Recap of Improv Summit 2010

A bit late, but here’s my yearly recap of McGill’s Improv Summit 2010, the improv competition that pits Eastern Canadian universities (both French & English) against each other.

7 teams competed this year: Queens, Carleton and Humber in the first semi-final; and McGill, Ottawa, Brock and UQAM in the second. The format used was “Beat It!”, a format I developed that allows multiple teams to face off against each other. Although it worked rather well, the rules are probably way too complicated. In short, a challenge is issued to a specific team. Once they’ve performed, any other team can try to Beat It. Contested scenes are worth 2 points, while uncontested scenes are worth 1. Strategically, it can make sense to let a scene go unchallenged if it was excellent.

Queens won the harder semi-final by a score of 6 to 4 to 4. McGill won its semi-final 6 to 5 to 5 to 2 (Brock). The judges put UQAM through to the final by giving them the richly deserved wildcard entry.

The final was won easily by UQAM 5 to 2 to 2. The tie for second-place was decided by a dice roll, with McGill edging out Queens as runner-up. The MVP (first star) went to a player from UQAM.

I thought UQAM was head-and-shoulders above the other teams. They used their huddle time well and performed tight simple stories. The other teams had trouble consistently putting together coherent stories with any stakes, and yet, there were definitely some nice moments.

Here is a selection of my favourite scenes in the order they happened:
Carleton: “I’m Here on Official Business”. A restauranteur tries to hide a dead body (played by an audience member) from health inspectors. This was one of only two scenes to go unchallenged.
Queens: “Billy Didn’t Speak Like the Other Kids”. The new kid in class is straight from Elizabethan England.
Humber: “It’s in the Subway”. A sound-effects-only scene about a guy working at Subway Sandwiches who uses a light-saber to slice meat.
UQAM: “Love at First Sight”. A woman goes to New Zealand to meet Frodo Baggins, but ends up meeting the eye of Sauron instead.
UQAM: “I’ll Tell You Everything I Know”. Police officers in a coffee shop don’t know the crime they’re trying to solve is happening in an adjacent room. The victim acts like a diva when made to record a ransom videotape.
UQAM: “This Is What I’m Known For”. The Protector will protect the Chosen One at all costs. Too bad he’s only playing a video game and the chosen one is the baby he’s neglecting in the real world.
McGill: “There is Nothing Strange about Miss Chanteclerc” Two players talk to their dead mother, thus rising to the challenge of a 2.5-player scene. Pretty dark and gutsy performance on this one.
UQAM: “Denial” (set to music). A cheating wife hides her 2 lovers as her husband comes home. This was the second scene to go unchallenged.
Queens: “The Teacher and The Pupil” A latin class with a lot of made-up latin words.

Impro hebdo à Montréal / Weekly French Improv in Montreal

Les lundis / Mondays:

• LNI, 7pm @ Club Soda, 1225 St Laurent, Metro St-Laurent
• CIA, 9pm @ Petit Campus, 57 Prince-Arthur E., Metro Sherbrooke
• Lalig, 8pm @ Pub St-Ciboire, 1693 rue Ontario Est, Metro Papineau
• LUDIC (U de M), 8pm @ Café-Bar La Brunante, 3200 Jean-Brillant, Metro Cote-des-Neiges
• Rocambolesque (division P), 8pm @ Saint-Sulpice, 1680, St-Denis, Metro Berri

Les mardis / Tuesdays:

• La Limonade, 8pm @ Café de la Cinémathèque, 335 boul de Maisonneuve, Metro Berri
• Rocambolesque (division E), 8pm @ Saint-Sulpice, 1680, St-Denis, Metro Berri

Les mercredis / Wednesdays:

• Semi-lustrée, 8pm @ Broue Pub Brouhaha, 5860, De Lorimier, Metro Rosemont, Bus 187 Est
• Ligue de cave, 8pm @ le Saint-Sulpice, 1680 St-Denis, Metro Berri
• Rocambolesque (À qui la réplique, 2DUO, Pôpètte), 8pm @ Parc des Princes, 5293 ave. du Parc, Metro Laurier/Outremont

Les vendredis / Fridays:

• La LicUQAM, 8pm @ bar le Grimoire du pavillon Aquin, 400, rue Sainte-Catherine Est, Metro Berri

Les dimanches / Sundays:

• LIM, 8pm @ Lion D’Or, 1676, rue Ontario Est, Papineau
• La P’tite ligue, 7:30pm @ Parc des Princes, 5293 ave. du Parc, Metro Laurier/Outremont
• Les Cravates, 8pm @ Le Petit Medley, 6206, rue St-Hubert, Metro Beaubien
• Gailaxie,7:30pm @ Cabaret à Mado, 1115, rue Sainte-Catherine est, Metro Beaudry

Je vous ai oublié? Laissez-moi votre plogue dans les commentaires.

