Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

Yesterday was our last intermediate improv class, since next week is our so-called open class, when we allow friends and family in to watch us.

We ran through the games we'd rated as our favorites so our instructor, Mary, could finalize our run-down.

Unlike previous weeks, I second-guessed myself a lot, just like I did when I was a beginner.

At first I thought it was just me, but then Mary told us we all seemed to be phoning things in. She urged us to get actively engaged. We were pretty stuck inside our heads for much of the class.

The beginning of the class, we did some short scenes just to warm up. There were so many of them, they're hard to remember. She encouraged us to use what we'd learned about entrances and exits, and if we thought somebody should enter the scene, we should do it.

One I remember was when Lori and Colleen were students planning a prank on the teacher, leaving a snake on her chair. Megan came on as the teacher and made a big deal of bending over to tie her shoe right in front of her chair, making it possible for them to prank her.

I had a fun scene with Geoff where I was an employee in an ice cream shop getting him ice cream, and he ordered a five scoop ice cream cone that he proceeded to stand at the corner and eat. I complained that he did this every day and it was getting annoying.

He said, "But I like to watch you work." And continued standing there, licking his cone.

I insisted that we had a new policy that there were no strange men allowed, and I turned my back, wrote up a sign and hung it on the counter. But he repeated that he liked to watch me work, and then was standing there, licking his cone, watching me.

I tried fruitlessly to get him to shoo, until finally, Liza rescued me by showing up as the manager, pointing to the sign, and saying, "You're strange. Get out. No strange men." End scene.

Since the scenes were short, about a minute each, it was enough that we created a platform: who, where and what and introduced (potentially resolved) a problem. As hard as we might have all been on ourselves that night, I now realize how naturally we are doing that, establishing who and where we are, what we're doing and then discovering what's the conflict.

It was easy to lose sight of that, because we have so many other things we're trying to work on right now: avoiding questions, getting to the point, getting actively engaged in the scene, focusing on the relationship between the two characters. So a scene that I might have previously been very happy with, such as the ice cream parlor, I find myself doing a self-critique, thinking, "We never really answered the question of why he wanted to hang out there watching me."

It's sort of like training until you skillfully juggle three balls but then kicking yourself because you can't juggle five.

In another scene, the suggestion was shag carpeting. Colleen and I started dancing the monkey and the swim and talking about a band called Shag Carpeting that had just had a concert the previous night.

Mary reminded us the scene was about us, so I said, "Hey, I saw you backstage last night. You're seeing the lead singer!"

She stopped dancing and said, "Yes, don't tell his wife." End scene.

While I might not remember all the short scenes we did, I do remember that Megan was quick to jump in and enter scenes when it was appropriate. She often found a way to take a scene further. Sometimes it was just before I thought maybe I should go in, and she took a similar approach to what I thought should be done. I'll have to pay closer attention to those instincts.

We then gathered in a circle and did "185", the pun game. This time we had a rougher time with it, possibly because we were stuck in our heads more than usual. We also tried the game Waiter, where someone sits in a chair and says, "Waiter, there's a blank in my soup." And the waiter gives a punchline. That went slightly better.

The other pun game we did was Bad Movie, where the set up is, "I saw a movie about blanks that was so bad." Everyone says, "How bad was it?" And you say the punchline. We were only coming up with two or three puns for each of the suggestions, and it took us a lot longer to come up with them than it did last week when we were more relaxed.

Another game we reviewed was the one where you're split into two teams and you take turns rushing onto the stage two at a time and occupying two chairs. The other team calls out, "Those blanks are stealing our car!" and then you do a scene based on the suggestion. The suggestions have to be based on a letter that Mary gave us.

We did a lot better with that one and came up with some great stuff, I thought, considering how weird some of the suggestions were. For example, "Those marshmallows are stealing our car!" Colleen acted really big and puffy, having difficulty steering.

Mary reminded us that this is the sort of game where we can think ahead with the suggestions, since we know what letter we're dealing with. That's a good idea. I wouldn't be surprised if she includes this game next week, since it went extremely well.

