Mischief Improv

Liam and I had just performed in London at Hoopla Impro. We talk a bit about that performance but also talk about:

• When Should People Take Big Risks in Improv
• What Role Does the Audience Play
• Teaching Knowledge vs Constructivist Thinking

It was a crazy great interview!

We had our first regular show at the Lock Keeper in Chester – and what a huge response!  I talk about that.

But first I mention this Improv summit I’ve been working on, where we got representatives from improv teams from all over Liverpool, Manchester, and Bangor to come together to just talk. It was great. So happy to have met people face to face. Already talking about doing it again.

I was in San Diego, and I was fortunate enough to get to interview Vanessa Anton, again!  Vanessa Anton is a teacher and performer with Cornerstone Improv in San Diego.  She also travels around the world teaching workshops.

This was recorded as we drove through San Diego.

Vanessa a gem.

#improv

This episode I talk about something very vulnerable to me personally.

First off, we talk about conflict in improv teams. I give the three pronged advice of Sarcasm, Emotion and Take the High Road.

• Don’t use sarcasm
• Don’t use emotion – except for happiness and genuine sympathy
• Do take the high road

I fail at this. I am only human.

I also convey what my greatest fear is with regards to being the leader of Mischief Managed Improv.

Please like, share … and recommend this podcast to all your improv friends.

I made a blanket fort!  In the best interest to mitigate echo.  I talk a bit about “lying” during improv scenes and when character try to change each other. 

“Initials” is a game I invented for our team, and it works really well for any genre team! It can teach the tropes associated with that genre but also to deliver concepts as if they are real and without apology.

“When I hear a good improv tip I TELT it everybody I know!” Let’s talk about TELT!

Lukas Kirkby guest coached us, and then we had a rehearsal where I introduced the Mischief Managed format to the new players.  I go over some incredible moves the players did in supporting one another.

We did the warm up I learned from Jay Sukow which is called The Handshake where the team invents a handshake. Moves within that handshake have to be representative of the people who are doing the handshake, then they have to teach that handshake to everyone else.

First of all, the moves made to emphasize the brilliance of another player’s moves were great!

Second the ensemble of multiple people coming together to merge together to make one owl!  AMAZING!

And I loved how they re-used ideas from the beginning of the set so that everything had a purpose.

We’re back for Season 3.  I’ll tell you how my non-auditions went, a little bit about our 4 new players and how we’re diving into Short Form as a way to learn more about Long Form.

We learned how to “sell it” by playing New Choice, Pillars, Hesitation and Sentence Fragments. All of these games require the players to sell and justify an idea that isn’t theirs.  That’s what makes it funny for the audience and fun for the players!  So then we lean into that philosophy in a Long Form set. Take your scene partner’s ideas and sell them and justify them! 

We also did 185 where the suggestion was “blah blah blah.” Too many teams have internal competition – it really damages the community of improv. 185 with “blah blah blah” is a great demonstration for how support can bring the entire show to the next level!

This episode is a few rapid fire questions to Maggie Noland and David Elliot.  I get to ask them things like:

• If there was an improv moved named after David Elliot, what would it be?
• If there was a short form game named after Maggie Nolan, what would it be?
• If you walked to the top of “improv guru mountain” and someone unexpected would be the “guru of improv” who would it be?
• What did you do better when your first started, that you sort of lost after doing it for so long?
• How can you tell when someone is new at improv?

 It leads to some fun conversation with two people not only do I think are hilarious, but incredibly insightful. I love people who can crack jokes but also have emotional depth. I find not only do I enjoy spending time with them, but I learn from them as well.

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Previously we had asked two of our talented cast member Maggie Nolan and David Elliot “what is the pompous things improv performers talk about?” … when we talked about it.

This time we asked, “what don’t improv performers talk ENOUGH about?”

Give it a listen.

Between seasons I interviewed two of my improv cast members, after some drinks.  We get raw and honest about improv as a community and some skills.  This is Improv UNPLUGGED!

Maggie Nolan, David Elliot and I talk about our experiences in the improv community.  This episode we discuss what we see people post a lot about online.  We talk about what a lot of people seem to want to weigh in on ... but may have very little impact on their improv rehearsal!  

WELCOME TO SEASON 3 OF MISCHIEF MANAGED IMPROV PODCAST!  Episode 0!

Last show of the season, we had a great time visiting the incredible community in Nottingham. SOLD OUT SHOW! If your team has fun and gets along, you should do a tour!  The van trip is so fun.

