April 4, 2008

Del's Last Party

The cover story in this week's Chicago Reader is an account of Del Close's deathbed party, excerpted from Kim "Howard" Johnson's new biography of Del, The Funniest One in the Room: The Lives and Legends of Del Close.

Posted by Fuzzy at 5:45 PM | Comments (0)

November 9, 2006

Liz Allen Interview

I was able to meet up with Jimmy Carrane, co-author of Improvising Better, because he lives here in Chicago. The other co-author, Liz Allen, is currently in Las Vegas, working for Second City, so I interviewed her over email. The full interview is after the jump:

Fuzzy: If I read this book, do I never need to come to your workshop?

Liz: First, thanks for reading it. Second, after reading it, please continue going to any and all improv workshops that interest you. My guess is that reading this book will only enhance your learning in a classroom environment.

Fuzzy: Conversely, can I really fix my own blind spots with a book?

Liz: You can get started fixing them. Obviously, as an improviser, you need at least one other person, but preferably an ensemble, to help you improve, since improv is group art. But awareness of yourself is a big step. There's that saying in psych circles -- you can't change something about yourself until you acknowledge it honestly within yourself. So maybe our book will help you acknowledge or admit something to yourself. And then, within a safe ensemble, you can challenge yourself to grow.

Fuzzy: Aren't I blind to them?

Liz: Probably not. I think most people know their own tricks and bs, but pretend they don't. Also, I'll bet you've been given a note from a coach or teacher you didn't like or made you uncomfortable or you disagreed with... that just might be your blindspot.

Fuzzy: I asked Jimmy if, after you guys sent out the Ten Blindspots, anyone ever came into your workshops saying, "Number six, that's my problem, help me fix it." He didn't seem to think so -- did you have the same experience?

Liz: I agree with Jimmy's recollection. I will add that many people came to us outside of the workshops and declared which blindspot they related to most. In the workshops we generally heard, "I came here because of the Top Ten Blindspots. Please help with them all."

Fuzzy: I don't mean this series of question to be a confrontational "why'd you bother writing a book", but rather I'm really interested in your perspective as someone who both teaches in person and has written a book about a) the value of books to our live performance field:

Liz: I think, as I suspect most people do, that reading books help you learn about any field. It's always good to read about something you're trying to master. You'll take from the book what you're ready to take from it.

Fuzzy: b) how self-aware people can get about their own problems.

Liz: I sort of touched on that above. I think improvisers crave self-awareness, which is why they liked individual attention in a workshop. Hopefully our book will trigger something to help improvisers see themselves clearly, and see that there's hope for every bump in the road they experience while learning to improvise. Improv is such a personal art form -- it's you exposing yourself under the loose veil of groupwork and characters. But ultimately, you're out there unprotected by any pre-written words of a script, so it follows that the journey of discovering improv is also the journey of discovering yourself.

Fuzzy: Can you talk a little about the experience of co-teaching a workshop and how (if?) that influenced the co-writing of this book?

Liz: Co-teaching is great in the same way improvising is great -- I enjoy collaborating. Because of our time teaching together, Jimmy and I knew what each of us wanted to say in the book, and that really helped us write together.

Fuzzy: What's your favorite part of the book that's Jimmy's contribution?

Liz: Jimmy initiated writing the chapter, Love the Process, which we put at the end of the book. I love the message of that chapter, and it's such a great reminder about how to approach improv. It's especially good to remember the message of that chapter as you become a more seasoned improviser.

Also, I like his quote on page 25, "React to your object work like it's the third person in the scene," because it's so concise and accurate. It boils down object work perfectly. Object work is tough to teach, and to explain exactly how object work should enhance scenework. Also, it can be boring to teach -- the exercises tend not to be emotional. And, frankly, some people aren't very coordinated, which is awkward to watch! I think this quote is a good one and I've used it a lot.

Fuzzy: Who has influenced you as a teacher, and how?

Liz: Good grief, so many! I'll mention a few. Del. Del. Del. He just took no crap from us and wouldn't settle for crap in scenes. He'd stop any scene and tell you that what you were doing wasn't ringing true. He stressed that if you were going to portray someone or anything -- a busdriver, or a dad, a paper bag -- you better really portray them as they might really be. He taught me about the dangers of stereotyping.

Miles Stroth was a huge influence. He showed me in my level 2 class, then later on Frank Booth, that if you were open to seeing it, the whole scene resided in the first line or two of a scene. This is not scripting, but truly investing in the beginning moments of a scene. Also, he used to quiz us upstairs at the Wrigleyside during a show -- he'd asked us what a character in that particular Harold could do to raise the stakes of a situation. He was very analytical about the work, and I appreciated that.

Of course my coach on Frank Booth, Craig Cackowski, was hugely influential. He really taught us to take everything as it is at the very beginning of a scene. For instance, if a scene began in the front seat of a car that was obviously in motion, and several seconds into the scene you wanted to join it and be in the backseat of the car, you couldn't just go and jump into the scene and drag in your own chair from the side of the stage. He'd say something like, "You can't pass through speeding metal unless your character has magical powers or this is world has different laws of physics from our own!" From that we learned to deal with everything literally which inevitably led us to slow, real moments.

Also, I want to say that watching groups over the years taught me a great deal. When I first started at iO, I'd watch The Family improvise, and they were inspirational. Their support work was amazing. Teams like Mr. Blonde, The Lost Yetis, Jazz Freddy, and Faulty Wiring, to name a few, taught me tons. For example, watching people listen and respond to one another taught me better listening skills. You can really learn about group work by watching it. All groups as a whole can be teachers, whether they play together seamlessly or are still struggling to figure it out.

