#ChicaGoUK: The Funkhouse

Yes, there really are more of us going to Chicago this summer. Here's another one. Jonathan Monkhouse is the creator of London Improv and has been producing improv shows since it began. Over the years he's been part of 8bit, Music Box and a few improvathons. He goes to Chicago tomorrow morning. He is currently talking about himself in the third person.

Tell us a bit about yourself..

I studied to be an actor at university, but didn't enjoy learning scripts or being on stage and ended up mostly doing set-design and lighting. I saw Baby Wants Candy way back in 2001, but just thought they were superhuman, and didn't realise that anyone can train in improv.
I didn't set foot on stage after uni, until I got dragged to an improv workshop about 7 years later where, predictably, my obsessive personality caught the bug and have been improvising since. I also do a lot of impro-lighting, the most fun of which is for Showstoppers because they work in theatres with proper lighting rigs.

What's the best improv call-out you've ever heard?

My favourite one ever was a call for a location, which was "in a time-travelling caravan." Sadly that was a rehearsal though, so I don't know if it counts [even though I am the one conducting this interview, so I make the rules... oooh, Meta]. The best one for a show was probably Orient Express, because it led to the most satisfying show I've ever been in.

Which improv course are you doing, and what made you choose that one?

I'm doing the week intensive at The Annoyance Theatre. Earlier this year a bunch of people started saying they were going to iO for five weeks, and I couldn't do that. But then The Annoyance came up in conversation and that seemed to be a perfect fit. I like the idea that The Annoyance focusses closely on a performer's instinct.. slightly different to other schools of thought. I think if you want to become better at something you should be open to all the different ways of doing it, seek out all the best practitioners, and find out what works best for you. Like Bruce Wayne does.
I'll be learning Ju-jitsu from Mick Napier and bare-knuckle brawling from Susan Messing.

When/how did you start planning your trip?

About a week after the Annoyance conversation I booked the course. Then I set about trying to get my friend Chris [Mead] to come too. Once that was sorted, we looked for a place to stay. Originally we tried to keep it as cheap as possible, but then I found an amazing apartment to rent and our Chicago motto became "Go big, or go home." Our apartment is absolutely beautiful, but so expensive it makes me feel nauseous.

What are you most excited about?

I think living in an improv bubble for 10 days will be energising and helpful. Being in workshops and seeing shows for that whole time will be really useful for developing as an improviser.
There is talk of someone in Chicago producing a UK improviser show for us, so if that happens it'll be really fun. And seeing a new city is always cool.

Are there any shows you HAVE to see while you're over there?

There's more I want to see than I'll probably have time for. I really want to see TJ and Dave, Messing With A Friend, Felt [improvised puppet show] and Co-ed Prison Sluts. Seeing Baby Wants Candy in their natural habitat would be great. I've also heard that Improvised Shakespeare are pretty phenomenal.
Stupidly I've also set myself the challenge of finding the 'worst improv show' in Chicago, although this will be pretty hard to do tactfully. And it may not be that rewarding, apart from a good dose of schadenfreude.

What are you going to do in Chicago when you're not improvising?

Eat... and I've heard there is an excellent architecture tour, on a boat. Not something I'd think too much about, but a bunch of different people have told me about it individually. The new Batman film comes out while I'm there so I want to do the American movie theatre thing with a half tonne of Coca-cola and a 3 metre hotdog.

How do you think the trip will change you?

Pretty badly, financially. Afterwards, I'm flying straight from Chicago to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for a month. In total I won't see my house for just under 6 weeks. Or be earning much money. I'm trying not to think about it too much.
As for my improv, I'm just looking forward to getting back into it. I've been doing so much of the production/lighting side of shows that my stage work has really suffered. All this will change.

Do you think you'll go back another time?

There's an idea that Chris and I return next year to do the iO five-week intensive. But there's loads of other really exciting cities with interesting improv scenes to explore. I've been asked to play in the Hideout Theatre 44-hr Improv Marathon next June in Austin, TX, and I don't want to miss that. And I've had invites to Edmonton in Canada too.
I should start entering the lottery.

If you could name a new impro group anything, what would it be?

I've wanted to call an improv group "The Margate Archery Club" for years, but all my show format ideas are science-fiction based, and no-one else seems to like it. I heard someone suggest "The Racists" once, which I enjoyed but I can't see it taking off.
How about "The Smell of Regret"?


Jonathan appears in Project Two, Silly String Theory and Ghostbusters: The Musical.
His Twitter name is @the_funkhouse
Follow all the improvisers at #ChicaGoUk

#ChicaGoUK: Reppin' N.I.

It's not just Londoners heading to Chicago this Summer. Or folk from Brighton (London's beach). The "Further Afield" region is being fairly represented, like this 'un from Northern Ireland. Morgan Hearst.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I started stand up comedy 3 years ago at the age of 36. I had always wanted to try stand up but Belfast didn't have an open mic scene until then. Around 2 years ago a friend asked if I wanted to go with him to an improv class at a local arts centre. I went along thinking that it would help my stand up but fell in love with it as an art form in it's self. Last year we started a team called Yes And. To date we are the only regularly performing improv team in Northern Ireland.

What's the best improv call out you've ever heard?

We play in local pubs so a lot of call outs tend to be on the coarse side. I once asked for a location that would fit the stage and got 'The Congo'. We also seem to get the suggestion 'At a meat factory' a lot. I have no idea why.

