JTS Brown

For me, the best improv I ever did was with JTS Brown. To me, it was a perfect show that incorporated short form's speed and playfulness with long form's patience and freedom. What the show rejected from both schools was form. Devoid of form, free of structure, the show was endlessly open to change. We practiced moves we never performed because once they were named, they felt "formy." I loved having to keep track of 12 people for 45 minutes, constantly asking "what the fuck is going on?" It was complete fear, hard listening and moving without hesitation. Every night, a lot of us were convinced we were the one who "fucked it up."


I was surprised when after a successful (in my mind) six month run the group was lukewarm about continuing on. I remember being shocked. Jimmy Page once said of Led Zeppelin "It would be a criminal act to break up this band." That's how I felt about JTS Brown. And while I never figured out how I fit in socially with this pack if high profile Chicago improvisors, I did relish the rookie-walk-on aspect of playing with a such a team. When it was all over, I was more confident than I'd ever been about being onstage. LESSON! You wanna get better? Play with the best.

After the dust settled and I started making my way out of Chicago, I had the opportunity to talk with most of the people who made up JTS Brown. I was shocked to hear that some people really didn't like it. They hated the fear, the not knowing, the lack of structure. All the things I loved were what was wrong with the show for them. People spent time off stage, not being involved, "just getting through the show." They were happy when the run ended. They'd signed on for different reasons than I had and reaped very different results.

I don't expect to ever have an experience like JTS Brown again. And I must say, I had nothing to do with the production or politics surrounding the show (I've found people often spare me these things, for better or worse). So, I just remember being involved in something awesome, unstoppable, and bigger than me. Finding out my experience was (for the most part) unique is just par for the course.

The fact that our formless, theater-less show is now taught at one theater as a "signature form" is par for the course as well.

The Long Form / Short Form debate is only important when talking about taxes

When I first got to Chicago, I enrolled at Second City, The Annoyance, and iO. I did them all because I wanted to immerse myself. I also continued to play ComedySportz because I saw no reason to stop doing what I'd done for five years in Kansas City. I didn't really care about the various brand/style affiliations I found a lot of my cohorts cherished. I just wanted to learn and play as much as I could. I was also pretty vocal about where I played, what I was learning, and how odd it was that there were these divisions between theaters, styles, and ideologies.

During this time, long form improvisors had no problem telling me how short form improv is an inferior way to make things up on stage as it is "bit driven" and "easy."

Short form players had no problem telling me how long form improv is an inferior way to make things up on stage as it is "self indulgent" and "boring."

When I got to Chicago, I found a pretty solid divide between these two schools of thought. By the time I left, half the people auditioning for ComedySportz had extensive long form training and many of my CSZ pals were taking classes at iO. I'm not saying I made anything happen. I just happened to be around when a shift occurred. My recommendation: Do it all.

The Highest Truth On Stage

The Highest Truth on Stage can be demonstrated through this example: Jean comes out on stage to deliver her kick ass opening line and on her way, she accidentally kicks somebody's water bottle. The bottle, not part of the scene, skitters across the stage. Jean ignores it and presses on, delivering her hilarious first line. Donk, her scene partner, ignores the bottle as well and responds to Jean's awesome first line with something equally brilliant he just thought up (probably something about Facebook). The scene is underway. The audience has forgotten about the water bottle. It's as if they didn't even see it.

Audiences will forgive a lot. They have to if they're going to enjoy improv. Mispronunciations, brain farts, misfired stage moves, the audience only pays attention to what the improvisor shows them and quickly forget things that don't fit. Often, improvisors cover their (and each other's) "mistakes" by ignoring them (the improv stage being very much not like life in that sense). But when we do this, we deny ourselves the opportunity to explore the Highest Truth On Stage.

Had Donk, before Jean could even get her line out, screamed "My water bottle!" the audience would have picked up immediately that Jean had "made a mistake" and Donk had not only noticed as well but is now calling attention to it. We the audience know this is a higher form of improvisation because Donk is reacting to something real, in the moment, live, in front of us. It's more immediate than the line Jean thought up two seconds ago standing offstage waiting to enter. If Jean is thrown by this move, plays it off, and shoehorns her original idea into the scene, then she's playing a lower form of ball. It's deeper than "She's denying Donk's gift! Poor Donk!" She's denying herself (and us) the opportunity to truly improvise in the moment. Savage, relentless improvisors love this sort of situation. They know that the skittering water bottle, at that moment, is much more truthful than any line they could come up with and can be the launching pad for a much better, truth-based scene.

So the question is: Why not go with (as the extraordinary Allison Bills suggested) "whatever's up at the moment?"

It's not about calling out every little tic and misstep you see on stage. That can quickly become tiresome. But having an emotional response to something everybody sees is truly playing the moment.

Make it personal. Make it important.

Dr. Know It All

Another favorite!

THE BASIC: Players line up, lock arms, and answer audience questions one word at a time. A HOST fields the questions from the audience.

A nice touch: When the question is answered, the crew bows as one body.

Replay

Here's a game I love love love.

THE BASIC: Play a short, neutral scene (two minutes tops). Then you REPLAY the exact same scene in different styles and genres. Replay the scene three times (in three different styles).

VARIATIONS:
MEGA-REPLAY: Replay the scene as many times as you wish. Make an evening of it!

HEAD TO HEAD MEGA-REPLAY: Two teams replay the same scene, alternating back and fourth.

6 FROM 3 MEGA HEAD TO HEAD REPLAY: Two teams of three play a full, six person scene. Then, the two teams replay the scene only now they have to play all the roles with only three people. This could be a game unto itself but throw some styles in there for extra hoo ha!

Welcome to it

Hey everybody!

I teach improv. I even get on stage from time to time. Feel free to comment, ask questions and point out what you think about all this improv business.

And that's the end of the introduction!