Improv Class 6 August 2008

Stanley stands victorious over his fellow improvisers after defeating them in a round of Story Story Die. There were 21 people who participated in this and a variety of other improv games. You can see them all in the photos collected in the album. Story Story Die was the first bit of stage work we did after our usual warm-ups. We followed that with a series of ABC scenes.

The Irish Drinking Song came next, and everyone seemed to belt out particularly good songs that night.

We ended with a series of Typewriter scenes, an appropriately more difficult exercise to keep everyone on their toes.

Improv Class July 30, 2008

This is a scene from a TV Clicker game in which Patrick, Mike, Alphonse, and Tom are all holding guns on each other. We had 20 people in class on this night, and it just happened that no one was brand new. All were returning players. You can see the rest of the pictures in the album. After our Character Intros and 1-Word Story warm-ups, we did some Transprov and then History of an Object. We haven't done History of an Object in quite awhile, and I think we all got a pretty good historical perspective on the egg-beater, the zipper, and lipstick.

Our scene work started with rounds of 5-Letter Word. But that was just a warm-up for the real challenge I had in mind for the night. Everyone participated in Speaks for Other scenes, sometime called A Speaks for B Speaks for C Speaks for A (which is why I prefer the shorter name). It's a very difficult scene, with each player having to keep several characterizations active in their head. But I think everyone stood up to the challenge and performed it well.

The Irish Drinking Song was restful after that. And we ended the night with TV Clicker.

Instructor Substitution

Howdy Folks! I'll be out of town most of next week, and so Mike will be teaching the July 23 class. Mike's one of those substitute instructors for whom I get nothing but good reports (damn...)

I'll see you all the following week, July 30!

Improv Class July 16, 2008

It was another big class with 25 players participating, 5 of whom were brand new to the Santa Barbara Improv Workshop. Pictured here are Karla, Sienna, Addison with Andy's Jazz Hands coming out of her head, and Tracy. They're in the middle of a Machine exercise. You can see the rest of the pictures from this night at our album.

After our standard set of warm-ups (Character Intro, Whoosh Bang Pow, Relay, and One Word Story), we began our stage work with a full set of Yes And exercises. Then came Machine. We got to do some scene work with Continuing Scene Changing Genre.

Then we all participated in a set of Irish Drinking Songs and moved on to Entrances and Exits. We ended the night with a big Freeze Tag group.

Thanks to all the new players for getting up on stage and joining in!

Improv Class July 9, 2008

From the pieces of paper pictured in this week's album cover, you can see that we had a round of Surprise Lines scenes during class on Wednesday. Mark, Megan, and Andy were in this particular scene taking place at a bookstore. We had 24 players in class this week, including a couple of brand new players to our group, as well as a few returning from the improv noir of last week. Thanks for coming back!

We warmed up with Whoosh Bang Pow, getting through all 6 actions, and then broke up into 3 groups for One Word Story. Back on stage, we did a full rotation of Hitchhiker followed by Surprise Lines. We also got in Party Quirks, a game we haven't played in quite awhile.

We had a full five sets of the ever popular Irish Drinking Song and then ended the night with several World's Worst performances. Everyone had a chance to portray three or four different professions.

And that's a quick thumbnail review of the night (posted before the next class!)

Improv Class July 2, 2008

Don't adjust your screen; that is a big black image. There aren't any pictures from this class because Santa Barbara was in the middle of a blackout from the Gap fire. About 15 minutes before class began, the power went out all through the city. We decided to proceed anyway, since we assumed power would come on shortly. We ended up spending the entire class without power, and the last hour in total darkness. And the challenges kept mounting as we found out the bathrooms were unavailable due to construction at the site. We eventually found the key to a porta-potty set up by the construction people.

And, we just happened to have a large number of new folks show up this night. There were over 20 people in the class. I don't have an accurate count because I couldn't tell when folks were coming & going.

And, we were also getting ready for a recital the next Saturday, so there was a fair amount of preparation and review for everyone who was in the show.

However, the night was fabulous! I don't know if it was the anonymity of the darkness, the adrenaline of the fires, nerves around the recital, or everyone just having the right attitude to overcome all the adversities, but we had a wonderful class.

I don't have a complete list of the exercises from that night (it was DARK!) but I know we did an Emotional List set and Alliterations. Of course we did the Irish Drinking Song. And because it was so dark, we ended the night with Spoon River.

Thank you everyone for really pulling together on what could have been a difficult night!

