Improvised ____ Is OK!
Discussion of the art and craft of improvisation.
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Re: Improvised ____ Is OK!
Also, just to avoid being guilty of the same thing, every institution is full of varied minds within their staff. All of them, in my experience, have been wonderfully humble with disclaiming there is no "right" way.
Be More Fun than Funny
- TexasImprovMassacre Offline
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Re: Improvised ____ Is OK!
Thank you, Roy. Your response was very helpful, and you answered my questions. Thank you for your definition of narrative.
Also, I agree that its good to point out that it's one of those improv terms for which different people have different definitions (or the same people might use it in different ways). So, I again I appreciate you offering your understanding of it.
I like that you point out that though its part of your curriculum, it isn't exclusively what you teach or put up on stage. I think that's a good distinction to keep in mind about the philosophies of all improv training centers (that comment is directed heavily at myself). I like the versatility of the story training though...I think its cool how theatersports will also have a story to it in the sense that things will happen from the time the show starts to the time it ends, and there will be a winner (I think?). I'm willing to wager that players with some of that narrative training will have the sense to realize if perhaps they have a position in that particular show's story.
For the sake of clarification, I don't think narrative improv is bad and I hope that my asking for a definition of it doesn't make anyone feel they need to defend it. I just wanted to understand the term and how it is being used.
I also like the platform tilt vs game/heightening comparison. We don't really talk about platform/tilt, though I think it is a useful thing to know. I think there is some of each in the other...I think that there's game involved in platform/tilt (thinking of game as pattern work), and I personally often make hand gestures in class which reinforce my thinking of levels/platforms in my game heightening explanations...I think that in game work there's times when you've heightened to a certain point and shit hits the fan and you then have to figure out what the next level/platform is, and that requires a similar awareness of what was going on and how it has changed, and what that all means, what the focus is...
This is coming off the Austin style thread that I felt made me think more of the differences, but I like thinking about the ways in which our philosophies are similar even though we use different terms/approaches...the idea that good improv looks like good improv.
Thanks, Roy!
Also, I agree that its good to point out that it's one of those improv terms for which different people have different definitions (or the same people might use it in different ways). So, I again I appreciate you offering your understanding of it.
I like that you point out that though its part of your curriculum, it isn't exclusively what you teach or put up on stage. I think that's a good distinction to keep in mind about the philosophies of all improv training centers (that comment is directed heavily at myself). I like the versatility of the story training though...I think its cool how theatersports will also have a story to it in the sense that things will happen from the time the show starts to the time it ends, and there will be a winner (I think?). I'm willing to wager that players with some of that narrative training will have the sense to realize if perhaps they have a position in that particular show's story.
For the sake of clarification, I don't think narrative improv is bad and I hope that my asking for a definition of it doesn't make anyone feel they need to defend it. I just wanted to understand the term and how it is being used.
I also like the platform tilt vs game/heightening comparison. We don't really talk about platform/tilt, though I think it is a useful thing to know. I think there is some of each in the other...I think that there's game involved in platform/tilt (thinking of game as pattern work), and I personally often make hand gestures in class which reinforce my thinking of levels/platforms in my game heightening explanations...I think that in game work there's times when you've heightened to a certain point and shit hits the fan and you then have to figure out what the next level/platform is, and that requires a similar awareness of what was going on and how it has changed, and what that all means, what the focus is...
This is coming off the Austin style thread that I felt made me think more of the differences, but I like thinking about the ways in which our philosophies are similar even though we use different terms/approaches...the idea that good improv looks like good improv.
Thanks, Roy!
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Re: Improvised ____ Is OK!
Talking about improv theory is like looking at a pointillist painting. The more you scrutinize it, the less sense you can make of it.
Kevin Miller. Merlin Works Known Wizard. Imp since 2001.
- hujhax Offline
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Re: Improvised ____ Is OK!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7fxkiolT-k[/youtube]happywaffle wrote:Talking about improv theory is like looking at a pointillist painting. The more you scrutinize it, the less sense you can make of it.

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