Warming up before class/rehearsal/shows

[PyroDan]

I just wanted to know what everyones' habits are on Warm-ups.

Depending on the class/rehearsal group I will lead/participate in warm-up exercises, but honestly I tend to hate them (one caveat, I do enjoy myself) so hate may be strong, I don't prefer to do them. I am also usually very terrible at them.

So what do you do, why, and do you always do/enjoy doing them?

[Pdyx]

You make no bones about not being into warm-ups, I know it.

I really like them. I tend to like more free-form organic warm ups, but I also really like rules. So that was a non-statement. I guess I just like the playfulness of warm-ups. I like to do really ridiculous stuff and not feel dumb about it. I think that's where a lot of folks get hung up. They feel dumb about it.

What's weird to me Dan is that you analyze it like you have control issues--"I'm bad at them" (which I know isn't true). Let go and BE bad at them, right?

[Matt]

I like warm-ups to put me into a 'show mode.' This can be as simple as staring at the members of the ensemble for a minute or two, or as structured as a set of games and exercises.

Depending on what the group needs, we might do an energy, character, connection, or commitment warmup.

I don't always enjoy them, but do find that they help get the group on the same page. Synchronizing watches before the operation, if you will.

[Jessica]

I feel like warm-ups are often less about warming up and more about getting on the same page with everyone. Connection.

[Jon Bolden]

I've recently really enjoyed developing our own "warmups" and games, usually out of natural conversation. I give 90% of the credit to Roy, who always recognizes it immediately and establishes the "rules".

What I enjoy about this is we all created the silly game together and a strong connection is established. It gets you into that "playful" mood.

[ratliff]

I feel like warm-ups are often less about warming up and more about getting on the same page with everyone. Connection.

Agreed 100 percent. Being "good" or "bad" at them is completely beside the point. You're connecting with the other members of the group, and if some of you have more energy than others, that's fine. You take that in and that's now part of what you're working with in the show. One of the great things about an organic warmup is that unlike a pre-existing game or exercise, there's no way to do it "wrong."

I understand completely why people don't like warmups, but if you're not going to commit to them fully, you probably shouldn't do them at all. When you half-ass a warmup you don't like, you're essentially announcing: "By the way, I only commit to things that I have previously decided are entertaining to me personally . . . so I hope you have a good show, since your offers will need to meet certain minimum requirements for me to support them fully. But hey, got your back!"

Performing improv means unconditionally supporting offers, even when doing so means I don't get what I want or I look ridiculous or I have to do something I know I'm not good at. If I can't even do that backstage beforehand, how are you supposed to trust me when we're in front of an audience?

Unconditional support is one of the most difficult things for me, so I can't really afford to pass up the opportunity to practice it right before I go onstage, but YMMV.

[PyroDan]

I guess I can clarify a bit on my warmup sentiments.

I have been spoiled enough to do the majority of my improvising with the same group/people for almost 15yrs and after awhile we dropped warm=ups as they became unnecessary for us to connect, because we know each other so very well. Instead the time we take before a show is spent asking about jobs, kids, email chains, etc, and then we hop on stage and do a show.

I think everyone on here would agree they aren't about sharping any skill, and more about the basics of listening, giving and recieving and commitment. All of which I feel is great to do.

I guess my warmup, my connections have become better served by interpersonal communication between group members, and I guess that is because I believe there are very few improvisors that don't pull from their own personal realm when performing, and somehow that gives me insight into their thought process in the moments before the show.

Patrick gives me more credit than I deserve, I am bad at them, mainly the ones with rules, but if I were to walk into your workshop and only do warmup exercises you wouldn't think I had been doing this for awhile.

[jillybee72]

This is the menu I like:

One warm-up for energy
One warm-up for focus
One warm-up for wordplay
One warm-up specific to the requirements of the show at hand (i.e. vocal warm-ups for a singing show) or the mood of the room (i.e. something silly if we're glum)

I like doing them because they are the physical and mental stretches that prepare me to be ready to be onstage.

If none of you are good at your warm-ups, find some different warm-ups because they're not doing their job if you can't do them. If it's just you who's not good at warm-ups, I think you're overthinking it, they're simple children's games for the most part. Relax. Just play and try your hardest past where you think you can succeed. Any game that requires you to go fast, try to go faster than you can accurately go. You're trying to stretch, not succeed. Why do you hate fun? Anyway. Kidding, that's a bit.

For some groups, like Dan's, the warm-up is just casual chit-chat that helps them check in with each other. I'm in a duo like that, Resist Butch. For my duo SCRAM, we like to warm up by listening to our MP3 players and dancing, then switching headphones with each other at random intervals. That's sufficient for us. I do secret individual warm-ups by myself on those occasions, because I like prep. Yesh.

[Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell]

i don't like warm ups, but i like DOING warm ups...which is to say i find most of the games silly and pointless (in and of themselves), and yet they not only bring me in tune with everyone else playing, they also help me detach from any sense of ego or pride (my personal biggest adversaries in improv) by completely debasing myself playing games that are silly and pointless.

i also come from a theatre background, and am used to doing much more ludicrous things to warm up.

