What are you??

JoshYellow · Post by **JoshYellow** » February 17th, 2009, 10:58 pm

What are you working on as an improviser?
What ONE area do you wish you knew more about?
Sound off.

Roy Janik · Post by **Roy Janik** » February 17th, 2009, 11:50 pm

I wish I could do spacework and physicality effortlessly.

Jessica · Post by **Jessica** » February 17th, 2009, 11:51 pm

Sticking with my objectives, not getting swayed by my partner.

arthursimone · Post by **arthursimone** » February 17th, 2009, 11:58 pm

I honestly have a problem with sincere emotional commitment

This kind of comes from years of acting and really being in touch with myself as an actor first and foremost: because I know how to tap into deep emotion on the stage I am hesitant to 'go there' as an improviser. Because improv scenes are so short? Because my scene partners and the audience and general doesn't really know how to react to that?

I can fake-cry with the best of them and do the faux-emotion like clockwork, but it's the real emotional investment of acting that I often miss.

kaci_beeler · Post by **kaci_beeler** » February 18th, 2009, 12:20 am

I'm working on making my characters have more variety and deeper, richer reactions, emotions, and discoveries. Also, creating crisper and more descriptive space work, building the setting of a place, and telling diverse and compelling stories.

Lately I'm having problems finding inspiration at the very top of a scene in a montage type show. I find characters and stuff to do out of necessity but I usually don't have a lot of fun with it. I love getting endowed and endowing others but endowing myself from nothing is hard, and sometimes it comes up and I rarely feel stellar about my choices.

vine311 · Post by **vine311** » February 18th, 2009, 12:53 am

I want to get better at group scenes. I often find myself just fading into the background and not really contributing to the scenes. By trying not to "drive" the scene, I become a passenger...a passenger that's passed out in the backseat.

arthursimone · Post by **arthursimone** » February 18th, 2009, 1:09 am

vine311 wrote:I want to get better at group scenes. I often find myself just fading into the background and not really contributing to the scenes. By trying not to "drive" the scene, I become a passenger...a passenger that's passed out in the backseat.

This is where I think ColdTowne training can really come in handy; at least personally I'm more and more influenced by the UCB 'game-of-the-scene' philosophy, wherein players within the scene and on the sidelines are able to focus their energy in thinking of the scenes from the 'inside-out', and able to navigate and contribute to group scenes as an ensemble. I believe that within the first few seconds of a scene, we're obliged to approach as strong characters and performers to get things jump-started, but at a certain point the scene becomes a character unto itself and it becomes the responsibility of the entire group.

Storytelling as a group as opposed to scenework as a group is of course a longstanding debate, so I won't go there unless you want me to.

TexasImprovMassacre · February 18th, 2009, 2:21 am

my first priority is to be better friends with Josh Yellow, and to eliminate is hatred for me.

As far as prov goes, my current goal is to play characters that feel things, not just say things.

kbadr · Post by **kbadr** » February 18th, 2009, 11:20 am

I want to be more familiar with scripted theatre so I know exactly what types of moments/dynamics I'm striving to create through improvisation. I am tired of being unsatisfied with myself, feeling like I sold out my ultimate goals for the good of tonight's audience. At some point you gotta dig your heels in and realize that if a given performance isn't progressing your artistic growth towards something, it's pushing it away from it. I think I'm at that point.

Finding inspiration at the top of a show is something I've always struggled with, too. It's so important, and when I or my group is inspired at the top, the show is so much more effortless.

And I continually want to find a way to use different settings and time periods. It's all too easy to slip into modern-day, middle america, and there's no reason that needs to be the default.

themoss · Post by **themoss** » February 18th, 2009, 11:40 am

I want to play smarter characters.
I have a tendency to play dumber than I am because its easier to quickly think of dumb things, as opposed to smart things.
Sometimes it makes me feel gross inside when I realize my staple of characters are not really challenging myself or the people I play with.

vine311 · Post by **vine311** » February 18th, 2009, 11:50 am

arthursimone wrote:This is where I think ColdTowne training can really come in handy; at least personally I'm more and more influenced by the UCB 'game-of-the-scene' philosophy, wherein players within the scene and on the sidelines are able to focus their energy in thinking of the scenes from the 'inside-out', and able to navigate and contribute to group scenes as an ensemble. I believe that within the first few seconds of a scene, we're obliged to approach as strong characters and performers to get things jump-started, but at a certain point the scene becomes a character unto itself and it becomes the responsibility of the entire group.

Storytelling as a group as opposed to scenework as a group is of course a longstanding debate, so I won't go there unless you want me to.

I would be interested in taking a workshop specifically geared towards group scenes. (3 or more folks) I don't really have the time in my schedule to sign up for a full run of classes, but a 3 hour cram session on this would be super sweet.

shando · Post by **shando** » February 18th, 2009, 12:22 pm

kbadr wrote:And I continually want to find a way to use different settings and time periods. It's all too easy to slip into modern-day, middle america, and there's no reason that needs to be the default.

Yes yes yes. History nerd.

arthursimone · Post by **arthursimone** » February 18th, 2009, 12:27 pm

shando wrote:
kbadr wrote:And I continually want to find a way to use different settings and time periods. It's all too easy to slip into modern-day, middle america, and there's no reason that needs to be the default.
Yes yes yes. History nerd.

Mesopotamia!
The Enlightenment!
The Yayoi Period of Japan!
The Olmecs!!

HerrHerr · Post by **HerrHerr** » February 18th, 2009, 2:09 pm

themoss wrote:I want to play smarter characters.

I want to see this. Cuz you play dumb well, but you also lose the "power"
behind the scenes. You are smart. And, yeah, I need to start playing smarter
too.