Which improv course are you doing and what made you choose that one?

I'm doing the summer Intensive at iO. I wanted to learn long form and as iO is where it was created it seemed to be the place to go.

When/how did you start planning your trip?

I booked the course in September or October not sure which but was pretty much as soon as they had it available.

What are you most excited about?

I have signed up for workshops with Susan Messing and Jet Eveleth. Watching videos of Messing with a Friend and The Reckoning were in large part what inspired me to come to Chicago so I'm excited about learning directly from them. I expect to be a little star struck.

Are there any shows you HAVE to see while over there?

TJ and Dave at iO, Messing with a Friend at the Annoyance.

What are you going to do in Chicago when you're not improvising?

The usual tourist stuff, go see Batman and I'm looking for a few open mic spots.

How do you think the trip will change you?

It will leave me with massive debt. I hope to come back to belfast and show the rest of our team what I've learned and start performing long form on regular basis. Who knows, we might get a Belfast long form scene going. That would be worth the bill.

If you could name a new impro group anything you like, what would be?

I've been trying to convince our group to change our name to Giant Frog. So that.


Morgan's website is FailedHuman.com
His Twitter handle is MorganHearst
Follow all the UK improvisers going to Chicago at #ChicaGoUK.

#ChicaGoUK: Chris Mead

Seriously.. more? Yes.
Chris Mead is one quarter/half of two-to-four-person-sci-fi improv duo/group Project Two. He also runs cult Doctor Who podcast The Ood Cast. He's off to Chicago in exactly one week.

Tell us a bit about yourself..

I'm just under 6 foot. I have dark blonde hair and blue eyes. I smile with my mouth closed because my teeth are worn and uneven. I like my nose, it's pointy. My skin's starting to show my age so I moisturise daily. When I really laugh I always get tears in my eyes. I like comic books and films by Woody Allen, the Coen Brothers, Wes Anderson and those guys that made Crank. I have flat feet and a bleeding liberal heart. I'm a Christian but not like that. I have an obsession with popular (geek) culture, self-help books, salted caramel and improv.

What's the best improv call-out you've ever heard?

Anything that my wife comes up with. She's not an improviser herself but undertakes her role as audience suggestion-giver with a zeal that borders on fanaticism. Whereas one might expect such classics as film noir, taxidermy and kitchen during the course of an evening, what you might get when Laura is in the audience would be more along the lines of Tartuffe, bounty hunter, episiotomy, Westeros, Stockholm syndrome and, on one particularly memorable occasion, chode (I had to look this one up on Urban Dictionary). I know that simple suggestions often yield the best scenes but I just love the look on people's faces when she gets up a good head of steam.

Which improv course are you doing, and what made you choose that one?

I'm off to do the Annoyance Theatre intensive. There are many reasons for this but they can basically be boiled down to the following three: time, money and Susan Messing.

When/how did you start planning your trip?

I started planning the trip in 2001 when I saw Baby Wants Candy at the Edinburgh Fringe and found the laws of theatre didn't make sense anymore. I saw their entire month's run that year and resolved immediately to learn to do what they did. I have to admit preparations for the trip have been pretty slow over this last decade but I've really kicked it up a gear in the last few months.

What are you most excited about?

I don't understand the question. Instead let me make a short list of what I'm not excited about: nothing.

Are there any shows you HAVE to see while you're over there?

I will watch improv of every stripe I can while I'm out there. I'll watch free shows and beginner Harold groups and main stage spectaculars and legends and train wrecks and crazy ass 'We'll improvise your LinkedIn page' experiments. I'll watch Jon talking in his sleep. If I could prepare improv in solution and inject it directly into my veins I would. I'm going to be at the frickin' well spring of improv for 10 days, what won't I watch?

Also TJ & Dave.

What are you going to do in chicago when you're not improvising?

Closing my eyes for the 300-400 milliseconds it takes me to blink.

How do you think the trip will change you?

I'll probably be the best stand-up the world has ever seen.

Do you think you'll go back another time?

This trip is actually a recce for the full fat, balls-to-the-wall 2 month improv odyssey I'm planning for next year. Built into the very foundations of this trip is the expectation I'll be back for an extended stay within a year. So this one is like an hors d'oeuvre.

Or an hors d'improv if you will.

If you could name a new impro group anything you like, what would it be?

I think I just answered that in the last question.


Chris performs in Project Two, and writes and performs The Ood Cast.
His Twitter handle is @TheOodCast.
Follow all the UK improvisers going to Chicago at #ChicaGoUK.

#ChicaGoUK: A-bag

It's begun. Some folk are already over the pond and resting on the lily pads. One such folk is Andrew "A-bag" Gentilli. He's been in New York - for improv reasons - and heads off to Chicago soon.

Tell us a bit about yourself..

Improv seems to be a healthy and natural outlet for my brand of insanity. I get a thrill from losing myself in a character and cutting loose on an improv stage in various show formats. I run a short-form group 'The Inflatables', a long-form narrative group 'Storybag', and am a member of musical troupe 'Music Box' and Harold team 'The Family Business', who have just played at the Del Close Marathon in New York, which was unbelievably good fun.

What's the best improv call-out you've ever heard?

'Trebuchet'

Which improv course are you doing, and what made you choose that one?

iO Summer Intensive in Chicago kicks off in a few days. I chose it because of strong recommendations from peers who went in recent years, and after a particularly inspiring class from iO instructor Jason Chin in London.

