Kiss And Tell
Last saturday, Without Annette had the honour of performing UNO! in hour 10 of McGill Improv’s 24-hour improv marathon. We had a blast! It’s always so much fun to come back and perform with old McImprov alums and the new up-and-comers.
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.
contact [at] withoutannette.net
