improvarama

When money rules, thieves will prosper. -- doug smith  

We do best what we do most. Practice. It's the best way (maybe the only way) to get better. -- doug smith

Opening Options:   Introduce the prompt by announcing it (with one person or several in unison), OR by walking across the space carrying a sign that says "If perfection was easy..." OR by writing it on a white board or chalk board. Build the scene based on the concept:   If perfection was easy we'd be bored out of our minds. Develop the scene by preventing boredom by making sure that nothing any of the characters do is easy. -- doug smith  

What to do: Form two evenly distributed lines of people facing each other. In silence, practice smiling. Small smiles, big smiles, devious smiles, friendly smiles...say nothing, simply smile. Enhancements: If you have a musician, encourage them to improvise quiet music as you all smile. Variation: Practice with hand-mirrors. Hold the mirrors up to your line partner to show them their smile. End scene when: If laughter ensues, let it trickle until everyone is laughing. If laughter does not ensue, someone must initiate it until it does spread. Allow everyone to savor the laughter until it slowly (or suddenly) trickles out. -- doug smith Some thoughts on smiles: The best use of a mirror is to practice your smile. A smile can help your attitude get over itself. Practicing your smile is not only good for you, it's good for everyone around you, too. It's harder to be mad at someone who likes you enough to smile for you. Even a curious smile is better than no smile at all. It's ea...

Here is a prompt for a silent improv sketch: The ego is lonely until it discovers others. Go.  -- doug smith

Premise:   Sometimes we learn a lesson too late to help us while we're learning it...we have to use it later. Scene: Improvise a scene where that premise becomes clear. Characters should struggle with at least three obstacles and vanquish none of them, yet bring the scene to a close with their realizations. Suggested Obstacles (but you can decide): Your point of view could be wrong. You may have created an enemy who will harm you. Throwing money at a problem may not solve it.

When we learn to improvise we dramatically increase and improve our possibilities -- not just in improv, but also in everything we do. -- doug smith  

The more random things become the more likely that an order will emerge. From the broadest possible view everything is organized. What can you do with that? -- doug smith

Maybe it's not a paradox. Maybe it just feels counter-intuitive. Still, it seems to be true: To get more done, practice creating times when you get nothing done. Schedule down-town. Focus on not focusing. Let your mind wander and explore. Creative artists know that this works. It might feel disorienting at first, yet it does work. To get more done, sometimes you've got to do less. -- doug smith  

A patient in the emergency room presents with the emergency that suddenly life is not real and if we're not all careful we will all melt away. RAISE THE STAKES: Other players catch the condition.  

A curious mail deliverer asks detailed and endless questions of the receivers of the mail.  RAISE THE STAKES: Not only answer the questions, but take it to another level of "nobody needs to know" detail. Reverse the flow and interrogate the mail person.

A carpenter, who firmly believes that "there are no absolutes" builds a house for someone who thinks that perhaps 12 inches IS a foot and a right angle IS 90 degrees and walls should hold up. RAISE THE STAKES: Levitating tools.  

Two people in a restaurant attempt to order their meals and run into difficulty with a server who refuses to acknowledge the existence of vegetables or water. RAISE THE STAKES: Other customers enter who each refuse to acknowledge the existence of something commonly believed to exist (like proteins, knives and forks, napkins, money.)

 A cleaning person discovers a spot that won't come out, but is determined to prevail.

  Have you ever found someone who looks enough like you to be your twin? How would it make you feel? In this scene prompt, all of the people at a party slowing realize that they have a twin at the party. As implausible as they know it is, they come to realize that everyone at the party has at least one twin. ...and scene!

The driver of a bus stops the bus and refuses to continue because "life doesn't mean anything anymore." The passengers must decide what to do. RAISE THE STAKES: No escape. Inexplicably all the exit doors are also locked.  

The life boat can handle one more passenger. Four people are left on a sinking ship and are now faced with dealing with deciding who will be the last person on the lifeboat.

An alien has just arrived at your office and asks you to explain God.

  Two workers install a box. A third person objects to the way that it is being installed. They cannot agree on the purpose of the box or the way it is being configured. RAISE THE STAKES: The box begins making noise. The box begins smoking. The box begins ticking. Animal sounds emanate from the box.

  What Do You Make of This? Does Bernie want you to draw? Would you rather write a poem? I think Bernie is about to sing. Do you?

  Discuss: Does the picture above depict a magic table, or a magic broom, and why? Bonus points if the man using the broom says funny things.