guerrilla improv, timidly

Nick and I met Monday evening in a so.phl furniture store to screw around in an improv fashion in the living room and bedroom sets. We were both pretty underpracticed, despite my attending i-incubator sunnight, so in the showroom sets we just did warm-uppy stuff like Electric Factory and Eight Things, and we let that evolve into Beat the Shit Out of the Game. But just a sit-downy, "bat" version. *

We sat in a very country home type living room, and Nick asked me for 8 things found under the counter. I said paper clips, a roach motel, two forks, a pamphlet on the secret history of Philadelphia, and then other stuff. So then we found ourselves riffing on alternate histories of Jefferson and Franklin, and how they were Freemasons and Anabaptists, and Philly's Boathouse row was a Freemason anagram for Boy House (creative, i know), so the founding fathers brought children there and abused them. That sort of very low-key stuff for like 90min.

Another one I enjoyed was the first one, because it just arose so organically. The set we were in looked like a college girl's apartment. I had asked Nick for 8things Tesla was afraid of. I told him my favorite of his answers was karate experts. Then, just as a matter of playful conversation Nick said, "Nikola, please come out. I promise I don't know any karate. Look, I've got a board and I'm punching it and it's still intact... please, Nikola. Come out". So next thing we know I'm Nikola Tesla hiding in the bathroom insisting, "when you came in I swear you did a forward roll!" and, "well why are you wearing a headband?" HILARIOUS!

If we had a small handful of players we could do more involved exercises and actual scenework. There are some things i'd like to do with four improvisors in the kitchen sets. Even though the two of us have done this several times, it's still intimidating to jump into big character-work among the shoppers and sales staff and security. I'd like to come prepared with a bunch of, i don't know... relationships or situations... that we could employ in each set, because the go-to tends to be family members or couples. The idea of the scene opening up on Tesla already hiding from his visitor is just too awesome to script - that sort of thing could only arise from totally not thinking.

* a Bat is an improv form performed in the dark, wherein the auditory portion of the performance has to conjure the stimulation of the other senses.