DETAILED SCOPE AND SEQUENCE FOR

CHALLENGING IMPROV

BEGINNING SEQUENCE

TRUST AND COOPERATION (EGO CONTROL AND FEARLESSNESS)

Players must trust each other every moment that they are in performance and in a rehearsal or training environment. There must be a "Group Mind" feeling to the group. This can be achieved by creating a non-judgmental environment both in the space and in the group. Players must be willing to play and risk without fear. Nothing that comes out of anyone's mind can be "wrong", obscene, or inadequate. This feeling always needs to be two-way... players must be willing to trust others and be trustworthy. The "Ethics" and "Values" of the group must be discussed and totally agreed upon. Expectations of self and others must be left at the door.

Exercises: Circle warm-ups... "Hi my name is_________. What's yours (aim)?" As...

Confident self

Wrestling Star

Planetary Conqueror

Geeky Internet Chatter

Etc. Etc Etc.

Angels and demons

Start a motion and sound... make it bigger as it goes around circle.

Chair catches

Blindfold circle games

Singing and DANCING!

REFLEX EXCITABILITY (PLAYFULNESS... EMPTINESS)

Meyerhold believed that no one could "act" unless they first had Reflex Excitability; the ability to realize in feelings, movements, and words a task which is prescribed externally. The jist of it is that a player must be READY to act. I see this as the same as anticipation drills in ball sports, only instead of moving your feet, you have to move your brain. Players must develop fast twitch fibers in the muscles of their feelings, movements, and words. Again, ego and fear can get in the way of a player's willingness and ability to play, so they have to be eliminated, but players still must train their brain and muscles to fire on contact with any external forces (motion, voices, etc.). Players must strive to enter the stage in an "empty" state... no expectations, no judgments, and no specific plans for a scene or exercise. Any of these expectations or judgments will create heavy baggage for a player, and they will have to set down this baggage before they can pick up any offers presented in a scene. That takes time that improvisers cannot afford. To develop fast twitch improv fibers, players must respond instantly to everything... practicing slow only creates slow twitch fibers, and the scene becomes overly heavy and, at worst, pre-planned.

Exercises... Anticipation drills with coach making motion and students mirror motion then justify motion. Can evolve where all students should make same justification (group mind).

Patty-cake routines. Either pre-designed or improvised.

Dictionary pop

COMMITMENT (TO THE CRAFT, THE GROUP, AND THE ROLE OR SCENE)

Commitment is the balance to all the fun, and in the end, the commitment should create all the fun. Woody Allen quipped that showing up is 90% of life, and there is great truth in that quip. A Performance troupe needs to commit enough to each other and the craft to show up. Once there, players must commit to give their best to one another at all times. Finally, there must be total commitment to every role and scene a player plays. Commenting (Loosely playing a role, or talking outside the role) should be used very sparingly in performance and probably not at all in rehearsal. Players must invest all of their energy on portraying whatever the needs of the scene are; thoroughly becoming the given circumstances and completely buying into the stakes of the scene.

At this point it simply needs to be said that getting good at anything takes very hard work. Let me repeat that, so there is no glancing past this... Getting good at this form of improv, any form of improv, and anything at all... takes VERY HARD WORK! Grotowski made it very clear in his brilliant Towards a Poor Theatre that if you are in this for the fame, money, and glory... you are not cut out for any real theatrical training program. The bottom line is that you could work your ass off and become the best performer in the world in this or any theatrical form and you might never make a cent or garner any recognition, and conversely, some no-talent shmoe who never worked at anything in their life could become the most wealthy, famous performer in the world. That is our reality. Here, you must work incredibly hard for the sake of the work itself. If you do that you WILL come to love it, and that love will sustain you more than any amount of fame and wealth. But, you could also do this and become stinking rich and on the cover of every magazine at the checkout counter... you never know. Do it for the love.

