Improv for the story

So last week in Improv class, we were working on Story. Lots of component skills, like Seven-Step-Stories, Status work, Exits & Entrances & Canadian Crosses.

Anyway, what I noticed -- which I had forgotten -- is how fun and funny Improv is. I love watching the stories unfold. I had gotten so caught up in teaching the skills, I forgot how fun it is to play. And to watch the plays.

My favorite scenes were where we were working on just one skill -- like say, Exits and Entrances. The point was only to get people coming in and out of the scene. No other rules. So instead of trying to do Yes And, AND move the story Forward, AND always have characters of different Status AND... -- we were just up there in an easy free-for-all, with people flying on and off. Totally fun.

I think easiness is the way in. The first two times I teach a class, I'm figuring out what skills to teach -- and what thing to teach over here, that magically fixes/prevents all the problems over there. But the goal is always -- how can this be easier? What order, or structure, can I set up so the actor feels like it's easy to keep being successful?

This Improv class is the perfect group to work with. Smart, talented, open, diverse -- perfectly responsive. If I hit on something that works, BAM, they're all great. If I try something that doesn't, they're still game, but it kind of lies there inert. Very trustworthy data, great research partners.

The other day I was frustrated during Status Wars as to why we were just dying in them. Low energy, getting lower, no fun. I walked over to the window, looked at Nature, and asked Stanislavski and Chekhov for help. They materialized on either side of me, gazed at Nature, and shrugged. "Not my area," said Stanislavski. "I prefer text," said Chekhov. They looked again at the dark shiny green leaves, and vanished.

I remember asking Peter Still, Bart's long-time sound guy, "When you're teaching actors to sing, and they have a hard time getting it, what do you do?" "Slow it down. And make them do it five times perfectly," he said. "What if they can't?" I asked. "Stay with it till they can," he said.

So, that's what I did with Status Wars. "They have got to get this," I thought. "It's at the core of Improv work. They're doing anything I ask. I just have to keep trying till we find the door in."

I slowed down in my head, studying the trees, and replayed Status Wars from the past. Ah, I noticed a difference. The times it was fun, one pair stayed up there and had a long war -- like, 20 or 30 turns. When it wasn't working, I had been replacing partners every turn. No time to warm up & find your groove. No room to play.

I turned back, and we tried it again, in long-turn Wars. Instant good results.

Improv is the first class in years where I am doing what I did the first two years I taught -- keep a lab notebook. After every class, I come home and write a long lab entry. I list the goals I was trying to achieve, how successful we were, what techniques we tried, what worked, what didn't, notes on specific actors, and any serendipitous discoveries. "WORKED GREAT" is a common notation, as is "WORKED TERRIBLY."

Next week: Environments. And more time to just get up and play. Stories are a learned skill. Skills improve with practice.