Two blogs in one day, this has never happened before.
We did some full Mask work a couple of Saturdays ago at The Bedford. I was using full face masks from Trestle Theatre company. They're really excellent actually, I'd recommend buying some if you want a set to play with.
I teach Mask a little different from how it's written in Keith Johnstone's book, probably because I'm using silent full face Masks rather than the talking half masks.
So here's steps I take, largely influenced by things I learnt from Kevin Tomlinson:
1. Get an improviser up in front of the audience.
2. Get them just standing relaxed in front of the audience. Make sure the class has an expectant hush with focus on the stage.
3. Select a Mask for them. Don't show them the front of the Mask.
4. Improviser stands on back wall with back to audience, both hands on the wall.
5. Put the Mask on them, don't show them what it looks like, don't let them look in the mirror.
6. Retreat in line with audience, leaving improviser with back to them.
7. Mask removes one hand from wall, turns to look at audience. Return.
8. Repeat with other hand.
9. When ready Mask turns fully around and walks into space. Ask them to look at the audience, the whole of it and also one by one.
10. The improviser doesn't deliberately do anything at first, they just turn round as themselves and then look at the audience. They go with the audience, and also with how they feel. If the audience make them feel warm, they are warm.
11. Ask them questions (they can't talk, so they answer with movement). Also sometimes give them props (Masks love objects). Whatever they do they need to keep clocking and checking in with the audience, it's when we see their face that they become alive.
Some people playing the Mask were surprised that they could tell what Mask they were playing without actually seeing it, just from the reaction of the audience and the feelings it produced in them.
At first though some of the others weren't getting anything from the Mask, and felt they were faking it. This brought to light an interesting block that is perhaps summed up by this real conversation:
"I was frustrated, I felt like I was faking it."
"What were you frustrated with?"
"I was frustrated that I wasn't getting an emotions from the audience."
"The audience were giving you frustration."
"Oh, so I should play frustration?"
"You don't have to play it, just be it. If you're frustrated, be frustrated. If the audience are pissing you off, be pissed off with them. There doesn't have to be a gap between what you actually feel and what the Mask should feel."
Funny enough the Mask in question for this conversation is known to be a bit of a bastard, so playing it frustrated and pissed off with the audience would have been perfect and lots of fun.
Later on we moved on to multiple Masks on stage, with them interacting in set scenarios or around props. An important step in this became the use of focus and checking in with the audience. At first I had to shout from the back where the focus was, and eventually the actors intuitively understood where the focus was.
The beauty of Masks is that they give focus very clearly. If all the Masks look in one direction at one thing on stage the audience will tend to also look there. We also experimented with passing around focus to different Masks, and we found that having them look direct at audience as they got passed focus was very effective.
Also constant clocking and checking in with the audience was essential, as this is when we get to see what the Mask is feeling and when it comes alive.
When clocking they seem to take the steps of:
I'm about to do something/interact with someone
Hey look I'm doing something/interacting
This is what I feel about the thing I'm doing/interacting
I've done something/interacted
This is what I feel about the thing I've done/the other person
Next step I'm going to buy a load of half masks, or make some, as there's loads more I want to try.
Lots of love,
Hoopla
Improv classes and shows
www.HooplaImpro.com
Monday, 30 January 2012
New short-form games from last Saturday's workshop
Saturday was lots of fun, thanks for everyone who came along. I had a really fun group of brave improvisers who seemed up for anything, which enabled the group to try out some new things and experiment.
It's really gratifying as a director to be able to say "I've got this idea, I've never seen it work, I don't think it's actually possible, can I have two volunteers?" and then have five people simultanously jump up.
So we took the approach of:
1. Do a game.
2. Learn the current way of doing it.
3. Do it some more.
4. Spot the things that people do 'accidentally' around the game.
5. Build a new game around those accidents.
6. Learn the new game.
7. Play it more.
This produced the following gems, which as far as I know are whole new games:
Mass Word at a Time
When we did the original word at a time stories with three people we found that sometimes they got the order muddled up. So instead of treating this as a mistake we decided to make it a point, that it's word at a time but at any point any actor can say any word.
This soon lead to 9 actors on stage at once, all playing one big fluid scene but where it was still word at a time. Any actor can then provide the dialogue from any other actor. Narration and dialogue is spread among the group.
I then encouraged movement with the direction "be a bit like the old fashioned black and white cartoons with the bounce" and it released a fluidity in the group.
Characters would pop up and suddenly they'd have three actors around them mirroring movement and all speaking word at a time, with another group being another character, while another was a tortoise on the floor.