When/how did you start planning your trip?

Put the word out that I was going and there seemed to be a lot of interest from friends so we set about booking online and sorting shared accommodation.

What are you most excited about?

Being challenged by the truckload of new techniques and strategies that the course will hopefully offer, and playing with a new team of improvisers.

Are there any shows you HAVE to see while you're over there?

I'll see what's on offer and take it from there, but the iO style is one that chimes with me so hoping to see plenty of inspiring gigs.

What are you going to do in chicago when you're not improvising?

See shows, socialise, relax, cook myself by the lake.

How do you think the trip will change you?

I hope to be humbled and inspired by seeing what's possible outside of my usual improv experience. I'll likely become quite annoying as I try to force my new learning on people back in London.

Do you think you'll go back another time?

It's likely, there are more styles of improv to explore...

If you could name a new impro group anything you like, what would it be?

Roasting Bitch.


A-bag is in Music Box and The Family Business.
Follow all the UK improvisers going to Chicago this Summer at #ChicaGoUK.

#ChicaGoUK: Liz Peters

I tell you what, I'm getting pretty envious of all those folk heading off to Chicago this Summer. Luckily, one of them is me. Being envious of yourself is easily remedied.

Liz Peters is not me, though I am envious of her:

Tell us a bit about yourself..

My name is Liz Peters and I am in The Maydays. I trained as an actor at Mountview and have enjoyed working in lots of performance jobs in the UK and abroad on stage and screen. A few years ago I decided to focus more on comedy as it has always been my favourite. I knuckled down and wrote a sitcom, which was an epic feat at the time, so I took some improv classes to help get over writer’s block. What a discovery! It literally changed my life, my approach to working and the way I spend my time. Now, as well as The Maydays, I write and perform in shows like Newsrevue and create sketches and songs about things I find funny – which are invariably rude or quite dark.

What's the best improv call-out you've ever heard?

I was teaching a class and asked for an emotion as stimulus for a scene. Someone joyfully called out ‘swimming!’ and we were in bits. That led to their troupe name being ‘Swimming Is An Emotion’ so it proves the old improv mantra that there are no mistakes, only gifts. (Turns out he thought I’d asked for ‘a motion’ if you’re trying to join up the mental dots)

Which improv course are you doing, and what made you choose that one?

I’m doing the five week course at iO. I suppose the main reason is that if I’m going to go that far and spend all that dosh I may as well do it in a big way. I get to live in Chicago for longer. Maybe there should be a better reason than that but there you go.

When/how did you start planning your trip?

We worked with Jason Chin from iO in February and he invited us to perform in Whirled News Tonight which is a massive honour. I’ve always heard how amazing Chicago was for improv and I started to realise that what I had considered to a financially impossible pipe dream was actually a viable career investment.

What are you most excited about?

I am very excited to have the chance to immerse myself fully in improv for a good few weeks. I’m looking forward to working with lots of different tutors and improvisers and absorbing little bits from all of them. And, of course, watching the shows. The improv scene in England is so small, I’m looking forward to seeing all the different things that the troupes are doing out there and having my mind blown.

Are there any shows you HAVE to see while you're over there?

I definitely want to get to see ‘TJ and Dave’ but on the whole I’m very open-minded and I’m up for everything. I’m imagining it’ll be like being in an improv sweetshop so I don’t want to make too many plans – just see what looks tasty!

What are you going to do in chicago when you're not improvising?

Seeing as many shows as I can primarily. I’ve heard that the Mexican food is pretty special in Chicago and I’ll probably try and get to a cubs game. I might try and find an open mic night or something and do some non-improv stuff. I also fantasise about taking a road trip and finding a hidden cabin by a lake one weekend, cos America is tiny and everything is really close together isn’t it?!

How do you think the trip will change you?

Hopefully I’ll come back as a better improviser! Even planning the trip has shifted my attitude up a gear towards making this my full time job. So I want to arm myself with the tools to do that.

Do you think you'll go back another time?

Ask me afterwards. It might be a dump and everyone could be lying!

If you could name a new impro group anything you like, what would it be?

It would have to be something that organically came from the group. A random line in a scene or something personal and specific to them. Let’s be honest, if it was me it would probably be rude.


Liz plays in The Maydays and has her own website.
Follow all the improvisers at #ChicaGoUK

#ChicaGoUK: Charis Bury

Hey, you know the drill by now. There are loads of improvisers from the UK going to Chicago this summer. They're off to sup from the sweet nectar of the biggest concentration of improv in the world. Here's another impro-human taking a course this year:

Tell us a bit about yourself..

Hello, I'm Charis Bury. I'm a writer and bar manager (they compliment quite nicely, don't you think?). I first found Improv after my writer/director boss and mentor passed away in 2008. After living in my PJs for a year and watching a LOT of E! News, I decided that I needed some funny in my life. So I booked an 8-week course at Second City, and as I'm sure you'll all understand, I found the love of my life.

What's the best improv call-out you've ever heard?

My best friend Aimee gets terrified in front of any crowd or in social situations where she is asked to speak. She recently came to a show of mine in which they asked for suggestions. She shouted something that came out more like a gargle, which the host took to be 'Layers'. It was very funny indeed, and developed into a bizarre scene.

Which improv course are you doing, and what made you choose that one?