Fuzzy: By writing a book that not for beginners, but rather people that have been improvising long enough to have developed bad habits, you're making some assumptions about the maturity of the improv world -- that there are enough experienced improvisors out there to make a book like this useful. Care to make any bold statements about The State of Improv?

Liz: I've watched improv grow from a small community in a few places to a vast community worldwide. I'm thrilled by that, and I'm thrilled it's continuing to grow. I keep thinking that the wave has crested and improv can't possibly get any bigger, and then it does. My explanation stems from what Del taught us -- that our current American society stresses the individual over the whole -- and we humans are seeking groups that our ancestors couldn't live without. He taught us about early American Indian ensemble societies, where your view of yourself depended on how you fit into your tribe and how you supported the survival/success of the group. Your contribution could mean life or death to yourself or someone else in your group. I loved it when he'd talk about all that stuff. Improv is permission to be self-less, and to be a part of something bigger than yourself. Del said that we couldn't help but want to be a part of a group, and I think he was right.

Posted by Fuzzy at 5:53 PM | Comments (0)

November 7, 2006

Jimmy Carrane Interview

Jimmy Carrane and Liz Allen have just published their book, Improvising Better: A Guide for the Working Improviser, which they developed out of a series of workshops they've been teaching for several years. I was able to sit down with Jimmy for a half-hour at the Salt & Pepper in Chicago and ask him some questions about the book and improv in general. The complete interview is after the jump.

(Huge thanks are due to Erica Reid for transcribing the interview.)

Fuzzy: So this book evolved out of the 10 blind spots.

Jimmy: Yeah.

Fuzzy: But it's 18 blind spots. My first big question is about who this is for specifically. I mean, this is for an improvisor who has been doing improv long enough to have developed some bad habits?

Jimmy: Yeah, I think it's for the working improvisor and how you define working is it could be they've been working for a couple of years, they could be working to get better. It's for anybody who's interested in getting better at improv.

You know, I've been doing it for between 18 and 20 years and I'm always looking to get better. So I think it all just it all just depends what your passion level. I don't think it's a numbers thing. I think it's more just like your desire to get better.

Fuzzy: The thing I was a little confused about was for about the first half of the book the tone of the book is very much directed towards "you are the improvisor who's trying to get better. Here's what you need to do." And I love right at the beginning the whole "There's only one way to improvise, and that's your way."

Jimmy: Right.

Fuzzy: And that's... I believe that there's a whole range. So, for the first half of the book, you direct some advice to you the person who's reading this book, and then there are some exercises, and then it's directed at the person who's leading the exercises. But I can't lead the exercises myself, because I'm the person whose trying to get better, and I have this blind spot. So, it's sort of then the "how to teach the workshop that Jimmy and Liz teach." Is it? Are those sections the 'how to teach'?

Jimmy: I'm not sure what's the question.

Fuzzy: I guess the question is who is that, "I can't do this at home." There's a chapter that's fundamentally like "You have to get out and do this with other people. But I can't do this alone? Somebody's gotta run me through the exercises. Or is this for somebody to learn to teach the workshop that Liz and Jimmy teach? Or is it for the both of them?

Jimmy: Well, I think it's really for both of them. If you've got this problem, maybe you go and you say to your — you know. Because people come to me and say "hey can you teach me — I hear you teach improv. Can you teach, can you do a one-on-one thing?" and I say I can't do it. I don't know how to do it. Maybe there are people out there doing it, but it's really important to have a group. So, let's say you read that and you had a problem, maybe you go to your coach or your director or your teacher and say "look I'm struggling with this problem. Here's this exercise to do it." On the flip side, maybe you're a teacher who's reading that and going "Jeez, I see somebody who's struggling with agreement — here's what here's what Improvising Better Jimmy and Liz are saying—let me try that." So it's really written for both parties. And I think, too, like I consider myself a teacher AND an improvisor. And I think today, more than ever, the great improvisors are also the great teachers.

Fuzzy: Ok. It wasn't a huge stumbling block, it just that halfway through each chapter, there's this little shift of like "Oh, oh this isn't for me anymore. This is for somebody who's going to tell me what to do."

Jimmy: Uh huh.

Fuzzy: So if I read this book, do I never need to come to your workshop?

Jimmy: You probably want to experience the workshop, just like anything that's in improv. I think one of the things that we designed that book to keep it small, to keep it very simple for today's short attention span and also that you can use that as a repair manual. All of a sudden, you're struggling with an issue that's in the book. Maybe you're dealing with misguided object work. And so, you can thumb through it and solve your problem that way. That's really how we designed it — it's more of a repair manual. Because it's hard to read a book versus actually being in a workshop.

Fuzzy: From your experience in the workshop, do people come into the workshop knowing what their problems are, or are they blind spots? Like, sitting home alone am I gonna go "Well, my object work is perfect. I don't see why I need to read this chapter at all." I mean, do people come into the workshop saying, "I need help with 'X'"?

Jimmy: Well, my experience of doing the workshop was, that was the whole design. That people, didn't know...that you were going to get two outside objective eyes and say, "OK, this is what we see in your work" and it's usually one or two things because you don't have that much time to deal with it. And I think if people come back and take the workshop or people come back and take a class with you or whatever, you see different issues coming up. You know just like I've been doing this for how long and there's different issues every year. You're dealing with a different set of blind spots or obstacles.

Fuzzy: Do people come into the workshop after having read the 10 blind spots and say...?

