Austin Improv

Ruby W. wrote:

This past Fancy Pants was my second show ever in front of an audience (and my first that wasn't a student graduation show), and I loved how fun and unintimidating it was. It seemed to me that the purpose of the show was to allow nervous newbies like myself the opportunity to goof around and get more comfortable being on stage, and I really appreciated it.

YES!

I'm so glad this is the intention for the show. Fancy Pants was my first (and now third also) time improvising in front of an audience. It's a great transition from not performing in front of an audience at all to getting started. Kudos to the Hideout, Ruby and Jordan for the opportunity.

I like Kathy's idea. Why not take advantage of your fancy attire and use it as inspiration? It was a huge revelation to me this summer to read that we SHOULD come to the scene with something. It gives you and your partner something to work with on stage. Before that, I'd been working hard to purge my mind of anything at all, and to just walk out on stage with nothing at all. Now I try to do SOMETHING - anything! - at the top of a scene for my own sake. It's really been helpful.

The only thing I think we'd need to look out for if we all took our fancy clothes as inspiration is several scenes in a row with ridiculously wealthy, high status British people. Since we'd all be dressed in fancy clothes, channeling that sort of character might be something a lot of us grasp for initially. Of course, throwing in scenes with a contrast between character and appearance (a plumber in a sill gown) would help break things up.

Katherine wrote:The only thing I think we'd need to look out for if we all took our fancy clothes as inspiration is several scenes in a row with ridiculously wealthy, high status British people. Since we'd all be dressed in fancy clothes, channeling that sort of character might be something a lot of us grasp for initially. Of course, throwing in scenes with a contrast between character and appearance (a plumber in a sill gown) would help break things up.

Yes - the suggestion is not to let the clothes dictate who you are, but to not deny that the character happens to be dressed that way. A pretty girl in a silk dress could still be a plumber, a surgeon, a taxi driver, a vain astronaut, a curmudgeonly nanny, an alcoholic teacher, a motivational speaker, a cross-dressing old man, a little girl playing dress-up, the commander of a pirate ship, a hobo with discerning taste, a lesbian synchronized swimmer . . . whomever you want to be. As Jordan pointed out, cognitive dissonance is your friend.

It's also not necessarily the way the character dresses every day; it's just how s/he happens to be dressed at this moment. Maybe s/he misunderstood the event invitation. Awkward pants! Awkward pants!

Don't deny your Fancy Pants. Rock 'em!

Sometimes when I play in the Fancy Pants, I like to pretend that everyone is dressed that way because it's an alternate reality where all improvisers just dress fancy all the time. They go about their business, creating a world and characters and relationships for us to briefly glimpse, but they never need call attention to their clothes, because that's just normal to them.

kaci_beeler wrote:Sometimes when I play in the Fancy Pants, I like to pretend that everyone is dressed that way because it's an alternate reality where all improvisers just dress fancy all the time. They go about their business, creating a world and characters and relationships for us to briefly glimpse, but they never need call attention to their clothes, because that's just normal to them.

yeah, that's more or less my approach. it's just tea party make believe time.

I will admit, in my scene, I was thinking..."What person would you not expect to see wearing a dress and tiara?" I really enjoy juxtaposition, so I figured I'd adopt an obnoxious accent and sit in the most unladylike way I could think of!


(And, fancy pants was way fun! I would love to do it again!)

kaci_beeler wrote:Sometimes when I play in the Fancy Pants, I like to pretend that everyone is dressed that way because it's an alternate reality where all improvisers just dress fancy all the time. They go about their business, creating a world and characters and relationships for us to briefly glimpse, but they never need call attention to their clothes, because that's just normal to them.

This is the world that exists in my brain. I hang out there with Stephen Kearin. We open a lot of doors.

Kathy, I used to be the host in the early days of the show and I remember your suggestion for observing dress happening a lot, regardless. One memorable moment comes to mind when Todd Hart was wearing a kilt and Tom Booker, a tux. Somebody stated that it looked like James Bond and a villain and they were delighted to use that as their setup, as was the audience.

I think the rule of thumb is like any other improv show, take the inspiration from whatever is there. If it happens to be the clothing, go for it.

I agree with Roy, one of the show's strong points is it's ability for folks to fall back on a fundamental setup or game if they need/want to.

Jon Bolden wrote:I think the rule of thumb is like any other improv show, take the inspiration from whatever is there. If it happens to be the clothing, go for it.

I agree with Roy, one of the show's strong points is it's ability for folks to fall back on a fundamental setup or game if they need/want to.

Well put, sir. Well put.

bradisntclever wrote:

Jon Bolden wrote:I think the rule of thumb is like any other improv show, take the inspiration from whatever is there. If it happens to be the clothing, go for it.

I agree with Roy, one of the show's strong points is it's ability for folks to fall back on a fundamental setup or game if they need/want to.

Well put, sir. Well put.

I agree.

Ruby W. wrote:Roy's answer is a good example for how I use 400 words too many whenever I want to say something.


So...what Roy said.

Never having been it the show, I found your answer rather damn informative, Ms R! So you stay the informer and Roy the tone setter.