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THAT'S FUNNY
The game of improv might not be as hard to play as you thought
ordy Altman just wanted to get funny people together and laugh. He had participated in forensics all through high school, but when he came to the University he had no outlet for his favorite act of creativity, improv. So
Altman rounded up friends and former forensics competitors to get together and play improv games once a week. And what started as a handful of people quickly grew into 20, and Stitch Tactics was created.
Three years later, Altman has graduated, but Stitch Tactics lives on. Other groups have formed including Those People, who perform a few times a month both in Lawrence and in Kansas City. Garrett Kelly, Tonganoxie senior and a member of Those People, says the jokes seem funnier in Lawrence because the crowd is closer to the group's key demographic.
To put it simply, improv is unrestricted theater, says Doug Shaw, director of the improv troupe Half-Masted at the University of Northern Iowa. There are two forms of improv: short-form and long-form. Short-form improv is based on short games that involve audience suggestions, such as the ABC comedy show, Whose Line is it Anyway? In short-form improv, the focus is on the characters' actions, not what happens to the characters in the end. In long-form improv, the audience has a stake in the character's well-being and should care what happens to the characters. Long-form improv can take many shapes. Shaw's students improvise entire Shakespearean plays while other groups improvise songs or raps.
Long-form improv tends to be risikier because it is easier for the audience to lose interest. Shaw says, If the audience loses interest in short-form improv, their attention can be regained with the next game. "Every part of improv is hard," Shaw says. "One isn't harder or easier, just riskier."
Those People tend to stick with long-form improv, but Kelly says they like to start their shows with a little stand-up to get the audience in a laughing mood. Once everyone is loosened up, they take suggestions from the audience and improvise scenes, songs, raps or whatever comes to mind.
Games are a great way for improv performers to hone their skills. Stitch Tactics was formed around short-form games. Altman says some of the group's favorites include "murder," which is when one person, either a performer or audience member, is sent out of the room. The players and audience then decide on a murder weapon, the location of the murder and an occupation for the murderer. Then the person returns and must figure it out, but the performers only speak in
jilberish. Altman describes this as a "native game" because someone is completely churless.
"Party quirks" features one person hosting a party and each guest has a unique quirk that the host must figure out.
"Freeze" is an improv scene that never ends. Two actors start, then another actor yells, "Freeze!" and tags out one of the original actors. A new scene must begin from the same position the other one ended. Altman says this was one of the first improv games, and is one of the best exercises.
"Just like life, some people are better than others," says Kent Skov, founder of the L.A. Connection comedy group. Skov has worked with and trained some pretty funny people, including Will Ferrell and Robin Williams, since he started the group in 1977.
Shaw, director of Half-Masted, says a common mistake improvers make is trying to think of clever jokes instead of listening and reacting. "Jokes happen when writers spend hours writing, but in improv they ruin scenes."
I. T. Nagle, Osawatomie junior and member of Those People, had no experience when he joined the troupe a year and a half ago. Now, Those People are selling out shows and have clubs begging them to perform. For a group of college students, performing in a major city has opened up a lot of doors. "That many more people are seeing us and like us and want to do shows with us," he says. "It's nice. Some of us aren't even allowed in some of the clubs we perform at!"
It's hard to teach people to be funny,butthere are techniques that can be used to increase humor.Here are a few rules of the game of improv from comedian Kent Skov.
Photo illustration and graphic by Collin Johnson
Funny business: The act of improv can be found all over the country and even in local groups in Lawrence. One of those groups. Those People plays improv games like "Murder" or "Party Quilks."
Always further the scene and add information. This includes not denying anything. Saying "no" just kills the scene.
Introductions are important. If you can't say it, you can't do it. If you can't describe what you're going to do, you won't be able to do it.
Develop distinct characters by changing speech patterns, physical appearance and changing where the person's center is (think of where a person leads from — Dolly Parton would lead from her chest, but a pregnant woman would lead with her stomach.) "Be like a chameleon: Blend in, but change and alter yourself from audience suggestions," Skov says.
Don't think — listen, then react. Planning improv doesn't work, because others don't know what you're thinking.
Don't ask needless questions.
Ken Skaw is the founder of the L.A.
Connection comedy group.
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