Austin Improv

From Jason Chin's IO blog:

Ten Easy Ways to Be a Better Improviser (in no particular order)

- Listen. No, really. Really listen to what someone else says on stage before you react. If this means slowing down your reaction time, do so. It’s not a race. Respond to what they’re really saying.

- Wipe the slate clean. Watch a show as if you’ve never seen improv before. The reason most people start doing long-form is because of a particular show and then over the years, and after watching hundreds of shows we all become jaded. Wipe the slate clean and watch all it anew. Try to recapture what drew you to the art in the first place.

- Shut up. Make a personal moratorium on gossip and back-biting. Not a resolution (those rarely last) but a 1 month hiatus from a destructive habit that has a tendency to spill onto stage.

- Know thyself. You know what you always do. Stop that. If you’re always a nerdy character change that. If you’re always a foreigner, stop that. Change starts with you (you know, like the Man in the Mirror); surprise your fellow performers by playing out of “characterâ€

I was re-reading Impro for Storytellers and came across his advice on "trying."

"We only try when we don't trust the forces within us."
"...if we are content to be average we'd be just as good as when we try harder."
"If trying harder meant staying relaxedand happy while you spent more time with a problem, then it could be recommended, but it usuallly involves treating the mind as if it were constipated and had to have ideas squeezed out of it."

if you really want to get better. Watch the tape of the show your in.

hippodog wrote:if you really want to get better. Watch the tape of the show your in.

i think this is great advice

"I want nothing, I want nothing" has become my new mantra - in life and on stage.

Watch a rehearsal. Ask a team you admire if you could watch their rehearsal. You’ll learn a lot. Don’t take notes, don’t ask questions (during the session) and remember that things said and done are private. Make sure that everyone is aware and okay with you attending.

The more I think about it, the more I'd really like to do this.

I actually wanted to do that for a while, but was unsure if it would be beneficial. But if Les says so, I'm down.

I got to see snippets of how several other troupes rehease over the past few months as I was trying to get footage for the 50 show video and other reasons and I did gleam something from each brief experience. I also want a troupe to just watch us rehearse and us do the same for them as a group. I think that could be very helpful.

I agree on taping and watching your performance. The camera doesn't lie like our mind does! As I've said before it's painful at first but super beneficial. You'll get used to it. That's why we have coaches because they can see what we can't often.