Here’s a video of me teaching the group the Kick The Duck, Red Rover exercise. It’s long, containing many iterations of the exercise by the group with lots of rambling by me in between those iterations. But talk about a progression! Watch them grow:
Tag Archives: heighten
To The Ether Example – I Wish
Here’s a straight forward To The Ether performed in a workshop. What do you see as the progression? What heightens? What stays the same?
To The Ether Example – Around Poles
Here’s a video example of a To The Ether around poles done in a workshop. The juxtaposed emotions are our poles and emotional intensity defines the progression.
Comic Strip Based Subsequent Beats exercise
Objective: To focus on strong initiations that heighten established games with new stakes, situations, characters and relationships. Continue reading
Tertiary Moves Drill exercise
Objective: To practice initiating and supporting moves from the bag of tricks players utilize when entering scenes-in-progress as a tertiary addition. Continue reading
First & Subsequent Beats Revolver exercise
Objective: To focus on strong initiations that endow personal and scenic games and leverage those quickly defined games with subsequent beat initiations that heighten characters and relationships. Continue reading
1.5 – Help Desk Games
HELP DESK
Two players meet in the middle of the stage and focus on figuring out the scene together.
I want to return this vacuum.
What’s wrong with it?
Or…
I want to see a manager.
Ma’am, he’s on a break.
Or…
I bought this and it won’t work.
I’m going to need to see a receipt.
Or…
That’ll be five ninety-nine.
Okay, I have ten eighty-eight.
I don’t want to see improvisers question, oppose, negotiate with or engage in transactions with each other. Even written, honed, acted and edited these scenes can prove tedious. But we can salvage these boring scenes with our good friend, the pattern. Continue reading
2.1 – “Two Person Scene” Practical
We’re going to build “two person scenes” on patterns of emotional behavior.
LET’S WARM-UP Continue reading
3D.1 – Being Tertiary
Pop quiz, hotshot. When do you add on to a two person scene in progress?
A. When you have a funny idea
B. When the scene needs to be saved
C. When there are holes in the information on stage
D. When you want to get in on the fun
E. When you can heighten the game in play
Think about it. Now realize the question is flawed because its answers are not mutually exclusive.
Here is the proper pop quiz: When do you add on to a two person scene in progress?
A. To serve yourself
B. To serve the show
Hopefully now the answer is more obvious.
Entering a two person scene in progress, you are a tertiary player. The scene’s not about you and you shouldn’t make it about you. Continue reading
3D.2 – Subsequent Beats
Pop quiz, hotshot. What do you take as inspiration in initiating subsequent beats of a scene during a long-form show?
A. This makes me think of that
B. If this then what
C. If first beat is “a day in the life,” then second beat is “the day when X happens”
D. If a character was at work, show her at home. If a character was at home, show him at work.
E. If that makes him feel that emotion, this should make him feel this emotion.
F. If that makes her feel that emotion, more of that should make her feel more of that emotion.
G. A place/event/time was mentioned – let’s go there.
H. That same character dynamic would be funny mapped over these new characters
I. That same theme would be heightened through this context
J. The theme of this whole piece would be sharpened if I callback that scene with this focus
The answer, if you know your 3D.1, is, of course, serve the show. And we serve the scenes of our show, and the show of our scenes, by heightening the emotionally derived games at play. Continue reading