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What characters do you love to play when you improv?

Discussion of the art and craft of improvisation.

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Post by Wesley »

After posting yesterday I came up with 'Arry, the Piss-poor Cockney, because my cockney accent has been called piss-poor. I got a chance to unveil him last night in a brief rehearsal scene. Sure enough, he lived up to his name, sounding more Austrailian than cockney. And thus, 'Arry, the Piss-poor Cockney was born as my new character.
"I do."
--Christina de Roos . . . Bain . . . Christina Bain
:-)

I Snood Bear
Improvised Theater
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  • kbadr Offline
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Post by kbadr »

Wesley wrote:And thus, 'Arry, the Piss-poor Cockney was born as my new character.
'arry is a stupidly awesome character! I look forward to working with him again in the future.

You work your life away and what do they give?
You're only killing yourself to live

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Post by Jules »

I like playing bad or dumb moms, goofy kids and little old men.
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Post by deroosisonfire »

hands down my favorite character to play is the fool who accidentally sets things up for other people.
"There's no such thing as extra pepperoni. There's just pepperoni you can transfer to another person."
-Wes

Post by Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell »

Brian Boyko wrote:
the_reverend wrote:The actor in me likes playing heroes.
The writer in me likes playing villains.
The comedian in me likes playing fools.
Which one was Doctor Nefarious?

And when are the DVDs going to be pressed?
when Jay first named me Nefarious and i began to conceptualize the character, I intended for him to be a wonderfully ambiguous villain who was still rather likeable. but regardless of what i intended, the character and the greater story would have none of it and cast him as the hero of the piece. characters do that to me all the time. in writing and improv. i guess i'm just a big pushover.

as for the DVDs...that's Jay's department. I have no idea. He's been saying they'll be ready soon since before the final show, so who knows?
Sweetness Prevails.

-the Reverend
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Post by HerrHerr »

Roy Janik wrote:
shando wrote:
erikamay wrote: (agreed! chris allen does the best scene support work around.).
Word. This is why way back when I ever thought of giving awards to people--becuase I wanted Chris to get this particular one.
double agreed. PGraph loves his scene so much that we made a show around it... which wound up being one of our favorite to date.
Aw shucks friends, thanks.

Now I just need to get better at scene work...like how cool you cats are doing it.
Sometimes it's a form of love just to talk to somebody that you have nothing in common with and still be fascinated by their presence.
--David Byrne
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Post by Evilpandabear »

the_reverend wrote:
Brian Boyko wrote:
the_reverend wrote:The actor in me likes playing heroes.
The writer in me likes playing villains.
The comedian in me likes playing fools.
Which one was Doctor Nefarious?

And when are the DVDs going to be pressed?
when Jay first named me Nefarious and i began to conceptualize the character, I intended for him to be a wonderfully ambiguous villain who was still rather likeable. but regardless of what i intended, the character and the greater story would have none of it and cast him as the hero of the piece. characters do that to me all the time. in writing and improv. i guess i'm just a big pushover.

as for the DVDs...that's Jay's department. I have no idea. He's been saying they'll be ready soon since before the final show, so who knows?
currently mike d'alonzo has the sole copy. i've been making copies here in your new place in sunny LA. if i can get this blasted computer to work i'll leave your copy here.
"Anyone can teach improv. It's bullshit." -Andy Crouch on June 4th 11:33pm CST

Post by shksprtx »

I'm usually the loud fat guy.
Gersh gurndy morn-dee burn-dee, burn-dee, flip-flip-flip-flip-flip-flip-flip-flip-flip.

Post by LuBu McJohnson »

I like playing egotistical guys who end up getting knocked down a peg. Also, like Wes, varitions on the asshole role are very fun for me.

Oh! And the guy who thinks he's black!
-Bryan Roberts a.k.a. LuBu McJohnson a.k.a. Ghetto Sketch Warlock
"This is for those that don't know the half"
-http://www.ghettosketchwarlock.com
"Any mistakes can be rectified without loss of life, unless they involve Lubu."
-Ratliff
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Post by ChrisTrew.Com »

I like being people that I will never be, so I often make myself very girlish. Sometimes I end up being a queeny dude and sometimes it's a valley girl. Those are fun.

I'm also really good at accents. Like, really good.
Image

Post by Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell »

after this weekend, add Homeless Joe to the list. 8)
Sweetness Prevails.

-the Reverend
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Post by kaci_beeler »

Usually the characters I have the most fun playing are very energetic ones. I tend to feel a lot of energy flowing through me onstage and I like to make use of that fuel.

Sometimes I like to play young children, they have a sense of great confusion and great honesty all at once and it's interesting to me to see what a kid will react to in any given situation. So sometimes comedy comes easily from this.

I love Charles Dickens.
I love Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Nickolas Nickleby, Great Expectations, etc. I love Charles Dickens orphans and street urchins. I love their english roots, their predicament, their natural tendencies in their environment, their wit combined with their sass, and their innocense all rolled up into a ball of Victorian excitement!

I also enjoy southern folk, from all generations, and from any century from the past several hundred years. Are they facing civil war? The industrial revolution? The Great Depression? Or just good ole family fueding? I know some people may think that playing a dull-witted southerner is a cop-out, but I think there is so much more to be explored besides a funny accent.

I also like newspaper boys, old timey news reporters, precocious middle school students, birds...
I'm sure the list will continue growing with time.
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Post by Mike »

the_reverend wrote:after this weekend, add Homeless Joe to the list. 8)
Homeless Joe friggin' ROCKS!!!!!

I hope to see a new Fox sitcom: The Life and Times of Homeless Joe

or.... Homeless Joe: Savior of Baltimore

Post by Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell »

EskimoSpy wrote:
the_reverend wrote:after this weekend, add Homeless Joe to the list. 8)
Homeless Joe friggin' ROCKS!!!!!

I hope to see a new Fox sitcom: The Life and Times of Homeless Joe

or.... Homeless Joe: Savior of Baltimore
i'm seriously considering working on the script for a small press comic book. if that makes it big, then i'll consider licensing it out to a network (though considering what Fox did with The Tick and Ben Edlund, maybe i'm better off not doing that. lol)
Sweetness Prevails.

-the Reverend
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Post by craigy »

Me and Mikey D. had reoccuring characters with Knuckleball Now, They were Charlie and Stanley, two lovable retarded brothers... on several occaisons.

Mikey, Modig and I also had a characters that came coming back, they were the Famous Artists that either Faught crime or created it. Mikey's evil "Salvidooooor Dali" blew mind altering "Surreal Smoke", Monet & Manet were his hench men whose only weapons were baguettes.

Personally I like either low status charmers, or degrading men who always notices that his wife is getting fat.

I seem to play a lot of UPS men as well.
-CK
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