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Spotlight! E-news from Theatrefolk

Issue 25 - Competition Improv

Welcome!

The Improv Team. How do you take those improv games played in class to the next level? Form an Improv team and compete! In this issue two teachers talk about their experiences.

In This Issue

PRICING UPDATE
Our prices are changing on January 1st. Find out how to lock into 2007 prices for your spring production.
PODCAST
Theatrefolk publishers talk theatre.
FACEBOOK/MYSPACE
More places to reach us.
INTRO
Introduction to Competition Improv.
IMPROV AT THE NEXT LEVEL
Why compete with an Improv Team?
TEAM RAMDOM
An interview with the coach and team members.
BAYRIDGE IMPROV
A coach talks about her team.
COMPETITION EXPOSITION
How to hold a competition at your school.
RESOURCES
A list of books and web resources on Improv
SHOUT BLOG
Lindsay and Kristin talk about the Barbershop Quartet in SHOUT!
RINGTONES
Get your favourite literary quote on your phone!
MRS MERRITT's BIG BOOK OF HOLIDAY SKITS
Holiday plays for the whole calendar.
CONFERENCE ALERT
Meet us in person.
IN THE NEXT ISSUE
What you can expect next.
STAY IN TOUCH
Contact Info/Read Our Blog.

Pricing Update

Planning a spring production of one of our plays? Now is the time to order scripts and rights. A new pricing structure will be going into place on January 1, 2008. Order now and pay 2007 prices for your 2008 show!

Podcast

We had a great time last month in Florida last month and interviewed a number of teachers. Check out our latest podcast.

Facebook/Myspace

Another way to keep in touch with us! If you're doing one of my shows, join my Facebook or MySpace. Easy contact for questions or comments!

Intro

Improv is... short for Improvisation.

Improv is... a spontaneous made up moment of theatre based on suggestions from the audience.

Improv is... unscripted unpredictable material.

Improv is... fun, challenging, scary, exhilarating.

We all know what Improv is, right? Every drama program has an Improv class, or at the least uses improv games. Every conference I've been to has multiple Improv workshops which are always filled to the rafters. The reasons are obvious: Improv is fun to do, and when it works it's amazing to perform and watch. It's even fun to watch when it's not going well! And to be a bit subversive, improvisation is a wonderful skill to have; it never hurts to know how to think on your feet.

Improv games in class are one thing, but what about introducing a level of team competition?

I talked to teacher Sheri Prescott last spring about her school's Improv team and knew it would make a great newsletter. In September I went to Ajax High School to talk to her and some team members. And then in an completely separate conversation, I found out that teacher Sue Noble also coaches a Improv Team and asked her to share some thoughts.

Both teachers have teams that compete in the Canadian Improv Games. Instead of rounds of games, teams compete in five specific events: Character, Story, Style, Theme and Issues. It's a bit different than traditional Theatresports competitions, but the nature of the team experience is what's important here. Take the thoughts of these teachers and apply them to your own school.

Improv at the Next Level

What does it mean to have a structured Improv Team instead of a casual group that likes to get together and play Improv games?

What is an Improv Team?

An Improv Team is a group formed with the goal of competition. A small number (usually no more than eight) that meets on a regular basis to practice, and should compete on a regular basis as well. Performing Improv on a stage, in front of an audience, with a competition factor is quite a bit different than doing Improv strictly for fun!

The Team has to take the following into consideration:

Group Dynamics: The chemistry of your team is an essential component. How does the team work together? Is there any friction between certain team members? Do they trust one another? Do they care about each other? Are they able to support each other on stage and off?
Dedication: It takes a lot of practice for a group to be able to work together and do well together. Are your team members dedicated to rehearse more than one night a week? Three times a week? Are they doing other extra-curricular activities that take away their focus? How committed are your team members?
Leaders and Followers: This goes along with Group Dynamics. You can't have a whole team of Leaders or a whole team of followers. You also can't have someone on the team who insists on leading whatever the situation: team members have to know when to lead and know when to step back. There's nothing more destructive to a scene when a team member steamrolls over someone else trying to lead. On the other hand, you can't have team members who are afraid to lead. What if a scene is failing and no one steps up to the plate?
Skills: It's important to have a variety of skills on your team. One person who's good at storytelling, another who can make up song lyrics on the spot, and it never hurts to have someone with an unique skill such as juggling or square dancing.
The Care Factor: Competition is a tightrope. If you're not careful team members can get too involved in the 'winning' aspect. But if they don't have any desire to win, then their competitions will be sloppy and lifeless. Instill a care factor in your team: the team should care about doing well, care about supporting each other, and care about Improv. If they don't care, why compete?