Classes, June 2008

Next up are the four workshops conducted in June 2008. We had a big class on 6/4/08. 25 players by my count, with photographic evidence stored in the album.

With that big a group, my notes suffered a bit. I show that we did a Yes & exercise (Advertising), Story Story (without the Die), Entrances and Exits, and (of course) the Irish Drinking Song.

The 6/11/08 workshop was down to only (!) 20 people. I picked this album cover because it's such a flattering shot of Karla. And Tom, on his first night at Improv, looks properly intimidated.

We got quite a few exercises in after our usual warm ups. We did a full round of Tag Out Story, then Build A Scene. Next was Switch Dubbing followed by the Irish Drinking Song. We ended the night on a set of Survivor scenes.

For the workshop on 6/18/08, we had to find a new location. Our usual practice space at Jefferson Hall was unavailable as they began some major remodeling of the facility. Luckily, Nancy was able to provide a fabulous space at the Jewish Community Center. We were surrounded by beautiful artwork, and you can see all the pictures in the album.

I also want to thank everyone who followed the signs to our new location for the night. Especially all the new players!

Once again, my notes were not very good from that night, but I've recorded 18 people participating in our 5 Letter Word scenes. I know we also did Story Story Die and TV Clicker. And, of course, the Irish Drinking Song.

The last workshop in June (6/25/08) had us back in Jefferson Hall with 16 players. For some reason the photographers went nuts and we have a LOT of photos in the album. Enjoy!

After warm-ups, the night consisted of Pillars, Expert Panel, and the Irish Drinking Song. For the advanced part of the night, we did the long form exercise Assigned Professions. We got quite a few rounds in, and I think everyone got a chance to see their characters evolve over several scenes and interacting with other characters.

And that's the summary of the June workshops. Let's see if we (okay I) can get back to a weekly update schedule.

Classes, May 2008

I'm on a bit of a roll catching up, so next is the summary for May 2008. The class on 5/7/08 had 19 players including some brand new players and one returning player who's been sorely missed. You can see it all in the album.

We tried out a new exercise called By The Numbers which went pretty well, and then did a round of Quirks to practice character work. We also got in Entrances and Exits as well as an Irish Drinking Song and then Who Am I.

On 5/14/08 we had a smaller class of 13 people, and the pictures are in the album.

We did 5 Letter Word scenes, and then a new exercise called One Syllable Words (and yeah, the name says it all). We did a long round of Puppets where everyone got the chance to be a puppet as well as a puppeteer. After the Irish Drinking Song, we did some open scene work with Assigned Professions.

The 5/21/08 class again saw the return of some familiar faces that have been missed the last few months. See them in the album for that night.

We did a few new exercises starting with the 9 Line Scene and then the X Word Scene. Everyone did quite well with both exercises. We also did Playbook and the Irish Drinking Song. We ended the night with the 3 line Drill.

The last class of May (5/28/08) had 15 players, and you can see the photos in the album for the night.

In addition to the warm-ups, we did a set of Art Museum exercises. We went on to Decreasing Time Scenes and Irish Drinking Song. For the advanced part of the night, we did 3 Line Drills and Assigned Professions.

And those are the classes we had in May 2008.

Classes, April 2008

We had five classes in April, so let's get right to the links and a quick summary of each night. Only a few pictures made it out of the 4/2/08 class alive. Those that did can be seen at the album. We had 11 players there for the night,all of whom were repeat players.

In addition to our usual warm-ups, we got in a round of Mutant, a round of No P, and a round of Repeating Scene Changing Genre. Then came an Irish Drinking Song. For the last part of the night, we got a full set of 3-Line Drills and then had a chance to work on some One Acts.

I have no idea what this picture is about, but I like the physical pose. I know it occurred at the 4/9/08 class because it's one of the photos in the album (and there are quite a few pictures from this class).

We did a little bit of status work with a Pecking Order scene. Next came Sound Effects in which everyone had a chance to give sound effects as well as play against them. Our standard Irish Drinking Song was next, and then we ended the night with a 3-Line Drill.

I normally try to downplay pictures of myself teaching, but I made an exception for the 4/16/08 class. I unveiled the new, sleeker look on that night, as you can see in the album.

The 16 players got a chance to play 5 Letter Word scenes and Standing Sitting Bending scenes. Then came the ever popular Irish Drinking Song, followed by 3 Line Drills and then the night ended with some One Act work.

The 4/23/08 class was a big one with 21 players. You can see them all in the album for the night.

