Austin Improv

okay, this is stuck in my head so i want to get it stuck in everyone else's as well...

what would be your personal dream line up to improvise with? your Justice League, your A-Team, your NBA all stars, your own hand picked heist crew of performance. 5-7 person troupe (including yourself). either within the Austin scene or borrowing improvisers from other towns. who do you pick...and why?

bonus points* for coming up with your format as well

*- points, bonus or otherwise, are completely conceptual and arbitrary.

I don't have the balls to pick amongst my friends... I will work on a troupe of people I don't know...

Jordan, this seems like an incredibly bad idea.

Let's play Austin Improv "marry, fuck, kill" instead.

Jordan, I'm giving you Audrey Sansom, Kaci Beeler and Shana Merlin...go.

acrouch wrote:Jordan, this seems like an incredibly bad idea.

well, no one HAS to play...i'm just curious. because i'm having the damndest time thinking of mine. lol!

acrouch wrote: Jordan, I'm giving you Audrey Sansom, Kaci Beeler and Shana Merlin...go.

like...to keep? awesome!

acrouch wrote:Let's play Austin Improv "marry, fuck, kill" instead.

Jordan, I'm giving you Audrey Sansom, Kaci Beeler and Shana Merlin...go.

I've got my answer, but it's the same person for all three things.

Jeff wrote:

acrouch wrote:Let's play Austin Improv "marry, fuck, kill" instead.

Jordan, I'm giving you Audrey Sansom, Kaci Beeler and Shana Merlin...go.

I've got my answer, but it's the same person for all three things.

creepy...

kaci_beeler wrote:

Jeff wrote:

acrouch wrote:Let's play Austin Improv "marry, fuck, kill" instead.

Jordan, I'm giving you Audrey Sansom, Kaci Beeler and Shana Merlin...go.

I've got my answer, but it's the same person for all three things.

creepy...

That's what I was aiming for! I don't honestly have an answer of any kind.

Jeff wrote:

kaci_beeler wrote:

Jeff wrote: I've got my answer, but it's the same person for all three things.

creepy...

That's what I was aiming for! I don't honestly have an answer of any kind.

Could be creepier.

"I've got my answer, but it's the same person for all three things in a very specific order (hint: kill isn't the last one)."

No way I'm touching this one, Jordan. Even were I to come up with a list of seven favorite improvisors, that does not a troupe make. However, I'll put together a couple of dream bands I would like to play my stuff. Of course, they might not gel either.

1st unit:
Drums - Steve Gadd
Bass - Stanley Clarke
Electric Gtr. - Steve Morse
Acoustic Gtr. - Michael Hedges
Keys - Kenny Kirkland
Keys2 - me, of course
Male vocals - George Michael
Female vocals - Linda Ronstadt
Random soloist - Branford Marsalis (on soprano sax)

2nd unit:
Drums - Vinnie Colaiuta
Bass - Tony Levin
Electric Gtr. - David Gilmour
Acoustic Gtr. - Lindsey Buckingham
Keys - David Sancious
Keys2 - me, again
Male vocals - Freddie Mercury
Female vocals - Ann Wilson
Random soloist - Arturo Sandoval (on trumpet)

3rd unit:
Drums - Dave Weckl
Bass - Jaco Pastorious
Electric Gtr. - Mark Knopfler
Acoustic Gtr. - Dave Matthews
Keys - Billy Preston
Keys2 - me, again again
Male vocals - Jeff Buckley
Female vocals - Bonnie Raitt
Random soloist - Michael Brecker (on tenor sax)

I'm going to stop now - I could do this all day.

Brockman, I recognized 5 artists (including you) in the first set, 5 artists in the second set, and 6 in the last set. I wish I knew every artist in every set so I could better picture the music. So, thank you for giving me some music to investigate.

Jeff wrote:I wish I knew every artist in every set so I could better picture the music. So, thank you for giving me some music to investigate.

Thanks.

If there's one guy on this list I wish more people knew about it would be Kenny Kirkland. Some people know he was in Sting's band for a little while but here's his discography. Sadly, he passed away from heart failure (read drug overdose) in 1998 at the age of 43.

You'll notice how many of the other guys in my lists he played with. Like most of my favorite musicians, he's a jazz guy with popular sensibilities (and a great session player). In other words he could play complex yet retain accessibility.

IMHO - a lot of pure jazz is masturbatory, "Wow, you sure are technically proficient! Make sure you show it all to me at every opportunity! Melody? Hooks? Those are for pop wussies, and god forbid you want to tap your foot... Intellectually, jazz can be great - but I want music to hit me in the heart and in the head.

That's why I like music from the Tin Pan Alley and Big Band eras too, but I tried to stick with people who's work is more or less contemporary.

The biggest exceptions to the accessible-jazz-guys "rule", obviously, were the vocalists. I chose them for tone and control without regard for whether I liked their material or not.

I'll answer: a troupe of 6 Peter Rogers'es.


Maybe 5 Peter Rogers'es. That might do it. But really we need 6 to make it the ultimate awesome./

mpbrockman wrote:No way I'm touching this one, Jordan. Even were I to come up with a list of seven favorite improvisors, that does not a troupe make.

exactly...it's less about your "favorites," and more about the troupe you think would gel together best, the most complementary skill sets, etc. in the same way not everyone on an all star basketball team plays center, and not everyone on the JLA is Batman. or not everyone in your dream bands (nice line ups, the names i recognize anyway) plays the drums.

Strictly sticking to non-Austin improvisers:

Sean Tabares (of ProjectProject in Toronto)- lovable, playful fun
Patti Stiles (of Impro Melbourne)- patience, awesome instinct, and pathos
Stephen Kearin( of Impro Theatre in LA) - the king of class and physicality
Jordan Savusa (formerly of On the Spot Hawaii)- awesome teddy bear of commitment and joy
and me!

well, I would go with:

Stephen Kearin of Three For All, San Francisco
physical, stylized characters

Jet Eveleth of The Reckoning, Chicago
fun, playful energy, whipsmart

Eliza Skinner of I Eat Pandas, NYC
strong stage presence, musical chops

TJ Jagadowski of TJ & Dave, Chicago
the most fully realized characters I've ever seen created

Bob Dassie of Dassiriski, Los Angeles
emotional depth in characters

Zabeth Russell of Token Wife, Los Angeles
quirky, smart characters, willingness to look ugly