New Ip Man/Yip Man Trailer from Shawn Bernal on Vimeo.

I’ve been organizing and teaching my own improv workshops in Montreal for a little while now and I’m expanding to three levels of experience. This month, Brent Skagford and I are teaching an intermediate/advanced class at the OFF space on St-Laurent. On Thursday, July 24th at 8pm, there will be a FREE showcase at OFF where the students will demonstrate their incredible skill, so come on down and be dazzled! For August, I’m organizing a BEGINNERS class, so if you’re interested in getting on board the improv train, now would be a good time. You can check my website for more information.

So long!
Marc Rowland

PS. Nick and I went on a tour today at the Steamwhistle beer factory.

I’m uninterested in an emotionally muted performance of any sort unless the skill and technique presented totally blows me away. However, Trauma-Kit provided what some other dance shows this year lacked, which was an emotional connection with the performer. Veronique Lefort impressed with the grace of her movements and the power of her emotions.

This gets a: Recommended (but be prepared for a show labelled “dramatic psychosis”)

Also, tonight and tomorrow, I am performing in More Or Less, a longform, at Theatre Ste-Catherine. It’s at 8pm (again!) both nights and it costs only $5 to see the show.

Last night I performed a “scene without speaking” with Dan Jeannotte of Uncalled For at Theatre Ste-Catherine. Currently, this and gibberish scenes have become some of my favourite kinds of scenes because of my recent forays into mask and clown. I often see improvisors get bogged down with talking in a scene, just blabbing and not performing actions or moving the story forward. Losing the ability to speak can force an improvisor to tell different types of stories and interact with the other players in different kinds of ways. I love the type of communication and understanding that develops between the players and also between the players and the audience when no language is permitted. Much of my inspiration for the scene came from a Commedia dell’Arte play that I saw recently at Place Des Arts titled Arlecchino, A Servant to Two Masters (Arlecchino servitore di due padroni). The play was entirely in Italian, and although there were titles projected above the stage, it was often unnecessary to read them, especially during the parts where a lot of physical action was taking place. Also, the mask characters were so strong that it was enjoyable just to watch them without understanding what they were saying. Therefore, my suggestions for gibberish scenes or scenes without speaking would be to: keep the story simple, use a lot of action and emotional reaction, and establish strong and recognizable characters.

ATTENTION!
The Montreal Sketch Comedy Festival is taking place this week at Theatre Ste-Catherine. I’m performing with the Best Friends Club on Thursday night at 8pm. Also playing that night are Uncalled For and Bad Publicity (which features local standup comedian Rodney Ramsey and others).

Teaching has given me a lot of practice at watching scenes and seeing the moments and offers that could be the “thing” or the point. The stress of performing creates a tunnel vision that stop a person from seeing the possibilities that their offers create. Most players need a lot of practice before they can have that separate section of their mind that’s analyzing things while the rest of their attention is devoted to keeping things moving along. I feel that having a teacher that’s objectively observing the scene and occasionally pointing out these possible pathways gives the students practice at seeing where offers can take them.

Recently, I’ve been very interested in scenes that involve little or no talking because the “thing” or the point of the scene can be so simple and yet so entertaining to watch if the performer shows a lot of emotion and really invested in what s\he’s doing. The key is to find what the character thinks is important and to play with object or concept.

My next improv class is this saturday from 6pm-9pm at MAI, 3680 rue Jeanne-Mance, room 223 and it costs $15. Those interested in the should contact Marc Rowland at marc [dot] rowland [at] gmail [dot] com. It’s really fun!

First season

Second season (warning! some swearing)

Overall, our set was pretty tight. We ended scenes well, we explored, we had fun, we played. Our style for UNO! has been slowly transmogrifying over time and we’re very pleased with the way that its been going. A show like UNO! requires a great deal of team-work, trust and communication and it feels like the troupe has been really gelling.

On another note, my last workshop at MAI focused on spontaneity but I discovered a secondary set of ideas during the process. We tried the “Yes, and” game for a while which involves the players saying “yes, and” before they speak. The players found this limiting and distracting but I pointed out that blocking or wimping is even more limiting. In fact, having to say “yes” to something creates a set of rules that give the players the freedom to say and do crazy things. Scenes are the most interesting when players push eachother deeper and deeper into uncharted territory, when they throw caution to the wind and explore interesting, perverse or frightening possibilities. Accepting ideas is not just some lovey-dovey concept to make everyone feel good, its a method that players can and should use to push themselves into the unknown.

If you are interested, then write me at marc “dot” rowland “at” gmail.com with the title “improv!”

I agree with the sentiment of this video from the CIG. Improv is a great place to explore those subjects that would normally seem insignificant. We all turn trivialilties into montrous problems or glorious accomplishments in our lives, so we should celebrate those on stage. I’m personally interested in the crooked logic and abrupt flowerings that improv brings.

-Please note: the first round of auditions has passed. Regretfully, we are no longer accepting submissions. Thanks! -

Do you pluck laughter from a tree? Do you like it when an audience’s
eyes throw happy sparks? Do you like things that are funny, and like
when things are made funny? And do you like to tell stories,
especially those that go suddenly zig-zag?

One of Montreal’s best-established improv troupes is looking for new
members. We’re looking for people who are interested in improv comedy
- in the zing and zap of it, in its crooked logic and abrupt
flowerings. We don’t like dumb gags or “zany” yuks: we like the other
stuff. The stuff that’s funny like *good* things are funny, like new
things and ripe things are funny. We like people who can tell stories,
and who care about stories, and who see the beauty in a sudden
punchline. We like people who take chances.

Does this sound like it might be you? It doesn’t matter if you’re a
seasoned improviser or a theatre newcomer, a standup comic or a
shut-in wit, old or young: if you think you might like to join us,
we’d like to find out more about you.

Please write us at: auditions@withoutannette.net

Without Annette has in its various forms been making things up for
almost ten years. We are the in-house troupe at the Comedy Nest and
will be presenting our fourth Montreal Fringe Festival show in the summer of 2008.
We like long-form, short scenes, and good shows. Members would be expected to
attend weekly workshops, and it would be a bonus if they knew how to
bake cakes. Auditions will be held in late-January.