Exercises... Two person conversations

Eye contact exercises

FULL EXPRESSIVE POTENTIAL (FOR WHO, WHERE, AND WHAT... FOCUS)

Full Expressive potential must go beyond conventional Voice and Movement. The body must be trained in acrobatics, dance, and other physical skills, as well as singing, accents, projection, and vocal variables for the voice. Players must be able to push their bodies and voices to great extremes to cover characterizations ranging from exaggerated humans, to animals, to aliens, monsters and animated objects. Training needs to cover the most obvious physical and vocal characteristics, as well as the tiniest details (eyes and fingers), which will require intense focus work, including slowing down and separating.

VOCAL AND PHYSICAL (TO EXTREMES... BEYOND REALITY...BIG)

Training will include breathing, posture, projection, diction, vocal variables, physical variables, rhythmic speaking and movement. For our purposes, "Big" will be defined as using multiple physical indicators and expressing character, place and actions with the "whole" voice and body. "Big" will certainly not be synonymous with "hamming it up", but players will be encouraged to take risks that will take them in that direction. Focus will be on non-realistic vocal and physical work, drawing on dreams, video games, summer blockbusters, and fantasy.

CHARACTER ICONS (W/STATUS)

Rather than focus on traditional given circumstances in creating character, students will practice character "etudes" (a short movement piece consisting of three cycles of iconic action for that specific character) that will focus on iconic physical and vocal traits to build off of. Attention will be paid to the status of each icon and the status that must be afforded them.

ICONIC CHARACTERS...

THE HERO/HEROINE

THE VILLAIN

THE DODDERER

THE CHILD

THE CLOWN

THE LOVER

THE SOLDIER

THE TRICKSTER

THE OAF

THE SAGE

THE ANIMAL

THE ALIEN

THE MONSTER

THE THING (OBJECT)

PLACE ICONS (W/STATUS)

Similarly, place will be practiced with iconic spaces. Players will focus on their characters physical and vocal reaction to these iconic spaces, as well as their status in relation to those spaces.

ICONIC SPACES...

THE PINACLE

THE HALLOWED HALL

THE PASTORAL FIELD

THE BATTLEGROUND

THE FRIENDLY CONFINES

THE DUMP

THE CLOSE QUARTERS

THE HAUNTED MIST

THE PALACE

THE SWELTERING DESERT

THE ARCTIC WASTES

THE BRINY DEEP

WHERE EVERYBODY KNOWS YOUR NAME

WHERE NO ONE HAS GONE BEFORE

ACTION ICONS (ALSO W/STATUS)

Along with some pre-scripted action etudes, players will improvise one and two person etudes by combining character and place icons with action icons. Given circumstances will be introduced allowing players an infinite number of variations. Again, players will focus on their full expressive potential, along with clear and focused details. Status towards a given action (above or below) will also be stressed.

ICONIC ACTIONS FOR ONE...

RISING

FALLING

ENTRANCE

EXIT

GIVING

TAKING

REJECTING

REJECTED

NEED

DISCOVERY

DEFIANCE

ICONIC ACTIONS FOR TWO...

MEETING

PARTNERS

CONFLICT

FORGIVENESS

BETRAYAL

RHYTHM (WITH CYCLES) (WITH BEATS AND SEPARATION)

Meyerhold wrote that performance is essentially image (and I would add... sound) and feeling, and one of the ways to achieve that quality is with musical rhythm. Virtually every form of performing arts has an element of rhythm to it. Audiences crave it as an antidote to a decidedly unrhythmic world. Students of Challenging Improv will use rhythm in a way that is closer to other performing arts... Symphonic sound, Balletic movement, and Rock Concert energy, as well as for basic movement and conversation. A thorough understanding and practice of physical and vocal beats, and the separation between these beats that is necessary for proper focus, will be stressed. Details are the key, and players need a mastery of pantomime, dance, and basic music theory to succeed.

