improvisers are lazy [long post]
Discussion of the art and craft of improvisation.
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I'm coming very, very late to this thread, and I wish I could have posted when it didn't feel so dated, but here goes.
When I learned improv, one of the very first things I was taught was that, since the audience was paying to see you do your work, you owed it to them to give them a good show. That means you show up looking good, and you give it all you've got. Lazy improvisation isn't worth paying for. You wouldn't want to watch it, so why do it?
I think props and costumes aren't necessarily out, unless you use them as crutches for talent or industry you don't have or can't manufacture.
That having been said, it's awful hard to bring 110% to every show, but I feel like I owe it to the art form to at least try.
Just in case you care.
M
When I learned improv, one of the very first things I was taught was that, since the audience was paying to see you do your work, you owed it to them to give them a good show. That means you show up looking good, and you give it all you've got. Lazy improvisation isn't worth paying for. You wouldn't want to watch it, so why do it?
I think props and costumes aren't necessarily out, unless you use them as crutches for talent or industry you don't have or can't manufacture.
That having been said, it's awful hard to bring 110% to every show, but I feel like I owe it to the art form to at least try.
Just in case you care.
M
"Oh, shit. We're being pulled over."
"Is it us?"
"No, it's someone else, and he's pulling us over to tell us who it is, like a courtesy"
"Is it us?"
"No, it's someone else, and he's pulling us over to tell us who it is, like a courtesy"
When I video tape my clown acts it is very helpful. I also think it is helpful to just audio tape them (can you still do that?) What you get there is more of the audience reaction without being distracted by thinking "I'm fat." The laughter and gasps show up, but so do the intense silences. I often hear laughs that I didn't recognize at the time.
I also want to point out that there used to be a whole lot of community theater in Austin. The type where normal people with jobs and kids could be in or work on a play and have a lot of fun. Then we went though a period of serious upgrading. The performances are awesome, I love what I see at the Rude Mechs or Vortex, but a lot fewer people get to play. Personally, I wish there could be a range of possibilities. But maybe I'm just saying that because I'm lazy.
I also want to point out that there used to be a whole lot of community theater in Austin. The type where normal people with jobs and kids could be in or work on a play and have a lot of fun. Then we went though a period of serious upgrading. The performances are awesome, I love what I see at the Rude Mechs or Vortex, but a lot fewer people get to play. Personally, I wish there could be a range of possibilities. But maybe I'm just saying that because I'm lazy.