Flying Coach

[Chuy!]

All I'm saying is this "coach" thing is new to me because I have always been a very collaborative director. I think the word director gets a bad rep...

[B. Tribe]

In short, I think the need for coaches may be mitigated when the performers are exposed to good improv and so have built up an awareness of what it looks like. Being in a strong improv community means learning by osmosis. Being isolated means being stifled in isolation, unless you're an absurd prodigy, e.g. the Liszt of improvisation.

I was in a short-form improv group for 4 years in college, and I have to say, we were pretty damn good. We never had a coach, we followed the basic rules (Say yes, avoid questions, don't create an object without naming it), and we'd occasionally discuss comedic ideas. We didn't give notes. That lead to a kind of 'sink or swim' learning curve for new members. We were popular, we were getting paid, we started writing and filming sketches, we were known across campus. We were good...as far as we knew.

Then, in my 3 1/2 year with the troupe, we played a college comedy festival. They booked the UCB travel team. The UCB'ers held 2 3 hour workshops for the performers. I learned more about what improv REALLY was in that 6 hours than I had in over 3 years of constant rehearsals and performances.

I wonder what it would have been like if we actually had a coach? I know that since I've performed down here it's always been with the guidance of a coach. They learn your strengths and weaknesses. They give your improv focus both as an individual and a group. They bring their experience, their interpretation to the rehearsal process. You have an outside voice as well as an outside observer. They can push you further than you can push yourself.

I've had 5 coaches and they all do things differently, and I'm glad for that. I get all sorts of interpretations, viewpoints, challenges, congratulations, notes, support... things I can use in any performance. I learn more by getting more, and it's defiantly more than I would learn on my own.

I also don't know how comfortable I would be giving/getting notes from a troupe-mate, unless they've been doing this for a loooong time and also can back up the experience with quality performance. There's a fine line between critiquing and criticizing. It's like the military; if someone is the same rank as you, sure, they can give you advice, but they can't order you to do something. Troupe-mates are all the same 'rank' unless someone is designated a leader. But then who critiques the leaders performance? The other players either shouldn't or can't because how would they know better than the leader?

I also think that 'directing' and 'coaching' are very different skills. I've directed a number of plays, so I'm not just talking out my ass. The director interprets the script, oversees the production, guides the actors, and keeps the vision of the show intact. A coach trains performers. I read somewhere that calling improv rehearsals 'rehearsals' or 'practice' isn't accurate terminology, while 'training' was the closest. A coach in sports runs drills, exercises, mock games, game situations and teaches plays. An improv coach does many of the same things. What coaching does is prepare you for the situations you may find yourself in on the field/stage so that when you are playing/performing, your mind and body are already prepared. You don't have to think about it. You reach up and there's the ball. You enter a scene and everything just happens. We know we're doing it right when we scarcely realize we're doing it at all.

[jillybee72]

Many improv shows are directed. Typically, they are format shows where you would cast a bunch of people to do a sci fi or Dickens show or something. Their job is to execute the format, we're not there to shape things based on the performer's desires. Often these shows are collaboratively directed by the cast, so there's a grey area.

[Chuy!]

Then I guess just call me a diroach... It's a silly distinction...

[Spots]

The Corrector... that actually works..

[TexasImprovMassacre]

this thread is silly

[Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell]

yeah, i've never been fond of sports terminology in terms of improv. i got in a few "arguments" with some troupemates in L.A. because they all called it a team while i called it a troupe. "teams compete. troupes perform." so i definitely see a director as more of a spear header "big picture" figure in the troupe, whether they perform in the troupe or not...kind of maintaining the overall vision and direction of the group while a coach would be more someone who comes in to address specific issues (training from a sports perspective, but from a performative perspective you also have people like dialect coaches, voice coaches or any other particular skill set the performers might need to work on in a play).

but in the end it's all semantics. if you want to call your rehearsals synergy paradigm shifts and your director the Red Kommisar, that's entirely your call.

[jillybee72]

Harlem Globetrotters: team or troupe, discuss.

[jillybee72]

Just kidding, please don't discuss that.

[Spots]

---edit---

[Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell]

Harlem Globetrotters: team or troupe, discuss.

...damn.

Just kidding, please don't discuss that.

DAMN!

[acrouch]

I also don't know how comfortable I would be giving/getting notes from a troupe-mate, unless they've been doing this for a loooong time and also can back up the experience with quality performance.

The flip side of that is that anyone is qualified the moment they jump into improv to give certain necessary feedback: "I wasn't having fun." "It pissed me off when you make a joke out of that scene I was enjoying." "I was confused by your offer in such and such scene." Or in a more positive vein, "That thing you did was so funny." "You totally knew what I was going for with the cowboy offer!" and "Good call ending that scene when you did."

I love the democratic nature of improv -- the ability for comfortable, confident adults to give each other useful feedback after the show or in rehearsal. We're exploring this fascinating craft together and engaging in a straightforward conversation about how to get better at it. Scripted work where giving a potentially useful note or line reading is strictly verboten makes me crazy.

[kristin]

I don't think I'm firmly in either the coach/no-coach camp anymore. It depends on the mix of people and the situation...

Meanwhile, on a kind of related note... reading all this made me wonder about a pet peeve of mine, when fellow players are obviously judging each other in the middle of shows. When on stage, I don't want to look in somebody's eyes and see their note-taker out, I want them to be engaged in the moment and responding to what's happening. Improvising with me, not directing me. Maybe the habit of self-coaching could lead to some of that note-taking not being able to turn off as easily?

[Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell]

Scripted work where giving a potentially useful note or line reading is strictly verboten makes me crazy.

this, in scripted theatre, i actually appreciate. if you want to discuss ideas for a scene we're in together or ask me for something to help your performance, that's fine and collaborative and wonderful (and, to bring this back to topic a bit, the best way it seems to work in "self directed" improv troupes). giving notes and line readings to another actor just comes across patronizing and dickish and in my experience tends to be geared more towards establishing dominance than helping performance. if it's REALLY that important to you, mention it to the director and let THEM filter that note (insofar as they agree with it) to the concerned parties.

and even in that...i can't stand line readings.

this differs between improv and scripted theatre, i believe, because improvisors tend to be delightful and supportive while those of us who are scripted actors are horrible human beings and a blight upon the planet.

[Chuy!]

I am soooo with Kristin about notes during a show... verbal or implied, they suck. You are weak if you are not paying enough attention to yourself and feel the need to critique someone else while the show is live...