Wednesday, 29 June 2011

Improv: Film versus Stage

Hi, Katy Schutte here.  I’ve been making some improv film shorts over the last month and have more planned over the summer.  It’s not a new idea, Mike Leigh and Christopher Guest being the most famous pioneers in this area, but it continues to be re-invented.  The Office has much of the feel of a Guest mockumentary and Gervais nods his head to the likes of Spinal Tap as his inspiration, although the series is scripted.  Likewise Parks and Recreation with Amy Poehler.  But where is improv better – the stage or the screen - and what’s the difference for performers?
First off – how do you improvise a film?  With stage improv you can create the who, what and where in the moment, so how can that work on film? 
The who?: In improv there are a billion ways of finding a character – starting with a genre idea, leading or stacking with a body part, loosely impersonating someone famous or someone you know, mirroring your scene partner, finding the opposite to your scene partner, building on an accent or way of walking and many more.  These are general acting tools but we pick them up as self-suggestions as we walk into a scene.  On stage they are instantaneous or they might come from a scene before, when such a character was described.  On film it’s good to know the connections between characters in advance so that some kind of plot can be worked out, but I give my improvisers the gist of who and they come along armed with what they might wear, what their point of view might be, who they might like or dislike and what they are cool or not cool with in the story.  A detailed character back-story helps some improvisers too.  I enjoyed Kate’s personal character trait of carrying mini post-its with her to mark any health and safety faux pas.
The where?: On stage we can create an imagined set or location through scene and person-painting as well as through our words and with object work but these don’t work on film.  Or rather, they can, but you’d be looking at a style that’s not immediately congruent with mockumentary.  Even Lars Von Trier’s Monster had props, costumes and set dressing in the massive black box studio where it was filmed.  The where is still pretty loose in our films in that we will have an idea for a setting – we filmed the first one in Richmond Park and the second in a community centre – but we will look around for fun spaces on the day.  These will influence the scene’s content and game.  We had a lovely where for Jen’s character monologue when someone had the bright idea right before we shot it to have her walking along in a river!
The what?: Or what’s going on or what is being talked about.  Having the what nailed down means that there is a storyline ahead of time.  It would be possible to create a story from filming characters (who) in locations (where) but it’s not quite as interesting if it’s not headed somewhere.  There’s the technique of making a storyline in the edit – which is how a real documentary is often made – but that requires an awful lot of footage and more time editing and we’re interested in quickly turned around episodes with a clear direction.  Confetti managed this approach very well.  Also – when a great game is discovered late in a filmed scene, you can edit out a long lead-up and perhaps even pause the scene to tell the actors to play the game more or heighten it, or just emphasise to them what the game is.  Many British shows like to use this safety net on stage whereas I am more used to long form where we just have to get good enough to find a game quickly! 
Which is better?!  On stage you get audience feedback, which can tell you if you’ve hit a good seam of comedy or found a character that people empathise with.  On film you have to trust the director with this and you lose a bit of the fun of getting laughs (which we all like, let’s face it).  The plus side is that the improvisers will more likely go for truth than comedy and the show will have a bit more depth whilst still being funny.  We thought we were doing fine on this score before one of our crew lost himself in laughter and we had to have giggle breaks from Jon’s bird-hating monologue.  Of course, there are times when we can’t help ourselves...  With filming you also have a number of goes.  If a scene doesn’t work, we can just reshoot it, or if we get a different idea as we work, we can try both.  Film will last and be re-watchable, whereas a stage show will never be seen again.  But our stage shows don’t date and our films can never be perfect.  As we are making mockumentaries, the screen demands more subtlety than the stage, though I think me and Rach have a similar feel in our 2-person show inspired by TJ and Dave.  So for me there is no real best, apart from the fact that I love and dislike both for all these reasons.  The shorts provide a nice contrast to the freeform work I do with the Maydays and Katy and Rach, but I love both forms – one with a tight backbone and one whose skeleton comes into being at the same time as the rest of its body.  When it comes to commercial success of course, many comedians and bands find that their TV series or their downloads bring more people to their live shows and that’s what they really love to do. 
So what is the structure?  I write a loose Harold ahead of the filming.  One of these will fit onto one side of A4!  Each scene just lays out the situation and perhaps a gentle game or character suggestion for those involved.  We have found that with this grounding we can improvise all the dialogue fairly easily.  I have the actors watch each other’s performances where possible, so that strands of story unfold during the filming day – even when we’re filming out of sequence.  I have to be a careful listener just as I am on stage to make sure that the dialogue does not contradict.  Sometimes the cast can’t be there all day or have to be quiet off set in which case I fill them in with as much detail as I can.  The prep the actors bring to the floor is their own costumes, character back-stories and points of view.  With everyone taking this much responsibility we can make rounded characters exist within a real-feeling comedy vehicle. 
Each episode is independent so it’s also fun for me to cast my regulars in differing roles to challenge their range and give us a bigger world to dip into throughout the series.  I have also found that scenes work better with improvisers that have worked together before.  It helps them get to a place of group mind much more quickly.  Though I’m working with Del Close’s Harold structure at the moment, we are evolving to look at the La Ronde and Time Dash.  None of these are original film structures, but all serve to build a backbone.  Memento for example is a Time Dash and Le Ronde is the namesake of the 1950 film with this structure.  To start, I sometimes pick a venue, sometimes a random word or idea and I find a venue to fit.  This is me giving myself audience suggestions.  My crew are improvisers too.  We have no storyboard of shots and all I tell Arash (the director of photography) is whether the characters know there’s a camera or not.
We have filmed two shorts to date and will be doing our first editing session this week.  There are more skeleton scripts waiting on my laptop.  We hope to film 6-8 over the summer with a variety of improvisers, comedians and actors dropping into the team.  It’s like film repertory.  I love it.
Thanks to the cast and crew of the last two films as well as the venues which let us film (and boo to the venues who didn’t).  The films will launch at the beginning of September with a new London arts website.  I’ll keep you posted with details.
Go see some of my improv favourites: Vera Drake (not a comedy!), Reno 911!, Factory, Waiting for Guffman, This is Spinal Tap, Confetti.

