The New York Times website has up a profile of Tracy Morgan (click the link to go there) that is just an interesting the story I put up a week or so ago about impressions.
I knew that Morgan was crazy and often wondered how much it was a persona he adopted and how much of it was really him - and this article sheds some light on it. After I read it, it made me think about the way all the performers at PHIT carry themselves on stage and off.
Personally, I like to leave a lot on the stage. If I ever catch myself making 2 or 3 wisecracks in a row I tend to think "stop it" in my head. Others really enjoy being uproarious at every turn. Where do other people think they fall in the spectrum of persona? Do you think you've got one? Do you think it's better to live funny or keep the funny on stage... I'm curious.
*telling me who said this should be really freaking easy if you read the post.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Activity Book Report
World Series fever ran high this week in the world of Activity Book. However, we managed to resist the siren call of Game 1 just long enough to meet for a pre-game rehearsal.
Joining us this week was that prodigal Activity Book member, Kelly Jo Little, who recently returned from an extended vacation in Colorado. Kelly Jo was in the Centennial State ostensibly to attend a wedding and her 25th high school reunion. However, you can bet that she was also conducting discreet field observations in search of inspiration for characters to portray in future Activity Book shows. Are there bitter bridesmaids and faded pom-pom girls in AB's future? Only Kelly Jo knows for sure!
With Kelly Jo back on board, our work featured fresh moods and colors. Strong physical offers dominated the proceedings, not only in our scene work, but also in our group games and warm-ups. In addition, we learned that a silent offer can be every bit as effective as a verbal offer -- and sometimes even more effective. (This is a lesson I definitely needed to learn!) And, to top it all off, the Phillies enjoyed a Game 1 victory.
From the Department of Shameless Plugs: Activity Book will be performing at the Shubin Theater on Friday, November 7 at 8:00 PM and on Saturday, November 8 at 10:00 PM. On Friday, we will be joined by Bethany Asplundh and the Moops, and on Saturday, we will be sharing the bill with The Gentlemen's Rotary Auxiliary. Tickets for both shows are only $10. (Swing on over to http://phillyimprovtheater.com/shows.html for more information.)
Joining us this week was that prodigal Activity Book member, Kelly Jo Little, who recently returned from an extended vacation in Colorado. Kelly Jo was in the Centennial State ostensibly to attend a wedding and her 25th high school reunion. However, you can bet that she was also conducting discreet field observations in search of inspiration for characters to portray in future Activity Book shows. Are there bitter bridesmaids and faded pom-pom girls in AB's future? Only Kelly Jo knows for sure!
With Kelly Jo back on board, our work featured fresh moods and colors. Strong physical offers dominated the proceedings, not only in our scene work, but also in our group games and warm-ups. In addition, we learned that a silent offer can be every bit as effective as a verbal offer -- and sometimes even more effective. (This is a lesson I definitely needed to learn!) And, to top it all off, the Phillies enjoyed a Game 1 victory.
From the Department of Shameless Plugs: Activity Book will be performing at the Shubin Theater on Friday, November 7 at 8:00 PM and on Saturday, November 8 at 10:00 PM. On Friday, we will be joined by Bethany Asplundh and the Moops, and on Saturday, we will be sharing the bill with The Gentlemen's Rotary Auxiliary. Tickets for both shows are only $10. (Swing on over to http://phillyimprovtheater.com/shows.html for more information.)
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
We're so sorry, he's from Barcelona*
So I've been working on The State of PHIT 2008 this week (save the date: December 2, 2008 @ 8pm, The Shubin) after deciding to hold another meeting this year and feeling very good about it.
Originally I hadn't thought to hold a meeting this year - time is kind of precious for me at the moment, since I've just started a new job - but few different circumstances convinced me it was needed and could be fun.
First, I'd had a nagging feeling for several months that some people felt like PHIT wasn't giving them a fair shake. I couldn't put my finger on exactly where some of the dissatisfaction was coming from until Meg Favreau pointed it out to me at a lunch we had a few weeks ago: the people who weren't quite as happy did not come to The State of PHIT last year. Meg said that her and Rob attending had made them understand where the theater was going and what the goals were for 2008 - so they understood why certain decisions were made the way they were. Hopefully we'll be able to get out all the people who just started getting involved this year so they can see what the theater has accomplished in 2008 and where we want to go for 2009 and feel more invested in (or at least better understand our approach to) what we're trying to do.