It turned out to be an exceptionally good group mind workshop. All dialogue and narrative and character and movement is shared across the entire group at all times. It was also exhilarating to be in. So much so that I had to abandon teaching and jump in with them, yelling "this is fun!"
Surprise Entrance
I can't even remember how this comes about. I think it was just a casual mention that if you have an environment of support and trust where offer is accepted, incorporated, justified and built upon, you can enter a scene without fear. Also it was a training in people reacting to someone new entering.
So...one improviser leaves the room so they can't hear the suggestion or see or hear the scene, they count to 45 seconds. Meanwhile two improvisers in the room start a scene as ordinarily and boring as possible, based on a suggestion from the director. Suddenly the outside improviser burst in with a strong character, and delivers a strong offer before they've even seen what's happening. Everyone then carries on improvising, incorporating and being changed by this.
What was weird was how often these blind offers actually made sense to the scene, and rather than being a spanner in the works proved to be really helpful.
For instance two characters were playing at a casino, discussing cheating and generally talking about money. Suddenly an improviser burst in, with no idea what had been going on, and shouted 'it's a stick up' while holding two guns.
If the improvisers on stage accepted and built on the offer, as if it made perfect sense, then the scene took off.
New Choice Yourself / New Choice the other person
New Choice is a really well known short-form game, and a really fun one to play. Actors play out a scene but at any point the director can shout out New Choice and they have to repeat what they just said but change something.
We adapted this to then be 'New Choice Yourself', where the actors play out a scene but any point can shout out New Choice on their own lines. It was especially fun when they were encouraged to shout multiple New Choices, and to shout New Choice before they knew what they were about to say. It was quite effective at getting improvisers to push themselves into the unknown.
The next adaption was 'New Choice The Other Actor', where two actors play a scene but they can call New Choice on the other actor. This was done by two people who knew each other quite well so it was done in a really positive playful manner, and produced a giggling fit in them.
Simultaneous Dubbing
In this game two actors are on stage mouthing the words of a scene while two off stage actors provide their words, simultaneously matching their mouth movements. Nobody is leading - if someone opens their mouth, someone else must make their voice, and if their is a voice, then the corresponding actor must open their mouth.
I've seen this as a short-form game before but never gone into depth before, and found it a fascinating game to play.
We separated into pairs to practice simultaneous dubbing, to see how in synch we could be with each other. It turns out to be the ultimate listening a seeing exercise, a really core impro technique.
Repeated First Line
I've been playing with this in the pub with a lovely chap called Rob. We think it's hilarious but whenever we do it in front of a workshop audience it bombs, which makes us like it more!
Two improvisers start a scene, but whatever the first lines are have to be the only lines of the scene. They can use each others lines, chop up words, change emotion, play actions, but they are limited on the words.
At first they seemed stale and stuck, but we played and played and played and eventually they became really fun. With the words limited the improvisers started to release other things - changing emotions, physical play, relationships, story.
Also it had the great side effect that it makes a whole scene/story based entirely on the first two offers that come along, which is really good practice. Also it's slightly Meisner Technique in style with its release of emotion.
See you soon,
Hoopla
Improv workshops every Monday, Thursday and Saturday in London
More improv classes around the UK
Improv shows every Tuesday and Wednesday at The Miller in London Bridge.
www.HooplaImpro.com
It's really gratifying as a director to be able to say "I've got this idea, I've never seen it work, I don't think it's actually possible, can I have two volunteers?" and then have five people simultanously jump up.
So we took the approach of:
1. Do a game.
2. Learn the current way of doing it.
3. Do it some more.
4. Spot the things that people do 'accidentally' around the game.
5. Build a new game around those accidents.
6. Learn the new game.
7. Play it more.
This produced the following gems, which as far as I know are whole new games:
Mass Word at a Time
When we did the original word at a time stories with three people we found that sometimes they got the order muddled up. So instead of treating this as a mistake we decided to make it a point, that it's word at a time but at any point any actor can say any word.
This soon lead to 9 actors on stage at once, all playing one big fluid scene but where it was still word at a time. Any actor can then provide the dialogue from any other actor. Narration and dialogue is spread among the group.
I then encouraged movement with the direction "be a bit like the old fashioned black and white cartoons with the bounce" and it released a fluidity in the group.
Characters would pop up and suddenly they'd have three actors around them mirroring movement and all speaking word at a time, with another group being another character, while another was a tortoise on the floor.
It turned out to be an exceptionally good group mind workshop. All dialogue and narrative and character and movement is shared across the entire group at all times. It was also exhilarating to be in. So much so that I had to abandon teaching and jump in with them, yelling "this is fun!"