I'm doing the iO Summer Intensive, as I asked a bunch of my Chicago friends and they thought I'd love it. I've only ever done a weekend of Long form before so it's still a very wild beast to me... but I'm a' tame that sucker!

When/how did you start planning your trip?

Last year it dawned on me that 2012 was the last year of my twenties. I decided to fill it with awesomeness just in case I forget the blur of emotional nonsense that the rest of the decade has provided. I realised that a trip like this would require money, so I just went on a quiz show and won thousands... true story.

What are you most excited about?

Lake Michigan! No seriously... the men.
But also getting back into a scene so wildly steeped in Improv that you can't help but feel like you're part of something really exciting. You can live, breathe & eat Improv in the windy city. It's Just. So. Cool.

Are there any shows you HAVE to see while you're over there?

Anything by pH or The Cupid Players. The list is as long as my arm.

What are you going to do in chicago when you're not improvising?

Eating stuff. I'm also dragging a bunch of my fellow Limeys up to Michigan for a beach day-trip if they'll let me. I have both friends and family there so it's like coming home. I'm tearing up at the thought.

How do you think the trip will change you?

I know it will change me a great deal, it always does. But it's always in unexpected, and wonderful ways. You just have to give in to it.

Do you think you'll go back another time?

Many times. I've practically brought a house there.

If you could name a new impro group anything you like, what would it be?

Big Hairy Men and fill it with both big hairy men and 5'4 girls like myself. I don't know why I find this funny.


Follow all the UK improvisers going to Chicago this Summer at #ChicaGoUK

#ChicaGoUK: Alex Fradera

Look at his smiley face. Look at it.
Here's the next instalment of our 'Friends answering questions about their forthcoming trip to Chicago' series. Or it's short name: "FAQATFTTC"

Tell us a bit about yourself..
I came to improvisation in '07, first through Keith Johnstone’s Impro, then on to the Spontaneity Shop, who gave me a great start; since then I haven't looked back. I've had the honour of working with teachers from all over – Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Chicago – as well as mentor figures from Europe and Asia. Currently I perform in the Harold team The Family Business, short-form team The Inflatables and narrative long-form group Storybag.
Outside of improv I act as a workplace psychologist, freelancing for organisations and blogging on research to make it accessible to all.
http://www.occdigest.org.uk/

What's the best improv call-out you've ever heard?
I think a call-out is a lot like any other offer: what is done with it is far more important than the thing itself. Anything, absolutely anything can be played with if you're receptive to it, so it comes down to how it inspires that particular group of improvisers at that particular time. Personally, I'm tickled when I get a concept that is uncommon but still concrete, like nemesis or chimera, but that's just down to the mix of weird that I am.

Which improv course are you doing, and what made you choose that one?
I'm doing the iO summer intensive. I'd heard good things about it from people I trusted, which is all you can ask for.

When/how did you start planning your trip? 
I started planning in earnest when The Family Business was accepted to perform at the Del Close Marathon at New York's UCB Theater. That automatically provided some tent-poles to shape the trip, between which I've already squeezed in a visit to D.C. and will hit up a live roleplay convention in New Jersey before final destination: Chicago.

What are you most excited about?
Meeting improvisers from all over. Getting to know improvisers from my own back yard. Exposure to different teachers and different philosophies. Sausage-meat-base-gluten-free-pizza (meat on cheese on
meat). The architecture. Getting to know people who have nothing to do with
improvisation.

Are there any shows you HAVE to see while you're over there?
I'll find out when we are given our manilla envelopes on arrival, I guess!

What are you going to do in chicago when you're not improvising?
Walk around, write, read, play games.

How do you think the trip will change you?
Ask me after!

Do you think you'll go back another time?
Ask me after!

If you could name a new impro group anything you like, what would it be?
When I was younger I wanted to name my band 'You, you fat fuck'. But I definitely wouldn't do that for an impro group. I rather like 'Mirrorball'.


Alex plays in The Family Business and The Inflatables.
Follow all the UK improvisers going to Chicago this summer at #ChicaGoUK

#ChicaGoUK: Sarah Castell

Sarah is off to Chicago soon. Bid her well and read about her expectations. Here are the words:

Tell us a bit about yourself..

Hullo! I am Sarah and I usually do social research, and working with groups to help them be creative, and teaching slightly left-field courses to children involving art and history and stuff. And then I do as much improvising as I can eat.

I am at the moment in the group Red Lorry Yellow Lorry and we’re having fun with short form singing improvising at the moment, with some other formats to come later in the year. I dabble in the Spontaneity Shop group Banjo Lizard as well.

What's the best improv call-out you've ever heard?

I have the memory of a gnat so can only remember ones from the last seven days. A nice one recently was: What does he want? "To climb Mount Everest". And what’s getting in his way? "Llamas!”

Which improv course are you doing, and what made you choose that one?

I am doing the IO 5-weeker because I want to just do nothing but improvising, for days, and days, and days, and days, and days, until it all froths up out of my laughing face.

When/how did you start planning your trip?

I realised earlier in the year that I might be able to swing it, and performed a cunning salary negotiation. I get time off FREE!! As long as I, er, take a pay cut, relinquish some job perks, and work more hours. In your face, The Man!!!

What are you most excited about?

Refer to earlier answer about the days of improvising and the frothing and the face etc.

Are there any shows you HAVE to see while you're over there?