The second reason I came around to having the meeting is that it turns out we've got a lot of stuff to talk about. Rest assured, very little of the meeting is going to be PHIT bragging about what we've done (a little, to be sure, at the start). It's been a good year, but we want next year to be great. So we're going to talk about how we can start benefitting performers more directly for being on stage, and what Alexis is planning artistically. We may have more surprise announcements, several different irons on the fire there.
I'll probably write more about some of this stuff as I keep working over the next several weeks, but I'm interested in input here as well - WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO HEAR DISCUSSED DURING THE STATE OF PHIT?
*I am again awarding a point to the person that recognizes this first. Come on folks, where's it from? The comments section awaits!
Originally I hadn't thought to hold a meeting this year - time is kind of precious for me at the moment, since I've just started a new job - but few different circumstances convinced me it was needed and could be fun.
First, I'd had a nagging feeling for several months that some people felt like PHIT wasn't giving them a fair shake. I couldn't put my finger on exactly where some of the dissatisfaction was coming from until Meg Favreau pointed it out to me at a lunch we had a few weeks ago: the people who weren't quite as happy did not come to The State of PHIT last year. Meg said that her and Rob attending had made them understand where the theater was going and what the goals were for 2008 - so they understood why certain decisions were made the way they were. Hopefully we'll be able to get out all the people who just started getting involved this year so they can see what the theater has accomplished in 2008 and where we want to go for 2009 and feel more invested in (or at least better understand our approach to) what we're trying to do.
The second reason I came around to having the meeting is that it turns out we've got a lot of stuff to talk about. Rest assured, very little of the meeting is going to be PHIT bragging about what we've done (a little, to be sure, at the start). It's been a good year, but we want next year to be great. So we're going to talk about how we can start benefitting performers more directly for being on stage, and what Alexis is planning artistically. We may have more surprise announcements, several different irons on the fire there.
I'll probably write more about some of this stuff as I keep working over the next several weeks, but I'm interested in input here as well - WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO HEAR DISCUSSED DURING THE STATE OF PHIT?
*I am again awarding a point to the person that recognizes this first. Come on folks, where's it from? The comments section awaits!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Great article on impressions in the Washington Post
You can read it yourself by clicking here. I really enjoyed reading it, and I'd love to see people's take on what's said in it. The article really does interview a number of great comedians and get them to explain how they break down the process of doing an impression.
I think it would be a cool personal exercise, if I had the time, to select someone and try to do the same thing. One great thing for anyone who wants to do an impression these days is that there is so much material that is so easily accessible - on places like YouTube - that you can watch and study to work on it.
I don't think Philly does a ton of impressions. I've seen Secret Pants do Bush once, and I know the Rick Horner went through a phase a while back where he was doing Bush well (and a lot). Brandon Libby also does a terrifyingly good Nixon. I'd like to see the community do more, but only if they do them well. One nice thing about an impression is that you don't have to write it like a sketch, you can just work it and then bust it out in an improv set if the timing seems appropriate. And it can really wow an audience.
Anyone reading this have any impressions they do?
I think it would be a cool personal exercise, if I had the time, to select someone and try to do the same thing. One great thing for anyone who wants to do an impression these days is that there is so much material that is so easily accessible - on places like YouTube - that you can watch and study to work on it.
I don't think Philly does a ton of impressions. I've seen Secret Pants do Bush once, and I know the Rick Horner went through a phase a while back where he was doing Bush well (and a lot). Brandon Libby also does a terrifyingly good Nixon. I'd like to see the community do more, but only if they do them well. One nice thing about an impression is that you don't have to write it like a sketch, you can just work it and then bust it out in an improv set if the timing seems appropriate. And it can really wow an audience.
Anyone reading this have any impressions they do?
A Page from the Activity Book
Well, hello!
This is John, reporting on the latest happenings in the world of Activity Book, the PHIT house team directed by Rick Horner.
As many of you know, Activity Book (along with fellow house teams Fletcher and The Scramble) made our official debut on October 10 and 11 at the Shubin Theater. They were exciting nights for us, filled with the kinds of emotional highs and lows that could send even the strongest improvisers straight into the Valley of the Dolls. But, fear not! All of us emerged happy, healthy, and positively glowing with the knowledge that we were part of an exciting moment in the development of the Philadelphia improv scene. Endless thanks to Greg Maughan and Alexis Simpson for working so hard to make PHIT an important presence and for making these house teams a reality.
