I’m in London with Jim and Sarah doing shows, though by the time you read this we have just one show left — at Blanche - tonight, Sunday June 22 at 8:30pm. This Wednesday we fly to Stockholm for the Midsummer Comedy Fest.
Fly to Stockholm and come watch us, won’t you?
Visiting a city to teach/perform improv is really fun. My favorite part is after the shows, where I grab friends/acquaintances by their collars and make them tell me the state of local improv scene. Most people out there are asking about kids and health - I want to know where all the improv classes and shows are.
For example in London, the Free Association recently got kicked out of their regular performance space above the De Beauvoir Arms pub for Friday and Saturday nights. The pub got big on TikTok and needs room for rich jerks instead of poor improvisers (my words). Jim, Sarah and I did 3 fun shows in their alternative space above the Lord Stanley pub. A heat wave hit London this week, so a portable air conditioning in the back of the room was buzzing away, fighting to keep the room less than a sauna.
Since opening our own space, logistical struggles like this are interesting to me.
I also love all the fun proper nouns you learn when doing a bunch of shows.
Sarah and I did a Cagematch-style show called Scrimmage above The Landor, hosted by Twelve People and also featuring Book Club and the outstanding group Goo. Then the three of us did a show in the basement of The Glitch, hosted by Noises From The Attic and also featuring Turbo. Tonight at Blanche we perform in an office building, sitting in with one of their house teams Sundae. Due to my scheduling mishap, we missed a chance to play at our friends’ cool indie night at Forest at Signal Pub.
Lots of shows in London are in spaces above or below pubs!
There seems to be a flurry of small improv theaters / classes happening in London. People who were students four or five years ago are branching out onto their own. We taught at Blanche and also at the FA and many indie teams met at a jam hosted by LeapDay.
We are grateful to have friends here. It’s an exciting, fun city with a strong scene. It’s big enough scene to have multiple tribes, though small enough that everyone knows each other and seems to be friendly. (Cut to five years from now, when the Improv Wars have devastated London) (I am kidding).
Maybe I’m just projecting my feelings about the LA indie improv scene onto it.
Your Vibe
We taught a four-day intensive at Blanche. Jim, Sarah, Mike OT and I each taught a six hour class.
The fun of an intensive is you see the students enough to get a feel for their individual “vibe.”
Some seem suspicious, others happy. Some are defensive, others gullible. Some hesitate before they speak. Others speak quickly and early.
None of these are “good” or “bad.”
What is interesting to me is that students are oblivious to their own energies. They focus on what they say and forget about how they say it.
They want notes on what they said. They want to know what they should have said.
Yet the tone — the VIBE — is way more powerful than what they say.
Take this mundane exchange:
Person 1: I’d like to buy a coffee please.
Person 2: Well, you’ve come to the right place.
Now imagine it being said by Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig.
Now imagine it being said by Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Now imagine Bob Newhart and Freddie Mercury.
We talk a lot about getting experience. Doing “reps.”
The biggest payoff of doing lots of scenes is you become aware of your own energy, and what you bring.
No one is a blank canvas. Everyone is their own paint color.
Exercise: Seven Words Max
Craig Cackowski had me and Ian do an exercise in which we were only allowed to say a maximum of seven words at a time. You could say less, but not more. Then we had to wait for the other person to go.
The first thing you notice is you’re much more careful with the words you use. You think before you start speaking.
But the second thing you notice is that there are so many more pauses in the scene. You get to just feel what it’s like for the people to notice each other without talking.
Pauses Are Funny
Two people looking at each other in silence almost always makes me giggle.
Imagine it: someone is sitting at a desk, writing. Someone enters the room. The person at the desk sits up straight and looks at them.
That already feels funny to me.
I’ve tried to do an exercise where students have to wait three seconds in between each line.
Here’s the thing: they can’t do it. People can’t wait even three seconds.
But if you cap how many words they can say — that does the same thing. It forces pauses.
If you want to know what your personal vibe is in a scene, say less.
Okay that’s it. Everyone buy your plane ticket to Stockholm, please, and come see us.
Plugs
The Bozos (myself, Jim Woods and Sarah Claspell) are going to Stockholm this week. We are doing the Midsummer Comedy Fest (June 26 through June 29) which is produced by Presens Impro.
The World’s Greatest Improv School: The improv school I run with Jim Woods and Sarah Claspell. We’ve got classes online, in LA and even a few in NYC!
How to Be The Greatest Improviser On Earth - My improv book, available at Amazon. Kindle or print (also on my web site for more if you don’t want to buy from Amazon). It’s a hodge-podge of advice I wrote in 2016 about doing improv. If you’re broke and want a free PDF version just email me and I’ll send it over.
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You always make me miss improv. Damn you.
At “The Glitch” was no stop giggles and so much pretend pegging ! 🥸