Want to see Baby Wants Candy. A lot.

What are you going to do in chicago when you're not improvising?

Ride around on a bicycle belonging to an improvising bloke, who says I can borrow it. If it’s an improvising bike it will have the benefit that I can drive it through things if I forget to concentrate on where it is.

How do you think the trip will change you?

I’d like to be more flexible, more confident as an improviser and hopefully in life too, shake off some of the horrible office-y cautiousness that is so easy to sink into.

My husband also says I will appreciate him more when I get home, as nobody will be around to change my lightbulbs for me or troubleshoot my computer in Chicago.

Do you think you'll go back another time?

Depends what it’s like! If it’s brilliant, then yes!

If you could name a new impro group anything you like, what would it be?

When we started the Red Lorry team some people wanted to call it the Massive Fascists. Tempting though it was, I thought that was wrong in many ways, so I imposed my iron will and crushed them like a tyrannous despot. You know, I still don’t know why they wanted to call it that.


Sarah plays in Red Lorry Yellow Lorry in London.
Follow all the improvisers at #ChicaGoUK

#ChicaGoUK: Lloydie

Here's the second of our interviews with the multitude of UK improvisers tasting the delights of the Chicago improv scene this summer. "Lloydie" James Lloyd is a representative of our Northern impro scene, and about as nice a chap as you can know.


Tell us a bit about yourself..

I'm Lloydie, I play with MissImp in Nottingham and am also part of MissImp's 4-man longform team "Fisticuffs". I'm also a radio presenter and have worked for various commercial radio stations and the BBC in glamourous locations around the country, including the Segensworth Industrial Estate in Fareham. I've always had an interest in comedy and performance and hd written a couple of short plays, performed at the Edinburgh Fringe a couple of times but never properly given improv thought until I moved to Nottingham in 2008. I'm a huge fan of the TV show 30 Rock, and whilst nerding out on some YouTube clips of out-takes from the show, I stumbled across footage of Tina Fey performing in a televised version of ASSSCAT. I thought "I want to do that in Nottingham", googled "Improv Nottingham", MissImp was the first result on the search.... and now here I am bankrupting myself by going to Chicago.

What's the best improv call-out you've ever heard?

I like really simple suggestions. A simple call-out like "Iron" or "Confusion" are bigger gifts to improvisers than most audience members realise. There is one girl who is a regular at MissImp shows who had a habit of calling out "spoon" as her suggestion. She is now known only as "spoon girl" and she has a Facebook group dedicated to her.

Which improv course are you doing, and what made you choose that one?

I'm doing the Annoyance one-week intensive for a variety of reasons. Until now, most of my training has been UCB-based. I love the Upright Citizens Brigade and I love their focus on game. If they'd done a higher level intensive I'd have probably taken that as it's cheaper for me to get to / stay in NYC as I have friends there. However, when I saw the Annoyance intensive, I saw an opportunity to learn different ways of thinking about my improv. I've read Mick Napier's book and to be taught by him was a big draw - similarly, I've read Susan Messing's contribution to "Art By Committee" and heard her on podcasts. I love the attitude she brings to improv and the chance to learn from her is very exciting.

When/how did you start planning your trip? 

As usual, Twitter led me astray. I saw Chris Mead tweet about the course. He sent me a link to it and I got way too excited about it. I already knew I was in the market for an intensive and hadn't found one in New York. When I heard other Brits were going too, that sealed the deal. I knew there would be other people bringing this stuff back and using it in their improv work and that's really exciting.

What are you most excited about? 

I love getting to see improv. In Nottingham I don't get to see shows because I'm in them and we are pretty much the only game in town. I might see occasional touring improv shows or get to go to London occasionally to see other groups. However, when I'm in New York I've always seen one or two shows a night. I'll be doing the same in Chicago and having a shameless binge on all the improv they have to offer.

Are there any shows you HAVE to see while you're over there?

I've heard so much about TJ and Dave I have to see them. The Reckoning, by reputation, are a longform team I feel I must see. Messing With A Friend is Susan Messing's show so I'll definitely be seeing that. Baby Wants Candy, of course, and The Armando Diaz Experience. Those are my main ones, but my actual list is already way longer than that.

What are you going to do in chicago when you're not improvising? 

I guess watching improv, spending time with improvisers and everyone has said I have to try the pizza, so I'll be doing that too. They probably have sights to see too, don't they? I should probably do that while I'm there too.

How do you think the trip will change you?

Annoyance seems to have a very instinct-based approach which I think will be good for me. I'm quite a head-y improviser, although perhaps a little less so more recently. I think quite a few people who do a lot of "game" focussed improv seem to get a bit stuck in their heads, certainly to begin with. I'm hoping the instruction I get will free me a little more. I think just spending time with more UK longform improvisers will make a difference.

Do you think you'll go back another time?

I'd love to do the IO intensive but I'm not sure on the odds of me winning the lottery or marrying a rich man so... well... in theory, absolutely.

If you could name a new impro group anything you like, what would it be?

I really like the name "Fisticuffs" which is our longform team in Nottingham. I can't take credit for the name, but I think it embodies a certain campness that our group has. I don't think I can pre-name a team without knowing them, or at least going for a drink with them first.