Surprise Entrance
I can't even remember how this comes about. I think it was just a casual mention that if you have an environment of support and trust where offer is accepted, incorporated, justified and built upon, you can enter a scene without fear. Also it was a training in people reacting to someone new entering.
So...one improviser leaves the room so they can't hear the suggestion or see or hear the scene, they count to 45 seconds. Meanwhile two improvisers in the room start a scene as ordinarily and boring as possible, based on a suggestion from the director. Suddenly the outside improviser burst in with a strong character, and delivers a strong offer before they've even seen what's happening. Everyone then carries on improvising, incorporating and being changed by this.
What was weird was how often these blind offers actually made sense to the scene, and rather than being a spanner in the works proved to be really helpful.
For instance two characters were playing at a casino, discussing cheating and generally talking about money. Suddenly an improviser burst in, with no idea what had been going on, and shouted 'it's a stick up' while holding two guns.
If the improvisers on stage accepted and built on the offer, as if it made perfect sense, then the scene took off.
New Choice Yourself / New Choice the other person
New Choice is a really well known short-form game, and a really fun one to play. Actors play out a scene but at any point the director can shout out New Choice and they have to repeat what they just said but change something.
We adapted this to then be 'New Choice Yourself', where the actors play out a scene but any point can shout out New Choice on their own lines. It was especially fun when they were encouraged to shout multiple New Choices, and to shout New Choice before they knew what they were about to say. It was quite effective at getting improvisers to push themselves into the unknown.
The next adaption was 'New Choice The Other Actor', where two actors play a scene but they can call New Choice on the other actor. This was done by two people who knew each other quite well so it was done in a really positive playful manner, and produced a giggling fit in them.
Simultaneous Dubbing
In this game two actors are on stage mouthing the words of a scene while two off stage actors provide their words, simultaneously matching their mouth movements. Nobody is leading - if someone opens their mouth, someone else must make their voice, and if their is a voice, then the corresponding actor must open their mouth.
I've seen this as a short-form game before but never gone into depth before, and found it a fascinating game to play.
We separated into pairs to practice simultaneous dubbing, to see how in synch we could be with each other. It turns out to be the ultimate listening a seeing exercise, a really core impro technique.
Repeated First Line
I've been playing with this in the pub with a lovely chap called Rob. We think it's hilarious but whenever we do it in front of a workshop audience it bombs, which makes us like it more!
Two improvisers start a scene, but whatever the first lines are have to be the only lines of the scene. They can use each others lines, chop up words, change emotion, play actions, but they are limited on the words.
At first they seemed stale and stuck, but we played and played and played and eventually they became really fun. With the words limited the improvisers started to release other things - changing emotions, physical play, relationships, story.
Also it had the great side effect that it makes a whole scene/story based entirely on the first two offers that come along, which is really good practice. Also it's slightly Meisner Technique in style with its release of emotion.
See you soon,
Hoopla
Improv workshops every Monday, Thursday and Saturday in London
More improv classes around the UK
Improv shows every Tuesday and Wednesday at The Miller in London Bridge.
www.HooplaImpro.com
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Character Exercises to Play With
Hi everyone, these popped out of last Saturday's workshop.
Some of them were originally learnt from Katy Schutte, from The Mayday's, Music Box and Katy & Rach, so many thanks Katy. She's teaching some workshops in London soon with The Maydays.
I go into characters in various depths, but this time round it was mainly introducing a number of 'tools' to play with. I like to look at character exercises as bits of lego, that you can use however you want in shows to generate a character on the spot.
Also I'm keen to encourgae people to play with character. You don't have to wait until a director or teacher or other improviser tells you to do a character, just play with one anyway. This is really fun to watch, when people take a character on stage for no reason, and actually really giving as it gives the other improvisers and audience something to play with.
Stacking/Physically lead character
All stand in a circle. Change something physical about yourself. Anything at all, for instance maybe one arm is more relaxed, or you're slightly slanted, or one finger is straighter than the rest. Walk across the circle to a new place in the circle. Relax. Take a new physical position, and repeat.
You don't have to deliberately do anything, just feel how the physical change has altered you. On the first round do this in silence.
Then repeat, but this time allow sounds to come out, any sound. Don't think about the sound, but just let it come out.
Repeat again but this time the characters can interact as they cross. Also encourage people to try different styles of movement. If they go fast, they can go slow. If they are snappy, they are smooth. If they are big, be subtle. This is a little bit like fast-food Laban. Just experiment with how you move and how it affects how you feel.
Then repeat and now people can talk as they cross the circle, just whatever is on their mind. Encourage them to have obsessions. It doesn't matter what they say.
Changing the body can change how people feel which can change what people say which produces a character instantly on many different levels. I've found this in real life recently, since I've started doing Alexander Technique classes it's made me moody straight away afterwards!
