1525 Santa Barbara Street (near Anapamu)

Price: $5 at the door

Improv Class 17 December 2008

This shot is from a 1-Person Move exercise and shows Tom, Nancy, Guy, Brian, Lisa, Allegra, and Mark working on a common activity. We had 15 players during the night, and the rest of the pictures can be seen at the album. We started the night with warm-ups that included the give-and-take exercise 1-Person Move, as well as our usual 1 Word Story. Then we were on to Counting Words followed by Two Describes Third.

A new game for us was Scene From Pose, where each player was separately put into a pose before the scene started. Some great work came out of that.

We moved on to Irish Drinking Song, and ended the evening with 3-Line Drills.

Improv Class 10 December 2008

I really like the characters in this picture. Nancy, Mark, and Jim each have a different body posture and energy. This is from a scene in a Montage. The rest of the pictures from this night can be found in the album. This was another relatively small class with 14 players. After the warm-ups, we were able to get in Zelig, Sound Effects, Hidden Endowment, Irish Drinking Song, 3-Line Drill, and Montage. Most of these are performance pieces, and I want us to keep working on these. There were some good scenes, but we need more practice with some of these forms.

I'm particularly happy that we got in some Montage work. The open scenes and scene transitions are really helpful because they remove the crutch provided by the game rules in short form work.