After the warm-ups, we started with a Class Picture To Scene exercise. Then we did a rotation of Pillars scenes where everyone got a chance to be the pillars as well as playing with the pillars. After the song, we then did a round of Entrances and Exits since we had such a large number of new players.

Once again, I don't think I need to explain the album cover for the night of 4/30/08. You just need to appreciate the stage positions.

After warm-ups, the 16 players did a full set of Machine exercises. Then came Decreasing Scene and Progressive Freeze Tag. An Irish Drinking Song was followed by a 3 Line Drill, which ended the night.

And that wraps up April of 2008.

Classes, March 2008

I was traveling for a couple of weeks in March, so there are only two classes with pictures for that month. Still, here's a quick run down of what happened. .

The March 5 class was taught by Mike, and from all reports it was a big hit. Unfortunately, there's no photographic evidence.

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On the 12th of March, the camera was back to document a Story Story Die session, a round of Alliteration, the ever popular Irish Drinking Song, and Emotional Zones. You can see the photographic evidence at the album.

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For March 19th, I was again traveling, and so no pictures. This time Victoria took the reigns and kept the faith. And once again, nothing but rave reviews.

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And finally, the camera and I were back for the March 26th class (album). We worked on Last Letter scenes, Repeating Scene Changing Genre, and the Irish Drinking Song. For the advanced part of the night, we were able to work on a couple of One Act plays, which I think was a good experience for everyone.

And that's the March 2008, summary.

Recital July 5, 2008

The Santa Barbara Improv Workshop is having a recital this coming Saturday, July 5th at Jefferson Hall. Folks from the ongoing Workshop class will be performing short-form improv games and everyone is invited to stop by and enjoy the show.

Once again, the particulars are:

Time: 8:00 pm until about 9:30 pm

Date: Saturday July 5th, 2008

Location: Jefferson Hall, 1525 Santa Barbara Street (near Anapamu)

Workshop Location Change June 18, 2008

WE ARE CHANGING LOCATIONS FOR THE WORKSHOP THIS WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2008

This is a one-time change! Next week we'll be back at our regular location.

This week we will be meeting at:

Jewish Community Center 524 Chapala Street 7:30 pm to 10:00 pm (our usual time)

Click here for a Google Map

There's a parking lot, and parking is available on the street. The door to the center will be locked, but it's a glass door and we can see anyone knocking and let them in. It will be easier if everyone could arrive on time (or close to it).

I want to thank Nancy (from class) for arranging this. I had a chance to check it out, and it's a great location.

I look forward to seeing you all there!

Alan

P.S. Call if you need directions: 680-0455

Classes, February 2008

And now, at long last, we move on to the next month's worth of pictures. Here's a quick summary of the four classes that happened in February. On the 6th of February, we did a little Story, Story, Die narrative work. We also did some Attitudes scenes as sell as some Surprise Lines. Everyone did an Irish Drinking Song and we finished the night with Three Person Freeze Tag, a very fast paced version of that form. The picture is of Scott and Allegra, although I'm not sure what scene it's from. The rest of the pictures are in the album.

On the 13th of February, we had a good sized class, but not many pictures. This one is from the opening One Word Story exercise. The rest are in the album. We did some work on Give and Take using the Cocktail Scene as an exercise. We also told some Tag Out Stories and Spoon River.

On February 20, we had a couple of new faces, and you can find them in the album for the night. We did ABCs, Ages, and Dubbing. And, we still had time for the Irish Drinking Song and some 3-Line Drills. The picture shows Guy, Scott, and Seth in a Dubbing scene.

The last Wednesday night in February (the 27th) had our usual workshop, and this time there are a lot of pictures to show for it. Find them in the album. In addition to One Word Story and Hitchhiker, we also got in some Standing, Sitting, Bending as well as a Create Object To Speak exercise. Then came the Irish Drinking Song, some Three-Line Drills, and a quick couple of rounds of Montage to complete the night.

And that's the quick summary for classes in the month of February.

Classes, January 2008

Here's a quick review of the classes in January, along with the links to the albums of their photos. This photo is from the Tug-o'-War exercise during the January 2 class. The rest of the photos (such as they are) can be found in the album. The camera was still acting out, so there aren't a lot that made it through the screening. Still, there are some fun new faces joining the regulars.

The camera is back in action for the January 9 class, and the album has the number (and quality) of photos to prove it. In addition to a couple of new players in the class, we also had a guide dog!

I was out of town for the January 16 class. Mike filled in and taught the class, but no pictures from that one.