We in Activity Book are not the kind to rest on our laurels, so this past Wednesday we resumed our regular rehearsal schedule. Guided by our ace director, we discussed our performances and spent considerable time working on our edits. In the interest of full disclosure, I feel that I must confess an almost pathological inability to edit a scene. Blame it on my parents, who taught me (far too well, apparently) never to interrupt someone when he or she is speaking, and on my teammates, whose scene work is so strong that I get completely wrapped up in it and forget that I'm on the stage and not in the audience.
Of course, no Activity Book rehearsal would be complete without an exciting, free-flowing exchange of ideas and information. Among the topics discussed were possible methods of promoting and merchandising for our team, Philly sports fans vs. Detroit sports fans, and the latest breakthroughs in feminine hygiene technology.
As you can see, the world of Activity Book is a world of wonder, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to share it with you, not only through our performances, but also through this blog (thanks, Milkshake!).
This is John, reporting on the latest happenings in the world of Activity Book, the PHIT house team directed by Rick Horner.
As many of you know, Activity Book (along with fellow house teams Fletcher and The Scramble) made our official debut on October 10 and 11 at the Shubin Theater. They were exciting nights for us, filled with the kinds of emotional highs and lows that could send even the strongest improvisers straight into the Valley of the Dolls. But, fear not! All of us emerged happy, healthy, and positively glowing with the knowledge that we were part of an exciting moment in the development of the Philadelphia improv scene. Endless thanks to Greg Maughan and Alexis Simpson for working so hard to make PHIT an important presence and for making these house teams a reality.
We in Activity Book are not the kind to rest on our laurels, so this past Wednesday we resumed our regular rehearsal schedule. Guided by our ace director, we discussed our performances and spent considerable time working on our edits. In the interest of full disclosure, I feel that I must confess an almost pathological inability to edit a scene. Blame it on my parents, who taught me (far too well, apparently) never to interrupt someone when he or she is speaking, and on my teammates, whose scene work is so strong that I get completely wrapped up in it and forget that I'm on the stage and not in the audience.
Of course, no Activity Book rehearsal would be complete without an exciting, free-flowing exchange of ideas and information. Among the topics discussed were possible methods of promoting and merchandising for our team, Philly sports fans vs. Detroit sports fans, and the latest breakthroughs in feminine hygiene technology.
As you can see, the world of Activity Book is a world of wonder, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to share it with you, not only through our performances, but also through this blog (thanks, Milkshake!).
Friday, October 17, 2008
What's the deal with PHIT?*
Hey everyone,
Look at me following through on a promise to post! So PHIT had another exciting staff meeting this week, and as always it was not boring when Alexis and I got together.
The theater is growing very rapidly right now and it feels like we constantly have to balance the pace people want to move at with what is achievable from two people who are working other jobs full time. That's tricky. For instance, we really want to finish the initial building up of our house teams - specifically 1) getting the videos we shot and production photos we took last weekend polished off, 2) getting headshots for cast who need them, 3) getting group publicity photos, 4) creating websites, 5) creating press kits, 6) creating generic team postcards/flyers. All this stuff done will give us really good looking press packs to begin applying to festivals with.
At the same time we've got lots of great groups we don't want to ignore who have been doing festival stuff already - Rare Bird Show, Makeout Clinic, Illegal Refill, Industrial, etc. - and we want to find ways to bring these groups into the theater more and offer them more support. Then we've got offshoot sort of shows - Comic vs. Audience Comedy Show, Kent Haines' Why Am I Not Famous ?!?, and Bedtime Stories. These shows are doing great stuff and helping connect the various communities that all fall under "alternate comedy" in the city.
Above all though, I want to try looking beyond the little tight-knit group of people who know each other fairly well and run around producing and putting on shows. PHIT needs to start reaching out to the general populace and impressing them. Which is why I am spending a lot of my time for PHIT right now focused on larger picture stuff - namely our own independent branding (the website changes, new signs for the windows, posters, flyers, postcards - all designed by Jon Billett, our awesome graphic designer). I'm also trying to get mechanisms in place to make issuing press releases and getting listings for the shows EVERYWHERE a much simpler process. It's slow moving work, but it is starting to come together.