Jimmy: That I don't know. We talk about this in the book. We sent the blind spots out and we got a lot of good feedback, and some of the feedback was "You should write a book." So that's why we decided to do it. And the other thing that we saw in the years we were doing the workshop is that these problems just weren't Chicago people. We started to get people from LA, Toronto, Detroit, Phoenix and that's why we were like "Whoa—we're starting to see patterns throughout improv."

Fuzzy: Cool! Yeah, I guess I'm just hoping that I'm self aware enough that I can read the book and go, "Oh yeah, I have problems with that."

Jimmy: Well, we say in the book, at the beginning, is you're not going to identify with all the problems. And one of the things I'm the most proud of with this book is I think that it really speaks to today's improvisor. We talk about spreading yourself too thin, which I think is a huge epidemic in improv today. That is, people doing six shows, three classes, and showing up, and in the book I think we call them 'stage junkies.' You know — they just want that stage time, and I think that's a huge problem today and I know people don't even have time to go and watch shows anymore. And that is the three basic learning tools — there's classes, there's getting stage time and then watching people's shows. Now, if you're so busy, you can't see other people's shows, you're only working with two of the tools. And I think that's really a huge problem. I think another thing that I'm really proud of the book is that it's got an inspirational quality to it, that it hopefully is inspiring people and I'm really proud of that. And also talking about other issues like if you show up to a rehearsal and you're late or you show up drunk or you roll your eyes at an exercise the director's doing that in a lot of ways, you're already negating the rules of agreement. And I think that's a really important principle, and I think its those kind of principles, that for 2006 — that's really important to talk about besides just the exercises.

Fuzzy: Yeah, there's a lot of stuff in here that makes me not just go "oh, that's the problem I have," but "Oh! I could—ooh!" ways we can all be better. Yes, inspirational.

Jimmy: The other concept I really like, and it's a concept of Liz's is that the improv committee resides in your head. And she would say that throughout the workshop, and really it's a wonderful concept for people to understand because I know I suffer from it; I want that approval. I want that approval from the guy sitting at the bar, or the director, or the house team or the peer group or whatever it is. And I think that's a really great concept, because what happens is then that you're performing for two masters, and you don't win. The other thing I hope people get from this book besides inspiration is that it helps them find their voice, because my experience in taking classes and doing improv and teaching is to find your voice. I think hopefully, this book will help you get there.

Fuzzy: So you wrote this with Liz, collaboratively. And actually I've got a question about the the workshop — with the two of you, how you co-teach. I've co-taught a workshop, and it went terribly. We were always second-guessing each other.

Jimmy: Co-teaching is the most underrated thing in improv. Here we are, we're teaching about ensemble, and we have one person doing it. Now, you can argue, certainly economically it makes sense to have one person doing it, but like when I was teaching at Second City, I was lucky to work with some people and do co-teaching when classes were small, they would collapse the classes. So once you can put your ego aside and feel like you don't have to run the class, for me, my experience is that with another pair of eyes, you get more insight — you get it a different way. Because you're not responsible for the whole class, and that is incredible. In terms of doing it together, it's really like improvising for five hours or three hours or whatever you're doing. You're really doing a Jimmy and Liz show and you've gotta listen to Liz, and you've gotta listen to the class. It's no different than improvising, and when you're doing it right, you feel exhilarated. And when you're not doing it right you feel — it's like doing a bad show. And the other thing, too, is that you're learning from other. I've gotten exercises from Liz, I'm sure she's gotten exercises from me, and not only do you get their exercises, but you watch how they teach it, and that's really beneficial. Working with Liz, two things: It's made me a more compassionate teacher, and how can I put this? She helped me understand Del's teachings probably better than Del. When I was studying with Del, I wasn't ready really to hear what he had to say. I heard some of it, but it was almost like I had forgotten it, this part, and she's a disciple of Del's, and she really — I could really understand it now. I was ready at that time to hear it. I wasn't ready when I studied, because all I wanted to do was get on a team or be famous or work at Second City or become a commercial actor or whatever. It's really a great thing.

Fuzzy: So to loop back around, what's the best bit in here that's all Jimmy?

Jimmy: It's hard to say, are you gonna talk to Liz? You should ask her.

Fuzzy: You're allowed to brag.

Jimmy: (Jimmy declines)

Fuzzy: Ok. The State of Improv. So you've been doing this workshop now and you're seeing improvisors from all over — do you guys tour with the workshop?

Jimmy: No.

Fuzzy: So it's just people coming to Chicago.

Jimmy: Right.

Fuzzy: So say some words about the state of improv. What you see is going on, or even just here in Chicago?

Jimmy: What do I think that's going on in the state of improv? Well, I think there's a lot of things going on. Number one, I think, and we talk about this in the book — people are afraid to go to the dark side, and I think in a lot of ways, not everybody but there's some people that are afraid to go to the dark side and we taught a workshop called the "Down and Dirty Workshop" and it was really to address this issue. So I think people are afraid to go to any of these sensitive topics today — they're afraid to be politically incorrect. And I think one of the issues, and I know I even suffer from it, you get on stage and you're like, you know people are going to think, you know if I played a rapist onstage, then I'm a rapist in real life. I think that's one issue. You know, Johnny Depp isn't really a real pirate in real life, and...

Fuzzy: He's not?