Lloydie plays in Miss Imp in Nottingham.
His Twitter handle is @LloydieJL
Follow all the improvisers at #ChicaGoUk

#ChicaGoUK: Jason Blackwater

This summer something close to a metric tonne of improvisers from the UK descend on Chicago, Illinois to check out the improv scene and study at one (or more) of the improv schools.
We at London Improv think that's quite a notable thing, so we decided to interview as many of those folk as we could. First up - Jason Blackwater. Yes, he might sound like a character from Game of Thrones, but he's also a jolly nice man. And a giant.

Tell us a bit about yourself..

I'm Jason Blackwater. I'm in The Maydays and Silly String Theory.
I started performing improv at drama school under the brief tutorship of Ken Campbell, Sean McCann and Adam Megiddo where I toured improvised musicals for just over a week. To finally realise that it was possible to be a professional improviser was a revelation and I intended to find a way, once I graduated, to perform improv as a sideline to my acting. I even had my own troupe for a while, Improv's Dog, doing all of my favourite short form games. I then put the idea to the side for a while until I moved to brighton and immediately joined The Maydays and it's been like that ever since. Acting is now my sideline to the improv and shall remain so for the foreseeable.

What's the best improv call-out you've ever heard?

In one of The Maydays' student showcases recently, upon a request of a topic of study someone yelled "Speleology". I played the old, "Well, of course I know what speleology is, and of course the cast know what speleolgy is but for the benefit of the one or two people in the audience who don't know..." routine. The audience member DID know and it is, as you will of course realise, the study of caves.

Which improv course are you doing, and what made you choose that one?

iO summer intensive [5 weeks]. The Maydays learn through the skills from the iO school of thought and thought I'd go and learn from the source.

When/how did you start planning your trip?

It had been in the back of my mind to go since I'd been with The Maydays for a few months.. so 2010? I never really knew how I was going to afford it but at the beginning of this year I just thought about this summer more seriously. Then Jason Chin came to Brighton and agreed that if enough Maydays got over there he'd allow us to do the second half of Whirled News Tonight [Chicago's longest running improv show] and it was set. by hook or by crook I was going this summer and I just booked it.

What are you most excited about?

The shows. seeing more improv than I can imagine and seeing people I've only seen before on YouTube, on stage.

Are there any shows you HAVE to see while you're over there?

TJ & Dave, Assscat 3000 (I've got a few days in NY too), Baby Wants Candy (again), Improvised Shakespeare, Too Much Sun Will Make Baby Go Blind

What are you going to do in chicago when you're not improvising?

I've resolved to find a steakhouse with a steak big enough to win a t-shirt. Mainly, though, I'll be meeting up with new people and the dozen or so British improvisers who'll be out there too.

How do you think the trip will change you?

I'm hoping to go up a gear in my improv. 5 weeks away from my usual crutch of singing will really improve my scene work, and with a bit of luck bring back some understanding of what I'm doing beyond the instinctual. Plus any adventure will change you in unexpected ways and I'm looking forward to those too

Do you think you'll go back another time?

My original plan in 2010 was to do the year at Second City and I'd still like to do that. I also want to go to LA and Austin and check out the scenes there as well

If you could name a new impro group anything you like, what would it be?

I don't know. I think improv companies need to arrive at their name organically. There's a common feeling in the company and a sense of ownership but a wonderful opportunity was missed in a beginners class I was witness to. They'd hit upon the idea that the really whacky and ungrounded thoughts came from the Big Banana Place and wished they'd gone for that as their name but it wasn't to be. Still my favourite and it's up for grabs!


Jason Blackwater appears regularly in The Maydays and Silly String Theory.
His Twitter name is @jblackwater
Follow all the improvisers at #ChicaGoUk

PPP 3 - What are You Doing?

It took me a while to work this out in writing because it’s a really simple and obvious idea and therefore easily overlooked. I think missing this is what caused me a lot of confusion when I started out learning improv.

Performance

This is a quote from the 1977 December issue of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction;

“Intelligence and creativity are not what readers want. What readers want is the result…”

This is the sentence that confirmed in my mind the idea of the performance or the product in improv. When you get up and switch on your mental engine of creativity what is the output that you are creating? In terms of shows it is very easy to see the different kinds of performance.

For example I saw a scene from Music Box a while ago which was set in a Jacuzzi and some of the cast created the whole thing through physicality. That was really fun to see, another image that sticks in my mind is Showstopper where the cast created a beating heart on stage.

This is completely different from the style that the Milk Monitors use for Austentatious. They create a Jane Austen novel for their show, even to the point where their suggestion slip looks like a Penguin classics cover. They don’t use that kind of physicality at all, I’m guessing for practical reasons because you can see how they dress for their shows on their site. Also it makes stylistic sense to me, they are playing in a Wilde/Austen space where things happen in abbey gardens, drawing rooms and library annexes. Watching them feels like watching an actual play that you go to the theatre for.

Very simple difference and makes complete sense, I think you can also think about performance on the smaller scale when it comes down to single scenes and other creations. Even a monologue can have its own form. At iO we were coached to give monologues that were about personal stories to us and also finish it up with a summation of how we felt about it or what we learned on that occasion. That gave really memorable monologues that were easy to take into Harold scenes.

That is not the only way to give a monologue, but that little extra effort of listening to your own monologue and then reacting to it at the end makes a world of difference for other players who are going to use it. Especially in a Harold which is about expanding a single word and exploring all the themes that come out, practicing monologues like that is hitting the ground running. If you are doing a Harold, other shows need different things.

