Some Johnstone Quotes

[kbadr]

Jastroch mentioned that he'd like to see some of the quotes I found interesting, and I thought it might be generally useful to some people. They might not mean much out of context. I'll limit myself to just a few. [I keep finding gems I can't leave out] Someone else who took the workshops should add some more.

"Consciousness is a mild form of stage fright."
"If you look like you have secrets, you will be more than a piece of meat on stage."
"Teachers should sometimes tease the class; improvisers should tease the audience."
"People don't recognize failures because then they have to learn from them."
"Rules are for beginners because we know what beginners do."
"It should be an act of benevolence when you improvise."
"It's a continuing process. I hope you haven't learned to improvise yet."
"My ideas are quite simple and there aren't many of them."

And, my new signature:
"'This food is disgusting!' 'Yes, but tonight the cook is improvising!' It doesn't cut it."

[Munga]

I love that after Keith would say something note-worthy he would stick his tongue out a bit in self-amusement. Not only was it charming but it also gave us time to write it down!

"It has to be taught. And I'm teaching it"
"I'm happy to have invented TheatreSports because it filled the world with improvisors. Not necessarily good improvisors".
"It's not good to play one thing. We're divided creatures".
"If you're out for perfection, you probably shouldn't improvise".
"Don't go on stage to be funny; go on stage to make relationships".
"Wonderful narrative has moral implications".

Something I've been thinking a lot about was that he said you get a bigger impact dropping a boulder into a pond vs. tossing in little stones. (The rocks are laughter).

[jillybee72]

QUIRKY
"If you go to a place like Denmark you get good feelings. Unless you're Islamic. Okay."

"Before that there were nitrous oxide shows, that had to be fun."

"A scene with a wheelchair is just so nice"

"Bit low for a swing here. It's so nice to have a swing."

"It's nice if you have a boat you can row across the stage"

"I don't really like watching motorbikes jump over buses, but if I did, I'd want more buses."

"Bill Stern: Do you like sports?
Keith Johnstone: I can't stand sport."
"Finally I had a heart problem. I got excused from all sports, thank god."

"I like watching people eat in a restaurant until they notice me. They're really into their food."

"I don't think anything could fix the Dutch. They think they have a right to be onstage.

[On Waiting for Godot] "That's why I'm in the theater. I finally saw something that made sense to me."

"They used to have special pubs where Peter O'Toole could drink until dawn"

[On Lawrence Olivier] "He was shorter than I am, but my memories of him are twelve feet high."

SENIOR MOMENTS
"There's a good series called Law & Order Special Something or other. Do you know this one?"

"Four letter Christian name, five letter surname...Jack Benny!"

"If you want to check it out go see Storytelling for whatever" [referring to his own book]

[On ambient music] "Can you hear it as well? Oh good."



ADVICE
"When people laugh individually it's useless, it fragments the audience. What you want is to unite the audience in one big WOOF!"

"We think the audience wants us to use suggestions. It's only a few weird extroverts...they're trying to get the laugh, they don't want the scene"

"Be an expert in giving everyone else a good time"

"Stage fright is useful. It's like the idiot light in the car, it lets you know you've lost what you're doing, you're unconnected with your partner, and your hands get bigger and bigger." [having hands being a phrase he taught us earlier that refers to self-consciousness that makes you gesture]

"You are us [the audience]. It's just we've moved you ten feet onto the stage."

[On the hat game] "You play the scene and your hands take the hat."

"Good servants are invisible. You may never have seen a good servant. 'ENJOYING YOUR MEAL, SIR?' Fuck you."

"You go through a forest, there's a house in the clearing. They'll never knock on the door. They don't want to meet anybody. Or they walk right in which is very odd."

"Antigone is very [confusing?]...A third of the way in she's hung herself. You think "what?" If they'd called it Trion it would be better."

"I'm pestered by people saying 'Wouldn't it be funny if?' No one ever says, 'Wouldn't it be truthful if?'

"I don't really understand long form because I'm a playwright and I'd rather write it myself. I admire the skill but I'm really a short form guy.

