CSC (Curriculum Service Canada)
Fun & Funny Improv Activities
Transcript of Improvisation Activities
Teacher: Stephen Wei

For me improv to a degree is sort of like pop psychology as art. All the techniques that I emphasize in the class have more to do with how do people think and how do people see the world and how do they behave and why do we do the things that we do, and less about how can you be funny and what’s the climax of your scene. Those things aren’t important to me. What’s important to me is the intrinsic human truth that we bring into every drama.

I feel a stronger bond with my students in this class than I do in my other classes because every day we’re taking risks. I do demonstrations for them specifically because I think it’s important that they see I take risks. And I fail sometimes in my demos. And we laugh, and it’s a great place to make mistakes because it feels like that’s just part of it, that life is about making mistakes. First we did a warm-up where I had the class split into two groups and each group played the same elimination game and it’s called Zoom, Schwartz Profigliano.

Teacher: So if you just send a zoom around …

Student: Zoom ….

Teacher: And Schwartz, what does a Schwartz do?

Student: Sends it back

Teacher: Sends it back, right. So if Stephan sends me a Zoom, Schwartz. So what’s a Profigliano?

Student: It’s a fake-out

Teacher: It’s a fake-out so if he sends me a Zoom …. Profigliano. I look at one person and it actually goes back to him. OK? If somebody messes up they switch circles.

Every time a person makes a mistake in their circle they have to switch to the other circle, the idea being that as they’re playing it’s OK if you make mistake. It’s all part of it and you get to keep going and you get to play in another group. Part of the elimination is we all tend to laugh when a person gets eliminated and it’s about how can we laugh together at our mistakes and not feel like we’re being mocked and not mock, and to laugh to create a sense of solidarity as opposed to put someone down.

Student: We do a lot of games where everyone loses face, that’s what Mr. Wei calls it. So it’s like really embarrassing and everybody looks like a complete idiot but then after you get past that and you’ve done that enough then you’ve seen everybody in the class look like an idiot and you look an idiot so you feel like anything goes.

Student: Zoom ..

Student: Zoom ..

Student: Zoom ..

Student: Zoom …

Student: Profigliano

Student: Zoom ..

Student: Zoom ..

Student: Schwartz ….Zoom ..

The other thing is that I always play with them so that they get a sense of the fact that I too can lose face.

How do you deal with losing? It’s OK, in improv we’re going to make mistakes and we’re going to say things that we really should not have said and that’s all part of the process and how do you deal with that? Well, you shrug it off and you move on, you laugh at it.

Student: Well in this class it’s all on the spot so we have to trust our partners we’re on stage with, we have to rely on them and hope that we’re sort of all on the same page without planning.

Teacher: OK let’s get in a circle please, a large circle.

Over the course of the year the biggest thing that I’ve seen that has changed is focus. Their ability to concentrate.

Teacher: The idea is we need to take three steps to get back into the middle because when we’re really really close to each other it’s home. You’re going to need to take your three steps. If you take a step at the same time as somebody else we start again; if there’s a pattern we start again. If somebody tells somebody tells else to go, we start again. If you communicate in any way besides to indicate that you are going to move, we start again.

I think teamwork and collective effort is very important in drama and especially in improv.

Teacher: Don’t be too anxious, remember to take your time.

Teacher: It’s getting hard for people to see.

The idea of it is they need to put their group ahead of themselves.

Teacher: Is that everybody?

You actually didn’t have to see them start again but usually in the beginning of the year they start again over and over and over again.

Student: I like improv because I like regular life, I don’t have to sit there and think about what I’m about to do, I can do it and if it fails I can rewind and do it again, do something different. So improv gives me a chance to explore those kind of choices.

Teacher: Do you remember the gift game where you give somebody something? OK, Ben is going to give me something and it’s going to be a boring gift, OK. It doesn’t matter how boring the gift is I’m going to respond with a really strong emotion. In fact I could choose my emotional reaction in advance. Do you guys want to choose one for me?

Student: Angry …

Teacher: I will be angry OK.

