Electric Company is a word association game, named for the 1971 television series and parodied in this Nike Shox commercial. While in a circle, the group snaps to a steady beat. The first person starts by making eye contact with the person on their right or left and saying a word. That person then responds [&hellip
When you take improv classes, you learn a lot about yourself. Before I started improv, I used to think I was a great listener. Then one day in class, after doing a scene with my friend Jonathon about the Loch Ness Monster, our teacher Jan pointed out that Jonathon had asked “Do you think she [&hellip
Also see Part I and Part II To demonstrate the effectiveness of “Yes, And” and how critical it is to good scene work, we use the following exercise on the first day of a new level 1 class. First, we get two volunteers who are “ready to fail” to get up in front of the [&hellip
Malcom Gladwell writes about intution in Blink, and how a glance can gather more information in two seconds than a team of researchers can in months of collecting and reviewing documents that attest to a work of art’s authenticity. Rachel Klein writes about intuition in her tumblr post, The Four I’s of Improv. Here’s an excerpt: [&hellip
For part one, click here: Yes And, Part I The second part of saying “Yes, and” is the “and.” There is a lot of meaning behind that little conjunction. If someone says, “I made you a sandwich,” it is not enough to respond “Thank you for the sandwich.” You are saying yes to their idea, [&hellip
My friend Amy recently directed me to a tumblr by improviser Will Hines called Improv Nonsense. I think he has some really great content, and added his blog to my list of links. His two most recent entries are about teaching improv, something that speaks to me as I recently TAed a level one class. [&hellip
Do yourself a favor and watch this video – an insider’s look at the first day of UCB’s Master Class. For your convenience, here are links to the rest of the videos in the series: Inside the Master Class “Changing Names” Inside the Master Class “Pure Gibberish” Inside the Master Class “Object Work&#
Most people come into improv with misconceptions about what it is going to be like. It’s not just making up stuff as you go without any structure or guidelines; it’s not hopping on stage and acting zany; and it’s not trying to come up with clever puns or witty one-liners. When I started taking classes, [&hellip
Do yourself a favor and watch this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUO-pWJ0ri
Pierce: It’s a sickness, I admit it. But this place has always accepted me, sickness and all. This place accepted all of you, sickness and all. It’s worth thinking about. (Season 2, Episode 24) Pierce is addressing the request of the study group, telling them that Greendale has accepted each of them, despite their flaws. [&hellip
