New Podcast Episode
A couple of weeks ago I got a press release about a new collaboration between iO Theater in Chicago and Brooklyn Comedy Collective in New York. It struck me, it’s a little unusual to have an annoucnement that two improv theatres have become sister theatres, so I wanted to know what prompted it, and what we could learn from what was happening.
Cut to the why
After a recent coaching session, I’ve been thinking a lot about the “why” in improv. In a recent episode of the podcast I talked with Toronto-based improviser Rob Norman about initiations. We talked about what deal you walk in with and the “first breath” of the scene. But what then?
Occasionally, I’ve done a workshop where one of my only coaching words has been “why”? Why are these two characters here right now? Why is this person acting this way? Why would we want to stay here rather than change scenes? It was interesting last week to have that question asked when I was in a scene. Sometimes I didn’t know. Other times I knew and wasn’t articulating it.
Years ago I trained as a hypnotist and one of the things I learned was that when I was trying to get straightforward answers from people, it was better to ask what, how, who questions. When we needed to know the emotion behind something, we were encouraged to ask why questions.
Who / What / Where is factual. Why is emotional. It’s not like we don’t need both but I don’t often hear the difference between these articulated in improv workshops or courses often. Who / What / Where is regularly put forward as essential to a scene. They certainly help. But a location is nothing more than a place.
The who is super important. In improv, other than a couple of chairs, the “who” is what we can see. The characters are vital but so often, we see character through the lens of occupation. As Chicago improviser Bill Arnett so brilliantly says “an occupation is not a character. Behaviours make characters”. A builder could be snarky, or she could be a politics nerd, or the sort of person always trying to impress people in any social situation.
Finding out why people behave a certain way allows us to move their character forward, understand how they might behave in other situations and use them in other scenes. For me, it’s not the where or the what - it’s the why that holds the gold.
As with any improv tool, this one isn’t universal and it also doesn’t work without other tools to support it. If you’re doing short, fast-paced scenes you might not need much of a why. However, if you prefer a slightly more patient, character-based style of improv, you might find that it’s the why unlocks something exciting and useful. And if you do, I’d love to hear about it.
What Else Is Happening
Random Objects - Freestyle Rap
Wayne Brady just made this cool appearance on US talk show Tonight With Jimmy Fallon. He makes it look easy.
Festival Applications Open
Applications to perform have opened for this year’s Robin Hood International Improv Festival. Want to come visit Robin Hood and be part of this year’s festival?
Upcoming Shows
If you’re in town, come see a fully improvised musical from my team Rhymes Against Humanity at Squire Performing Arts Centre in Nottingham.
Have a great week,
Lloydie