Seeing monologues like that was the last part of the puzzle for me when I was thinking about how to approach improv. Knowing what I want to create and supporting that kind of play is the goal for me in improv right now. Looking it is this way makes it easier for me to learn how to make different kinds of scenes, because it teaches me that I need to put myself in a different mode for different kinds of improv. Same basic engine of adding to what I am given but it’s plugged into a different machine. Doing who, what, where uses a different part from reacting emotionally and they both need their own practice time. Practice them apart and it becomes easier to slip between different modes and be more flexible as an improviser. I will happily learn a certain style of monologue because it helps create a certain show, but I certainly won’t cling to that as ‘how I do monologues’ or ‘the right way to do monologues’.

Conclusion

I try to look at things in terms of Process, Partnership and Performance. There is how I do stuff, how I do stuff with other people and what is this stuff?

This had made it easier for me to use all the conflicting ideas that float around and the different styles. There are good things to find everywhere and there are also dead forms/games/scenes that don’t support anything and are being done by rote. My goal is to find the play in it all so I can enjoy creating a variety of different performances. Cutting it up without seeing that as a cast-iron definition allows me to easily digest all these different experiences I am bombarded with as I improvise. Much like cutting up a lovely potato allows me to stick it in my gob.

Now go and eat a potato.

No, a real one.

PPP 2 - Partnership

Luke Beahan presents the second part of his interesting insight, as he learns about making stuff up in the great improv city of Chicago

Hello and welcome to the second part of my exploration of what people mean when they say 'Improv'. Improvising is really a set of different skills that we use to create sketches, plays or abstract games on stage, and for me it took a while for this to sink in. I just thought of it all as Improv. The second part is:

Partnership

This is something I only really started to get a couple of months ago, and I am still practicing it now. I think I will forever be practicing it, because its all about supporting my partners, and they will always be changing throughout my improv career. I would say this is the most valuable improv skill, and the most difficult to master, because you don't know how well you are doing unless you ask your fellow improvisers.

Supporting your partners means a lot of things, but at the basic level it means coming into every scene and respecting your partners' ideas and reacting to them or heightening them. It means suspending all judgement on what's going on and joining in, and that goes against a lot of habits that we all have.

At a higher level it can also mean supporting the story as a minor character rather than adding to it. I saw a lot of improv in Chicago and a lot of Harolds spiralled out into overly complicated narratives because people kept introducing new characters and ideas instead of picking what they started with and supporting that.

I didn't even realise how guilty I was of such habits until I took a Crunchy Frog workshop earlier this year. My job was to come in at the end of a scene and reincorporate, and it wasn't until Dylan Emery sidecoached me to use only what had come up before that I realised how much new stuff I was adding. When I just reinforced what had already been said I got a laugh and the scene ended on a coherent note. I had been standing offstage judging the scene instead of waiting to support it. You can't invent or support if you are judging.

Think about that example pragmatically, if the scene really was that 'bad' then all I was doing by adding more stuf was prolonging it. By coming in and supporting it the scene ended straight away. So even if you believe that you should be standing there measuring ideas, the only way to avoid doing 'bad' work is to stop thinking that there is such a thing as 'bad' work.

Here is another revelation I got whilst I was in Chicago. I used to get frustrated in scenes with newer improvisers who would ask a lot of questions or make similar scenes where they don't add much information into the scene. I used to think of it as them 'not giving me anything'. But they are always giving you something. Craig Uhlir was my teacher in the last week and he said something offhand that clicked for me, always be assuming. So if they are just asking you questions about how you are going to do an operation, just assume they are after your job, or they are a health inspector, and endow them. You have reacted to their input and given them something in return, parternship yay! If they are really fresh then there is a chance they will deny that endowment and you are stuck, but that's the learning process.

So now I try not to think of people as 'not giving me anything', instead I feel more frustrated because they are not playing with me. That is a judgement-free observation that allows me to step up my interaction with them. How do you get an improviser to play with you? Play with them by respecting their ideas and react to them. There is no such thing as a bad improviser, only a scared improviser.

This contains a lot of humps to overcome. You have the idea from your own Process that everything you say is cool, but now you have to modify that to fit in with other people. Also the 'Do unto others' paradox, you have to be completely supportive, but what if they aren't supporting you? Can you even make that kind of judgement in the middle of a scene?

Partnership is what I would call the real core of being an improviser. If I can't get up and make anyone look good then I have a long way to go. That might sound like a ridiculous goal, but people can do it. If you really want to create something unique then you need to learn how to create with other people, so the creation is more than the sum of its parts. Otherwise all you have is two or more people being funny or interesting on stage.

Next up - Performance, what it's all about.

WikipediaWictionaryChambers (UK)Google imagesGoogle defineThe Free DictionaryJoin exampleWordNetGoogleUrban DictionaryAnswers.comrhymezone.comMerriam-Webster

PPP 1 - Improv is Meaningless

Luke Beahan is in Chicago right now, learning the ways of Improv in one of the best Improv cities in the world. Lucky so-and-so.

There I said it, improv is just pretending, you can do whatever you want.

Often when I hear or read people using the term impro or improv I have no idea (and thus I imply they probably have no idea) what they mean when they say impro. Something I was thinking about before I came to Chicago has now crystallised in my mind, and I will now explain how talking about impro as this unified thing confused me and held back my learning.

