Week 5 - Making Yourself Heard

This week started with a venue change. Other than that, it was business as usual.

Stretch - A Gift You’re Still Grateful For

This week’s question was:

What’s a gift you’ve received that you’re still grateful for today?

The answers ended up telling us quite a lot about everyone.

Brave Brett

When he was a child his mother gave him a dress-up chest full of costumes.

It sounds like the perfect gift for somebody who would eventually teach improv.

Mechanical Mike

Mine wasn’t really a gift in the conventional sense.

Back in 2017 Gary O’Leary a friend of mine bet that I didn’t have the balls to try stand-up comedy.

The interesting part was… I already wanted to do stand-up. The challenge wasn’t giving me the idea, It was giving me the motivation to prove him wrong.

Sometimes stubbornness is the best gift somebody can accidentally give you.

Vicious Vika

A stuffed Pegasus; which apparently it didn’t even have wings… But that was still its name.

Caring Colm

Colm actually gave two stories.

The first involved unexpectedly flying to Monte Carlo in a six-seater plane before driving the rest of the way from Cannes.

The second was much more meaningful.

When John Moriarty passed away, Colm inherited a unique walking stick with two living stems growing from it. The stems were later replanted and eventually grew into a tree.

Years later he was gifted part of that same tree. Probably one of the nicest full-circle stories we’ve had so far.

Kamikaze Ken

His father gave him some money; Instead of spending it, he invested it in a golf club membership. Now golf has become one of his main hobbies.

Random Ria

Unfortunately she arrived a little late, so we never got to hear her answer.

Repeats

Zip, Zap, Zop

This has basically become our warm-up. The difference compared to Week One is huge. Everyone reacts much faster now.

Objects

Still reinforcing the same lesson. Once something exists… It exists. Commit to the reality.

New Activities

Store Shop Owner

This was one of my favourites.

There are three different roles:

  • Shop Owner
  • Customer
  • Objects for sale

The shop owner has to convince the customer to buy the objects.

The objects themselves can influence what they are capable of, while the shop owner keeps adding features and “gifts” to make them even more desirable.

It quickly becomes complete nonsense. Which somehow makes the sales pitch even stronger.

AM / FM Radio

Two performers sit beside one another. Neither interacts directly with the other. Brett randomly changes the radio station.

The moment your station disappears… You immediately stop and when it returns… You continue exactly where you left off.

Sometimes audience members phone in as well.

Just keeping talking is a real challege for me, I seriously need to master the art of Shite Talk. I am not very good at waffle, if there is no actual reason to talk I usually don’t.

Techniques

Three Knocks

Used mainly during Store Shop Owner. Each knock adds another function to the object:

  • One knock…
  • Two knocks…
  • Three knocks…

Each creates another layer of ridiculous functionality.

If this, then that

The Who, What and Where

Whenever a conversation begins to slow down… Just star asking questions.

Not because you need the answer, but because every answer becomes another gift. More information means more opportunities for the scene to grow.

Projection

This week’s primary feedback for me, I need to be much louder. Not just louder… But also more expressive.

Everyone in the audience should be able to hear both what I’m saying and how my character feels.

Harmonising

Everyone should be playing the same game, rather than trying to steal the scene, work with the people around you.

The stronger everyone makes each other look, the stronger the entire scene becomes.

Thoughts After Week Five

One thing I’m noticing is that almost every technique comes back to communication.

Not necessarily saying more; just communicating better.

Whether it’s:

  • listening
  • projecting
  • asking questions
  • accepting ideas
  • building together

The audience can only follow the story if everyone on stage is helping to tell the same one.

I’m also beginning to notice that improv isn’t really teaching comedy, It’s teaching collaboration.