Why have an Improv Team?

The Competition factor gives your team a well defined focus. There's a reason and a goal to every practice.

Improv is a skill. It takes concentration, creativity, and trust. And if you're working within a team, nothing improves your team building skills than Improv!

How do you run an Improv Team?

Look to see how sports coaches run their teams. There's usually a warm up, then a specific concentration to the practice such as drills. Looks to see how sports teams get ready for competition, and then substitute Improv for sports! Here's a model to follow:

Before your auditions, hold several large group Improv sessions. Observe how different people work together, and who brings what to the table.
Hold auditions. Decide if you want a structured monologue audition, or if you'll tell the group before hand which games you're going to have them improv with during the audition, or if you're going to completely surprise them.
Choose your group. It should be no larger than eight members.
Practice. Practices should consist of some warm up games and exercises, and then have a specific focus. Choose one game and play it five or six times. Do speed drills where members have to come up with instant ideas. Have them do a long form improv where they do a storytelling exercise that lasts at least half an hour.
Decide on a competition. As soon as possible your team should know where they are going to compete. Give them something to work toward.
Get on stage! Practice Improv and Competing are two different worlds. The only way to know what it feels like is to do it.

Read the two following interviews to see how two different teachers run their teams.

Team Ramdom!

I sat down with T.J., Carolyn, Meaghan, and Shane, four members of Ajax High School's Improv Team (Team Ramdom) and their coach, teacher Sheri Prescott.

Check out video of the Team having fun before we got 'serious' about Improv...

How long have you been on Team Ramdom?

SHANE: Who are we?

ALL: Ramdom!

TJ: Since grade nine. So that's, what now, five years. Ooh.

CAROLYN: A year. Since grade nine.

MEAGHAN: My whole life. That means a year.

SHANE: Five years, in the making.

And what do you like about it?

T.J.: Completely fun. Interactive. You involve the audience. You involve yourself. And the energy is always there.

CAROLYN: I love the social aspect, because I met a lot of new people my first year. I think I struck some strong friendships.

SHANE: You also barfed on a lot of people too.

CAROLYN: I only barfed on you Shane.

MEAGHAN: I like improv because it's something I look forward to. It's like 'I have improv tonight!' I love everyone on my old team and hopefully on my new team too.

CAROLYN: Hopefully?!

SHANE: What I like about improv is that it's a little family away from home. We spend a lot of time together, I got to know these guys so well and it seems like all of our problems go out the door with improv.

It's like improv is a great way to get rid of anything that's gone on in the day.

SHANE: All your frustrations. Put it into improv.

MEAGHAN: Well, now I wish I gave a more emotional answer.

So the new team hasn't been formed yet. You have auditions in October. If you've been on the team in the past do you still have to audition?

ALL: (multitude of groans) Yes....

So what's that like? What's the audition process?

SHANE: Oh can I say this? First in order to introduce ourselves, we have to do a prepared monologue. But it doesn't have to be a Shakespeare monologue. You can talk about something random, like, last year I talked about a dog. And I don't have a dog. I've never owned a dog at all, so I made up this crazy story and had everyone laughing and I have no clue cause I didn't say anything funny but supposedly I was talking really fast...

MEAGHAN: Like you're doing now?

SHERI PRESCOTT: He improv'd his prepared monologue.

MEAGHAN: I sang a song about milk for my audition.

Please, can you do it now?

MEAGHAN: Sure.

Ok, a song about milk.

MEAGHAN: Give me a long M

SHANE: Mmmmmmmm.

MEAGHAN: Give me a short M!

SHANE: M.

MEAGHAN: (clapping) 'Don't want no tea, no tea, don't want no juice no juice, just want some milk, milk, milk, milk, mik. Just want some milk, milk, milk,milk,milk!