Jimmy: No, he's not. And Hannibal Lector — Anthony Hopkins wasn't really a serial killer, but people are afraid to go there. I think that's one thing. I think the other thing I talked about is people are spreading themselves way too thin. When I started out, I studied at the ImprovOlympic, was there for about two and a half years, then went on to the Annoyance, in that time did Jazz Freddy, did Comedy Underground. You picked and choosed what you did. Jazz Freddy was this great long form, I don't know if you've heard about it, but Jazz Freddy was this wonderful form, just with incredible people: Kevin Dorff, David Koechner, Noah Gregoropoulos, Brian Stack, Jay Leggett — no, Jay Leggett wasn't in it, he was in Comedy Underground. But it was part of the long form movement. It was along with Ed and Filmdome and today I don't know if people would have done Jazz Freddy because everybody's spreading themselves too thin. I think that's a real problem in terms of the next revolution. I was part of the Annoyance Theatre. I was an original member, and that theatre, like you said, was a reaction to there wasn't at other venues. There weren't other venues, so they created their venue. And so people had to make that their single focus, and once they made it their single focus, it then started to blossom. People don't have that kind of patience today. The UCB is another great example. When Matt Besser and Matt Walsh and Ian Robinson and Amy Poehler were here, they made that their single focus, and then they said "Chicago, we're gonna go to New York and try it." They couldn't have done that unless they said it was their single focus. And Schadenfreude is another group that has done it here and they got a radio show and they built their name. But without that single focus, and it doesn't have to be for a long period of time today — it could be for three months, it could be for the run of a show — but without that, you're not going to have that Renaissance of improvisation like you have. There's some great improvisation going on, but to have those groups sticking out — I don't know necessarily if that happens. The other big big big huge thing is, ten years ago, Chicago was the only place to study for Chicago kind of improv. That's not true today. As you know, go on the website, there's three theatres in New York that have people that started in Chicago, there's at least a half a dozen in LA that people have done. So this is still the best place to study but it's expanded. Improv has expanded, not only into the major markets, but in smaller cities like Phoenix and New Mexico and Detroit. It's everywhere now. And I don't think that was true ten years ago. So that's been a really big thing.

Fuzzy: So you do a lot of interviews. This is my first interview. What should I have asked you?

Jimmy: I think you asked the right questions. We talked about the role of Chicago, how it's changed...well, maybe where it's headed.

Fuzzy: Yeah, I guess I thought of that as part of the big picture. What's the future? You talked about the revolution being stymied by people not being focused. Do you think you know what that next revolution's gonna be? Or what you hope it would be?

Jimmy: That's a great question. What I hope it would be is to go back to more real scenic stuff, longer scenes, just a slower pace. A slower pace not meaning that the whole scene drags, but it's longer, more relationship - more of the dynamics of a relationship. I think what TJ and Dave do on Wednesday nights over at the iO — I'd like to see other people be influenced by that. We've seen over the years that people have been influenced by Armando, the Movie and incorporated those kind of moves. It would be nice to see them embrace that kind of scene work. That would be really, really rewarding. I think with improv, you can push it to the end of theatre, or you can push it to the end of really bad standup. And I'd like to see it be pushed more towards theatre.

Fuzzy: Have you noticed that improv's everywhere now?

Jimmy: Yes.

Fuzzy: I've just been noticing. Maybe it was always there and people just talk about it more. Stuff like The Office - I was listening to the DVD commentary and they were talking about the fact that half their stuff comes out of improvisation. Is that the future of improv? That it wins by being everywhere - by being part of everyone else's artistic process?

Jimmy: Well, I think — that's a great question — I look at the evolution of improv in terms of commercial success, and really Curb Your Enthusiasm is almost like the pinnacle. From what I understand, he takes an outline and then people improvise dialogue. I don't think ten years ago people would've been open to that. You go on a commercial audition today, there's a lot of room to improvise, and that wasn't the case ten years ago. I think it's now become more accepted into mainstream, I'm gonna call it show business for lack of a better term, but mainstream television and film and stuff like that. So I think it's being embraced by that, and I think that helps improv. I think that helps improv because it's not just a parlor game, it's not just something that's happening in Chicago. It actually has a product. It becomes a product, because I think — this is gonna sound petty and whatever, but my experience in Chicago is very process oriented, and in my experience in Chicago, and I may be totally wrong — there was one group that went to the big Aspen Comedy Festival and it was out of I.O. and it was The Tribe and they did the improvised movie. And the thing about Aspen is it's all people in the entertainment business. People in the entertainment business are looking for the next thing, the television show, the Ray Romano, they're looking for Roseanne Barr. So I think it's hard for the industry to think what can they do with improv, and I think that's starting to change. So I think you're right, I think it's starting to infiltrate into film and television, certainly into commercials, but I don't ever think you're going to get there just on improv alone. I mean, if you look at The Office, they have a script, people aren't just showing up going "we're gonna improvise this." They have some sort of structure to do it, and so does Chris Guest when he does his movies, he has some sort of structure that they're gonna follow. So it's good for improvisors because I think it helps them get work and it's bad for improvisors because they think they can just improvise.

Fuzzy: Anything else?

Jimmy: I think teaching. I think something about teaching. Who were your influences as a teacher, or what about teaching or something like that?

Fuzzy: Well, who were your influences as a teacher?

Jimmy: That's a good question.