Sunday, 26 June 2011

This Week at the London Improv Comedy Theatre

My goodness we're excited about this week at The Miller. Check this out:

Tuesday 28th June
Music Box are careering down a mountainside like extreme sports-folk without brakes, heading fast towards their Edinburgh Fringe Festival debut. So here they are at The Miller on Tuesday, kicking the ass of the improvised musical genre. If Fringe Guru is anything to go by, they're carving out their own niche of energetic, hilarious comedy shows on a whole new level.
"A genuine sense of shared adventure" - Fringe Guru

Then the Edinburgh previews continue with the only improvised-pub-quiz that exists this side of anywhere. Join the Buzzard family as they help us ponder a list of questions that range from the trivial and challenging to the idiotic and unanswerable, score points for wrong answers, cheer on the improvisers as they compete in comedy challenges and win prizes! From London’s Improv Comedy Club and Toronto’s Bad Dog Theatre Company: Fingers On Buzzards!
"A bit of a find" - Remote Goat
Tuesday 28th JuneTime: Doors 7:30pm, Show 8pm - 10pm with interval.Cost: £5 on the door.Where: The Miller, 96 Snowsfields Road, London Bridge, London, SE1 3SS.


Wednesday 29th June

It's time for Catch 23! Yeeeaaahhhhh!!!!
www.catch23improv.co.uk
(check the video for everything you need to know)

It's like punching the sun in the balls with jokes. A bare-knuckle art-fight for local improv-supremacy and hyphens. The winners will be referred to as such, the losers will never be spoken of or to again.

Catch 23 features an absolutely phenomenal cast including Dave Reed (Penny Dreadfuls, Fast and Loose) and Herman Gambhir (star of many Improvathons), among many other brilliant performers. It's going to be amazing. Like.. a lot.

Tuesday 29th JuneTime: Doors 7:30pm, Show 8pm - 10pm with interval.Cost: £5 on the door.Where: The Miller, 96 Snowsfields Road, London Bridge, London, SE1 3SS.

