Matt Besser's Workshop Notes
05/10/2012 Jacksonville, FL
(quick note to the reader, bullet points continue an idea, *=some gem thrown out that might be adjacent/tangent to current topic and I will use ( ) to share my interpretation. Enjoy)


Starting place with workshop: Basics of improv in UCB language

Short form vs. Long form: Short form you are given the game, Long form you discover & play game.
-mentioned was the lack of overall concern of the speaker for 'short form'

Long Form (2 main types)
Organic vs Premise Based

Organic

• 2 people step out to Yes and... until you find an unusual thing
• Start by building a base reality with ideas moving you closer to 'the idea'/the game/the first unusual thing'
• Base Reality is the who, what, where and establishing the rest of the reality through yes anding

*Monologues are at best between 2-3 minutes rich with detail & depth. What were the motivations that put you in that place, that can extend the piece and allow for more exploration by the monologist. 

Premise

• One person initiates starting w/an unusual (funny) thing (based on monologue/opening)
• A good premise initiation will have the who/what/where w/in the first line.
• Think of half ideas similar to a writing room for sketch comedy, each throwing something out to see what can stick & what will work (You throw something out and Yes And to find the other 'funny'/unusual parts.)

*In coming up w/premises you will get one of three things 1. Premise 2. Half Idea 3. Chaff . 

You want a premise, can start a scene with a half idea, but want to dismiss the chaff

*Matt drew an imaginary picture of how an Organic opening would work towards finding & playing the game, this was how I hallucinated it.

*Finding the Game is all improv is 
*SNL sketches start grounded & real(allows to heighten, if you start off in the stratosphere you have no where to go(but down)).
*In Premise - No Yes And, more acceptance- You react & *Play at the top of your Intelligence.
*Playing at the top of your intelligence - Knowing How human beings behave (typically in high stress situations (gun pulled, crazy offering) newer improvisers don't do this, they respond w/yes and so they aren't acting naturally.)
*Common reaction by early improvisers is to play either unreal or too straight* reacting to unusual with acceptance as if it is normal which makes them unusual as well. **Too Ok with Unusual is Unusual
(this makes for essentially 2 unusual things so you now have muddied the initiating idea of an usual thing to spark a game)
Example: Doctor: I'm going to anesthetize you with a brick
                Bad Improv patient: Okay, Great, Nighty Nite
               Avg. Improv patient: No (by this you agree with absurdity by saying no to it, as you would in real life if confronted with brick carrying doctor.)
               Good Improv patient: Are you talking about a new kind of medicine or is b.r.i.c.k an acronym for something. (You are confirming the oddity of the reality, staying in the scene/as opposed to running out of the room, and trying to defend absurdity with logic*)
*DEFEND Absurdity w/LOGIC - logic makes for good exploration

Monologues - 45 seconds is too quick, 2-3 minutes make for good stories. Be rich with detail to all to stretch it out a bit. The individuality of the speaker will come out.
*If you hear the audience laugh, be sure and recognize what the audience responded to. (Place a marker at that line to recall it)
*Find the funny intricacies of the speaker.
*Discovery in premise based improv happens in the monologue.
*If moving away from the possible location of the monologue/main players/concepts, be sure and keep a line used from the monologue to keep your fellow improvisers & the audience in the loop. It makes for much clearer initiations. (This is also good when going analogous to make sure everyone is on board with you)

RE: Harold
*What makes it unique, why is it harder to do a harold and why are they a good form to do?
-it has built in recalls/returns to heighten the game, not necessarily the scene, but the game. The scene can be gone, the game remains and is heightened. Harder due to it's organic nature of idea creation and memory of earlier scenes/games and their intertwining.
*W/Harolds(UCB Style) You return to the Game Not the Scene
*For Second Beats - you could relate the game to your own life (source material)
*If you don't get the game a 2nd & 3rd beat might be weak.
*When you are walking out(the second person to speak in the scene), be ready to assume the game that the partner creates.
*The more clear you are the better(in initiating & in any moves that you want to be understood where you are going)
*You are not playing a guessing game, you want to clue them(your fellow players) in.

Playing w/in the scene
*Being "Jokey" in responses makes for often 2 unusual things (muddies the 1st, becomes unclear)
*Responses in regard to the unusual thing discovered.
**Primary source of truth are things about yourself you share during scenes**

Gavin Hawk's improv class notes

Gavin Hawk’s Improvisation Class at American Stage 2011

9/19/2011

*Say Yes and...
*Say No too, as long as it is a yes to the scene(not denying the reality created already)

exercise - Agreement game
3 people
-we support, we don’t deny
3 person panel - book writers who have come together to write on a specific topic(suggested) and no matter what is offered they agree, support and heighten the agreement from there justifying each others statements.