Fuzzy: (laughs)

Jimmy: Well, I think certainly Del Close, and what Del brought was, he really inspired. He legitimizes; he made improvisation an art form. The other person I really learned from was Martin de Maat, who was at Second City. And we talk about it in the book, they worked on different sides of the improv street, but I think in a lot of respects that they were going after the same goal. I also think teaching is a lot like performing. It's taken me five or six years just to — there's a great quote from Miles Stroth who says that it took him "three or four years to stop sucking," and I would apply that to teaching. It takes about three or four years not to walk into a class and be intimidated and have confidence and let go of control. Because a lot of times teaching is about like letting go of control and going "hey, this last class did it this way, well maybe this class isn't gonna do it the way the last class did it." And I think the great thing about teaching, too, with the expansion of improv, we've seen the expansion of teachers. You know, when I started out, in terms of teachers - take women for example - there was Josephine Forsberg, there was Charna Halpern at the iO, Josephine Forsberg at Player's Workshop - those were like the two big women teachers. And now you have Liz Allen, you have Susan Messing, Rebecca Sohn, Lillie Frances, you have these teachers, so I think women have a stronger voice now in at least teaching and directing and I think that's really been a change. I think, you know, when I started out at the iO, if there was one woman on your team, that was a big deal. Now, five or six years ago you had that team Jane that was outstanding that was an all-women team. So I think women's roles, and think about this, the generation now of Tina Fey, and Amy Poehler, and Stephnie Weir. Am I forgetting anybody? But that generation. I mean, those were some really strong improvisors. So I think that's been a really huge — I think women's contributions in improv have been really strong in the last ten years. Not only performers but, like I said, it's teachers and directors.

Fuzzy: Yeah, that's been huge.

Jimmy: The other thing, too, is when I started at the Annoyance, the strength of the Annoyance for me when it first started out was, get Mick Napier to direct you, get Gary Rudoren to direct you, you had Jill Soloway, you had Ben Zook, you had Tom Booker, you had all these people that filled the niche. And now, that's the same thing that's going on I think with teaching and directing is, well, if you don't like how Jimmy Carrane teaches, don't work with Jimmy Carrane. If you like how Lillie Frances teaches, you'll work with Lillie Frances. If you like how Michael Gellman will teach, you'll work with Michael Gellman. The other thing I want to say about teaching that I've learned a lot, (we thank a lot of people at the beginning of the book) is that this book would never have been written if I hadn't called Liz and asked for exercises that I saw her teaching. And so, I think it's really important as teachers, cause I know I can get really isolated is, to ask people for help. I've had so much help like from people from the iO, from Second City and other places where it's like, "Look, I'm stuck on this — what were you doing?" And when I started out at Second City, Tim O'Malley, who's a wonderful teacher, really mentored me into their system. And that's really important. There isn't one god of improv anymore, there's tons of gods. And so, you only get better by asking, you know and saying "what works here? I'm stuck here, so what's your advice? How should I handle this problem in teaching?" That's what made me a better teacher. That's why working with Liz, when we're working, when we're doing the workshop, we're getting paid to learn — it's a great thing.

Fuzzy: I know from my own experience that somehow I'm willing to ask for advice as an improvisor all day long, but when you get to the point where you're teaching a class it's different. I mean, you're trained to go to classes, but then you think, well, you go to classes because the person who's teaching the classes, they're the expert. So the first time you get asked to teach a class, you're like, "Well, I'm supposed to be the expert now, I can't ask anybody for help, because I'm the expert, theoretically". But it is so easy to get trapped, and I've learned to ask for help in being the expert.

Jimmy: Well, my experience is, you wanna be strong in the class, but if you don't know what the answer is — here's something that I do: if I'm not sure what the answer is or I don't know the answer, I turn it back to the class and say "What do you guys think?" And I'll tell you something, nine times outta ten, they'll come up with an answer that's better than you. There's a lot of sharp people that have been in my classes, I'm sure there's a lot of sharp people that have been in your classes. The other thing we talked about, and this didn't make it in the book because it wasn't a book on teaching, but there was a chapter called "You're Teaching More than Improv." And we talk about a story in that chapter that did not make it in the book, that we were teaching a workshop and somebody came into our workshop and they were late. We have a very strict policy that you need to show up on time. So the person showed up an hour late thinking it was 12:00 and not 11:00. Well, Liz and I went and we conferenced and we said "OK, what are we gonna do about this?" And it was a hard decision for both of us to make, and we decided to say "You know what? We're not going to allow him into the class." So we went back and we told him, and we took a lunch break and the guy came back after lunch with the group and said "Can I sit in the group?" and so we turned it over to the group and said "What do you guys think?" And the group said, "Let him stay." So the guy got his money's worth, he observed the workshop. We didn't allow him to participate because he showed up late. And we offered two workshops later, a Down and Dirty workshop and an Individual Assessment workshop, and do you know that he signed up for both of them, and he showed up on time for both of them. So the point I'm trying to make in a long story is that a lot of times in the classroom, I think I'm teaching improv, but sometimes I need to teach accountability. Sometimes I need to teach discipline. Sometimes I need to teach self-esteem. And that's really difficult for me to do, but sometimes you're teaching more than improv. And that's how I learn from my students.

Fuzzy: If your influences are Del and Martin, do you yell at people, or do you hug them?

Jimmy: I think I find something in the middle.

Posted by Fuzzy at 12:54 PM | Comments (0)

Improvising Better

Jimmy Carrane and Liz Allen took their experiences teaching their Individual Assessment Workshop and came up with the list of Top 10 Blindspots for Improvisors. Now they've taken that list and expanded it into a slim but effective volume: Improvising Better: A Guide for the Working Improviser (Heinemann Drama, 2006).

Heinemann has made available a sample chapter - "Chapter Sixteen, Spreading Yourself Too Thin" (PDF link).

Jimmy Carrane will be signing copies of the book at two Chicago events:

A book release party at Uptown Writer's Space (4802 N Broadway, Suite 200) on Sunday, December 10, 2006 from 1-4 pm.

Local Author's Night at The Book Cellar (4736 N Lincoln Ave) on Wednesday, December 13, 2006 at 7 pm.