SHANE: There are actions.

MEAGHAN: And then continue with every other letter of milk. Which is only three letters. But I enjoyed it.

CAROLYN: I went through a four month audition.

Why?

CAROLYN: Well, I didn't audition at first, I didn't want to. But then, I was in Ms Prescott's, our coach's, drama class,

SHANE: And you also came out to the open Improv's.

MEAGHAN: Because I forced her.

SHANE: And we pulled you up on stage one day you did this chicken cowboy thing and we were talking because one of the team had to step down, and we all started talking - Carolyn!

CAROLYN: And I ended up getting picked. Best time of my life.

TJ mimes that he doesn't remember his audition.

SHERI PRESCOTT: Yours was serious TJ. It was like The Raven or something.

CAROLYN: That was scary.

TJ: I know what it was, it wasn't the Raven. It was the poem I wrote for Veterans Affairs Canada.

MEAGHAN: Yeaaaah.

TJ: The poem was called, Memories of a Soldier.

And for your improv audition that's what you did?

TJ: That's what I did.

SHANE: With improv, like there's whole different levels. Everyone thinks it's just a funny thing but we also have this serious aspect. We have this game called Life, where we have to show a pivotal moment in someone's life. So it's really cool to have people from all different backgrounds come in. We all offer something different.

That's a great segue way into asking about your favourite games. TJ?

TJ: I don't have a favourite game. I get a new thing out of every single game.

So what's the last game you played that made you go 'wow, that was amazing.'

TJ: Our scene that we did last year at Bad Dog Theatre, where we did Fairy Tale in a minute.

Which one did you do?

TJ: Jack in the Beanstock. Oh man. I was the giant.

SHANE: I was the bean. It's funny. Cause I'm so tall.

What's your favourite game Shane?

SHANE: Slow motion commentary.

MEAGHAN: That's my favourite game!

SHANE: That is my favourite game because every time we play it, it's something different.

(to MEAGHAN) And why is it your favourite game?

MEAGHAN: I'm usually the commentator. I've got this character of Smuck. That's my name. The other person who does it is named Chuck. Smuck just happens to rhyme with Chuck. And it seems like we always play that game really well. It's just a lot of fun.

CAROLYN: I have to agree with TJ. I love the Fairy Tale in a minute because we always have fun. You have the audience interact the most in that game. A lot of fun to play.

You were talking about how great it is when you're working with someone and it goes well. What's it like when you're working with someone and it doesn't go well?

MEAGHAN: Not good!

SHANE: It's very stressful. When it's not working, sometimes everyone tries to take a foot forward at the same time. If you're all walking together shoulder to shoulder someone's going to trip and we're all going to fall. We have to remember to let one or two people take the lead and everyone plays off of that. It's all about trust.

MEAGHAN: Trust is so important on an improv team. We work so closely together.

Ms. Prescott, is that something that comes into play when you're picking members?

SHERI PRESCOTT: Yes, chemistry. We have two months of training and what I'm doing is watching the chemistry: who's reliable, who the others love. We could have a really talented student but if there's no chemistry with the other members it won't be a functioning improv team.

Competition. What's that like? How does it differ from rehearsal?

CAROLYN: It's different because when you get on stage and you see the audience, and the lights hit you, it's a whole new level. You realize, as a team I know every time we get up on that stage we want to win. We don't say it out loud (everyone laughs) but we obviously want to win. We're a pretty competitive team. So when we don't win, we get a little down. But the team atmosphere always brings us back up.

TJ: Actually, I don't think we ever get down. We haven't been down.

SHANE: What about that one time. The very last time.

TJ: The thing is when we do lose, we still take it in good stride. In Improv, just because you lost doesn't mean you didn't make a good friend. In comparison with other sports, I've noticed good sportsmanship is always there. There's never anyone who says 'I'm better than you.' We're here to have a good time. That's Improv.

And now, we'll switch over fully to Sheri Prescott, the coach for Team Ramdom. How long has Team Ramdom been in existence?