The January 23 class included one of my favorite scenes in some time. The lead picture from this class (the rest can be seen in the album) shows the Three Wonder Sisters, performed by Roberta, Karla, and Li-At. It was one of the Typewriter scenes and also included Sol as the starting writer. There are a lot of pictures from this class, and they're all fun.

The last class of the month was on January 30 and the pictures are posted in the album. There were several new players and so we got back to doing some good, basic exercises and games, including the one shown in this photo: Entrances and Exits with Jennifer, Kenna, and Scott.

Classes, End Of 2007

I'm BAAAAACK! Yes, it's taken me a bit to get my head back into the blogging game after my trip (and work, and life, and blah blah blah), but I think it's time to catch up on some of the backlog. Let's start by getting a bunch of these workshop photos published onto the old intertubes.

The last post with photos was for the October 17, 2007 workshop. Since then, we've had one workshop canceled (Oct. 24) and four workshops with guest instructors (Oct. 31, Nov. 7, Nov. 14, and Nov. 21) and no photos! For the rest of the workshops of 2007, I'm going to forgo any sort of detailed description and just give out links to the on-line albums.

The album for the November 28, 2007 class can be found here. For some reason, my camera started giving us grief, and we lost a lot of pictures to blur (I overcompensated for underexposure).

Still, it's nice having Scott's enthusiastic approval.

The December 5 workshop (see the album) had quite a few new players join us. Their experience ranged from "first time on stage" to "experienced improv player". Unfortunately, the camera was still acting up, so we don't have as many pictures of the new folks.

The album from the December 12 workshop shows the return of a lot of familiar faces. Although we are still losing pictures to blur, at the end of the night there were a lot of two-player shots from the Freeze Tag round. Those are some very fun pictures.

The December 19 workshop had a nice mix of new and old experienced players (although I think we scared off one of the newer players - drat!). The camera was settling down so we have quite a few pictures in the album for this class (although I'm still correcting some exposure problems).

The last workshop of 2007 (December 26) has only 1 picture in the album. After I took the class warm-up shot, no one else picked up the camera. The night was just that good! Actually, we had a pretty good turn out for the day after Christmas, and it was a very good class.

And that was how we finished off 2007! Thanks to all the Santa Barbara Improv performers, players, students, instructors, audience-members, and well-wishers for a fabulous year.

Now to catch up on 2008...

Instructors While I'm Gone

Howdy Folks! I'm on vacation for the next 4 weeks (Guatemala!) and while I'm gone there are three other instructors who will be taking on the workshop. Here's the schedule until I return.

Wednesday, October 31

This is Mike.

He will be teaching on October 31.

Mike is originally from England.

Cheerio, Mike.

Wednesday, November 7

Meet Jim.

Jim will be teaching on November 7.

Jim made our black boxes.

They are really good boxes.

Wednesday, November 14

It's Mike again!

Mike will be teaching on November 14

Remember Mike?

Wednesday, November 21

This is Victoria.

Victoria will be teaching on November 21

Hi Victoria!

We all miss you

Wednesday, November 28

This is Alan.

Remember Alan?

Alan will be back teaching November 28

Class October 10, 2007

The first Animal Transform scene of the night with Jim (hamster), Li-At (woodpecker), Melissa (bull), Sol (cat), and David (giraffe). It became a fun scene at the company picnic with some great characters. This workshop was a bit different, starting with not doing a 1-Word Scene, but instead practicing with Firing Line. The rest of the night, we focussed on some basic character work. Because there were a lot of single character pieces through the night, there were a lot more pictures. 261 photos were on the memory card from this night. I was able to whittle that down to 125, but I felt that was OK this time since so many were of individual players. You can see them in the album.

The first scene work of the night was Video Dating, using a couple of bins of hats which I'd brought. Everyone got in at least 4 different characters and many of those were fabulous.

Next, we did Trouble With A Small Object. This was the chance to show off work from our first homework assignment. Basically, I asked folks to pay attention to their physical actions over the week, and practice miming those actions. In class, I wanted to see a demonstration of using some small object, then running into a problem with the object, and finally solving the problem. If you didn't work on the assignment it was OK, I just asked that you demonstrate something.

Next we did a series of Animal Transforms. Those turned out really well. The characters were very different and yet clearly human. A nice stretch for everyone.

We still did an Irish Drinking Song with 3 groups of 5.