Bilingual Improv Team (McGill)

Montreal’s newest improv team performs this Thursday (via Facebook event):

As the second event of the FrancoFête 2010, the CAF is proud to present to second game of McGill Bilingual Improv Team at 7 p.m. at Gert’s. This time, they will face the Montreal Rocambolesque, an improv league which takes place at the St-Sulpice bar and is based on a mix of classical and experimental improv. You can’t miss this clash of the titans!

and via the CAF Facebook page

Le match d’improvisation de la BIT (Bilingual Improv Team) de McGill face à la LIC (Lique d’Improvisation Centrale) de l’UQÀM fut un franc succès le 22 octobre dernier [...] qui s’est conclu par une victoire de nos favoris par le compte de 6 à 4!

The Improv-Hockey Analogy

Improv is like Hockey. In the way that it’s like hockey, it’s also like basketball and soccer, so you can think of it in those terms too.

Funniness is offense

Offense is the most accessible part of organised sport; everyone loves a goal, a home-run, a slam-dunk. Offense in improv is funniness–it makes the audience cheer and swoon, and it attracts newcomers with its glamour.

From Rocket Richard to Alex Ovechkin, the truly offensively gifted are naturally talented. While experience and training will hone the naturally gifted person’s skills, no amount of study and practice will turn journeyman players into superstars.

Story is defense

Connoisseurs value the defensive game, and see the artistry in the goaltender’s dual, the pitcher’s dual, the perfect game. Defense in improv is story–it gives fundamental structure to the game plan.

Defensemen take longer to make it to the major leagues than forwards, because they need to gain a lot of experience to be good at defense. Storytelling requires talent, sure, but it take years of proper coaching and experience for everything to come together.

Defense wins championships.

Transition game

In hockey, offense begins with the transition game from defense. In other words, how the defensemen are able to get the puck up to the forwards is crucial in building a successful attack. Improv is the same–funniness flows from story.

It stands to reason that if your story is falling apart, then you are lost in your own zone without a hope of getting the puck up ice for a laugh.

What position?

Are you a winger–a natural goal-scorer who delivers the buzzer-beating laughs?
Are you a centre–a play-maker, a team leader in assists who sets up all those zingers for the wingers to tap in?
Are you a defensemen–a behind-the-play architect who sets up interesting platforms and moves the story forward?

Your team

Your team needs wingers, centres and defensemen. If you are building a new cast, or looking to add a member to your team, look at where your team needs help.

Coaches love a forward who back-checks to help our the defense, and a defenseman who can join the rush on offense. Nothing obliges you to be a one-dimensional player. In fact, on some nights, you may be called to play out of position in order to help the team.

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BJ

The rifle over the fireplace

Brian and I used to walk home together after improv workshop and debate the finer points of improv theory. Here is one of the classics from back in the day. What is your take?

During the scene setup, it is established that there is a hunting rifle over the fireplace. Must this rifle be used during the scene?

Point: Yes. Failure to use the rifle is a failure to “yes, and” the offer of the rifle. An offer as big as a rifle cannot be ignored

Counter-point: No. The rifle can be useful to add colour to the scene even if it is not used per-se. For instance, the presence of the rifle might suggest the home’s owner is outdoorsy or an alpha male.

–b.j.

Real Names in an Improv Scene

Some improvisors routinely name characters in scenes after the actors playing them. I find this practice lazy.

This isn’t a beginner mistake; it’s a conscious strategy. Some folks think that by naming the character after the player, things will get less confusing if several characters get introduced. You’ll never forget a name if you never create one! So Jimmy always plays Jimmies and Sarah always plays Sarahs.

Lazy!

Names are inspirational! Would you play the scene the same way if your name was Elvira Godfried rather than Trace Jett? Ulf Parksson rather than Steve-o Barnaby?

A name is often the first gift to your partner; don’t give him socks on Christmas.

Zoo Review: Facebook

The Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) Theatre is in town for Zoofest playing different formats on different nights, culminating in the majesty that is ASSSSCat on Friday and Saturday.