SHERI PRESCOTT: Last year we went competitive, and registered with the Canadian Improv Games. I had been running Theatre Sports competitions out of the school and inviting other schools to come and compete, so the kids had a real tournament atmosphere and made a lot of friends. Last year I thought the talent looked so good and there were a lot of grade twelves leaving and I wanted to give them a great year. I knew I was ready to coach more competitively.

What was that like to go competitive?

SHERI PRESCOTT: Theatre Sports was just about who could make the audience laugh the hardest. With the Canadian Improv Games, you want to get to the next level and stay with the fun. The events are highly structured and the judging criteria is quite lengthy. It's a whole new ball game. I was new with it too, so I was trying to learn along with the team as fast as I could and hopefully steer them in the right direction.

How far did your team get last year?

SHERI PRESCOTT: It's apparently a real miracle to make it past the semi finals and we made it to our zone semi finals. We were the new school on the scene and the team was highly pumped and charged. They were so new and excited and showed well.

With the competitive nature in mind, how do you run a rehearsal?

SHERI PRESCOTT: Rehearsal always starts with a warm up so they can get their inhibitions out and park their issues at the door. And then we do some review games, it might be a Location, Character, Complication, Conclusion game just so they remember how to tell a good story. And then we choose the event we want to work on for that day. The hardest part is that you choose your favourite format to explore the Event. Since we were new, we didn't have a clue as to what format to try.

You're not playing traditional improv games. This is really different.

SHERI PRESCOTT: It's really hard. There are serious moments, it's not just comedy. Each scene is four minutes long.

What a completely different experience. You're not relying on a bag of tricks to get through a scene.

SHERI PRESCOTT: The first thing I had to find out which student had which talent and make sure they were placed properly. So that if it was a Theme event, everyone knows who the leader is. Style was very hard for us.

Give me an example of a Style format.

SHERI PRESCOTT: You choose a genre. We tried doing Bollywood style, doing the whole scene in Bollywood dance. Hilarious to practice but we thought we never did it well enough to show for competition. Another style might be documentary, or spaghetti western. It's fun to do but a lot of teams struggle with Style.

What was your very first competition like?

SHERI PRESCOTT: We went in, just excited to be there. And then we did really well! We were shocked, and other schools were shocked too. We just thought, I coached to the team that we're in a learning curve, we're brand new, we're going to check out the scene - And then to find out that we were good really pumped them up to work harder. We put in hours and hours and hours of training. They'd come in on Friday nights and Saturdays.

So dedication is truly the key, isn't it? You have to put the hours in.

SHERI PRESCOTT: Yes. And for any coach I would suggest that they bond the team really quick. Take them to Second City, do dinner.

That's my next question! What are a couple of other recommendations for Improv Coaches?

SHERI PRESCOTT: Make it about fun, and less about winning. Host your own tournaments with fun prizes. Get to know the parents, get them on board, show them the schedule so they're fully aware.

Make it about friendship. So that when the season's over, they may have lost along the way but the team will have great memories and great friends. We wrapped our season up last year at the Brooklyn Fair, they had their first ever Improv competition. We had an awesome night at the fair with rides, eating poutine, and Improv.

What do you expect this year?

SHERI PRESCOTT: I expect a lot of fun times. That's my goal. I expect to pick another great team with lots of chemistry. And if they win along the way, that's a bonus. I hope they have the same good times. I'm hoping to take the team on a road trip to Montreal to see some comedy shows. That's something to aim for. The season's not about the judge's score, but all the events and trips they have to look forward to.

That's great. Any last words?

SHERI PRESCOTT: It sounds like a cliche, but Improv really bonds people together. Our students are from all walks of life and they're completely bonded.

Thanks so much Sheri!

Bayridge Improv

I asked Sue Noble, coach of the Improv team at Bayridge Secondary School, to talk about her team and her experiences with coaching.

Tell me about your team. What's a typical Rehearsal like?

SUE NOBLE: The improv team meets every Monday after school and every Thursday at lunch. We do not call our sessions rehearsals rather practices. A typical practice consists of:

A warm-up which usually consists of a song and some random dancing or movement.
Skill games which are designed to develop particular skills for a particular improv game.
Improv games are games that prepare the team for competition. The team must perform in 4 out of 5 improv game areas. Those areas are Character, Story, Style, Theme and Issues.
Bonding activities, which usually take place outside of the school, may include things like going to a movie, eating pizza together, playing video games at someone's house.

