Austin Improv

Hey Austin, miss y'all,

So I'm gathering a group of my friends in LA (that are out here with me through a UT program) to do some improv tomorrow night. Not a show, just some practice/fun. I want to show some people what improv is all about. Now my initial intent was to do it only with a group of people who had some improv background, but a lot of people who don't have any experience showed interest. So, I need to prepare a little more. I'm wondering if you great teachers, or any other idea-makers, had any ideas on what to do for 2-3 hours. I also would love some insight on what not to say/do (don't want to start these guys/gals off on the wrong foot).

If it was going to be with a bunch of people who I thought would come back for a stretch of 6-8 weeks, I'd be fine with doing a lot of fundamental exercises, but I think a lot may just come one or two times. So, I was just going to do some basic warm-ups, then talk about the importance of yes &-ing and staying positive, and then jump into a bunch of games and scenes.

All advice is appreciated.

Shana Merlin has a lot of videos up on the Merlin-Works website and YouTube that would be an excellent start. I suggest watching one or two then trying out the techniques. She also has very useful handouts:

http://merlin-works.com/index.php?page= ... y&sec=play

Asaf Ronen has a ton of material up on his web site YesAnd.com too. (including one video rant about restaurants...)

whatever you do, do NOT mess up or fail in any way! you WILL break improv forever and ever!

My three big pillars for Improv, Day One:

1. Yes And.

2. Applaud your failures.

3. Don't be funny. The funny will happen on its own.

As a beginner, I always felt that New Choice got me loosened up and having more fun than if I was doing just a straight scene and trying to "do it right." I think it does a good job getting people to say yes to what is right there in front of them and seeing that messing up is actually a good thing in improv.

happy healthy sexy.

When I used to lead the final Hideout jams, I constantly reminded newbies, "Anything you do or say is right." This means any choice is the right one, and any choice your partner makes will be right, too. I'd also throw in stuff about the Circle Of Expectations (what's the most logical thing that can happen) and scene structure (inciting incident, rising action, climax, edit point/resolution). Combining these three ideas turned amateurs into show-worthy improvisers in one night.

Be natural and relax.

Remember one of the basic tenets of improv is that you're there to make everyone else look good. This especially can get people into the teamwork/no showboating feel of good improv.

Get them to say anything. Make a choice. Don't let people get hung on making a wrong decision, because there are none. Anything a character says or does is true for that character.

As for exercises, I like Karen's idea for New choice. It's easy to understand and something most people know. I'd also suggest the handshake train and maybe some variations of it at the start to get people loose and comfortable with each other and making immediate choices.