Bye 202

Tonight was my last 202 class at UCB and I'm not happy about that. This has been a great class and I really feel like I learned a couple tons of info. Most all of this is because of the teacher, Joe Wengert. He knows exactly what exercises to do and what notes to give to get the best out of each student. This meant more to me than Rob Riggle's class (which was an improv-changing experience, don't get me wrong) just because Joe is one of my favorite performers on one of the most consistently brilliant teams at the UCB. So, you know, making someone laugh that makes you laugh...it's pretty cool. I keep waiting to have a bad experience with a teacher, but they've all been so stupendous. Between Ari, Shannon and Joe, I have gained a solid foundation of improv skills that I will build upon. They're my improv parents. A weird threesome.

Speaking of weird threesomes, I got to give notes on one tonight in class. The abbreviated Harold we did for the last half hour featured me playing a dad who was way too comfortable giving advice to his daughter. So, you know, sex toys and tampons did fly. Besides that, I think I did some pretty decent scenework that got laughs and also attempted to put together everything I've been learning. There were only 8 of us in class ("this'll be like Harold team practice" Joe commented) so we all got scenes galore and individual notes. Joe's note to me was to make my scenes more active and to always look for the next object or move in the game. For some reason I thought that I had no problem with that, then I remembered that it was similar to a note Shannon gave me on Sunday. The scenes I did after that, gross sexual misconduct aside, were very active and full of game moves. Wow. Here's hoping I can hold on to that note. I also did the first diss Joe's ever heard in a pattern game (Mike: "Men wearing thong underwear" Brett: "What Mike calls Saturday night."). Unfortunately that scenario never appeared in any of the following scenes.

Tomorrow night I begin my sketch 101 class.

Nerves.

Notes From The Edge!!!

I was bound to crash after the heights (improv heights) I hit this past weekend, and crash I did. But it was a crash I walked away from; I did not end up on a tropical hellhole surrounded by mystery and dirty, world saving/ending (?) obstetricians. It was another good class that yielded many more things to add to my brain.

- Keep an eye out for character games or emotional games as opposed to just "this guy watched clown related crimes."

- Your characters always know! If they don't, then the scene becomes about solving a problem instead of about the characters.

- When possible, match your partner's energy. It's an instant agreement and scenes where people are on the same page are usually entertaining. Don't choose to intimidate or make your scene partner nervous. It's almost like arguing and kinda hard to heighten.

- Don't talk about it, do it. Don't practice or plan, do it. This is why scenes just before the "biggest play/concert/puppet show of your career!" are tricky.

There will be more blogs not improv related coming up. One may include Joss Whedon. One may include old-lady fashions.

Two Oh Two

I've noticed that professional bloggers, or the bloggers that I like the most, tend to not do the sort of "hey, here's what I did this past weekend" sprawling-catch-all-entries that I tend to do. I'm going to try and focus every post on one thing.

If the pic located to the left of this text hasn't already caused you to start skimming this blog for a mention of your name or a TV show you watch, I will let you know that this entry will be about my new class at the UCB. It's Improv 202, advanced game study, and it's taught by Joe Wengert of Reuben Williams (Saturdays @ 10:30).

For the first time since my graduation show almost a month ago, I feel confident in my improvabilities. I've been in something of a rut in 301, not horrible but not living up to my high standards. I was freezing up in scenes a lot, only for a second but that second always seems like an entire Lord of the Rings film to me (crazy long with a slow intensity that is unmatched). I also hate hate hate how I always seem to go straight to 10, or 11, or Crazy Town (population: me), or Henry Rollins level shouting. I know that game and good scenes come from real connections with your partner, but for some reason I expedite the process in class out of fear of getting edited quickly and not finding something before that. Lame.

Wednesday night was great. I had the same problems for a while but after listening to Joe's critiques and notes, I did what I consider to be my best scene in a long time. The suggestion was vintage and me and my scene partner did a nice scene about all the crap we were selling at our yet-to-be-opened vintage store. It had a nice game, real characters, and it made Joe and the class laugh. Spot on. It was great to feel successful, up to my stupid standards.

I knew this class was going to be great and Joe is a great instructor. Reuben has been my favorite improv team since I got back to New York and Joe has to be one of my favorite improvisers. So, good to learn from him. I've been lucky with teachers, as they've all been great. Seeing Shannon in Fwand is always spectacular and makes me want to work harder.

Some incredibly esoteric notes from Wednesday to remember:
- The scene is never about the crazy snake, it's about how the characters feel about the crazy snake
- Once you have your first weird thing, step away from it a bit, go about working at the Taco Bell or whatever; you'll come across the next move naturally and the audience will appreciate it more than if you just keep hitting the game over and over again
- It's hard to start a scene with an argument since the only heightening of that is insane crazy yelling land. Plus, most everyone goes through their day trying to not argue or have a confrontation, so it's realistic to not argue.
- Try not to do characters that are fooling people. It's much more fun to see people who are genuinely into what they are doing.
- Try and parallel the crazy stuff to something in real life, like a crazy meat cleaver using chef who serves things on tires and his 'apprentice.' Treat the apprentice like an intern or a daughter, some relationship that the audience can identify.

I'm sure there are more, but these are mostly the notes I was given and the ones I try to commit to memory.

More next week!