Exercises... Big booty

Clap games with rhythm

Andrew's rhyming game with Sam's rhythm

All singing, rhythm and verse games

AIM (MOTIVATION, DIRECTION...POINTS OF CONCENTRATION)

Aim is a force, a point of concentration, and a focus. Players will learn to fully direct motion and voice where they want it to be, whether at another player, the audience, an object, or God. Full use of body, eyes, and gestures will be stressed. Players will learn that every player on stage must aim at something at all times to give life to a scene, whether they are the focus, or they are giving focus.

Exercises... Clapping across circle, shift to gestures and sounds

INTERMEDIATE SEQUENCE (Spiraling curriculum that meshes with BEGINNING)

CYCLES OF MOVEMENT AND CONVERSATION

This is the biggie of Meyerhold's Bio-Mechanics. The term Bio-Mechanics refers to the odd combination of external physics and the body's internal physiology. Meyerhold held that acting was akin to the body simply responding to forces much the same way that objects respond to forces. You have objects (bodies/players) that exist with a certain inertia (stationary or moving along a certain vector), and they will maintain that inertia unless a force (movement or voice) impacts them, and that impact will change the vector until another force comes into play. Each of these (1) force, (2) change, (3) transition to next force combinations are called cycles, and all performances are a series of cycles acted out on stage.

It is important to note that Meyerhold believed that the goal of Bio-Mechanics was to create actors that performed more like giant marionettes (From an idea proposed by theatrical critic Gordon Craig), with the director pulling all the strings. He wanted his moving, talking props to be able to do whatever a director asked of them, while leaving the thinking exclusively to the director. Now, while I personally like the all powerful director role, I can see how some actors might not fancy this particular method of training. Bear in mind, though, that Meyerhold never intended (as far as I can glean) for his work to apply to improv, and, for the advanced improv artist, the idea of a giant puppet is a pretty good one, only instead of a director pulling the strings, it is the audience suggested scene itself that runs the show. The player is so well prepared for any vocal and physical challenge, and has such a wealth of muscle memory responses built up, that there is no need for time expending thought... just like there is so little time for thought in real life. Using Bio-Mechanics for improv allows a player to respond honestly and emphatically to any force that a scene throws at them; to portray truthfully anything from Hamlet dealing with the force of his own despair, to a dust mote dealing with the force of a lover's sigh. But I digress...

From Meyerhold's work, we break the cycles into their three parts...

INTENT (RESPONSE TO INCOMING FORCE)-

The beginning of an incoming force is the perception of that force by a player. This can be sudden or drawn out depending on the speed of the force. A player's anticipation and preparation to receive the force is what Meyerhold called an Intent. This implies that the player does indeed have an intention... a plan, even before the impact of the force. This plan is based on the immediate reaction to the specifics of the force (Specifics can be the speed, mass, or emotional volume of the force, and the response should be equal to the force... again, just like physics). In improv, plans must occur instantaneously, and any new force instantly creates a new plan. Pre-planning means a dishonest response to the initial force, and can kill an improv scene (which is why all players should enter the stage "empty"). Players must understand that audiences will expect a natural cycle, and if players are constantly bombarded with new forces, it is difficult to get past the intention and to the next stage of the cycle, which is the REALIZATION of their plan. Interrupting the cycle can be difficult to deal with, and seriously diminishes any rhythm the scene might have, as well as any trust between players. Players must learn to allow a full cycle to develop. With training, initial responses to external forces should happen instinctively.

REALIZATION (FULL ACTION ON FORCE)-

The second stage of the cycle, realization is the acting out of the intention from beginning to end. This can be as quick as a slap to the face, or as long as a three-page monologue. There should be a beginning, middle, and end to every realization (otherwise it isn't fully realized, now is it). Players should act on their intention with full commitment and respect for the force (or offer), understanding that their realization is the force that another player will use to start the next cycle.

REACTION (TRANSITION TO NEXT CYCLE)-

There is a beautiful moment in ballet, and in nature itself, when an object or body reaches the apex of their movement, and whether by designed choreography, or by gravity, they pause at that glorious moment before plummeting back in a new direction... like a child on a swing. That glorious moment is a physical manifestation of what a good reaction should be. The reaction is that fleeting transition from one cycle to the next. Most are so short and imperceptible that a player and an audience will hardly notice, but some can be drawn out to create heart-stopping beauty or pure suspense (the classic "Cliffhanger"). Again, none of this can be pre-planned, but players should practice these transitions with the zeal of a prima ballerina, so that they will instinctively know when one should be allowed to happen. These Reaction moments should be experienced by all members of a scene.