Parallel with this I am working very hard to try and improve/simplfy tech at our shows. We had a bunch of people step forward and volunteer to help with tech at shows last May - but what we found after the initial training was that we made things too complicated. So we're beefing up the tech software in the booth and automating more things - like having voiceover recorded announcements instead of live ones. That stuff should start to really be in place starting next month. We have had people helping out in the booth (big shout out to Tim Callahan who has volunteered EVERY month since we started), but sometimes they haven't had enough guidance or have shown up while I've been trying to finish up the tech cues and I inevitably make a mistake. This new setup should reduce some of that. Hopefully it will make the shows seem just a bit slicker and more produced.
So that's where my focus lies these days: 1) improve publicity, 2) improve tech/production values.
I realize now that this wasn't so much about what the theater is up to, but what the heck - I can post more about that later!
Greg
*no bonus points for telling me what this is a reference to.
Look at me following through on a promise to post! So PHIT had another exciting staff meeting this week, and as always it was not boring when Alexis and I got together.
The theater is growing very rapidly right now and it feels like we constantly have to balance the pace people want to move at with what is achievable from two people who are working other jobs full time. That's tricky. For instance, we really want to finish the initial building up of our house teams - specifically 1) getting the videos we shot and production photos we took last weekend polished off, 2) getting headshots for cast who need them, 3) getting group publicity photos, 4) creating websites, 5) creating press kits, 6) creating generic team postcards/flyers. All this stuff done will give us really good looking press packs to begin applying to festivals with.
At the same time we've got lots of great groups we don't want to ignore who have been doing festival stuff already - Rare Bird Show, Makeout Clinic, Illegal Refill, Industrial, etc. - and we want to find ways to bring these groups into the theater more and offer them more support. Then we've got offshoot sort of shows - Comic vs. Audience Comedy Show, Kent Haines' Why Am I Not Famous ?!?, and Bedtime Stories. These shows are doing great stuff and helping connect the various communities that all fall under "alternate comedy" in the city.
Above all though, I want to try looking beyond the little tight-knit group of people who know each other fairly well and run around producing and putting on shows. PHIT needs to start reaching out to the general populace and impressing them. Which is why I am spending a lot of my time for PHIT right now focused on larger picture stuff - namely our own independent branding (the website changes, new signs for the windows, posters, flyers, postcards - all designed by Jon Billett, our awesome graphic designer). I'm also trying to get mechanisms in place to make issuing press releases and getting listings for the shows EVERYWHERE a much simpler process. It's slow moving work, but it is starting to come together.
Parallel with this I am working very hard to try and improve/simplfy tech at our shows. We had a bunch of people step forward and volunteer to help with tech at shows last May - but what we found after the initial training was that we made things too complicated. So we're beefing up the tech software in the booth and automating more things - like having voiceover recorded announcements instead of live ones. That stuff should start to really be in place starting next month. We have had people helping out in the booth (big shout out to Tim Callahan who has volunteered EVERY month since we started), but sometimes they haven't had enough guidance or have shown up while I've been trying to finish up the tech cues and I inevitably make a mistake. This new setup should reduce some of that. Hopefully it will make the shows seem just a bit slicker and more produced.
So that's where my focus lies these days: 1) improve publicity, 2) improve tech/production values.
I realize now that this wasn't so much about what the theater is up to, but what the heck - I can post more about that later!
Greg
*no bonus points for telling me what this is a reference to.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Greetings from The Scramble!
Hi. My name is Shane. I am the, uh, most bear-ish member of Greg's PHIT house team, temporarily known as The Scramble. This past weekend we had the pleasure of performing at The Shubin with the other house teams, Activity Book and Fletcher, as well as UCB's own RAGNAROCK! Everyone was delightful and funny, and ultimately there were waffles, but mostly I want to talk about the crazy style of improv known as The Scramble.
If The Harold is a river, with surprising twists and turns, but ultimately following an easily mapped pattern, then The Scramble is a maelstrom of chaos, a veritable skookumchuck of comedy, with so much going on, the audience is forced to decide what to focus on. (If you deduced that I used that metaphor just so I could use the word "skookumchuck", then good job, and ten points to Gryffindor or whatever.) The Scramble walks a thin line between improv comedy and performance art, and I feel it's a more interactive form than the standard improv templates. If you're new to The Scramble, let me give you a taste of the madness!