[Munga]

I like doing warm-ups in class but don't like to do them before a show. I find I get too much in my head, especially if I don't know the game. Am I doing it right? What if I'm not funny? It honestly stresses me out. I would rather listen to loud music and get pumped up.

[Asaf]

It depends on the group. There are a few groups I am part of now that we do no warm-ups before our show. Confidence Men, our best warm-up is to read Mamet plays together.

One thing I will say is this: sometimes groups get into a warm-up rut that needs to be shaken up. Whenever I coach a group for the first time, I ask them two questions: 1) what do you want to work on as a group? 2) what kinds of warm-ups do you do? 9 times out of 10 they are doing warm-ups that have NOTHING to do with what they want to work on as a group.

[Spaztique]

For me, I need warm-ups as a way to metaphorically boot up the part of my brain that remembers how to improvise. For I while, I used to hate warm-ups, until I noticed a noticeable impact on my ability to improvise between when I warm up and when I don't. When I first start improvising for the night, I tend to trip over myself for a while until I get back in the rhythm, and I prefer tripping over myself backstage as opposed to when I'm in front of a paying audience.

So, in order of importance, I need...

1. Scenic/Storytelling Warm-ups - I find scene-based stuff the most important, since that's pretty much what I'm going to be doing out on stage.
My favorites scenic/storytelling warm-ups are: Multi-line Scene Starts, Story Spine
My least favorite scenic/storytelling warm-ups are: None.

2. Spontaneity Warm-ups - If the scenic/storytelling warm-ups haven't gotten me in the mood to make stuff up off the top of my head, these do.
My favorite spontaneity warm-ups are: I Am A Tree, Five Things, Protest, Song Circle
My least favorite spontaneity warm-ups are: Pass the clap

3. Mental Warm-ups - If I can't warm-up either my storytelling or spontaneity, I need a mental warm-up to get focused.
My favorite mental warm-ups are: Brain Scrub, Bibbity Bippity Bop, Woosh Bang Pow, Zip Zap Zop, Would You Like To Buy A Duck
My least favorite mental warm-ups are: Pass the clap

4. Acting-based Warm-ups - Because even with storytelling abilities and spontaneity, my acting skills can be shot sometimes.
My favorite acting warm-ups are: Pass the emotion
My least favorite acting warm-ups are: None.

5. Group-Mind Warm-ups - Call me a cynic, but I tend to put little importance on group mind, but it sometimes help to do these kinds of warm-ups to gauge the performance level of your fellow improvisers with there.
My favorite group-mind warm-ups are: "Yes! Let's!", Group Jump, Word At A Time Story, Pass the Simultaneous Clap, Pass the Non-Clap, Czechoslovakia Boom-She-Boom
My least favorite group-mind warm-ups are: Pass the clap

6. Energy-based Warm-ups - Unless I really need them, I find energy warm-ups completely useless, since I find I get the most energy just getting ready to perform in the first place. However, if I'm so exhausted that the scenic/storytelling warm-ups, the sponeneity warm-ups, the acting warm-ups, and the group-mind warm-ups aren't working, I'll do it to get my head/body back in the game.
My favorite energy warm-ups are: Woosh Bang Pow, Crazy 8's, Bunny Bunny, Bibbity Bippity Bop, NOT pass the clap, Czechoslovakia Boom-She-Boom
My least favorite energy warm-ups are: Pass the clap, pass the clap, pass the clap

By the way, did I mention I absolutely hate Pass the Clap? I can handle Pass the Simultaneous Clap or Pass the Non-Clap, but Pass the Clap is useless for me.

[Justin D.]

Before a show, I don't usually do more than 5 to 10 minutes of warm-ups. It can end up having an opposite effect and exhausting me (at least mentally) before a show if it goes on too long. The only time that's different is when I'm playing a Maestro show with a bunch of people I don't know or people who are newer improvisers. I like to form some sort of quick bond by doing team exercises with them then.

I've been part of some warm-ups where it felt like they went on forever and I had to run off to do something different, even if that just meant being by myself for a while, after it ended to get ready for a show.

It's also all about mood. Sometimes, I need a warm-up to bring my energy or attitude up. Other times, I just want to hang out and talk with people. I remember one of my favorite shows at ColdTowne was partially caused by The Starter Kit and Pgraph hanging out in the green room, talking and cracking each other up. Jastroch had to come back there to shush us while the first troupe was on. That sort of fun time with friends atmosphere really helps a show be strong in my opinion, because it puts everyone at ease to do a good show on stage.

[sara farr]

YMMV.

Had to look that up.

I like to do a quick connecting thing. In Comedy Sportz, it's "Beep" and in Get Up we do a "word-at-a-time-story".

After that, I like to just think about what Tim Orr said when asked what he likes to do for a warm-up: "I tell myself 'I am a potato' " -- as in Mr. Potato Head, waiting to be made into anything. I used to use the mantra "I want Nothing" but I like Orr's imagery better. For the most part, I like to save my energy for the show... but YMMV.

[arthursimone]

I do secret individual warm-ups by myself on those occasions, because I like prep. Yesh.

Jill!
What warmups do you do for solo shows?