Finally, we did a set of 3-Line Drills, only this time I had everyone complete their open scenes after telling me their wants. That was interesting, and I think everyone got a chance to try 'what comes next' after the first three lines. There were a lot of great scenes. Next, we'll go back to some simple long from structures.

Finally, I gave out a new homework assignment. Look at your friends, co-workers, and acquaintances and try to identify what makes them a 'character'. In the next week, pick out one character and develop it. At the next workshop I'll give you a chance to introduce the character, and then interact with some other characters.

And that was the night.

Class October 17, 2007

Sometimes the picture that I'll choose for the lead in to the class posting is just too obvious. Here, Scott, Marika, Li-At, Ben and Kenna are in a School Picture to Scene character exercise with their assigned group being the Fencing Club. If you'd like to see more pictures from the class (with fewer of Scott nekkid') then check out the album. A fairly large class this time with 21 players. We had a bit of a bumpy opening but got in some 1-Word Story warm-ups as well as a round of 3-Part Narrative.

The night focused on character development, and I think there was a lot of great work (other than the Jalan character). We started with School Picture to Scene and in addition to the Fencing Club, we saw the Rugby Club, 4-H, Track and Field, and ROTC clubs. It was a good warm up.

The next exercise was great. Last week's "homework" was to focus on a friend or acquaintance and identify aspects that can be used for a character - how they talk, carry themselves, interact with others, the way they sound, their obsessions, etc. This week, I gave each character a chance to introduce themselves and then interact with a couple of others in a scene. For those who didn't know about the homework (or forgot about it), they had to throw something together quickly. The point was to closely base the character on someone real. And wow, there were a lot of great characters. Interesting, compelling, and complete in the sense that they were able to stay completely in character during their interactions with other, very different characters. They were really interesting. Well done.

After those scenes, we got in several rounds of Irish Drinking Song and they were surprisingly toned down - less bawdy than usual. I'm not sure whether that's good or bad - but I generally enjoy different.

We finished with some Montage scenes. We didn't start with a 3-Line Drill, so I wanted to see how everyone did when they went right into open scene work without any "warm-up". And folks did pretty well. The more open scene work we do, the better.

I did give out another homework assignment. This time, I want folks to concentrate on "opening lines". Other than "hey Bill", how do you start interacting with friends and acquaintances when you first see them? How do those opening lines depend on common but unstated knowledge (we rarely narrate things we both already know)?

Since I've had to cancel the next class (Oct. 24) and I'll be out of town for the next couple of weeks (but there will be other instructors for the workshops while I'm gone) we won't get back to this assignment until the end of November (when I'm back).

Workshop on October 24, 2007 CANCELED

Howdy Folks, The Santa Improv Workshop scheduled for Wednesday, October 24, 2007 is CANCELED!

The Unitarian Society has its annual Star King Benefit Rummage Sale, and the entire building is used to support that event. No rooms are available.

We will be back on Wednesday, October 31. I will be on vacation, but there will be others teaching the class while I'm gone, so be sure to stop by.

I'll be posting this notice on the website (www.sbimprov.com) and sending an email to anyone who signed the attendance sheets during a Santa Barbara Improv Workshop (and this is one of the reasons I asked folks to sign up on that list).

I'm sorry about canceling this class and I look forward to seeing everyone in November. Alan

P.S. It just so happens that on that Wednesday night, Scott Williams from the workshop is putting on a S.B. Real Estate Conference; you can check it out at http://www.scottwilliams.com/he/pages/section4/section4_Newsletter.asp

Class October 3, 2007

With Jeff watching from the sidelines, we've got Jim, Karla, Angela, and Marjorie in a scene from TV Clicker. Here, Karla and Marjorie are trying to prevent Angela from chopping off the head of Jim's dog character. Must have been an "After School Special". The album from this workshop is now available. I was able to whittle the set down to 87 pictures. That's down from the original 234 (!) pictures taken. Yowzer.

We started off with a pretty small (for us) warm up group, but during the What Are You Doing exercise, we almost doubled in size. There were twenty people in in class by the time we worked on 1-Word Story exercises.

We started the scene work with TV Clicker. There were two groups and a whole lotta scenes. It was all pretty energetic, but let's try and forget the "Old Men Gone Wild" show - there are NO pictures from that particular scene!

We got in a set of Surprise Lines scenes and those were great. Good conflicts, nice character interactions, and the lines were worked into the scenes well.

We had our usual set of Irish Drinking Songs and then had a complete rotation of 3-Line Drills.

And we ended the night with an open set of Freeze Tag. Nice work!