Exercises... Tug of war

Invisible ball

Presents (players give non-specific presents that are responded to specifically)

Blind offers (Gestures justified by other player, then back)

It's Tuesday (dull offers made huge, then back)

Verse (Speak in verse. Rhyming words become reality)

Etudes, etudes, etudes

REACTING AND JUSTIFICATION (MAKING THINGS REAL, REAL FAST, INCLUDING GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES)

All acting styles require reaction. Acting Is, in many ways, reacting. Even in a scripted play, many things that are referred to in a text simply do not exist, and it is the actor's job to make them real, with vocal emphasis, subtle looks, or overt gestures. In improv, little or nothing actually exists... no costumes, sets, or props. Even the characters are often not at all what they look like; a human can just as easily be a tumbleweed, or a lamppost, as a man or a woman. Players must learn to honestly react to the elements they don't actually see, as well as the elements they do. Pantomime skills are a necessity for the excellent improvisor. Players must be able to create complete detailed worlds out of nothing, and react to them as though they were perfectly palpable. Justification is very much an Improv skill. Players must, with emptiness and reflex excitability, be able to react to changing given circumstances instantly. These changes can come externally from another player, or the caller, or the audience, or... the changes can come internally based on the position of the player. Where ever the changes come from, the improvisor must be able to justify those changes with a complete new set of given circumstances.

Exercises... Muteline (aud. Members offer suggestions when pointed to)

Situation monologues (who are you and what are you doing)

Freeze

Liar

Adding and subtracting

Naming game (Players must name something in scene with every line)

STATUS (UNDERSTANDING, AND AS RELATES TO MOVEMENT AND VOICE)

Status plays a huge role in characterization, and an even bigger (the biggest even) role in relationships between character and character, character and space, and character and action. Players must understand that a status relationship needs to exist in order for any true conflict to happen in a scene. Without status and hierarchy, scenes will either be stagnant or verbally forced. Status relationships can shift many times during a scene, and players must be excitable enough to flow naturally with every shift. This requires much practice both with standard, iconic hierarchies, and subtle status shifts between apparent equals. Status must also be played with spaces and actions. Players must develop instinctive status relationships to their environment based on their character, their relationships to other characters, and the emotional needs of a scene. Everything, of course, needs to be expressed vocally and physically, and players must become avid observers to see how many different characters in real life respond to their environment, so that players can mimic what they observe with their voice and body.

Exercises... Status with cards

3 thieves

Shifting status

Sidekick disaster

Mystery expert (Both the guessing and non-guessing versions)

SPONTANEITY (1 ST THING, AS WELL AS IN RHYTHM)

One of the fundamental rules of Improv, is to say the first thing that comes to your mind... not the funniest thing, the best thing, or even the "right" thing, but just the first thing. Trust, emptiness, fearlessness, and reflex excitability are all essential to a player being able to trust the group and themselves to be truly spontaneous. Challenging improvisers will be trained to respond to forces in a cyclical movement manner that will be more like a reflex than a cognitive response. Rhythm will be used not only to aid with this reflexive response, but also to lend a greater theatricality to the player's spontaneity... both vocally and physically.

Exercises... Dictionary pop

Liar

Mystery expert (non-guessing)

All verse games

Story story die

TOTAL ACCEPTANCE (LISTENING...NO EGO OR JUDGMENT)

Again, acceptance needs to be reflexive in a quality improv performer. To accept all offers is a given, but total acceptance is not an easy thing to ask of any performer. Expectations, judgment, and fear can get in the way of acceptance, as can just plain thinking . Challenging improvisers will be trained to go beyond "Yes, and..." into pure reflexive acceptance based on automatic physical responses to vocal and physical forces. Listening and awareness skills will be stressed, along with reflex excitability to create improvisers capable of carrying a scene into any realm, no matter how bizarre or unlikely.