Our final show was 10 months in the making and I talk about how the whole MissImp evening warmed up, then how we as a team warmed up. Mischief Managed Improv got to share the stage with Four From Far Away – a great improv team. 

Thank you for listening. This marks the end of our very first season as a team. 

I hope we get to work together again, or if we haven’t yet, I hope we get to work together in the future.

LAST rehearsal of the season.  We talk about “good” and then “fantastic” improv. The warm-ups include a name game taught to me by Stuart Moses of the Improv London Podcast.  We use it as a method to organically find the game. Then we did an exercise that was HARRY POTTER TROPE + TWO LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET to help us continue to make specific names within the realm of the genre.  An exercise I invented which is good just to get your minds into that world.

We also talk about the difference between accenting a scene, helping a scene, and editing a scene.  We discussed the timing of knowing when to do that.

Then ran some sets.  Love this team.

Getting ready for our last show of the season!  Bye 2018!

This episode I announce that my team operates in “seasons” much like a “theater season.”  I go over the advantages this has as an improv leader as well as for the members of the cast.  It eliminates a conflict.

For our last rehearsal we worked on taking bad suggestions. Suggestions that are polarizing, repetitive or offensive, how to receive them and still honor them.  Audience members want to feel like part of the show and the suggestion is usually their one time to interact directly.  Also, some tips on how to ask for suggestions - specifically ones that help you – otherwise known as “the get.”

One of the tougher forms to pull off as a show piece in my opinion.  A Monoscene is one location, no edits, no time jumps, and no exits. There are less meta-improv tools at your disposal, and the scrutiny of the success comes in really deep characters exploring specifics through dynamic relationships.

The more people participating in the Monoscene increases the number of relationships. 2 people have 1 relationship.  3 people have 6 relationships! Then bringing in solid characters with points of views, character philosophies and emotionally flow for the course of the set.

"How do you inject your idea into an ensemble scene?" An awesome question raised during one of our rehearsals. 

Words aren’t going to save us – object work and relationships will save us.  I talk about an older improv philosophy “get to the action.”  Which, over 20 years later, still has value.

Improv is a language.  It provides the grammar, wherein we provide the content. It doesn’t tell us what to say, or in what delivery style, it tells how to say it and how to better hear it.

This episode comes after a rehearsal where everyone just made solid game moves.  We did two warm ups into an exercise into a long form set.  Our Warm Ups were:

5 Differences
Character Monologue

Exercise was:

A Monoscene

Yes, we did a long form format as an exercise to have that SKILL it exploits be brought further to the surface.

Then ran into two forms of the Quest.

Lots of GREAT NEW improv teams popping up!  It’s a great time to begin your own team, or support a new team!  Stop looking at the big name teams – they don’t need your support as the teams that have just begun in the last couple months!  Become the biggest fans of the smallest teams, rather than a small fan of a big team.

#MotivationalSpeaker

We have been exploring the improv format known as “The Quest” which is great for thematic improv.  It helps us stay on target and gives us a brilliant jumping off platform to explore a story.  Our opening is a group scene paint – into a hero’s story.

I also talk a bit about gatekeepers, and instead, riding the big improv wave that’s happening in England. It's always better to ride the wave or be a PART of the wave, than to try to funnel it for personal gain. We're stronger together.

I also touch on how improv can be difficult.  And as improv leaders we should talk about the difficulties.  We can empathise with one another and even maybe offer help!  Teaching improv is not all good times. 

Also, it's important to let your coaches/leaders know what your ability is to make rehaearsal - and to be realistic about it. We make plans based on what people say they can do.  Sometimes it costs us money if people don't show up when they say they will.

Two of Mischief Managed’s amazing cast members go over a list of improv tips shared online by Jill Bernard. Jill Bernard is synonymous with improv, and her blog, articles and workshops have inspired thousands of people around the world. She is a constant source of insight for improv scene work, but also the improv community.

We go over only a few points she makes in a longer list with Monica Escobedo and Maggie Nolan.  It proves to be a bonding experience and have some very serious moments.

Give this episode a listen. Share and comment!

I explain an exercise we invented that helps flex your “long form muscle.”  This helps your team practice binding stories together and determine what truly is valuable to set up in the first few scenes.

 I also gush a bit about working with Lukas Kirkby and he runs a little Q & A with the Mischief Managed Improv Team.

We have a guest from the cast, Rodrigo, to talk about the cultural differences he has in being from Argentina and performing in an English improv team coached by an American improv teacher.  We also discuss some of his favorite improv moves that his teammates make and why he enjoys performing with the Mischief Managed Improv team – even though he doesn’t consider himself a Harry Potter fan!