Our team has eight members, and at the start of the show, each of us comes out and does a scene with a ghost. What's particularly unusual is that we don't leave the stage as the other performers begin their scenes, so at one point in the opening, all eight of us are onstage, doing our individual ghost scenes and talking over each other. To say this is chaotic is probably a bit of an understatement; there is so much happening on the stage that an audience member would not possibly be able to take it all in at once, and would instead be forced to pay selective attention to whatever interests him/her at the moment. This is challenging stuff for an audience not used to it, and we noticed more than a few puzzled faces during the start of last weekend's shows.
The middle of the show is filled with two-person scenes that may or may not be related to the earlier ghost scenes. The primary difference here between The Scramble and The Harold is that there are often more than one of these scenes playing out at once. While not as chaotic as the beginning, an audience still finds more than one thing competing for its attention. The other main difference is that we edit our own scenes. No one from the back line runs out in front to end a scene; rather it is up to us to decide when the scene has reached its natural exit point. We try to end our scenes on a high emotional note, and then quickly drop our character and head back to the line. Personally, I like the freedom to end my own scene when I feel it needs to be wrapped up. Since our scenes overlap continuously, The Scramble is a little more intense than standard long-form improv - there's a whole lotta content packed into every half hour. We end with more ghost scenes, and the final tableau, if you will, has all eight of us back on the stage, interacting with ghosts, as the lights go down.
I'll admit that the form is a little daunting to all of us, and while I am happy with last weekend's shows, I believe that we will only get stronger as we become more used to it, particularly once we don't need to think about structure so much and can focus even more on our characters and scenes. We had a great session with the lovely and talented Morgan from RAGNAROCK!, who gave us some good ideas for The Scramble, despite not being very familar with the form. I think we're all excited to be part of something new and different, and are looking forward to the opportunity to bring Philly something it probably hasn't seen before. We have a very diverse team, and I'm proud of the work we've done, and am anticipating even greater things down the line for us. And for you! Go Phillies!
If The Harold is a river, with surprising twists and turns, but ultimately following an easily mapped pattern, then The Scramble is a maelstrom of chaos, a veritable skookumchuck of comedy, with so much going on, the audience is forced to decide what to focus on. (If you deduced that I used that metaphor just so I could use the word "skookumchuck", then good job, and ten points to Gryffindor or whatever.) The Scramble walks a thin line between improv comedy and performance art, and I feel it's a more interactive form than the standard improv templates. If you're new to The Scramble, let me give you a taste of the madness!
Our team has eight members, and at the start of the show, each of us comes out and does a scene with a ghost. What's particularly unusual is that we don't leave the stage as the other performers begin their scenes, so at one point in the opening, all eight of us are onstage, doing our individual ghost scenes and talking over each other. To say this is chaotic is probably a bit of an understatement; there is so much happening on the stage that an audience member would not possibly be able to take it all in at once, and would instead be forced to pay selective attention to whatever interests him/her at the moment. This is challenging stuff for an audience not used to it, and we noticed more than a few puzzled faces during the start of last weekend's shows.
The middle of the show is filled with two-person scenes that may or may not be related to the earlier ghost scenes. The primary difference here between The Scramble and The Harold is that there are often more than one of these scenes playing out at once. While not as chaotic as the beginning, an audience still finds more than one thing competing for its attention. The other main difference is that we edit our own scenes. No one from the back line runs out in front to end a scene; rather it is up to us to decide when the scene has reached its natural exit point. We try to end our scenes on a high emotional note, and then quickly drop our character and head back to the line. Personally, I like the freedom to end my own scene when I feel it needs to be wrapped up. Since our scenes overlap continuously, The Scramble is a little more intense than standard long-form improv - there's a whole lotta content packed into every half hour. We end with more ghost scenes, and the final tableau, if you will, has all eight of us back on the stage, interacting with ghosts, as the lights go down.
I'll admit that the form is a little daunting to all of us, and while I am happy with last weekend's shows, I believe that we will only get stronger as we become more used to it, particularly once we don't need to think about structure so much and can focus even more on our characters and scenes. We had a great session with the lovely and talented Morgan from RAGNAROCK!, who gave us some good ideas for The Scramble, despite not being very familar with the form. I think we're all excited to be part of something new and different, and are looking forward to the opportunity to bring Philly something it probably hasn't seen before. We have a very diverse team, and I'm proud of the work we've done, and am anticipating even greater things down the line for us. And for you! Go Phillies!
