What do you do to personally prep for improv?

[beardedlamb]

As anyone in Available Cupholders will tell you, I like to make sure when I arrive at the theatre, I come in my pants.

Other than that, it's 20-30 minutes of warming up and connecting, chattnig about the format. No cheese the day of for gross reasons.

[Jastroch]

Depends on the show. The larger the ensemble, the more I warm up and connect. If I'm doing a two person show, I usually just talk to the person and/or goof around in character.

Curtis and I sometimes start the show 10 minutes before we hit stage.

If I'm feeling down or brain dead, I do memory exorcises to get my brain moving.

[Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell]

oh, i also have a couple of things i absolutely DON'T do before a performance...primarily, i try to avoid eating anything for at least two hours before a performance (this has created some odd dinner schedules). also, i never pee before a show. it's weird, but when i get a little bit nervous before a show, i feel like i have to pee. i noticed early on that if i go with that feeling and just that little bit of nervousness, i tend to perform better whereas if i'd run to the restroom and relieve myself beforehand, i would go up completely relaxed and not be very good. so now i also have to be very observant of my fluid intake before a show because i don't want to be bursting at the gills either. :p

[valetoile]

If I'm feeling low energy I have a milkshake. Or if I'm in a bad mood, I just spend some time by myself on the couch until I get dragged into warmups and then I let myself be dragged into being in a better mood.

[Spots]

I just like to make conversation with the people I'm going onstage with. And just check in with my body and get a sense of my energy level, spine movement etc.

Make sure I'm not doing the peepee dance.

[TeresaYork]

I like to have a beer and then I tap dance.

[Mark Snacker]

Curtis and I sometimes start the show 10 minutes before we hit stage.

I love this.

[HerrHerr]

I eat an hour or two before the show.

One coffee drink.

One bm.

Two beers.

And then chat and hang out with people in the show. Maybe do some word associations, short
random scenes. With Confidence Men, we like to read some Mamet together and then chat about
things in the Mamet style.

Then pat people on the butt.

[mpbrockman]

Don't eat (makes me logy). Caffeinate to a point that's "speedy" but shy of shakiness. Try to clear my head of any songs that may be stuck in it; sometimes y'all may hear me go in if there's no audience and play/sing a couple of songs or bits thereof, that often helps "clear the register". Watch y'all warm up, sometimes even participate a bit. That usually gets me in the mood to laugh/enjoy myself even if I've had one of those days where I've wanted to smash things/behead baby birds with a chisel/disembowel someone (using the same chisel)/blow up the damn planet (including all chisels).

Sometimes I like to stare at Valerie until she starts looking nervous. Dunno why.

[BreveBronovan]

An hour or two before shows I always take a B-vitamin supplement, or if I don't have those I go for the Vitamin Water that is full of B-vitamins, they get my brain waves moving and wake me up more than anything else (although I often have caffeine as well, but just a lot of caffeine will make you crash eventually). Just before the show I don't stop moving, jumping, or dancing to the music in my head.

[Spots]

Breve: I mean, that goes without saying. We all take supplements before the show. Whether its Jeff Britt and his 64 oz rib eye steak. Or its me and my 80 ccs of heroine. We all need something with an extra kick, obviously.

[Jeff]

Whether it's Jeff Britt and his 64 oz rib eye steak. Or it's me and my 80 cc's of heroin. We all need something with an extra kick, obviously.

You know it's a good show when you effortlessly sink three feet below the stage and Lou Reed's Perfect Day playing in your own mind is the only thing you can possibly hear.

[mpbrockman]

Or its me and my 80 ccs of heroine.

That's a small heroine. What story is she from?

[bradisntclever]

Or its me and my 80 ccs of heroine.

That's a small heroine. What story is she from?

Innerspace 2.

[Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell]

Or its me and my 80 ccs of heroine.

That's a small heroine. What story is she from?

Innerspace 2.

the Dennis Quaid cameo felt forced...