Sarah’s IFH Journal - Day 4
(Elgin and Sarah att the Exit - Instant Classic Improv)
Day 4 of Improv from the Heart
Thoughts from David:
- If you are up in your brain, try focusing even more on your partner.
- Actors suffer for their audience.
You will be affected after emotional scenes.
We do our research, or homework, by reviewing our personal experiences and drawing upon our emotions like colors in a palette. Then we drop all of that to be present in the moment.
- Nothing 'stays'. Let everything transform. Every time we do a repetition exercise it will be different; this can be seen as a downfall of Meisner as it is completely unpredictable and out of our control.
- The audience goes away the more you focus on your partner. The relationship goes first.
- Group repetition review: Two people start. Someone else will notice a 'missed' moment. This is the chance to name that moment and enter the exercise.
- If you notice that you are having an emotional response to the group repetition but you aren't saying it, you aren't helping by being quiet.
- Being polite doesn't help.
- Accept the feelings. When the new emotion is big enough, then you change to put your focus on it.
- When in doubt, repeat.
- We don't change it; it changes.
We are in a good routine now of practicing the basics through the mirror exercise, soundball, nameball, and Kitty wants a Corner.
Walking around the room. Find a character. Now age that character by 5 years. Give them an impediment. Now everyone meets at a cocktail party.
Dropping that and walking around. FInd a space against the wall. Find a sad memory. Stay with it. Knock at the door. Find a new space. Recall an excited memory. Stay with it. Knock at the door. The quality of the knocking is charged by the memory.
Debriefing:
- In improv we often stop ourselves before we begin. With a script we go farther and farther over time, turning the heat or the volume up slowly. In improv we want to go farther sooner.
- If you really believe you are in that situation, you will go to extremes.
- Go until you win/lose. The more you believe in the reality of your inner world, the more you will commit. When you commit, then the audience believes.
- Paradox: suffer for your audience and forget your audience.
- Another paradox: become the character but it is you.
- A third paradox: Commit and then immediately release.
- "The moment before" means the character had a whole life before the lights come up. We are doing this with the moments in our own lives, using them to believe in the character's inner world, which makes the audience believe.
Freeze tag game. Remember: the audience is forgiving as long as you don't beat yourself up and don't brutalize your scene partner. Go before you know. Faster is better to jump in but once you are in take a moment to feel out where you are.
Character scenes with two chairs. Takeaways from this:
- LISTEN to your partner
- Be a first responder in a scene. This means be alert, ready, open, and on the team.
- You save the scene, not your partner.
- You don't have to 'fix' anyone.
- Make them look like a master artist.
We did a silent holding hands repetition that was fascinating. Incredible that this can work.
My favorite part of the day was the following silent repetition, not holding hands. With my partner, we went through an emotional evolution and I got the impression that, after those silent minutes, we had a very robust relationship and could begin in the middle of a scene. She could have played anyone in my whole life. A great beginning line could have been, "You confuse me."
We did another group repetition on the stage. I can feel the waves of energy moving around the group, sometimes our energy 'harmonizes' and amplifies, sometimes it conflicts and cancels itself out. It's always changing and growing, like me and all of the characters I carry with me.
The next session of Improv from the Heart starts in June.
Sarah Elovich - Writer, Actor, Writing Coach (Re-Write Yourself)
Alameda, CA
Sarah’s IFH Journal - Day 3
Sarah’s IFH Journal - Day 2