Austin Improv

I went in search of an iPhone app that would work as a random interval timer to work on some solo improv exercises, specifically some of the character work from the exercises in the back of Mick Napier's book. The web community I asked my question of hadn't heard of such a thing (though one person came back with some great suggestions). And then someone wrote an app to do exactly what I needed! People are awesome! I share this story because I thought people here might find it useful. It's called ran.Ding, it's free, and here it is: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ran.din ... ?ls=1&mt=8.

I love stuff like this. In the GTA multiplayer server I helped code, I counted on random timers for everything. Way to be innovative and keep inventing!

I gave the guy who coded it many enthusiastic thank yous. I just realized that I made an offer (random timer) and he yes anded and heightened that offer to the max.

This is so awesome! I've wanted something like this for a long time. Thanks for planting that seed in a fertile brain!

valetoile wrote:This is so awesome! I've wanted something like this for a long time. Thanks for planting that seed in a fertile brain!

My pleasure! I made use of the app this afternoon to do a quick 5 minute series of 30-second character monologues. I started with one of my "stock" characters, and each time tried to play a character that was in some way opposite of the one immediately before:

drag queen
minister's wife
female biker/vet
peace activist
hunter
vegetarian
person bad at growing plants
cat lady
dog show owner/breeder
guy who just wants to watch sports
teacher who believes in non-competitive play

It definitely pushed me out of my head, as I ended up being people I'd never come up with if I had a second to think. I tried to start talking as soon as the "ding!" went off. I also moved past the "I'm embarrassed to talk to myself when no one's home" that's been standing in the way of my solo practice. Woo!