Christmas Lights and Improv

A couple night ago I set out to find Christmas Lights. I was ready to search throughout Sacramento and Roseville. Am I kidding? No. Hunting for houses lit up with Christmas lights is, hands down, my favorite part of the holidays. I'll drive from Auburn to Davis. Getting dressed up in some warm, comfy clothes, grabbing a hot drink and seeing houses decked out in sparkly Christmas lights? What’s not to love?

We loaded into the car, and set off. We discovered... a lot of solo houses. Surrounded by dark homes these  'solos' exploded with color, LED lights blinking, Santa's laughing, and reindeer...um....reindeer-ing. These houses were standouts, because if it was the only one on the block. It was cool. But, when we went down a street where everyone in the neighborhood participated, where every family was involved… it was more than cool… it was amazing! It transformed the area into a whole magical world.

This got me thinking about improv and the power of agreement. If an improviser makes a strong choice on stage, it can be fun and entertaining. But when the other players agree and build on that choice it’s amazing. When everyone participates we have the power to transport the audience to a whole magical world.

Use and Explore Your 'Yesterday' On Stage

Yesterday, a friend suffered a stroke. Don't worry, he's OK. The ambulance arrived, the Sacramento EMTs were attentive, and he was rushed to a hospital. He's OK. (I recounted the story to a class last night, but failed to mention he was OK...until the very end. Understandably, the class was a little stressed. I shan't bury the lead again!) All this happened at about 8am. Now, le's skip ahead to 11am. Time jump!

I'm sitting in my cubicle, typing some reports. Menial task, no big deal, but noticed something interesting. I was making a lot of noise. I was really striking the keyboard, while typing. I was being aggressive. Towards a keyboard? "That's weird, and unnecessary," I thought. But, it was necessary. It was necessary, because I was stressed out. A friend had a stroke! The tension and anxiety I had buried, was seeping out. I was "beating up" a keyboard for some cathartic release.

"So, um, how does this relate to improv?" Good question!

One of the best teachers I have ever had, Mark Sutton of the Annoyance Theater in Chicago, once told me, "don't move the object, let the object move you." The way you move something informs your character. Do you like that object? Hate it? Ashamed? Motivated? Be aware of how something affects you. Everything can affect you on stage... if you let it.

You also need to let yourself observe (the audience is observing everything, so you better too). How are those objects affecting your partner? Is he pounding on a keyboard? Explore that! I didn't realize I was pounding on a keyboard until I asked myself, "why?" Everything has a 'why' onstage, and you can uncover that, if you're patient and open. Even if you don't know it, the things you do onstage happen for a reason. Have fun discovering why that happened!

-Paul Burke

You can find Paul Burke every week in Roseville teaching at Blacktop Comedy and performing on Saturday night with The Colony.

Repetition Makes Things Interesting

This week I was in the restroom. Don't worry, this isn't a series of poop jokes. I'm just setting the stage. So, back to the stage setting....

This week I was in the restroom, standing at the sink, washing my hands. Very mundane. Nothing interesting. Then, things got...repetitive. Within a minute the guy in the restroom stall flushes the toilet...once....twice...three times. I didn't think much of the first flush, that's pretty typical (hopefully). Flush a toilet three times, and I'm wondering, "what was happening in there?" I had theories, none of them were pretty.

I admit, I lingered in that bathroom, standing near the exit, waiting for a fourth flush. I was puzzled, intrigued, and strangely riveted to the "performance."

As I stood there, being a sort of a bathroom creeper, I thought about improv. How often do we say/do something onstage and ditch it seconds later? There's usually a huge scrap heap of disregarded words and ideas beside the stage during any show.  Sometimes the most interesting thing to do in a scene is repetition, reinforce it! 'It' could be a word, phrase, movement, theme....anything! When you say or do something twice you gift those words or actions with value.  The more you "flush," the audience, teammates, and you will understand, "there's something interesting here. Let's discover it."