So recently I held Stephen hostage until he would give me blog permission and with this newly found power I’ve chosen to make a follow up post to Rollie’s. If you haven’t read his “Can You Learn One Thing From Every Show You Watch?” post then read it now, I’d post the link, but I’m lazy and you’re all adults.
Can you learn one thing from every show you watch? Hell ya, While I’m still new to the game, I find it really helps me to discuss and take note of things that stick out every time I witness improv. When you take the time to actually write a fun snippet, i.e. “Callbacks are something that the audience always love” it allows you to process it at a deeper level, especially when you can discuss it amongst a group. And what I hope to do is just make note of what I learned for the week, whether it is relatable to you savages is up to you.
This week Asa sat in with my group, Humorous Harlots, and ran us through exercises focussing on recognizing your environment. He took us to different spots, outside, in the hallway, on stage, and had us evaluate what we heard going on around us. And I loved this exercise for 2 reasons. 1) Just realizing that when you are in a scene, things are still happening around you background movements, smells, sounds in the distant. There is a whole world in front of you just waiting for you to discover what it holds and the audience is desperate to know what inhabits it. 2) When your whole group is trying to name sounds it lets you realize what things you and your team mates are both hearing. When another person in the group called out skateboarder, you know you are connecting on the same level and you have more perspective on what they pick from the moment. Which directly translates to being in scenes, knowing that all of you heard the same thing or at least can see where the other player is coming from can make you a more supportive player.
I think having a quiet moment with your group just calling out what you hear, even what you feel wherever you are warming up is a great way to connect the group mind.
That’s it for me gang, I hope that at least one person read this and took a whole new perspective from it that they can use the next time they are on stage.
Tyler