The New Improv Page also did an interview with Jimmy Carrane.

Posted by Fuzzy at 11:55 AM | Comments (0)

May 22, 2006

Art by Committee

Charna Halpern, owner of the I.O. Theatre, has a new book-with-DVD, Art by Committee: A Guide to Advanced Improvisation. She'll be appearing to promote the book on Tuesday, May 23, 2006, 7:00 pm, at Borders Bookstore, 1700 Maple Ave, Evanston, IL.

(via Chicagoist)

Posted by Fuzzy at 2:45 PM | Comments (0)

May 12, 2006

Improv Accompaniment Book

Michael Pollock has followed up his book about musical improvisation, Musical Improv Comedy: Creating Songs in the Moment, with one focused on improvisational accompaniment.

As with the first book, Music Direction for Improv and Sketch Comedy comes with included CD . YESand.com has an excerpt.

Posted by Fuzzy at 3:43 PM | Comments (0)

May 2, 2006

Review: Directing Improv

Directing Improv by Asaf Ronen

Full Disclosure: I've had Thanksgiving dinner at Asaf Ronen's house.

If you're interested in directing theater, there are about a hundred books you can read*. If you want to perform improv, there are about as many books to help you get started. If you want to direct improvisation, there's this new book. So, um, end of review.

Well, actually, I do wish I'd had this book when I started directing improv. Or when I got stuck teaching improv to high schoolers. Or when I was trying to be a director-performer.

Ronen touches on a number of different aspects of directing improvisation, but his primary focus is on a non-performing director directing improv concept pieces (e.g. Ka-Boom! or SITCOM, as opposed to on-going ensemble work. ) There are chapters on developing the work with the ensemble, rehearsing the work, and giving notes on performances.

As often as he advises against the whole concept, especially valuable for many will be the recommendations for the performing director. In every improv ensemble I was a part of until I moved to Chicago, the director also performed, and I think we all could have used some of Ronen's ideas on ways to keep personal conflict out of the notes process, and ways to structure rehearsals and performances to give the director a chance to direct and develop their own performance skills.

There are two lists of exercises to address specific improv problems. And there's advice about creating your own exercises to suit the specific needs of your cast.

The book is liberally strewn with illustrative quotes from many of the best improv directors in the country, like Armando Diaz, Michael Gellman, Kevin Mullaney, Mick Napier, Shira Piven, and Mark Sutton. And there's an appendix featuring anecdotes from some of those directors. Personally, I would have loved even more of these anecdotes. Good advice is one thing, but I can read horror stories for hours.

Ronen is the editor-in-chief of YESand.com and that organization has started a publishing arm to publish this book (and Jill Bernard's lovely mini-book Jill Bernard's Small Cute Book of Improv). The book is available exclusively from their web site (or from the merch table at various improv festivals).

* Literally. I did an Amazon search.

Posted by Fuzzy at 5:36 PM | Comments (0)

April 25, 2006

Directing Improv

YESand Publishing has released YESand.com editor-in-chief Asaf Ronen's first book, Directing Improv: Show the Way by Getting Out of the Way. The book features techniques and advice for coaches, teachers, and directors of improvised ensembles and shows. Besides Ronen's personal views, there are also tips and anecdotes from improv directors like Armando Diaz, Michael Gellman, Kevin Mullaney, Mick Napier, Shira Piven, and Mark Sutton.

YESand.com features an excerpt from the book.

Posted by Fuzzy at 12:03 PM | Comments (0)

December 28, 2005

Top 10 Blindspots

As a teaser for their upcoming book, Jimmy Carrane and Liz Allen are letting me post the original "Top 10 Blindspots for Improvisors" (the full list after the jump):

#1. Lack of Trust

Throughout these workshops, we've seen improvisers either not trusting the group mind or not trusting themselves onstage. It's really learning to trust the unknown, and it is one of the hardest lessons for an improviser. Your ultimate goal is to let go, submit and free yourself make discoveries along with the group.

Lack of trust is really control. It is a reaction to being afraid onstage without knowing what going to happen next. Lack of trust is the excuse to retain or regain control of a scene or an entire piece of improv. If you don't trust, if you don't let go, and if you don't let go of control, you don't really discover magical moments of being part of a group. Isn't that why you chose this art form, to work with others?

#2. Fear of Being Labeled Character with a Politically Incorrect Point of View

Remember an improviser is an actor, the only difference is you are writing the dialogue as you go.

We have seen this over and over in our workshops, players afraid to go the dark side or to portray a politically incorrect character because they're afraid when they come off the stage people will think that is who they really are. They have stopped themselves before they've even gotten started. This limits their choices and stifles their imagination.

We are not seeing life onstage, but a sanitized version. Why go out to see improv, you might well stay home and watch on TV, because frankly television does it better job of santizing life. One of your jobs onstage is to portray life, real life, life that is uncomfortable and sometimes is not pc or even polite.

Remember: you are an actor and you will be asked, if you are lucky, to play racists, murders and pirates. When Carroll O'Connor played Archie Bunker, did people think he was really a bigot? Or Anthony Hopkins really a serial killer? Or Johnny Deep a pirate in real life?

#3. Nice People + Nice Choices = Boring Scenes

There's nothing that makes us more sad then we see really talented, gifted improvisers playing really nice on stage. We like to work with and know nice people, we just don't want to see them onstage.

This whole "nicey-nice syndrome", players making nice choices and playing even nicer characters, makes for boring scenes.