On Wednesday, I caught Facebook, a show regularly performed at UCB Theatre in LA by transplanted New Yorkers, most of whom were in the now defunct Respecto Mantalban. Only Chad Carter from that crew is in Montreal, joined by Chris Gethard (who also has a solo Zoofest show, Chris Gethard’s Magic Box of Stories), Lennon Parham (who also has a solo show, Lennon Parham: She tried to be normal, and 3 improvisors (from LA?) I hadn’t seen before.

Facebook the improv show, is much like other UCB shows in that it begins with real-life biographical info solicited from an audience member and follows with lots of scenes riffing off those ideas, strung together long-form style. I’ve seen a UCB troupe rifle through someone’s wallet asking them about their cards and receipts, I’ve seen a UCB troupe ask an audience member for an interesting story; the Facebook show is very much in the same vein.

The Facebook hook involves getting an audience member up to log into their Facebook account. Monsieur Carter (he’s in Quebec now) then clicks through their wall, profile and photos rooting for unusual information. He’s very good at gently poking fun at people (Is this a photo of your cleavage smoking a cigarette?). The only real problem with this hook is that it’s lengthy and rather low energy. It took about 5 minutes to get good source material and he still had to prompt the audience member for information that wasn’t on Facebook. Admittedly, his first subject was impossibly stupid and unforthcoming.

Still, the Facebook hook works to draw in a crowd–attendance was good.

On to the show: the improv was good–that’s the important part. The style of improv is unabashedly funny. It isn’t silly; it’s clever. It isn’t story-driven; it’s game-driven. It’s also direct–initiations are to the point, exchanges are quick–let’s get down to the business of making people laugh. It’s not two people enjoying a park car delighting in their own company; it’s two people enjoying a parked car because they’re not at the “blowjobs and weed party”. Or something.

UCB are performing every night at 8:30 at Mainline Theatre until Saturday. Recommended!

Zoo Review: The Bitter End

The Bitter End is a serialized improvised sitcom playing at ZooFest. The cast is a who’s who of local improv talent, including our very own Marc Rowland. I shall make the rather obvious disclaimer that I know everyone in the cast and sometimes get invited to their brother’s apartment after shows. But being professional, I decline.

The sitcom follows the lives of two brothers. On this night, there were two main plot lines, one following each brother. While the brothers are the same from night to night, the secondary cast play all the other characters. And much like a tv sitcom, you don’t need to have seen the previous installment to follow the show.

The cast’s pre-show mantra is “be normal”, a positive reformulation of Johnstone’s “be more boring.” The approach allows for stories that mirror those from the audience’s life–relationship troubles, boss conflicts and so forth. It’s just like your life, only more funny. And sometimes, the normalcy will lapse and the boss will transform into RoboCop, but against the staid backdrop, this transmogrification will be super cool, not just wacky improv as usual.

The show clocks in at 40 fun minutes. It whizzes by while you are laughing. Make an evening of it and stick around at the same venue to catch the Whiteman’s Whiskey Comedy Revue. Alternatively, if you are less professional, go to the brother’s apartment. You can review that.

The Bitter Ends runs every night at 8:20 until July 26th. No show on July 20th. Recommended!

–b.j. swank

Zoo Review: Improvised Shakespeare Company

The Improvised Shakespeare Company hails from Chicago’s iO Theatre and is in town for a 9-show run at Theatre Ste-Catherine as part of ZooFest.

Colour me impressed, gentles. The players from the Improvised Shakespeare Company put on a show that was charming, witty, engrossing and uproariously funny.

“Corset of death”, the audience suggestion, became the story of a woman’s longing for freedom and escape from a decrepit groom. The first few scenes introduced us to a host of entertaining characters and the story slowly took hold from there. Shakespearean elements crept into the plot in ways that never seemed forced. The use of language was just right; they weren’t sticklers in nailing every single verb tense. They attacked it with wonderful metaphors and bright language, often drawing laughter through their choice of words and especially on the occasional falter or dubious rhyme. The effect was playful and fun.

They owned the stage and played on many different levels–on chairs, perched off the stage, up on the balcony, down the aisle; it was hard to believe they were performing at this theatre for the first time. Their confidence was understated yet evident to anyone who’s ever felt a bit weak-kneed on a stage.

This play had the elements of a great improvised show–energy, cohesion, and most of all, playfulness. I will venture to say that playfulness can only exist when there is confidence in your craft and a genuine pleasure derived from it. Bravo, sirs!

The Improvised Shakespeare Company runs nightly at 8:30 from July 16 to July 25, with no show on July 23. I highly recommend this show to all, most especially local improvisors..

