Sharpening Your Group Scenes

How to make a group scene more fun and less messy

We have all seen really messy group scenes. It’s not a surprise as we focus so much on two person scenes in improv. Comparatively little time is given over to teaching group scenes. Here are some thoughts on how you can create better group scenes.

What I’m talking about here are group scenes of around three minutes in duration. A 20, 30 or 40 minute group monoscene will likely be different.

Firstly, as a general rule, a short, group scene will need a maximum of two main points of view. Adding more than two is likely to lead to chaos. You can split the perspectives however you like between the players so long as there are no more than two. It could be six people at an ice cream eating contest and they all love ice cream. Or you could have five people who hate ice cream and one who loves it.

Photo by Amistad Cristiana on Unsplash

A great group scene I got to see a couple of years back was in a workshop facilitated by the great Jim Fishwick. Jim is based at Improv Theatre Sydney and came to Nottingham to teach. The group scene they had some local players perform is still talked about today. It was a group of penguins arriving at a movie theatre in order to watch Happy Feet (the film about the dancing penguins). It was hilariously funny, and it had two distinct points of view. The box office vendor’s (who couldn’t let penguins in to see a movie) and the penguins (who wanted to see the movie). Did the penguins all have different reasons they wanted to see it? Sure. We aren’t after clones. But they all had one main point of view: they wanted to see Happy Feet.

Two main points of view - maximum. Reasons can be different - points of view need to be the same.

Here are three more group scene tips:

Talk less - listen more. It sounds obvious, but it’s hard to do. Give and take in a two person scene is so much easier because there is only one other person to play with. You are 50% of the scene. Not so if there are six of you on stage. Now, in very approximate terms, you are likely to be spending a sixth of your time speaking and five sixths listening. That’s a big shift. That’s not to say we are timing it or can’t react to something that has happened, but it does mean being willing to give more time over to others.

You don’t need to bring much. You need a reason why you have a specific point of view, and a reaction to any characters who hold a different one.

Be willing to follow. Who doesn’t love coming up with a cool initial idea? I do, but if all it adds is confusion, it’s a wasted idea. If someone has labeled you as part of a group of people who want to overthrow the head of the local horticultural society, join in. Find a good reason you want to do it, rather than being “hey guys, do we really want to?” - that just takes us into negotiation and prevarication… and that’s the death of the scene. Jump on board, find your reason and give fuel to the scene.

Group scenes have a reputation for being tricky but when you play with two points of view, and some fun reasons, they can be a really fun ride.

Let me know how you navigate a group scene and what works for you.

Other things…

The latest Kornfeld and Andrews podcast is an insight into the world of dietary supplements and telephone marketing, navigated with all the skill you’d expect of these two improvisers. Listen here

The next Secret Show in Nottingham is on Saturday 18th July and our guests that night are The Newlyweds who are coming all the way from Australia to do their two person show in Nottingham. We’ve spent a fortune on flights (they’re definitely not in town for any other reason!). Come see the show if you’re nearby. The Secret Show plus The Newlyweds at Fisher Gate Point, Nottingham. Tickets here

Have a great week,

Lloydie