What is your role as coach? What do you do?

SUE NOBLE: I believe my role as coach is to guide, to mentor. I do this by listening and making gentle suggestions; supporting their practices, exhibitions and games; letting the students have ownership of their team; completing paperwork and administrative details; encouraging fundraisers; eating supper with them before they compete; supplying pixie sticks for our 'before competition' ritual.

Has your role changed over the past five years?

SUE NOBLE: Yes my role has changed. I now have past improv team members returning to help support the team any way they can. It is really nice, really nice.

Does your team compete? What's that like?

Yes they do compete in the Kingston Regional Tournament of the Canadian Improv Games held at MacArthur auditorium, Queen's University. Competition is described as:

Positive energy
Supportive teams
Not competitive, more fun
Comfortable

How is competition different than playing the games in class?

SUE NOBLE: Competition is different than playing the games in class because:

The 'ask fors' are more original
Laughter from the audience
Referees and timekeepers structure the games
There are judges
Debriefing afterwards to show us our faults

Why should a school consider organizing an Improv Team?

SUE NOBLE: Every school should have am improv team in my opinion. Improv teaches the members to care about one another. To be happy, excited, frustrated, mad, disappointed, and ecstatic together. It gives students a sense of belonging in the school. It boosts their self-esteem and teaches them to think. Improv is something they can share with their friends, schoolmates and family members. It has exposed many proud parents. Improv changes lives!

Give me five "do's" for an Improv team.

SUE NOBLE: The 5 do's are:

Positive attitude
Team player
Team chemistry
Commitment
Intensity

Give me five "don'ts" for an Improv team.

SUE NOBLE: The 5 don'ts are:

Negative attitude
Blocking
Miss or irregular attendance at practices
Lack of intensity
Put downs

What are your teams favourite games?

SUE NOBLE: Our favourite games are:

Five Elements: Make a scene using location, relationship, conflict, rising action, and resolution.

Party game: A host must guess the characteristics of the guests attending their party and ultimately who they are.

Park Bench: aka Freeze.

Mingle game: People walk in a circle and when a number and object are called players get into groups of that number and form that object.

Question game: Two lines of players stand back to front. The players in the front of the lines face each other and the leader gives them a location. They must converse using questions only. The player that makes a statement goes to the back of their line and play continues.

Thanks Sue!

Competition Exposition

So, what happens if you don't have a way to compete in your area? Start your own competitions! Keep it light, keep it fun and you'll still be able to keep the competition spirit alive. Here's a quick list of how-tos!

Invite other teams.

Get together with teachers from nearby schools and see if they want to help you put together an informal competition.

If that doesn't work, do it within your own school. Form three teams and have them compete with each other.

Ideally, you should have three teams. Not too many more than that in an evening or your stage will be very crowded and the evening could get pretty long.

Decide on a form.

Whether it's Theatresports games, Long form, a Playbook of specific games, or events like the Canadian Improv Games, make sure everyone knows a month ahead of time what form your competition will take. That gives everyone time to practice.

Rules.

Decide on the rules. When everyone knows the rules, it's harder for scenes to go awry. Suggested rules are:

A time limit for scenes.
Be clear on what, if any, profanity is allowed.
Be clear on whether adult themes and content are banned.
How scenes will be scored.
If props can be used.
Whether the host/referee will be giving suggestions to the performers, or whether they will come from the audience.

Invite an outside judge.

This is especially important if you're inviting other schools. That way an outsider is judging the scenes. Look to your local community theatre or local college (which very well may have their own Improv team)

Invite an audience.

Good improv feeds off of audience reaction, it's important to have a crowd. It's especially important if you're going to take suggestions from the audience for the scenes.

Host/Referee.

You can have one person act as both, or a separate person for each task. The Host introduces the teams to the audience, calls out the games or events, they can also be the one who takes suggestions from the audience. The referee is there to enforce the rules; for example they keep an eye on the time for each scene.

The prizes.

At the end, offer prizes for the winning team or even for individual performers. Make them goofy prizes to emphasize the 'fun' of the competition.

Resources

Here are a whole bunch of Improv books, websites, and contacts for competitions.

