Support First, Think Later: Improv Workshop with Cameron D

You are welcome to take inspiration from these notes for personal use, but don't copy what I've written.

Supporting a fellow player is a fundamental improv skill. The quickest, easiest way we can support a fellow player is to see what they're doing and do it with them, even before we know what it is. It requires little to no thought to copy and repeat, so it's much easier than inventing each next move. Support, through observation and repetition, is a skill that can be practiced into habit.

Learned skills

• Observe what other players are doing to identify what is happening and what is changing
• Support other players, without hesitation, by doing what they are doing
• Support other players, without hesitation, by doing the obvious next thing

Exercise: French Fry (Brian Uretta Style)

• Circle up.
• P1 goes into the circle and embodies an object, e.g. french fry, and says “I am a french fry.”
• P2 joins them as something else that makes sense, e.g. “I am a bottle of water.”
• P3, P4 and all players do the same until all players are in the stage picture.
• The last player to enter stays in the picture and all other players return to the circle. This player repeats what they are and a new picture builds from this new starting object. This is the second stage picture.
• All players except the last player of the new picture return to the circle one last time and create one final stage picture.
• These three stage pictures are collectively called one round of this exercise.
• Round 2 is the same three stage pictures played by the same players portraying the same objects in the same order.
• Players can speak to help each other complete each picture. Emphasise they are helping each other, not arguing.
• Round 3 is the same three stage pictures with the same objects in the same order but players cannot play their own objects.
• Round 4 is the three stage pictures in reverse, starting with the last object of the last picture.

Exercise: Category Circle

• Circle up, P1 says a word followed by each player saying a word. The goal is to observe the category and for all words to be in the same category.
• Example first words: Apple, house, Monopoly, church, red, mouse, child, beautiful.
• After each round, reflect on the list of words and what category might they be in.
• Also, try random order instead of circle order.
• Extend a single word to sister sentences. If they can't think of anything, then say the same first sentence.

Exercise: Hot Spot

• Any player steps into the centre of the circle and sings any song they know any part of. Another player inspired by that song can sing another song to take over the centre spot.
• All players must support the singing with clapping, sing along.
• Follow up with an ongoing challenge where everyone has to sing Happy Birthday to themself and everyone has to join by the end of the workshop. They can start singing any time there is no scene being run.

Exercise: Group Object

• The players will create a single object one piece at a time as each player enters the centre of the circle and becomes an object piece.
• No discussion between players about what is happening.
• Example prompts are microwave, soccer field, space shuttle.
• After creating some objects from prompts, also create some objects without prompts, so the object becomes obvious in the making.
• The final player in each round can also use the object instead of becoming part of it. Encourage players to make an object that is recognisable to help the final player use it. Otherwise, the players tend to create non-existent or magical objects that we do not recognise.

Exercise: Lunch Line

• This is a practical exercise about observation and bringing forward what has already been established.
• There is a buffet of lunch at a canteen. The first player walks down the buffet, chooses what they want and talks out loud about what they think and what they are doing.
• When they reach the end of the buffet, they pay cashier Jerry.
• Each subsequent player does the same thing while honouring the world that has been built by previous players.

Notes from Perth workshop October 2024

• Category circle highlighted the difference between word association and a category. Word association is about saying a word inspired by the previous word. Being in a category is about saying a word that fits into the same category as all previous words. E.g. fork and road is a word association that leads to a tangent, compared to fork and knife, which sit in the same category of cutlery.
• Being in the tightest category is a tactic to make improv easier. This is a version of what Jason Shotts calls getting in the same boat as your scene partner. In his version, we actively try to relate to our partner by relating to what they talk about, and if we can't relate to exactly the same thing, we get in a slightly bigger boat. E.g. You love working on cars, and I love driving cars even if I don't like working on them.
• The tightest category we can make is to say the same word repeatedly. E.g. Lego, Lego, Lego, Lego. Entropy dictates that the category will expand naturally, so the muscle we must exercise is keeping the category tight.