- •Introduction
- •1 What Is Improvisation!
- •2 Rules
- •The History of The Rules
- •Fear Fear Fear
- •Breaking The Rules
- •3 How to Improvise Part One: Do Something!
- •Part Two: Check Out What You Did.
- •Part Three: Hold on to What You Did.
- •The Magic of Improvisation
- •4 "What About My Partner!"
- •Take Care of Yourself First.
- •Take Care of Your Partner.
- •Listening to Your Partner.
- •What If I Am the Partner?
- •5 Context and Scenes
- •Context
- •6 Common Problems
- •Too Much Exposition
- •Talking Too Much
- •Justifying
- •I Love/I Hate
- •Pausing
- •Bailing on a Point of View
- •7 More Than Two People in a Scene Three-Person Scenes
- •Entering Scenes
- •Four-, Five-, Six-, and Twenty-Person Scenes
- •8 Advanced Improvisation
- •Opposite Choices
- •Specificity
- •Pull Out/Pull Back In
- •Curve Balls
- •Reaching for an Object
- •Personal Objects and Mannerisms
- •Personal Variety of Energy
- •9 Advice and Guidelines for Improvisers Talent
- •The Concept of Training
- •Men and Women
- •The Perfect Actor
- •Auditioning Guidelines for Improvisers
- •Common Patterns
- •Summary
- •10 Improvisation and he Second Law of Thermodynamics
- •First Law of Thermodynamics
- •The Second Law of Thermodynamics
- •The Thermodynamics of Improv
- •11 Exercises to Do at Home
- •Dada Monologue
- •Word Association
- •Gibberish
- •Solo Character Switches
- •Character Interview
- •Styles and Genres in a Hat
- •Sound to Dialogue
- •Environment
- •Body Parts
- •Breakfast
- •Object Monologue
- •Scene with Emotional Shift
- •Scenes of Status Shift
- •Heightening
- •Read a Character from a Play Out Loud
- •Film Dialogue
- •Write an Improvised Scene
- •Counting to One Hundred
- •Notes on Good Acting
- •Exercise
- •12 Annoyance
Common Patterns
Finally, I would like to mention some patterns that show up in an improv audition. As always, I'm not saying don't do these things, I'm just saying that the following things often appear in auditions by people who seemingly think that what they are doing is novel.
■ Beginning at the beginning
Because of fear and measurement, a lot of improv scenes in an audition start with unfamiliar relationships and beginnings of conversations. Things like, "Hey, what's up?" and "So, how's it going?" indicate two characters with no familiar past getting to know each other in a strange setting.
If there is ever a time to assume familiarity with your partner on stage and start in the middle of a scene (" ... so I finally told her the truth."), it's in an improv audition.
■ Sex
Improvisation is the only place on earth where sex is boring to me, particularly in an audition. Scenes about sex in an audition almost always show up as a consequence of fear, and it's frighteningly transparent and not unique. Gay, straight, whatever—these scenes are usually not so funny and certainly overdone.
■ I love
I mentioned this improv syndrome earlier, in speaking about justifying and making assessments in a scene. The "I love" thing shows up a lot in auditions, once again, out of fear. So many scenes start with:
"I love playing baseball."
"I love kite flying."
"I love being in a factory."
"I love working at the zoo."
"I love tax time."
"I love ticket taking."
"I love going to the game with you."
But rarely
"I love you."
■ Physical contact
Whether it is strange touching, kissing, or hitting, it's probably inappropriate. Even if you know the person you are improvising with, the auditors don't know that you know them. You might be surprised by how many people slap each other in auditions. It's always disconcerting for those watching.
■ Hands in pockets
Basic, but worth mentioning. A very typical pattern for people in fear is putting their hands in their pockets. Not only will it reinforce your fear, but it will also limit you physically.
Summary
These guidelines are not offered to make you overthink the audition, but lofted in the air as something to lightly keep in mind. The last thing I would want is to provide you with more "don't do this" information and put you in your head. Read and forget and remember and forget and play.
10 Improvisation and he Second Law of Thermodynamics
I'd like to explore the energy of an improvisational scene as it pertains to the second law of thermodynamics. The following is probably, but not necessarily, a metaphor. Often we speak of a scene's energy. Is that a word we throw around to describe such things as pace, loudness, stage presence, and so on, or is the energy of a scene real? We say, "Pick up the energy in that scene!" or "We lost our energy in that last scene." Energy energy. If an improv scene is a closed system, and the energy we speak of is real, then the scene must adhere to the laws of physics. Two laws of physics are the first and second laws of thermodynamics. Does a stupid improv scene adhere to the first and second laws of thermodynamics? Let's find out. And if it does or doesn't, who cares? Let's find out.
First of all, we need to know the definition of energy. Energy is the capacity to do work. What is work in this definition? Work is a force on something moving it a distance. Work = force times distance (W =fd). I would guess that right now you're getting into the "Oh my God, there's an equation and my brain shuts down and I hate this stuff mode. Equations are like that, but just take a look at it. Throw a poodle off a cliff. Throwing a poodle off a cliff is work. You apply a force to the poodle and it travels a distance. In a moment, gravity, another force, takes over and pulls the poodle to the earth, another distance, shattering its manicured body. Work = force (your throw) X distance (how far the ill-fated poodle travels). W = fd: easy. So energy is the capacity to apply a force to something and move it a distance. Easy.
Now let's look at the relentless laws of thermodynamics. The first law is better known than the second.