Saturday, October 11, 2008
of house teams and kings*
I'm going to start trying to post on this every to let people know what PHIT is up to in the more "official" sense (we have the staff meeting every Thursday night so that timing makes sense), but I figured it's never too early to start something - so here goes...
House Teams premiered yesterday evening which filled me with a kind of joy that is hard to describe. I've been working on PHIT nearly every day since Oct. 13, 2005 - exceptions: 4 days around the death of my grandmother, Amie's birthday, 2 days while I was on Grand Teton in 2006, 8 days while I was on Kilimanjaro this year... and that's it - and seeing part of the mission/vision/goal accomplished last night was freakin' awesome.
Let's get the names over with right now: Fletcher, Activity Book, The Scramble (last name pending change/settling on a real name)
So our 8pm show had a small audience, which was sad for Fletcher - who banged out a great set with no support from the crowd (you gotta have enough people for this stuff to work, laughter can't be contagious when people aren't sitting next to each other) - and somewhat less sad for The Scramble who benefitted from both the audience being warmed up and a strange and wonderful form - never before seen in Philadelphia - that drew folks in. It was very quiet during the set but there was hearty applause at the end.
10pm show was amazing. Activity Book totally held their own against the kids of Ragnarock from the UCB in New York City. Those folks had better warn the Big Apple we're coming. The later show definitely had the advantage of not competing with the Phillies game and drew a big crowd. All in all, I gotta say that Activity Book had the best premiere of our new children (so hopefully we've got some healthy competition coming from the others now). Sure, they had a lot of advantages: good crowd, later time, the anticipation of something bigger coming down the tracks - but they also clicked along nicely. This is going to be a horse-race I'm sure, there's no way they'll hold the top banana spot for long with the kind of crazy talent coming out of the other groups. Hell, they could be toppled from their perch this evening.
Alright, so there's a breakdown of premiere madness. Now I'll hop off to run stuff, and try to get back on Friday to KEEP MY PROMISE.
Wheeeeeeee! Go Improv.
*bonus points to whoever can comment and tell what what my title is referencing.
House Teams premiered yesterday evening which filled me with a kind of joy that is hard to describe. I've been working on PHIT nearly every day since Oct. 13, 2005 - exceptions: 4 days around the death of my grandmother, Amie's birthday, 2 days while I was on Grand Teton in 2006, 8 days while I was on Kilimanjaro this year... and that's it - and seeing part of the mission/vision/goal accomplished last night was freakin' awesome.
Let's get the names over with right now: Fletcher, Activity Book, The Scramble (last name pending change/settling on a real name)
So our 8pm show had a small audience, which was sad for Fletcher - who banged out a great set with no support from the crowd (you gotta have enough people for this stuff to work, laughter can't be contagious when people aren't sitting next to each other) - and somewhat less sad for The Scramble who benefitted from both the audience being warmed up and a strange and wonderful form - never before seen in Philadelphia - that drew folks in. It was very quiet during the set but there was hearty applause at the end.
10pm show was amazing. Activity Book totally held their own against the kids of Ragnarock from the UCB in New York City. Those folks had better warn the Big Apple we're coming. The later show definitely had the advantage of not competing with the Phillies game and drew a big crowd. All in all, I gotta say that Activity Book had the best premiere of our new children (so hopefully we've got some healthy competition coming from the others now). Sure, they had a lot of advantages: good crowd, later time, the anticipation of something bigger coming down the tracks - but they also clicked along nicely. This is going to be a horse-race I'm sure, there's no way they'll hold the top banana spot for long with the kind of crazy talent coming out of the other groups. Hell, they could be toppled from their perch this evening.
Alright, so there's a breakdown of premiere madness. Now I'll hop off to run stuff, and try to get back on Friday to KEEP MY PROMISE.
Wheeeeeeee! Go Improv.
*bonus points to whoever can comment and tell what what my title is referencing.
Friday, October 3, 2008
rock*u*bator updator and drawing out the awesome
There was some difficulty getting started on time on account of a couple factors. For one thing I had to load my huge amp out and then go uncover some parking several blocks away, then jog back in the misty philadelphia evening. Fortunately we only rarely rock out at the Ethical and our regular haunt has plenty of parking. For another thing my two earlybirds wanted to chill out a spell before getting into exerciese of any kind, even ZipZapZop. They preferred to wait until the Café du Monde was percolated.