Monday, 20 June 2011

One-Man Improv!

Second City Alumnus and two-time Canadian Comedy Award winner, David Shore, remounts his hit one-person show, The One-Man Harold. The Harold was developed to be performed by a team of five to ten improvisers. David Shore will perform it alone! Don’t miss this completely improvised, mind-blowing, one-person show.

Tuesday 5 July (7:30pm) & Monday 18 July (9:30pm)
The Hen & Chickens Theatre £7 plus £1.50 membership fee
Directed by Rich Fulcher
Music by Christopher Ash & Dylan Emery

The Hen & Chickens Theatre
109 St. Pauls Road, London, N1 2NA
For advanced tickets go to www.unrestrictedview.co.uk

Sunday, 19 June 2011

This Week at the London Improv Comedy Theatre

It's a big old time o' Edinburgh Previews this week. Some of the best improvising talent that's going to be at the Fringe in August is at The Miller, so if you can't get to Edinburgh this year (boo-hoo), create your own festival experience by coming to Tuesday AND Wednesday and renting an extraordinarily expensive flat overnight.

Tuesday 21st June
Fat Kitten had massive success last year at Edinburgh, packing out their venue with their "Versus The World Show." Each night they take on another impro group in a battle of wit and laugh-scores. Tonight they take on themselves as their Victorian Alter-ego, as Fat Kitten vs. Fat Kitten 1899. It's going to be anacro-tastic.

Then we have the frustratingly talented and youthful Scat Pack with their much appreciated "Lights, Camera, Improvise!" improvised film show. Despite only being about 14 years old, or something, The Scat Pack are veterans of the Edinburgh Fringe and win amazing reviews every year.

★★★★★ Broadway Baby
★★★★★ New Current
★★★★★ Remote Goat


Wednesday 22nd June
We tame the chat beast, you drink the milk.

That's right: it's episode 2 of Marbles' new chat show. In which we welcome the cream of London's character comics to grace our sofa with their oddest creations and have a proper chin-wag. Call it a diseased Parkinson.
And what's the point of all this? First, to have an ace night out. Second, to film the show with an ambitious four cameras, put it online afterwards and create a wonderful showcase of ace comedy. On the internet and everything. Can it really be so? Yes please.

As if that wasn't enough it's followed by a full two-man improv show from Marbles too: creating unfeasible twists of oddness from simply chatting with the audience. Argh! etc.

The Yak Episode Two features:
Fraser Millward
Andrew Gentilli
Chrus Werren


AND THREE [two, one... (like the dude from Wayne's World)...]

... the comedy never ends
London Improv is

Every Tuesday AND Wednesday.Time: Doors 7:30pm, Show 8pm - 10pm with interval.Cost: £5 on the door.Where: The Miller, 96 Snowsfields Road, London Bridge, London, SE1 3SS.

Thursday 23rd June
Why wait until Edinburgh to take part in Fingers on Buzzards for free?

Join the Buzzard family at The Bell this Thursday, as we try out new games, indulge in old favourites and revive some neglected classics from the early days of Fingers on Buzzards. All in preparation for our chaotic yet glittering debut at the Edinburgh Fringe 2011 (where Festival audiences will have the chance to play the world's first impro-comedy-game-show-cum-pub-quiz every night at 7.50pm at Dragonfly.

Details:
Thursday 23rd June, 8pm
The Bell
50 Middlesex Street
London E1 7EX
FREE

"WHERE ARE YOUR FINGERS?"

Friday 24th June
Do you know where London Zoo is? I know they don't signpost it very well from any of the local tube stations, but it is there, I promise. If you can find it you should definitely get down to a Zoo Lates night, where they only let adults in and let them wander around the gibbons with a beer in their hand.

The best part is that if you go to the Aquarium you'll find a stage with improv happening. The brilliant Music Box and Shotgun are doing mini versions of their shows, every half-hour.
Zoo Lates are every Friday in June & July.
www.zsl.org

Friday, 17 June 2011

Impro Basics Workshop

"Tonight, tonight, toni-ight, ooohhhhhh" - Phil Collins

This is happening tonight, if you're lucky you might still get a place:

WHAT?
The session will cover a selection of impro comedy games and scene work techniques. Classes are designed to encourage participants to become more confident, open and accepting performers.