A hands a gift to B, and B accepts the gift and then responds emotionally and they have to choose a strong emotion and justify it verbally.

Student: I got you a snow globe

Teacher: A snow globe?

Student: Well, I thought you liked wintertime and it’s like snow ….

Teacher: It’s a snow globe of Florida and there’s snow in it! It’s Florida, there’s snow in it!

Student: I just really thought you’d like it

Teacher: At this point he’s going to this is an elevation of the game and so he’s going to describe it and each element of that object I’m going to heighten my emotional response.

What does this gift mean to me, whatever I feel in that moment it doesn’t matter what I feel, I’m going to justify having a strong emotional reaction to whatever it is that you’ve given me. And it makes the other person look good because you’re taking their offer and you’re building on it, even if it’s a “boring” offer as I told them to do, you can still build it into something great because it’s all about that relationship that you form with your seniors.

Student: I got you this door knob ….I was worried about the color and the size of it ….

A lot of the times students, well anybody who does improv or anybody who doesn’t have a lot of context with improv doesn’t realize how many things they can do in a scene to keep themselves going. You go into a scene and you think …You just say the first thing that comes to your head and you say yes and everything will work out; it’s not that easy for most people. What I try to do is give them tools, small games that they can play within a scene. So for example what you’re saying makes me feel.

Teacher: All right, so Kate is going to help me out here. She and I are going to do a scene. She’s going to start by making one offer and I’m going to respond with the first thing I’m going to say. What you’re saying makes me feel, and then I’m going to respond …. I’m going to say how that feels and then I’m going to say a line, at which point she will think how does that make her feel, and then she will say a line and we will go back and forth that way.

The idea is a concept called reaction and response. One person says something to me and how do I emotionally feel about what has happened.

Student: Honey, I made you dinner

Student: What you’re saying makes me feel belittled

Student: Mom, I am 16 years old and I’m perfectly capable of making my own dinner. Look, I made a pot roast for you.

Student: What you’re saying makes me feel unimportant because as a mother it is my job to make you dinner.

Students are able to interact better when they think about how they feel about something as opposed to when they’re thinking what’s next.

Teacher: Remember if you need something to start your scene there are some first lines on the wall, there’s emotional states, there’s attitudes towards your scene partner.

I created all the anchor charts with the students so that they knew a place to start their scene. They understand the different components through which they can create a character. They understand what they want to say, how they want to say it. They understand how to create a clear relationship.

Student: When I just come in with a starting line I don’t really think of where it’s going to go or what’s going to happen. I just need a starting line and an emotion and I think usually it just works its way from there.

Student: I like to use attitudes. So going into a scene with an attitude towards your scene partner, like I love you or I fear you. Things that are really strong that can bring out the emotional connection with you and your scene partner.

Students have told me that in a scene they will actually say in their head what you’re saying makes me feel, and then they will continue their scene.

Slowly I’ve been building them towards long form and for their culminating activity, which is worth 30% of their final mark, they have to create a 30-minute long form improv completely fresh on stage, brand new for everybody to watch.

Teacher: Dean, do you want to just go for it ….

Student: Is there anything I can do for you?

Student: Ah, you know what, I just started making this sandwich …

Student: Are you sure …. I’m going to the frig and I’m getting you some mayonnaise.

Student: OK ….At first I found the side coaching really distracting but then it sort of gets to the point where you cannot ignore it but you’d stop looking over at Mr. Wei when he side coaches and you just kind of hear it like it’s a voice in your head, like raise the stakes, be changed, things like that

Student: Want to talk about what happened yesterday?

Student: Sure

Student: Well you were watching your favorite TV program …

We’ve been doing lots of short form scenes, mostly two-handers, over the course of the year and building on skills and teaching new skills and then trying to incorporate those skills into scenes.

Student: Oh sure, that would be greatly appreciated.

Student: Here’s you take half.

Teacher: What’s your relationship guys? I’m unclear about that, why one is handing essays to another

Student: We’re teachers helping each other out

Student: Is math any easier to teach than English out of curiosity?