Exercises... Yes, and...

Yes, but...

All guessing games

Blindfold scenes

MAKING OTHERS LOOK GOOD (ALWAYS RIGHT)

Making others look good needs to be more than just a platitude. It needs to be both a goal of every player and a conditioned response. Offers from fellow players need to be not only accepted, but valued at a high level. If your scene partners look brilliant, then a scene looks brilliant, which in turn makes everyone look brilliant. While this philosophically should be a no-brainer, players again need to overcome their own ego and fear. Bio-Mechanics training uses physical conditioning to make acceptance more automatic than considered, but we also seek to create a theatrical atmosphere that places the scene above the individual. Players need to treat every offer as though it is the critical piece that moves a scene forward.

Exercises... It's Tuesday

Sidekick disaster

Mystery expert (non-guessing)

(Party Atmosphere)

ADVANCED SEQUENCE (Spiraling with BEGINNING and INTERMEDIATE)

NARRATIVE (TELLING A STORY... COMPLETING A SCENE)

While, in general, thinking is discouraged in improv, players must have an implicit understanding of how narrative works, and a few tricks on how to create and complete scenes on stage. Kieth Johnstone's thoughts on "Reincorporation" are very valuable for the improvisor, in that he encourages players to only think of where they have been rather than the daunting task of thinking about where you are going.

Exercises... Word at a time

Story Story Die

Captain's Log

Situation Monologues (Who are you and what are you doing)

I want my lawyer

ADVANCED STRUCTURES (THE GIMMICKS AND GAGS OF IMPROV)

There are a number of specific skills that apply only to certain gag games in improv. Some of these skills cover a broad range of short form games (Like Associations), while others are truly one hit wonders (The alphabet game, question game, etc.). Players will develop these skills over time with experience, but some time should be taken to develop these very structure oriented abilities. Joke writing, sketch comedy, and pure public speaking are other specific skills that should be developed, much in the same way that singing and dancing are... somewhat within the framework of the improvisation group, but also pursued on one's own.

USE OF STAGE (AUDIENCE, SETS, SOUND, ETC. HOW DOES LIVE AUD. "SEE" YOU)

I think my favorite little phrase from Meyerhold is his desire to create "The Theatre Theatrical". The very first thing I wrote down when trying to come up with how to describe this form of improv I sought to create... the phrase that led me to find inspiration in the works of Meyerhold... was that I wanted Challenging Improv to be "The ultimate STAGE experience". I have argued for years that film and television do Reality (or Representational theatre) better than the stage, so why does the stage continually try to compete on such an uneven playing field. I want Challenging Improv to be primarily Presentational, to take an idea and present it to an audience in the most theatrical ways possible. The main key to this approach is the audience itself. Improv starts with suggestions from the audience, but it shouldn't end there. The audience should be a continual part of any performance, whether that means performers entering into the world of the audience, or dragging members of the audience into the player's world. Theatricality, by its very nature implies audience involvement... emotionally, viscerally... The audience must be reacting continually through a performance... laughing, oohing and ahhhing, crying, singing... whatever, but always in a state of heightened involvement. Sound, sets and lighting should be a part of the over-all presentation, whether canned or improvised. The entire environment should be as empty and excitable as the players... capable of being any place or any thing that the players need for any scene. Much of this is for the producers and directors to consider, but for the players, theatricality means that they must be capable of making an audience react on their own, as well. They must have perfect timing for laughs, uncanny skills (Singing, dancing, pantomime, juggling, acrobatics, etc.) for oohs and aahs. Finally, these individual skills must be honed as a group to fit into purely improvised scenes... no easy task at all. This will mean tremendous work outside of straight Improv rehearsals, but what could be more fun to work on?

There it is... Challenging Improv. Let it happen to you.

J. Forier

6-26-06