That's right. I bring a -percolator- and fill it with the good stuff.
By 8:30 we had a total of five players, and this small turnout just means that each player gets to do more. Now only one player here had rocked with us before. For this reason we kept to familiar rock*u*bator exercises: Skat, Beastie Boys, Bizarro Boys (a rhythm-without-rhyming exercise), Human Delay Pedal, and Chorus Theory. I'd promised to do a couple new exercises but I wanted to get everyone interacting and being silly and singing, and the new drills could wait.
So here's my proudest moment. I won't name the player but I've sent a PHITblog password to this rockstar's inbox (i think) so perhaps we'll get some third-party perspective on this rock*u*bator thing.
okay wait, i'll do it thru the art of "quoting":
we were doing Skat, and Rockstar-To-Be was tripping over syllables and missing beats and stuff.
"I don't have any rhythm..."
"Of course you do. You can dance. I've seen you dance."
"Yeah but I can't do this."
"Man, sure you can." I snapped a beat with my fingers. "Just keep... a rhythm... like we doin' right here..." And now we were both snapping together. "okay... just talk... while... you keep... the beat... tell me... what... I'm wearing..."
There was definitely some beat-missing here. And just as much as before.
"Okay now keep... moving... from left... to right... Step left... and right... and left... and right.... Okay... we keep... just... dancing... Now... Tell me... what... I'm wearing..."
"you got a blue shirt... and a white tee shirt... and glasses... jeans... and sneakers..."
"Awesome. ...Now... Tell me... what's... behind me..."
"... There's a table... and a picture... and coffee and cups and a book... (...) And your amp, chairs, the wall... and a frame... "
"Awesome. Okay you got it now."
Okay, now you should have heard this verse that was created not even 90min later. We'd created a chorus about how lemons are so sour that you have to take a shower, and then it's MC No-Rhythm (yeah right) dropping this four-line verse about bartending for pseudo-intellectuals and then getting citrus oil all over your hands for your trouble. Or something even better it was amazing, it was on point, it was thematic, it was rhythmic, it rhymed. So awesome.
That's right. I bring a -percolator- and fill it with the good stuff.
By 8:30 we had a total of five players, and this small turnout just means that each player gets to do more. Now only one player here had rocked with us before. For this reason we kept to familiar rock*u*bator exercises: Skat, Beastie Boys, Bizarro Boys (a rhythm-without-rhyming exercise), Human Delay Pedal, and Chorus Theory. I'd promised to do a couple new exercises but I wanted to get everyone interacting and being silly and singing, and the new drills could wait.
So here's my proudest moment. I won't name the player but I've sent a PHITblog password to this rockstar's inbox (i think) so perhaps we'll get some third-party perspective on this rock*u*bator thing.
okay wait, i'll do it thru the art of "quoting":
we were doing Skat, and Rockstar-To-Be was tripping over syllables and missing beats and stuff.
"I don't have any rhythm..."
"Of course you do. You can dance. I've seen you dance."
"Yeah but I can't do this."
"Man, sure you can." I snapped a beat with my fingers. "Just keep... a rhythm... like we doin' right here..." And now we were both snapping together. "okay... just talk... while... you keep... the beat... tell me... what... I'm wearing..."
There was definitely some beat-missing here. And just as much as before.
"Okay now keep... moving... from left... to right... Step left... and right... and left... and right.... Okay... we keep... just... dancing... Now... Tell me... what... I'm wearing..."
"you got a blue shirt... and a white tee shirt... and glasses... jeans... and sneakers..."
"Awesome. ...Now... Tell me... what's... behind me..."
"... There's a table... and a picture... and coffee and cups and a book... (...) And your amp, chairs, the wall... and a frame... "
"Awesome. Okay you got it now."
Okay, now you should have heard this verse that was created not even 90min later. We'd created a chorus about how lemons are so sour that you have to take a shower, and then it's MC No-Rhythm (yeah right) dropping this four-line verse about bartending for pseudo-intellectuals and then getting citrus oil all over your hands for your trouble. Or something even better it was amazing, it was on point, it was thematic, it was rhythmic, it rhymed. So awesome.
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