Emotions
Two characters enter a scene at the height of an emotion. They don't have to know why they are feeling it yet, just feel it at it's height, they can find out and justify why later.
Great emotions to start with are Happy, Sad, Fearful, Angry as they are really core emotions.
Funny enough it doesn't seem to matter what emotions people pick or what combinations come in, it always produces something. So there's no such thing as a 'right' emotion for a scene, just coming in with one supercharges the scene and is very giving to the other actor.
Genre
Two actors come in playing a character from a specific genre, without making the scene that genre. I've found it's good to get actors to pick a specific character from the genre, and also keep reminding them that they can use it more subtly and not to make the scene that genre.
For instance the location could be a boardroom, and the actor could come in using the genre of 'French 18th century romantic poet' and it would generate an interesting character to have in that location. It's not as if the character is actually from the 18th century and wearing a frilly shirt, it's more that this modern day businessman is from France and happens to be more romantic.
Bad Impressions
Two actors come in to a scene doing a bad impression of someone famous, without revealing who or making the scene about this person. For example you could end up being 18% Kermit the Frog while playing the Prime Minister.
It's important to note that all these techniques are only really for the first inital impulse of getting on stage, to give inspiration, and then once you start you are in the scene and should be yes anding as normal. For instance even though you come in as Kermit the Frog, if you get endowed as Prime Minister then be Prime Minister, but keep some of Kermie.
Lots of love,
Hoopla
Improv Classes and Shows
http://www.hooplaimpro.com/
Some of them were originally learnt from Katy Schutte, from The Mayday's, Music Box and Katy & Rach, so many thanks Katy. She's teaching some workshops in London soon with The Maydays.
I go into characters in various depths, but this time round it was mainly introducing a number of 'tools' to play with. I like to look at character exercises as bits of lego, that you can use however you want in shows to generate a character on the spot.
Also I'm keen to encourgae people to play with character. You don't have to wait until a director or teacher or other improviser tells you to do a character, just play with one anyway. This is really fun to watch, when people take a character on stage for no reason, and actually really giving as it gives the other improvisers and audience something to play with.
Stacking/Physically lead character
All stand in a circle. Change something physical about yourself. Anything at all, for instance maybe one arm is more relaxed, or you're slightly slanted, or one finger is straighter than the rest. Walk across the circle to a new place in the circle. Relax. Take a new physical position, and repeat.
You don't have to deliberately do anything, just feel how the physical change has altered you. On the first round do this in silence.
Then repeat, but this time allow sounds to come out, any sound. Don't think about the sound, but just let it come out.
Repeat again but this time the characters can interact as they cross. Also encourage people to try different styles of movement. If they go fast, they can go slow. If they are snappy, they are smooth. If they are big, be subtle. This is a little bit like fast-food Laban. Just experiment with how you move and how it affects how you feel.
Then repeat and now people can talk as they cross the circle, just whatever is on their mind. Encourage them to have obsessions. It doesn't matter what they say.
Changing the body can change how people feel which can change what people say which produces a character instantly on many different levels. I've found this in real life recently, since I've started doing Alexander Technique classes it's made me moody straight away afterwards!
Emotions
Two characters enter a scene at the height of an emotion. They don't have to know why they are feeling it yet, just feel it at it's height, they can find out and justify why later.
Great emotions to start with are Happy, Sad, Fearful, Angry as they are really core emotions.
Funny enough it doesn't seem to matter what emotions people pick or what combinations come in, it always produces something. So there's no such thing as a 'right' emotion for a scene, just coming in with one supercharges the scene and is very giving to the other actor.
Genre
Two actors come in playing a character from a specific genre, without making the scene that genre. I've found it's good to get actors to pick a specific character from the genre, and also keep reminding them that they can use it more subtly and not to make the scene that genre.
For instance the location could be a boardroom, and the actor could come in using the genre of 'French 18th century romantic poet' and it would generate an interesting character to have in that location. It's not as if the character is actually from the 18th century and wearing a frilly shirt, it's more that this modern day businessman is from France and happens to be more romantic.
Bad Impressions
Two actors come in to a scene doing a bad impression of someone famous, without revealing who or making the scene about this person. For example you could end up being 18% Kermit the Frog while playing the Prime Minister.
It's important to note that all these techniques are only really for the first inital impulse of getting on stage, to give inspiration, and then once you start you are in the scene and should be yes anding as normal. For instance even though you come in as Kermit the Frog, if you get endowed as Prime Minister then be Prime Minister, but keep some of Kermie.
Lots of love,
Hoopla
Improv Classes and Shows
http://www.hooplaimpro.com/
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