So stop being so damn nice and play life! We want to see two selfish characters fighting for what they want. Players confuse agreement with accommodation of their partner. Supporting doesn't mean the character needs to be nice or the choices do, either. So, take the plastic wrap off your improv and let your characters get down and dirty.

#4. The Improv Persona

The improv persona is usually something that players have but have not even realized it. It is a stage persona, much like the kind a stand-up comic has developed over the years, and we see it in accomplished improvisers. These improvisers must have developed it to a degree or they wouldn't have succeeded. We are not saying it good or bad, but to just be aware or it, so you can create room for other personas, or characters.
We have seen all forms of this persona phenomena, from the "the braining-smart-guy" to the "the high-energy-likable-always-smiling-improviser-gal". If you feel you have a persona, just be aware that you have sealed part of yourself off and be open to let go and find new and different ones, because we ALWAYS want to see more facets of you and your personality onstage.

#5. Conflict Is Okay

Look, there's no doubt that there's a rule of improv: avoid conflict. But this doesn't mean avoid it at all costs and NEVER have an argument or a fight onstage. That is not natural. Let your characters be honest, even if it leads to an emotional or physical conflict. As long as you and your scene partner(s) agree to not get stuck in the conflict, it's okay. Conflict can lead to something else -- a discovery of another emotion or a resolution of the issue.

#6. Anger Is OK, Too

One of the strongest trends we've noticed is the lack of anger in scenes. We feel that there is a trend now to avoid being angry, and by doing so the scenes frequently do not feel real. Just like conflict, anger evolves and allows the improvisor to make a discovery.

Anger transforms, and then something else can happen. When a character in a scene genuinely gets angry, we get to see that character express that anger, then another character responds to the anger, and surprising discoveries are almost guaranteed.

We feel that you need to agree through the anger, and also trust that just like getting angry in life, it will transform to another emotion.

#7. Playing From The Brain, Not The Gut

We see this showing up in all sorts of ways. The most common is the player that is so focused on the verbal part (trying to be funny or clever or straining to find the game), that the improv becomes lifeless and calculated. This is easy to spot. Their body doesn't move much onstage. They are disconnected. They're in their head. Watching them is like listening to someone describe a chess game move by move. We really don't care.

Going to the gut means you are trusting your instincts and your feelings onstage, as well as your body. (Remember to act your way through a scene!) It also means speaking from your truth onstage, which is based in your feelings, which may cause you to be vulnerable, or personal, or rude. All scary stuff, but the alternative is safe and boring scenes. We leave it up to you.

#8. Afraid Of Naming People, Places And Events

We see players agree a lot, but refuse to add any specifics. These scenes meander because nobody wants to make a mistake or make a move their partner may not understand. Get off the improv fence and make a commitment to yourself and scene partner.

Ask yourself why did my character do that and be specific with your responses.

Heres a quick example of a simple father/daughter scene:
Daughter: You hit me.
Father: I am sorry
No specifics, really no scene, just meandering.

Daughter: You hit me.
Father: Yea and I'll do again if I catch you sleeping around with that Parker boy.

Now we have a some specifics and now we have the start of a scene.We feel that lack of specifics is really a control device, and people's fear of being accountable to their scene partners and afraid to boldly contribute.

#9. Plain Ol' Agreement

One of the most surprising things we've noticed in our workshops is the general lack of agreement. It is the heart of this work, duh, but agreement skills tend to drop as other techniques are learned. It seems people want to create something quick and manufactured instead of saying yes to others' ideas, then trusting the discovery process.

Old fashioned yes is especially powerful when carried out by improvisers who have strong sophisticated techniques. They crave saying yes, and look forward to the challenge of making all ideas, even the implausible ones, work. The beauty of improvising is the element of surprise to your partner, to the audience, and to yourself. The best way to assure surprise is good ol' fashioned agreement, made by scratch, not some store-bought brand.

#10. Spreading Yourself Too Thin

If improv is supposed to be about life, and your life is filled with nothing more than improv, then your improv becomes about improv and that's boring! These are the people we see who are burned out but don't realize it, they are usually over-committed. They are improvising so much, and wondering why they aren't getting better. It's simple: they don't have time to have a life.

Improv needs to be fed by enriching experiences that are unrelated to performance.Taking the time to read a book, getting a good night's sleep, going to a concert -- all these things enrich your life and at the same time enrich your improv. See the connection?

We feel improvisers are improvising way too much and are over-committing to 3 or 4 projects at a time. As a result, the work becomes mired down and medicore, and the implosion is evident.

Posted by Fuzzy at 12:19 PM | Comments (1)

Improv Better announced

Heinemann Drama has press-released me that Jimmy Carrane and Liz Allen, respected Chicago improv directors and instructors, have contracted to write a book based on their popular "Top Ten Blindspots for Improvisers." The blindspots, as well as the book, grew from teaching their Individual Assessment Workshops over the last two years. The book, titled Improv Better, will be released in the fall of 2006.

Posted by Fuzzy at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)

April 1, 2005

Del Close Movie?

The Chicago Reader has an article about Guru: My Days With Del Close that includes this tidbit:

Second City owner Andrew Alexander has optioned [the book] for a movie, for which Griggs has written the screenplay.

(The Reader doesn't put their content online, so no link to the article.)

Posted by Fuzzy at 2:56 PM | Comments (0)

March 29, 2005

Guru

Jeff Griggs' memoir of Del Close, Guru: My Days with Del Close, is now available. YesAnd.com has posted an excerpt from the book and I've reviewed the book for the Chicago Metroblog (for a (presumably) non-improv audience).