**Side note** - the audience is the barometer, when they stop laughing they are saying we got off track and need to get back to truth> if it gets too whacky, you can always get grounded

exercise - 2 person
YES and...
format:
A: XXX
B: Yes XXX and YYY
A: Yes YYY and RRR
B: Yes RRR and LLL
A: Yes LLL and PPP and so on and so on
-basically A introduces topic, B first agrees then adds, A then agrees and adds, and this continues

9/26/2011

Emotional exercises
2 groups formed similar to a layup drill in basketball

A- I am X(Angry, Sad, Happy, Scared)
B- Why are you so X?
A- I am so X because of Y
B- I am X
A- Why are you so X?
B- I am so X because of Y

-works on starting w/an emotion coming into a scene, also agreement & heightening


Space Work
Groups of 6 on back line, one comes out, does a repetitive activity (eg- painting a fence), next person comes out and adds to the reality, heightening what is happening(example: bringing out more lumber for a job), another person comes out raising the level of activity and adding to the scene continuing to paint the scenic picture, continuing to add & so on...

Location exercise
2 people come out - given a location as a suggestion, 1 starts, the other adds to it, you are doing something(space work), choosing an emotion before coming out, get in activity(noticing each other’s activity & emotion) when given the queue to talk, talk about something other than what you are doing & what the other person is doing *talk about something else! *don’t give up the activity
*possibly/ideally noticing the first unusual thing(ie: the game per UCB Upright Citizens Brigade)
*always remember(with what has been shared so far) ‘and what do you know already?(about the characters, the scene, the history referenced, etc...)
*if this is true, then what else is true?

10/2/2011

*2 person scenes continued from last week

**TEACHING NOTE** Gavin gave emotions or direction to help players get past thinking block (example: Everything player A says infuriates you, everything player b says you accept & agree with) Gavin encouraged Yes and(look out for negatives, possibly because of polar opposition, kept reinforcing “Say Yes to see where it takes us” (note: No takes us nowhere) Gavin”Nothing more infuriating than yelling at a person who agrees to the conflict” Saying no to conflict stops scenes in their tracks and conflict gets tiresome & boring. Gavin “Audiences don’t like to see squabbling, which is where conflict can go, so say yes and see where it can take the scene”

>back to exercise - Don’t talk about the activity, be active but mentally in the space, be in the environment

-New topic - How do we turn things into Funny!??

1. The inappropriate Response

ex: kid comes home - ‘mom, I just got an A on my test’
normally Mom would respond ‘Great Job Son!’
inappropriately... ‘Dammit! You think you're better than me! / What?!! Larry, Get the belt! / No! All these grades are going to raise suspicions!

**The inappropriate response can work quickly & change things up & become funny

Inappropriate exercise

2 person scenes given relationship

example: Loan officer & customer

Loan Officer	Customer
Traditional	Inappropriate
same	same
same	same
(Switch) inappropriate	traditional

Things to remember with this exercise - Be Real, and respond to crazy like it’s crazy
*If something is inappropriate treat it as much, if you accept the inappropriate as appropriate it takes the wind out of the sails of what is trying to be reached. If someone offers crazy it is only crazy in comparison to straight. Someone needs to ground the scene. If both players are crazy, then they need to keep it grounded to that universe.

10/10/2011

3 Line Scenes

Answer Who, What, Where inside of 3 lines

example:
A: Hi Jim, great to see you here at the boy scout campout
B: Hey Steve, yeah I told Billy I would make it out regardless of my opposition to nature
C: Well Jim, you're in luck, the scoutmaster dropped the ball and forgot both the tents and food, we’re going au’ natural this weekend!

Exercise Two: Second round of 3 line scenes with heightened emotion

Gavin’s question to us: What are you afraid of? What emotion/type of character do you stray from? What do you stick w/most?(opposite of this answer may help you answer previous question)

**Side discussion** Serious dramatic improv - Gavin suggested film maker Mike Leigh(British director) who made such films as Another Year*, Happy Go Lucky, Vera Drake*, All or Nothing, Topsy Turvy*, Naked*  *=films available streaming on NetFlix
**Discover your fears emotionally/character-wise and play them** Follow the fear & do it anyway

**Hold onto emotion, don’t give it up to match scene partner’s emotion, if nothing else, justify your opening state(beware of emotional contagiousness)

EDITS

Sweep Edit - A player from the back wall(or possibly on stage) runs/walks directly in front of players
*shows end of scene & can be done by player looking to initiate next scene or by fellow player w/out initiation just for support to edit the scene.

Tag Edit - tags out partner who goes out and those untapped remains, same character, new player could advance time, flashback & typically change location(but doesn’t have to)

Time Advance - “CUT TO >” ex: Cut to five years from now, Cut to homecoming dance, Cut to the wedding, etc... Advances scenes to future times (could be ten minutes, could be ten years, could be different time & place altogether)

Split Screen - Generally 2 or more players on a part of the stage doing a scene, 2(or more) players come on and advance the story, adding to story talking over other group, other group intuitively quiets down(still active but silent), then the other group begins talking & current group talking quiets down to allow other group to pick up scene