"Comedy is like science. You can have opinions but you have to test them. Otherwise we'd never have electric lights which are really quite useful."

"If you want to win, it all gets horrible."

"There are no improvisors who don't have cataclysmic failures. It's just that they just happen less often and they don't look like failures because we look happy."

"Don't be perfect. Make mistakes and then you're more interesting to an audience."

"If you're being obvious you're expressing unconscious material."


ON MICHAEL BROCKMAN
"I don't know where you found him, but keep him by God."

[jillybee72]

"I'm happy to have invented TheatreSports because it filled the world with improvisors. Not necessarily good improvisors"

The whole sentence was:
"I'm happy to have invented TheatreSports because it filled the world with improvisors. Not necessarily good improvisors, but a lot of people having a lot of fun."

[Miggy]

ON MICHAEL BROCKMAN
"I don't know where you found him, but keep him by God."

Yay Brockman!

[mpbrockman]

Well, thank the ladies of GGG who took a chance on a piano jockey they found on Craigslist who had no clue what he was doing (and half the time still doesn't).

Thanks to all of you who took the time to pass Keith's kind comments along to me (along with some of your own). The consideration, generosity and support of this community is awesome and more than a little humbling.

[Marc Majcher]

"There's something wrong with the Dutch."

[TigerStripes]

Some great quotes from the Tuesday session:

--Status us what you do to someone, not what you are.

--The less stuff there is on stage the more verbal it gets.

--If people don't change, make the situation change.

--The balance of power must not happen accidentally.

--Theatre is a study of improv behavior.

--Improv takes place in the present tense.

[Jeff]

These quotes are nice, and I'm happy to read them, but what I'd really like to know (from those of you who took the workshops) is which lines resonate with you the most, and what those mean to you.

[kbadr]

For me, it's these two:

"It should be an act of benevolence when you improvise."

He just stressed over and over that you should be on stage to inspire and delight the other person on stage with you. It's a total lack of ego and completely selfless and I love that idea.

"It's a continuing process. I hope you haven't learned to improvise yet."

This one is lovely. Being told that you aren't perfect, you don't know it, and you shouldn't. The moment you feel you've got this shit, you will be complacent and lazy and you won't take risks.

Also, I wasn't even there for this quote, but it makes my mind race:

"Theatre is a study of improv behavior."

[Amira]

I was not able to attend the workshops so I think this thread is awesome. Framing the quotes that resonated most and giving them context is super helpful, yay. Share more, more!

[Curtis + computer]

I didn't write down very many verbatim one-liners. (I assumed other people would do it for me, and I was not disappointed. Classic free rider problem.) But here are paraphrased bits of Keith wisdom that I found valuable:

You can basically get away with anything onstage as long as you are pleasure to watch.

You are a pleasure to watch when you face the audience without fear or the will to dominate, only the desire to be free and delight others.

Furniture is the best.

You are more fun to watch if you look like you have a secret.

SLOW DOWN!

Ice-T is quite good.

It's really good practice to run simple setups over and over again (two people on a date, etc.). We could all stand to do it more.

Most good scenes really only have a few offers in them. You get them out there, you respect the consequences, and you find a way to let them change you.

[Munga]

I think he said something about a sofa.

[HerrHerr]

It's really good practice to run simple setups over and over again (two people on a date, etc.). We could all stand to do it more.

Totally 100% agree. I always try and push doing three-line scene starts over and over as well.

I love a lot of these quotes. The ones about being free and fun on stage makes me feel
good about doing improv b/c that's why I do it--especially in Maestro. I try to have fun during
the entire show--be totally engaged in what's going on. That way you can do support or call-backs
with ease.

Thanks for posting all of these!

[mpbrockman]

He just stressed over and over that you should be on stage to inspire and delight the other person on stage with you. It's a total lack of ego and completely selfless and I love that idea.

Just curious, Kareem - shouldn't you amuse yourself every now and then even if it's not amusing to anyone else? I think a little of that helps me stretch.