Austin Improv

Well, Tuesday is almost upon us again and that means that it is time for another jam!

However, other plans have come up and I will not be able to make it this week. Is there anyone who can step up and help a brother out? Also a reminder that I'll be gone for all of May, so if anyone can help lead the jam then, that would be awesome.

One additional note: Hoover's Blanket will be holding a tech rehearsal in the theater tomorrow until 9ish, so be aware that the stage won't be available for the first portion (and possibly all) of the jam.

Speak up!

I'll do it.

Wes, contact me so you can unload the general outline of things for me, what you've been working on, etc...

I'll gladly take May, too, and will work in conjunction with other folks, as well.

Kareem and I are guiding things along tonight.

If there's something specific you want to work on, let us know. Otherwise, we'll think of somethin' ourselves.

I've got a couple of ideas about scene starts and acceptance that I'd be happy to share, also I was wanting to run a short game (10 minutes or less) that we might use as an intro to our cagematch this Friday if I can get any of the jammers to be my guinea pigs.

Also I'd be willing to step up to help out in May if need be.

I can also help in May. I kind of have a general idea of the structure.

Tuesday Night Jam in 5 Easy Steps:
1. 3-5 warmups, based on the players, skill level, and upcoming exercises of the jam.
2. Regular games and scenes until about 8:30 or 9:00.
3. Maestro games and scenes until about 9:30 or 9:45.
4. A series of line games (185, Last Action Line), a complex game (Lounge Lizards, Alternate Universe), or a longform (scene montage) until 10:00.
5. End on feedback and Words of Wisdom. "Yes yes yes yes yes."

Great jam tonight. There were AT LEAST 22 people there. Crazy. Many of them had never been to the jam before. Several of them had never even been to any improv in Austin before. There was a guy who had taken classes at Second City Detroit in the past, and his brother who's never even seen improv. There was the British guy Jack who used to do improv in England ten years ago as part of his drama training.

We focused on scenework skills for most of the jam... basic stuff like CROW, Yes, anding, making a strong emotional choice, paying attention...

We also played the hat game, and it went swimmingly. The players in the jam picked up on the true zen of the game immediately and did some awesome rounds.

Justin demonstrated his Johnstonesque layering games which was super nice to watch.

Oh, and we did some basketball tricks.

Well played, all.

Hey Roy-

Thanks for taking such good care of my Improv 101 bunnies who came to the Jam last night. It's so nice to have a resource like the Improv Jam.

Is the Sweet Georgia Brownness spreading?

Thank you so much for helping out. Sounds like it was a blast!

Holy shit, there were a lot of people there last night. Roy and Kareem did a good job of hosting too. I'm still chuckling over some of the lines from last night.

"Distant relatives are so cool!"

I'm glad everyone enjoys the layering game I created because the game I tried to start during the warm up bommmmbed in a spectacular way. It could work, but it's so much of a complicated mindfuck that it might not work too well with that many people.

Also, I've decided to call the layering game Layered Cake for two good reasons. One, it's about layering. Two, I like cake. If I ever get a chance to direct a Maestro, I'd most likely throw that in the mix at some point.

Shana, the new people were fun!

Wes, I'm sorry, who are you again?

Wesley wrote:Is the Sweet Georgia Brownness spreading?

Yep. Kareem walked in with a CD player, pressed play, and I pulled out my imaginary basketball. No explanation, no "form a circle". Just good ole fashioned Globetrotter skillz.

We are idiots.

I was bragging about this warm-up. I think it may be my favorite new warm-up of all time.

Pgraph representz!

Wesley wrote:I was bragging about this warm-up. I think it may be my favorite new warm-up of all time.

Pgraph representz!

That warm-up reminded me of when I saw Globetrotters play when I was a kid. I even had some of the Globetrotters sign a poster. I'm not sure, but I think one of them was Sweet Lou Dunbar. Maybe even Twiggy.

And yes, I had to look up Globetrotters in Wikipedia for those names.