Then we did an old favorite we learned in the beginners' class, Dr. Know-it-all. This is where four people act as one person, an expert in an obscure knowledge. An interviewer asks them questions, and they respond one word at a time until they form complete sentences.

The topics were wool making and sailboating. That game went smoothly, although there wasn't much that came out of it that's noteworthy.

Next I believe we worked on Storytelling, which is where we all stand in a semicircle and tell a story based on a suggestion. Mary "conducts" the story, pointing to people in turn and changing speakers at will. If she pulls her hand away in the middle of a word, you have to stop right there and the next person has to pick it up. If you mess up, you're eliminated.

We did two stories. The first was about the "Melting Man", about a guy who was made of chocolate. He fell in love with and married a chocolate Easter bunny.

Then we told a story called "The Mummy Was Watching God" about a very religious mummy who wanted very much to be a normal person, but God disapproved of this sacrilege and eventually took revenge by coming down to earth during a baseball game being held by the mummy's kids right at the final inning and smiting one of the players.

We also did Blind Line. That's where some performers (in this case three) leave the room, and the audience comes up with lines which are written on pieces of paper and distributed all over the stage. They come back in and do a scene based on a suggestion, picking up the pieces of paper and working them into the scene.

The first suggestion was a playground. Carol and Colleen met up there and were just beginning to enjoy the playground equipment when Liza came out as a police officer and was checking on them because they were child molesters on probation.

I was in a group with Megan and Lori. They started on-stage in a prison, as fellow inmates comparing muscles. Then Lori picked up a line that said, "Reelect Gore," and they got into a political debate. Megan disagreed about the idea of reelecting Gore, and they bewailed their inability to vote in prison.

So I came on as another inmate and said, "Hey, guys, did you hear the good news? The registration people are coming by to let us register to vote. If we register as Republicans, they'll let us out!"

The funniest thing happened. The very next line that Megan picked up was "That's the most vile group of people I've ever known." That got a big laugh. That scene went pretty well.

Then we did Quick Change, which is where two people (or three) do a scene and whenever Mary says, "Change," they have to change their line to something different.

Lori, Megan and I did a fun little scene. The suggestion was tea party, and Lori was fussing over whether the tea was too hot. She was panicking over it, and so she put so much ice in it that it made it into iced tea.

I tried to reassure her that it was OK, but every time I said something, Mary said, "Change" until finally I blurted out, "This tea is the blood of our love, and everything will be OK." And I put my arm around her.

So then Lori started panicking about her brownies, that they were falling apart. Just then, Megan came on, having brought brownies. I hugged her and told her I loved her. Then Megan said that on the way over here, she'd hit a dog.

"I love dogs," I said. I admit that scene was a bit disjointed, but we had fun with it.

Then Liza and Carol were in a scene where the setting was a governor's office. Colleen was behind the desk firing her, and Carol kept arguing about it. Finally, Geoff came in and said they should stop playing governor or they'll get caught.

Then they all went back to their typewriters and were talking about Geoff's desire to become a princess. Cute.

Finally, Liza and Megan were in a scene set in an amusement park. When they just stood in the center of the stage talking, Mary entered the scene as an off-stage robotic voice, telling them "Pay for your ticket now. Move to the left. Go through the gate." That was an interesting example of how to enter a scene without actually being on-stage.

I'm trying to remember if we ran through any other games, but nothing's jumping out at me, so I guess that was about it. Mary told us she'd come up with a final run-down for next week and determine who was going to be in what game based on what we'd been most comfortable with during class.

She reassured us that we're ready for this and told us not to psyche ourselves out. "It's not a performance; just an open class. These people didn't pay money. They're your friends and loved ones, here to support you."

In other words, I need to reassume the attitude I learned halfway through the beginning class, where instead of panicking ahead of time, I just said, "Whatever happens happens."

If we all come out with a positive outlook and throw ourselves into it, what we come up with will be amazing.

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Copyright 2006 by Alyce Wilson

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