Student: Ah, no kids are dumb.

Teacher: Make it about each other, not about kids or people who aren’t there. Make it about each other. I’m going to have you a line. I want you to tell him that he’s got it easy teaching math.

Student: You’ve got it easy teaching math

Student: What?

Student: Math explains everything ….

Student: …it can be interpreted in hundreds of ways, how do you deal with that, you tell me?

Student: When I’m performing I feel pretty nervous normally but it’s the kind of nerves that you can ____ off and improve your performance. It’s good nerves vs. standing there not knowing what to do because you’re so nervous.

There’s definitely an added sense of confidence for almost all of them. Some of them are very self-critical and it’s learning to balance that that some of them need, but for the most part the kids are much more confident and they have a greater sense of play. They have more control over their impulses and they’re more aware of what’s going on around them. What I like too is that as an audience they’re much more interested in what’s going on on stage, they’re much more cognizant of their role in what’s happening on stage. I hate to say it but they’ve become funnier outside, mostly because they’re freer. They understand the interaction, the humor, and they play more.

Student: Feedback is really hard because sometimes you feel so invested in the scene and you get out of doing a scene and you’re like wow, that was really good, I had a really great time, and then you get feedback that’s like oh, OK maybe the scene wasn’t the best and you learn from those things. There are some days where I’m like wow, OK, that was a horrible scene, let me hear the feedback so I can improve.

Teacher: From you guys, what did you guys see that you thought was working?

Student: inaudible

Teacher: Why was that working?

Student: inaudible

Teacher: What were the stakes?

Student: It sounded like Jack was trying to prove something to his wife and his wife just kind of rejected him

Student: Jack was totally playing this guy who sees something and he wants to do it and I think that’s a really strong interpretation of it. I don't know if that’s where Jack was going ….

Teacher: Why was Jamar describing a really strong choice that he’s trying to prove something to his wife?

Student: Because it relates to his scene partner rather than just something he’s doing independently.

Teacher: Yeah it’s not something he’s doing independently, it relates to his relationship.

The time I see them become aware of the scaffolding is during feedback. They’ll actually say I think you should have said, or I think you could have played this game or maybe next time you need to think about this skill. The scaffolding of skills also gives them a language with which to reflect and discuss the work that they do.

Teacher: So you guys heard a bunch of things that they thought went well. What do you guys wish you had done differently?

Student: I think I should have come in in Ben and Maria’s scene maybe because that would have raised the stakes more.

Teacher: I think Ben and Maria were moving towards bending the rules more so than to have you enter and to re-establish that sense of “order” would have been a really interesting change to impose on the scene afterwards.

Part of the goal of the feedback is to find out what’s not working for them anymore, what new skills do they need, where are they not paying attention.

Teacher: He’s been saying no for both of you. I want you to focus on making your scene about your partner, right. What was the scene initially about?

Normally what I do when I evaluate them is I give them multiple chances to show me how they do and I give assessment and feedback as they’re working and then I take all of the feedback and all of the assessments of all of those different performances and I give them one mark, for a summative mark, so that it’s a most recent and most consistent mark without it being so much pressure. Because you never know what’s going to happen on a given day. But for their culminating activity I mark the one performance because our goal is to become consistent so that we don’t need to mark them multiple times, every time is going to be solid and that’s really scary to them but they are always capable of it.

Student: Sometimes you’ll get these assignments that seem really difficult at first and then you think about it and you’re like I can totally do this. I didn’t feel that way before I was taking improv, but now I feel like I can take on lots of different challenges.

Student: I’m a shy person and drama has helped me be more open to people, let’s me talk to people I don’t know more quickly and easily than before. Like job interviews, it helps with that.

My approach to teaching drama is also more about the effective domain. I really believe strongly that drama is important because it teaches us to be empathetic towards other people, to work with other people better, to communicate better, to see a perspective that is not our own, to put ourselves in somebody else’s shoes. That’s why I teach drama. I don’t find it hard to teach, I find it an absolute joy because every day I come into this room and we laugh.

end of transcript