Books

Truth in Comedy
by Charna Halpern, Del Close, and Kim Johnson
Acting on Impulse: The Art of Making Improv Theater
by Carol Hazenfield
Comedy Improvisation: Exercises & Techniques for Young Actors
by Delton T Horn
Group Improvisation: The Manual of Ensemble Improv Games
by Peter Gwinn (Author), Charna Halpern (Author)
The Ultimate Improv Book: A Complete Guide to Comedy Improvisation
by Edward J. Nevraumont

Web Resources

Competitions

SHOUT Blog

Lindsay and Kristin continue to talk about songs from SHOUT. This month, they talk about the barbershop quartet in the play 'The Buzzy Bees.'

Lindsay - Lyrics

I always knew that there would be barbershop in the play, as it's easily one of the most recognizable forms of a cappella music.

The 'Buzzy Bee' characters hold a soft spot in my heart: they are a very quarrelsome quartet, which is going to make them fun to play. I wanted to make sure they weren't just 'the token singers' and that there was substance to their personalities.

For example, it takes two weeks for the group to come up with their name, based on the fact that their names all start with B:

BARBARA: Barbara, Bill, Benita, Brad. They all start with the same letter. Four B's!
BRAD: (considering) The Four B's....
BARBARA: No. No, no, no, no, no.
BILL: That's good too.
BARBARA: We spent two weeks coming up with The Buzzy Bees. I'm not going through that pain again.
BENITA: I like The Four B's.
BARBARA: It gave me an ulcer! Teenagers don't get ulcers!

Being a lover of musicals, I couldn't help but be inspired by the barbershop quartet from 'The Music Man!' I had a vivid image of the four characters squabbling at each other, and then when prompted to sing, they completely drop their fight, plaster smiles on their faces and sing.

To take this quartet to the next level, I was inspired by another performer: Richard Cheese. He takes modern pop songs (and also rock and rap) and turns them into Vegas lounge performances. He's done Snoop Dogg, Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, Guns and Roses, and of course Brittney Spears has never sounded so good. It was a hop skip and a jump to realize that the barbershop quartet in SHOUT would be inspired to perform pop songs as barbershop. It's one of those bizarre ideas that I just threw at Kristin and said, ok, do what you can with this! She responded perfectly....

Kristin - Music

I was in a barbershop quartet for a short time - the four of us were in a show, we loved singing and wanted to try barbershop. I think the closeness of the harmonies is what makes it exciting. Add to that the fact that when you sing your part alone, it sounds so ridiculous, but when the four are together, it's magic.

The barbershop was a real challenge to write - I've sung it before but never written it. The style is very specific! You are trying to get as many dominant 7th chords in there as you can. A dominant 7th chord is a major triad with a minor 7th on top. In barbershop at least half of the chords should be dominant 7th. That's why the sound is so unique.

Another unique element is that the second highest voice in the group is the melody. Usually in harmony singing the melody goes from voice to voice to voice with everybody sharing part. In barbershop the lead voice sings the melody almost exclusively. The tenor sings a harmony above and the baritone and bass sing harmony below. It's a real challenge to keep things in the right register for the singers.

Normally barbershop is four singers of the same gender so the voices blend really close together. This was harder to do for SHOUT because we were doing two men and two women. The sound will be a little more spread out as the boys sing lower and the girls sing higher. That's why in our quartet the soprano is so low, it's to keep the voices closer together.

Ringtones

Theatrefolk is going multi-media! Haven't you always wanted your favourite Shakespeare quote as your ringtone? Are you in a Theatrefolk play and want a quote to play when your fellow castmates call? Check out www.literaryringtones.com for more info!

Mrs. Merritt's Big Book of Holiday Skits

We're proud to be connected to this project. Especially for elementary schools, this book is bursting with plays, scenes, skits, sketches and poems for holidays throughout the year. See www.mrsmerritt.com for details.

Conference Alert

Here's our upcoming conference schedule. If you're attending, please drop by and say hi!

In the Next Issue

We're off in December. Happy Holidays and we'll see you in January!

Stay in Touch

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Some of our playwrights post to the Theatrefolk Blog. Check it out for insights into what's happening with Theatrefolk.