-by b.j. swank

I’m ‘a start some drama

I don’t often see emotional reactions played out very much in improv. People are concerned with laughter and think that casually brushing off serious things is funnier than emotionally reacting to them. Hey, sometimes it is.

Other times, people will play out big emotions for fun with a definite wink to the audience. The actor puts on a big production and the audience is comfortable watching it because they know it’s for their enjoyment. If the actor commits, it’ll be funny and fun to watch.

But… it’s not realistic. If you aspire to produce real theatre, that is, if you are pretentious or like a bit of sand in your facial cream (do I have that expression right?), then maybe you will want to start some drama. This might make the audience uncomfortable because they might not feel like it’s for their enjoyment; they might just think you’re pretentious and have bad skin.

Small honest reactions are often pleasant to watch. A bit of happiness, some pouting, forlorn sadness–the subtle stuff won’t get you into trouble; it adds depth to your character and to the scene. But when I see BIG, honest emotional reactions attempted, the result tends to be overwrought and angst-ridden. It is worse than watching a joke go flat; it is a breach of trust. The audience signed up for a fun show and they got actors getting upset over ridiculous improvised premises. Who wants to see improvisors taking themselves seriously?

If you’re going to start some drama, I advise:

• Commit to it and act well. Seriously, don’t compound the possible fiasco of being dramatic by being a crappy actor.
• Pick your battles. If your mother is eloping with a space alien, do the big cheesy emotional reaction I talked about earlier. If an audience member is providing your arms, not ideal. If your girlfriend cheated on you with a human, maybe this warrants some drama.
• Buildup. Drama is much more difficult with short-form, especially games as alluded to above. If we barely know your character, we’ll think you’re overreacting even to things that demand big reactions. You’re just flipping out unless we feel you, dog. So, let us get to know you first.
• Add something to make them laugh. Create tension and then release.

My general impression is that New York improvisors are down on drama (and plot) in improv. Many local Montreal improvisors think that honest emotional reactions are the cornerstone of Good Improv. Some improv schools gloss over emotional reactions altogether, and others bang on the drum all day.

When I see a good dramatic moment in improv (especially to end the show), it is better than anything–better than any hilarious bit, and better than any staged drama because of improv’s immediacy. Even the players don’t know what will happen! The intensity can be gripping, scary and heart-wrenching.

But sadly, most dramatic moments are painful to watch because very few improvised scenes (especially short ones) warrant that sort of reaction.

There is a time and a place for everything. Your job as an improvisor is to figure out when and where.

Yes Man: Review

I rented Yes Man, the Jim Carrey movie. The story follows a familiar improv premise:

A guy challenges himself to say “yes” to everything for an entire year.

The moral of the story is refreshing: saying “yes” to everything makes your life more interesting, but once you’ve learned how “yes” opens you up to all kinds of new opportunities, you are allowed to break the rule and say “no” if you really want to.

Naturally, the movie is very far-fetched and rather terrible, but you know that going in.

Perhaps more entertaining that the actual movie is pointing out all the points at which Jim Carrey blocks other people non-verbally. (He didn’t say no!)

• “No, And”: a well-placed no can lay some important groundwork or increase the tension in a scene. It’s only blocking if the other player feels blocked

.

• Yes Means No: go along with it, but make it clear to the audience that your character is not happy about it one bit. This way, you can advance the story without forsaking your character’s principles.

Seven Habits of Highly Effective Improvisors (Part 5)

Road Trip to Sepia

photo credit

These are offstage habits I recommend adopting in your everyday life. I’m close to right about all of these.

Habit #1: Learn a rap song
Habit #2: Go see other improv shows
Habit #3: Write a mission statement
Habit #4: Get out of the house

Habit #5:

Go on an epic road trip with your ensemble.

It should be nothing less than obvious that getting to know your improv troupe better will lead to better chemistry onstage. A closer friendship pays dividends in performance. Along with your workshops and classes, plan trips to the bar, summer barbecues, communal tomfoolery, and especially, most notably, crucially, an epic road trip.

Improv involves some sacrifice: being the straight man, being a secondary character, helping a scene by leaving, supporting a scene that you don’t like, etc. Every small sacrifice of the ego can make a show better. You will never make the proper sacrifices unless you know, like and respect the people you work with. The epic road trip will bond you or divide you. Why wait till later to find out you share the same taste in roadside snacky time food?

Take the epic road trip. Unless you’re a solo improvisor with nowhere to go.