Impro World Tour

[Roy Janik]

I've been following the blog of a Johnstonian trained improv instructor as he travels around the world teaching improv and such.

I find his recent post illuminating with regards to something I noticed with Keith Johnstone and some other directors... notably that when directing, they would just have players start a scene, and then after the scene had gone on for a bit, throw in a game on top of it. This also reminds me a bit of Asaf's tactic of issuing player-specific challenges in his workshops.

[quote]Games are there to address problems the show is having. Connect your players who are controlling with a word at a time or Speaking in one voice game. When a scene has gone on for 30 second and it is weak, there are many solutions. One solution is to put a game on top that addresses what is at the root of the problem. Yell out – from now on, you cannot talk unless in physical contact (if they are being distant and talky). Yell out – “Do the rest in Gibberishâ€

[Wesley]

I think we tend to forget that the "games" usually started out as exercises designed to work on a specific aspect of performance. We tend to view them as existing as wholly separate entities and we've all payed (and still play) games without ever knowing or thinking about their "true" or original intent.
God knows I played the I am a Tree game for two years before someone said "Now, instead of treating it as a scene-setting game, treat it as a story game" and totally changed its meaning for me.
Even when we say "find the game within a scene" so few tie that back to any existing game they already know, opting instead to find a "new" game in the scene.

I think this description makes a lot of sense. You see a specific problem in the scene and you throw a specific game on to deal with it. It is quite a directorial skill to not just throw a game into a scene, but to throw the right game into a scene.

A lot to think about in those few sentences. Good find.

[kbadr]

Now let’s take a quick look at formats and Theatre Companies. How do you choose a format for your show? Look at what it is NEEDED in your company and use a format to correct the problems.

That quote makes me puff up with pride a little. That's the exact method Pgraph uses to pick new formats.

[improvstitute]

God knows I played the I am a Tree game for two years before someone said "Now, instead of treating it as a scene-setting game, treat it as a story game" and totally changed its meaning for me.

interesting thought. "I am a tree..." came to Austin via Edmonton via Germany. Sean Hill and I learned it as a warm up in a workshop during the International Theatresports Conference and Tournament. The team from Germany (who taught everyone this game) spoke very little English and could not explain the purpose of the game very well. We just played it. After playing it, we all soon realized that the purpose of it was to tell a good story with just those 3 lines and poses AND to recognize the most interesting aspect of that story from outside the game so that a new and equally interesting story can emerge.

After the workshop I wrote down an idea for a narrative longform that uses I am a tree as a way to generate 3 scenes, for the top of a show, that already have a common thread. The rest of the show then is spent exploring the scenes generated in the game and weaving them together. It's kinda like Spoon River except nobody dies (or does - it's just not mandatory). I never tried the format, but I might now. If I am a tree is done well, then the 3 scenes should be a great way to start off a show.

[kbadr]

I am a tree works on another level, too. The level I first learned it on was as an exercise to get students used to the idea of jumping out to support other players. Then after the fear of jumping out is squashed, you can play it on the narrative level. I love it!

[acrouch]

Shawn Kinley is a bad ass. He came here and taught workshops in 2003.

[Roy Janik]

I am a tree works on another level, too. The level I first learned it on was as an exercise to get students used to the idea of jumping out to support other players. Then after the fear of jumping out is squashed, you can play it on the narrative level. I love it!

Yes, and... a slight variation on I am a tree works great for transitioning from warmups into scenework. Play as normal, but when the leader/director feels it, they call "scene!" or ding a bell, and the people in the scene picture do a snippet of a scene involving what they portray. When satisfied, the director calls scene again, and play continues.