WHO?
Perhaps you’ve used impro during the audition/rehearsal process and would like to build your confidence in tackling situations unknown.
You may have some impro experience but would like to play some more in an encouraging environment.
Perhaps you've little experience of performance but just want to give it a bash.... you're very welcome!

WHEN?
Friday 17th June 6.30 to 9.30p.m.

WHERE?
The Rag Factory, Off Brick Lane

COST
£10 The class has a maximum of 20 places that book up quickly, so email us to reserve your space (pay on the day). amycookehodgson@gmail.com

WORKSHOP LEADER
Directing performance for the past 10 years, Amy Cooke-Hodgson is a qualified teacher and co-founder of Maple Giant Theatre. She has experience in improvising with a variety of groups (including Showstopper, Austentatious, The Oxford Imps, Mother's Ruin, Scenes from Communal Living, Multi-Story, Adventure Incorporated, Abando'man and Racing Minds). As well as studying impro at IO in Chicago and with some of the North American greats ( Bill Arnett, Shawn Kinley, Mauro Hantman & Cathcart&Olson), she has performed at the Gilded Balloon in Edinburgh for the past 5 years in a 5* sell-out short-form impro show, toured the USA in an impro musical, toured regional theatres making up songs and made over 200 appearances at the Wheatsheaf. www.amycookehodgson.com

Wednesday, 15 June 2011

The London Impro Festival

Slapdash is a gathering of the best improvisers in the UK, all in one place. No one knows what will happen each night, only that what you see will be totally new, totally unrepeatable. It might be hilarious, touching, or just plain odd. All we can guarantee is entertainment.

Each night three companies will show off their distinctive styles; you could see anything from a three-headed expert to a full improvised musical, from classic forms like the Harold to improvised Shakespeare. Then the night will finish with an Improv Jam, where all the improvisers work together to create something extraordinary.

It's a feast for those who love improvisation, and a chance for those who don't know what it is to learn to love it.

The Groups
The School of Night - "The highest recommendation I can offer"
★★★★★ Remote Goat

Music Box - "Music Box stand out for their ambition, their variety, their creativity... I was left helpless with laughter.. this is impro in it's purest form"
★★★★★ Fringe Guru

The Maydays - "One of the best improvised shows out there"
★★★★★ Three Weeks

The Scat Pack - "Very fine entertainment"
★★★★★ Remote Goat

Kevin Tomlinson - "Refreshingly honest and hilarious. He creates magical comedy theatre. A wonderful, dynamic show!"
★★★★ Edinburgh Herald (Critic's Choice)

Abandoman - “The most original act we’ve seen in a long time. Go and see them.”
Maxim.co.uk

Grand Theft Impro - "At the forefront of the revival in impro."
The Guardian

The Improsarios - Runners-up, Make-a-Wish Theatresports Cup 2010

Horse Aquarium - Winners, Make-a-Wish Theatresports Cup 2010

There are already tickets available for Slapdash in July. For those of you who don't know (where have you been?), Slapdash is what happens when you get all of the best improvisers in London together and put them on a stage at a proper theatre. It's awesome, unique, and only a tenner. Loads of regulars from our London Improv nights are playing, as well as others who are also pretty darn brilliant.

What about some footage of the warm-up night?: The SlapBash, an evening of improvised music and comedy

You can find listings on www.oldvictunnels.com. And if you join the SlapDash Facebook page, you might just win tickets!

Sunday, 12 June 2011

This Week at the London Improv Comedy Theatre

Tuesday 14th June
Oh yes, good news, Music Box have another gig. We went without them for ages in May, but they're back at The Miller with their kick-ass brilliant Improvised Musical. Music Box really are propelling into the summer season with shows every Friday at London Zoo, regular shows at The Miller, and loads more besides. Catch them before they sell-out to ITV2.

