Level 3 Longform: Week 1 Copy

Instructor: Nick Cutelli

Attendance: Kyra, Vanessa, Katherine, Will, Kelly, Dan, Jami, Hannah, Tom, Zoe(y) drop in

Admin: Signed conduct forms and got student IDs

TLDR

• Today’s The Day
• Don’t ask questions, give details and gifts instead
• RELATIONSHIPS are what matter, build the scene around the relationship, not an unseen object, or the activity happening, don’t talk about someone who isn’t there
• Be an actor
• If you swipe or get the suggestion → Start the scene! Don’t leave the stage blank

Nick

• Improvising since 2009, also a stand up
• Improv Style – strong energy, go quickly, be funny, don’t dangle
• Goal: FUNNY
• Let scenes develop
• Focus and give your attention, know when the scene is done

Warm Up

• Zip Zap Zop
• Pass/point memory and listening game
  • Passed Name, Fruit, and Colors concurrently
  • Key takeaway to listen to everything happening onstage, make the eye-contact
• Walking around the room to stop and re-start walking as a collective, in unison
  • Key takeaway to use peripherals to really take in everything happening on the “stage”

Today’s The Day (TTD)

• Tell the audience and your partner everything right up top, don’t leave them with questions – who, what, why, where 
• “Ms name, I’ve got your medical records here” establishes
  • Dr patient relationship
  • Location at dr office
  • Discussing medical records 
• Don’t ask questions, instead give your partner the gift of all the information and details
• Drive the scene, don’t start with ambiguous object work or waiting a long time to establish the scene
• Not “playing” the scene but rather “building” the scene with all the details

Exercise

• Two lines, one initiates TTD style, other reacts and builds scene

Set Up

• Details! 
• Not “a store” it is “a Walmart in Alabama”
• Not “a soda” it is a “Mountain Dew”

Exercise 

• Start with generic object/location and everyone add detail

Relationship

• Always be thinking about how the information in the scene is impacting the relationship
• Tell the audience why whatever is happening is a big deal, what does it mean to the relationship
• Sitcoms are all successful in the relationship of the characters (e.g., cheers)

Exercise

• Hostage, 2 improvisers back to back can’t look at each other to make a scene about the relationship, giving Today’s The Day
  • Scene examples: 
    • Family traditions and earning a seat at the table
    • Having what it takes to be a “regular” at the fruit store
    • Man seeing death all around him to feel closeness
    • Individual acting up at work to get the attention of her friend that got her the job
• It is okay to have an ABC family moment as long as you are also hitting the funny in the scene
• Takeaways

• Be an actor
• Make the scene about the relationship
• React/Respond/Listen
• Not “playing” the scene, but rather “building” the scene with all the details
• Pauses are fine in a scene as long as we have made clear to the audience and our scene partners where we are going, makes the pause not concerning

Exercise

• Inner monologue, stepping out to tell the audience what our objectives or true feelings are in a scene
  • Scene examples: 
    • Pie Inspectors
    • Art class money making scheme
    • Kidnapped daughter
• Adding interest by changing your objective in a scene, taking someone else’s objective, “pimp” someone into admitting their objective within the scene

Montage with all we learned