Posted by Fuzzy at 9:26 PM | Comments (0)

New Book: Improv Wisdom

Improv Wisdom is a sort of Improv Soup for the Soul -- applying the lessons of improv to everyday life. Johnnie Moore of the Applied Improvisation Network has reviewed the book.

Posted by Fuzzy at 8:16 PM | Comments (0)

January 13, 2005

Guru

Guru: My Days with Del Close, Jeff Griggs' portrait of Del Close is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com. The book is scheduled for release in April 2005.

Posted by Fuzzy at 5:16 PM | Comments (0)

May 21, 2004

Mick's Book

I finally got a copy of Mick Napier's book, Improvise: Scene from the Inside Out. It's a slim book and I devoured it in a few hours. My first read was as a former student of Mick's and I loved the reminders of all the great lessons I've learned from Mick over the years. I need to read the book again with an eye towards how useful the book would be to someone who had never met Mick, but I have a feeling the last line of my review will be Buy This Book Now.

Posted by Fuzzy at 11:06 AM

May 12, 2004

Second City Almanac

Jack Helbig describes the history of The Second City Almanac of Improvisation in his Chicago Reader Critic's Choice review of The Second City Almanac Writers All-Stars at the Chicago Improv Festival:

Back in the mid-80s, someone at ImprovOlympic gave me "An Improvised Almanac," a couple of faded pages that had been photocopied so many times the type was a ghostly gray. But in the right light you could see that this was improv gold, line after line of helpful maxims like don't deny; heighten the reality; don't just comment on the action, do something. I never saw anything like it again until I read the page proofs for The Second City Almanac of Improvisation, edited by Anne Libera and coming out this month. It's packed with reminiscences, pontification, old arguments, new theories, descriptions of games, and wise advice from 24 current employees or alums of Second City (including at least one, the late Del Close, who'd be shocked to find himself there). This almanac reveals that the earlier one was created and distributed by Jonathan Pitts, today the executive producer of the Chicago Improv Festival. Now Pitts -- whose almanac is reprinted in the Second City book -- has given one of the festival evenings over to many of the performers and teachers whose writings appear there. And if the show is anything like this fascinating crazy quilt of a book, three generations of opinionated improvisers will be finding dozens of ways to agree and disagree at once, playing together as they fight, asserting they're all on the same page while contradicting one another in a thousand little ways. Among the performers are Dan Castellaneta, Michael Gellman, Tim Kazurinsky, Keegan-Michael Key, Susan Messing, Mick Napier, David Pasquesi, and Ron West.

Posted by Fuzzy at 2:47 PM

December 26, 2003

Mick Napier's book

Mick Napier's first book Improvise: Scene from the Inside Out is now available for pre-order.

Mick Napier is one of the founders of the Annoyance Theater and directed several award-winning Second City shows.

Posted by Fuzzy at 12:10 PM

July 14, 2003

New Improv Book

Peter Gwinn, with contributor Charna Halpern, has written a book of long-form improv structures - Group Improvisation: The Manual of Ensemble Improv Games.

(I don't have a copy of the book yet, but I'm assuming that "ensemble improv games" is a different name for what I would call "long form structures", because I know that's what Peter teaches and has experience with.)

The book details a variety of "group-mind" and team-building improv games.

Posted by Fuzzy at 5:19 PM

November 27, 2002

New Improv for Theater Book

A press release from Silman-James brings word of a new book by Stephen Book that concentrates on using improvisation techniques for actors who will be speaking scripted and memorized lines.

Book on Acting: Improvisation Technique for the Professional Actor in Film, Theater, and Television

I haven't read it yet. Because I don't have a copy. Hint, hint, Silman-James.

Update: I have a copy (thanks, Silman-James) and now I'm working my way through the hefty 629 pages. I'll get a review up as soon as possible.

Posted by Fuzzy at 3:44 PM | Comments (1)

July 10, 2002

New Business Improv Book

Mark Bergren writes with a plug for his new book:

"Improvise This! How to Think On Your Feet So You Don't Fall On Your Face" (Hyperion, March 2002)



Co-authored by myself, Jim Detmar & Molly Cox, our book translates the ideals and tools of theatrical improvisation into the business and life skills arena. We invite you to take a look at our website listed below for bio information on us (around 40 combined years of theatrical improv experience including performer, artistic director, producer and owner of a renowned Comedy Satire Improvisation theater here in Minneapolis.)



Thanks!

Mark Bergren

Out of the Blue

Posted by Fuzzy at 12:00 PM

January 16, 2002

New Longform Book

Rob Kozlowski's The Art of Chicago Improv : Short Cuts to Long-Form Improvisation is now available for pre-order.

Posted by Fuzzy at 12:00 PM

October 16, 2001

Whose Improv Is It Anyway? out in paperback

Amy Seham's Whose Improv Is It Anyway?: Beyond Second City is out in paperback. Excerpts from the book and an interview with the author are available on YesAnd.com.

Posted by Fuzzy at 12:01 PM | Comments (0)

May 19, 2001

New Second City book

Bernie Sahlins, one of the founders of the Second City, has a new book out - Days and Nights at the Second City. The book is both the story of the founding of the Second City, and a guide to staging a Second City-style review.

Posted by Fuzzy at 12:00 PM

February 10, 2001

Share your Stories

Milo Shapiro is collecting improvisation stories to write a book.

Posted by Fuzzy at 12:00 PM

August 27, 1999

New Books

New books added to the Improv Bibliography: Keith Johnstone's Impro for the Storyteller and Stevie Ray's Stevie Ray's Medium-Sized Book of Comedy.

Posted by Fuzzy at 12:00 PM