"So funny I spat my wine across five rows of people and right up onto the stage. I would recommend this to everyone."
- Clara Jackson, Producer at ESPN


Then we have the extraspecially pleasant Bec Hill, with an extraspecially pleasant preview of her Edinburgh Show. Bec wins amazing reviews every time she plays, so this really will be a treat. We know she's funny just from that photo there.

"Bec Hill and her side-splittingly funny stand-up routine are a joy to behold."
★★★★★ - EdinburghGuide.com

"A superb show which leaves one feeling warm and hopeful for hours afterwards. A must see."
★★★★★ - ThreeWeeks


Wednesday 15th June
Shotgun Impro return for their fast and furious game-based impro show. Shotgun are doing the London Zoo-Lates shows with Music Box. The combination is nothing short of awesome-genius. And they are jolly nice people. So that's nice. Go to them, kiss their comedy on the nose.

... the comedy never ends
London Improv is

Every Tuesday AND Wednesday.Time: Doors 7:30pm, Show 8pm - 10pm with interval.Cost: £5 on the door.Where: The Miller, 96 Snowsfields Road, London Bridge, London, SE1 3SS.

Friday 17th June
Amy Cooke-Hodgson is running a special impro-basics workshop on Friday:

WHAT?
The session will cover a selection of impro comedy games and scene work techniques. Classes are designed to encourage participants to become more confident, open and accepting performers.

WHO?
Perhaps you’ve used impro during the audition/rehearsal process and would like to build your confidence in tackling situations unknown.
You may have some impro experience but would like to play some more in an encouraging environment.
Perhaps you've little experience of performance but just want to give it a bash.... you're very welcome!

WHEN?
Friday 17th June 6.30 to 9.30p.m.

WHERE?
The Rag Factory, Off Brick Lane

COST
£10 The class has a maximum of 20 places that book up quickly, so email us to reserve your space (pay on the day). amycookehodgson@gmail.com

WORKSHOP LEADER
Directing performance for the past 10 years, Amy Cooke-Hodgson is a qualified teacher and co-founder of Maple Giant Theatre. She has experience in improvising with a variety of groups (including Showstopper, Austentatious, The Oxford Imps, Mother's Ruin, Scenes from Communal Living, Multi-Story, Adventure Incorporated, Abando'man and Racing Minds). As well as studying impro at IO in Chicago and with some of the North American greats ( Bill Arnett, Shawn Kinley, Mauro Hantman & Cathcart&Olson), she has performed at the Gilded Balloon in Edinburgh for the past 5 years in a 5* sell-out short-form impro show, toured the USA in an impro musical, toured regional theatres making up songs and made over 200 appearances at the Wheatsheaf. www.amycookehodgson.com

A Date With Curt Hatred

Ryan Millar has over a dozen years’ experience performing improvised comedy throughout Canada and Europe. He started in Vancouver with long-form pioneers !nstant Theatre, introducing a number of different formats and styles to the city. He then ended up in Amsterdam working with Boom Chicago, where he rediscovered his love for short-form.

"After numerous scheduling SNAFUs, I finally had a date with the legendary Curt Hatred. I'd never met (or even seen) him before; this isn't surprising, for he's a shadowy figure. What is surprising is how magnetic he is in person.

A bon vivant, raconteur and something of a gadabout. Curt Hatred is also a sexual philosopher, battery farmer, performance art reconstructionist and scout leader. Among other things.

My encounter was both brief and delightful; he's simultaneously more and less than human. He was the inspiration guiding a pataphysical intervention at The Miller pub. It was entirely improvised.

On the surface, it would have appeared as a show in which Michael Brunström directed a group of improvisers in a longform-via-shortform improv format. It was that, and it was good.

Various narrative threads were explored. A refrigerated love story touched down on a tropical island, via vigilant veganism and religious symbolism. It made sense in a way that transcended ordinary sense. In fact, maybe I do understand pataphysics after all.

And hiding backstage rifling through handbags and leaving half-eaten cheese sandwiches, was Curt himself. I'm grateful for the chance to be in the room with the man, and on the basis of this, will seek out his back catalogue of b-sides."