When people talk about improvising they are actually talking about 3 different things, which I have named as Process, Partnership and Performance. Just to be clear these are headings I use to organise things in my mind, if I treated them as absolute definitions then I would have a completely different problem blocking my learning.

Process

Process is what goes on inside you and brings up the ideas you use in improv. Complete beginners and dabblers in improv have the same problem when it comes to process, they are afraid of getting it wrong, so they filter everything that comes out of them. Improvisers that never seem stumped for an idea are the ones that have connected with their process. They don't worry about being right or funny, they just say what comes into their heads. This is really hard but really important to learn, and we often have different blocks when it comes to process. I began as a very verbal improviser, so I go to physical workshops to learn how to tap into being more physical, and these workshops contain people who can roll around on the floor and act like a duck at the drop of a hat but who are clearly afraid of everything that comes out of their own mouth.*

Process is so much larger than most beginners tap into. We can work from words, we can work from emotion, we can work from action, we can work from object-work, and in longform we can work from theme. It is impossible to be on stage and get stuck because for example you can just bend down and pick up an imaginary object and relate it to your scene. Most improv I have seen so far is verbal. About 80% of scenes start with two people walking on stage and talking to each other. A game like Freeze Tag uses positions to start ideas. Imagine combining the both and suddenly your options for stumbling on fun ideas is multiplied. Throw in all the other things and you have a literal infinity of resources on stage. There is no such thing as a bad improviser, only a scared improviser. Everyone is interesting and filled with imagination.

Right now you are either reading this and thinking "Yes I agree, I remember this scene or this teacher..." or you are thinking "I don't agree, what about that one guy in that scene..."; whether you agree or disagree your mind has thrown up a whole load of random connections, specific to you. Learn how to turn that connection into a character or line of dialogue (or whatever you want) and congratulations, you are now an improviser, stop paying for classes you imaginative fool and get on stage.

If you have ever looked at a first-timer in a class and thought "That person is boring and will always be boring," then congratulations, you have just placed an invisible ceiling on your own mastery of Process. If you don't believe that all humans are imaginative and are held back by social chains then you are not training yourself to recognise those chains and if you can't see them then you can't take them off yourself.

That's all I got to say about Process. It's a personal thing, everyone has different hang-ups and learning experiences. I think we only learn by challenging ourselves and doing new things, so that we gain the confidence to use those things more.

Remember: If you look at an improviser and say "She is a good improviser because she has loads of ideas," then what you are saying is that she has confidence in her own ideas and is in touch with her own imaginative process.

I will write two more posts detailing what I think Partnership and Performance means, and then maybe a summarising post explaining why thinking like this is going to help me move forward in my learning. I think I will call it Collisions because you get a lot of contradictory advice and teaching in improv and making sense of it has been my biggest challenge. Now I can decide what part of improv a teacher or game is working towards. I am also going to talk about an elephant, prepare yourselves.

*Here is a tip for this kind of thing. It doesn't matter. Every hang up comes down to the same thing, you don't want to say or do something 'wrong', but there is no such thing. Is the idea that I am afraid of moving in a certain strange way any different from not wanting to say something strange? They are the same fear with a different label, we need to be more confident in our own inherent interestingness as human beings. Simple and therefore very difficult to do.

Words from io - Supporting Your Partner

Luke Beahan is in Chicago right now, learning the ways of Improv in one of the best Improv cities in the world. Lucky so-and-so.

Hey. I am in Chicago right now studying the Summer Intensive course, and I thought that I would write down some of the epiphanies that occur to me as I study improv 4 days a week.

Supporting your partner, you can also call it making them look good. It's a great idea and a wonderful attitude to have on stage, but it's also so vague as to be meaningless. What does it actually mean to make somebody look good? We need specifics to practice and turn into mental muscle memory.

I already understood one aspect of it; reacting to my partner. I have been in and seen scenes where one character shouted or revealed something and the other character just stood there and shrugged or the equivalent thereof. That's letting your partner blow out this huge wad of energy and then making them clean it up off the floor. We need to accept that move and get upset or cry or be incredibly happy. So suddenly there is a reason for them to have done that beautiful big thing on stage. Accept your partners wad of energy.

I think I understood another aspect of this, and it just reminded me of what improv is really about.

I was in a scene playing a scared zoo cleaner watching another player trying to open the moneky cages. The scene fizzled and then in the notes we got, I realised what was missing from my game. We have been working on character wants and motivations, so that in a scene we have a clear goal or need. The scenes we did on these were hilarious and moving. And yet here I was with the motivation of "I don't want to get into trouble" and the scene didn't pop.

The note was this, I had a clear need, but it didn't involve the other characters, and the other two players were doing the same thing, so nothing happened. Near the end I altered my want and turned it into "I don't want You to get me in to trouble," and I was trying to talk this girl out of opening the cages.

That was the only part of the scene that felt like it was going anywhere. When I turned my motivation into something that involved the other player. And it only takes a glance to realise that from that comes a whole load of other details that I can start creating. She is always opening the cages, I get blamed or attacked for the animals getting out, one time a zebra kicked me in the face etc.

Then it also gives here something to do. Is she going to open the cages and let me take the fall again, is she going to persuade me to become an animal activist? Suddenly there are pathways we can run down head first, together, rather than being stuck in our own little bubbles.

So my lesson was. Get involved with your partner, react to them and make it about them, not just you.