The Curt Hatred 'Pataphysical Intervention happened at The Miller, 8th June 2011, directed by Michael Brunström.

Friday, 10 June 2011

Crunchy Frog needs you, computer-human

Crunchy Frog are looking for a good web developer who loves impro, and would enjoy a chance to relaunch and redesign The Crunchy Frog Collective website. It would be a great opportunity for someone who wants to be a part of this great movement into the public eye.

The Crunchy Frog website is the best place to go for nationwide coverage of the UK impro scene. It's a great resource and there's loads of information on there. As impro in the UK is burgeoning, the chaps who run it want to make it even more valuable for improvisers and for the general public.

There will be some money available but - as it's not a money-making site, it's mostly done for love. If you're passionate about impro and you're a web-developer, why not combine those two things?

Tech stuff:
Currently the site uses a mix of open source Cutenews, Yabb and WebCalendar. Ideally CFC want all that transferred onto one (possibly Wordpress) system, but they are open to ideas.

If you are interested (baring in mind it'd be really cool) either contact us here at London Improv, or go directly to Dylan Emery.
London Improv - LondonImprov@gmail.com
Dylan Emery - dylan.emery@thestickingplace.com

Sunday, 5 June 2011

This Week at The London Improv Comedy Club

Yeah! Stuff is happening! And when we say 'stuff' we mean 'all sorts of different things: variety, magic, the living breathing thrill of improvisation pouncing from the dark and pushing laughter out of your socks.'

You could sit at home and experience nothing, or you could get out into the world and go on an adventure. So, fuel-up your hovercraft and see some live comedy... Here's how:

Tuesday 7th June
It's those intrepid songsters Music Box (@musicboximprov) again. If it's adventure you want you can't get much better than this, as the brightly dressed folk take your offers and create a magical story out of their imaginations.
"A real improvised musical with narrative, genuinely good songs, sometimes moving, very funny songs and all that stuff that people work on for years writing a musical."
- Earls Court Festival

Music Box are joined by the students of @TheDavidShore, as they gather their impro skills on stage for an alumni performance. Expect a fast-paced, crazy character-driven, humour mill with some really brilliant performers.

Wednesday 8th June
Uh-oh.. too much choice today. Watcha gonna choose?
At the normal spot at @TheMillerPub, the ultimate enigma Curt Hatred makes a welcome return to our lives. @TheStroid directs a surreal journey to a 'Pataphysical Intervention. Real life and whimsy, which is the most important? Find out at 8pm on Wednesday.

And Curt Hatred is accompanied into comedy-land by the exceptional chaps from Do Not Adjust Your Stage.
Set in a world where TV has been destroyed, where you have no access to such classics as "Britain's Got Talons" and "Vanessa Felch", DNAYS create an entire evening's television schedule just for you. It's like going to the ITV studios and watching the WHOLE THING (but without having to cope with Cheryl Cole's stupid blummin' face.)

Tuesday and Wednesday, £5, 8pm, The Miller Pub.

... the comedy never ends
London Improv is

Every Tuesday AND Wednesday.Time: Doors 7:30pm, Show 8pm - 10pm with interval.Cost: £5 on the door.Where: The Miller, 96 Snowsfields Road, London Bridge, London, SE1 3SS.


But if North London takes your fancy, pop on over to The Cockpit Theatre, Marylebone.

Look, all the details are in the picture there. 'Twill be a magnificent night with two spectacular groups whetting your entertainment appetite with their comedy-water.

featuring

Music Box @musicboximprov
"Music Box stand out for their ambition, their variety, their creativity... and the fact they actually can sing... this is the purest style of improv"
★★★★★
- FringeGuru
"The best impro I've ever seen!" - Nicola, Producer

8bit Improv @8bitimprov
"You guys got good game" - David Shore, Monkey Toast
"Slick… good naturalistic acting…" - George, Music Box

Tickets are still available from here: ticketweb.co.uk


If you would like email updates, send a message to LondonImprov@gmail.co.uk saying so.