assumptions, usually about their relationship, roles, Dislocations. Naturally, the other player accepts, embraces and builds on whatever is offered in that initiation, so the scene will be off to a rousing start.
A scene that begins with one player saying "Hello" to the other generally indicates a slow start, while a line like "Guten morgen, Herr Doctor, your experiment is on the slab" offers all sorts of potential to a fellow improviser.
Whatever the initiation may be, the players then take turns adding information. They'll soon discover that they've built a scene through their responses to each other's initiations.
He who gives information is a gift-giver; he who asks questions is a thief.
Questions — asking other players for information — are an unnecessary evil for improvisers. Instead of providing fellow actors with facts, questions place the burden of invention upon the other players. It's much better for an improviser to assume he knows the same information as the other actors, and use the opportunity to contribute his own share of information to the scene.
When a player asks a question, he usually has an answer in mind. So, why ask the question in the first place? If he wants to bring a particular idea into the scene, phrasing it as a question is usually a bad move. After all, his fellow player may not have the same idea that he does, and he may get a completely different answer than he had hoped for.
When two actors in a workshop were portraying a homeless couple, the wife had the idea to find a lottery ticket in the street. Unfortunately, her husband didn't know this, so when she pointed to the ground and said, "Look, what's that?", the husband replied, "Uh ... it's just a pile of shit."
The woman was flustered. "No," she said, completely denying his on-the-spot assumption. "It's a lottery ticket."
Wrong! It was a pile of shit. It would have been a lottery ticket, if only she had said so in the first place!
35
Of course, some questions are worse than others; some questions provide information, rather than require it. Asking, "Look, what's that?" is much less helpful than, "Look, is that a lottery ticket?" Of course, it's easier to simply say, "Look, there's a lottery ticket."
GAME MOVES IN SCENES
People are natural game players.
Some of the games are obvious, like Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, and baseball. Dr. Eric Berne's book Games People Play deals with more subtle, psychological, interpersonal games that people play to get what they want out of a specific relationship.
Likewise, improvisers initiate game moves to indicate the types of games being played in a scene. The game provides the structure needed to solvethe problem of the scene.
The games, or scenic structures, are always created on the spot as part of the improvised initiation. Picking up on the game move separates good game players from those who don't pay attention. When an actor discovers what his fellow improviser wants, he should, by all means, give it to him!
Some scenic games (games that develop in the context of a scene, as opposed to those performed as the result of a deliberate decision) are standard, easily taught techniques, like one-upmanship or speaking in verse, while others are invented on the spot.
Most of the time, the scenic game is discovered within the first three lines of the scene. When it is missed, it's usually because the players haven't paid close attention.
Film and televisioncomedy are filled with scenic games. The Marx Brothers' "Stateroom Scene" fromA Night at the Opera is really a game of "How Many People Can We Cram Into This Tiny Room?"I Love Lucy usually involved a game of "Try to Sneak Into Ricky's Act." In their slapstick films, Laurel and Hardy generally played a game that critics refer to as "Reciprocal Destruction," which is just what it sounds like.
Even Monty Python's "Argument Sketch," like the majority of their sketches, is a good example of a scenic game. Ifit was an improvised scene, a
A scene that begins with one player saying "Hello" to the other generally indicates a slow start, while a line like "Guten morgen, Herr Doctor, your experiment is on the slab" offers all sorts of potential to a fellow improviser.
Whatever the initiation may be, the players then take turns adding information. They'll soon discover that they've built a scene through their responses to each other's initiations.
He who gives information is a gift-giver; he who asks questions is a thief.
Questions — asking other players for information — are an unnecessary evil for improvisers. Instead of providing fellow actors with facts, questions place the burden of invention upon the other players. It's much better for an improviser to assume he knows the same information as the other actors, and use the opportunity to contribute his own share of information to the scene.
When a player asks a question, he usually has an answer in mind. So, why ask the question in the first place? If he wants to bring a particular idea into the scene, phrasing it as a question is usually a bad move. After all, his fellow player may not have the same idea that he does, and he may get a completely different answer than he had hoped for.
When two actors in a workshop were portraying a homeless couple, the wife had the idea to find a lottery ticket in the street. Unfortunately, her husband didn't know this, so when she pointed to the ground and said, "Look, what's that?", the husband replied, "Uh ... it's just a pile of shit."
The woman was flustered. "No," she said, completely denying his on-the-spot assumption. "It's a lottery ticket."
Wrong! It was a pile of shit. It would have been a lottery ticket, if only she had said so in the first place!
35
Of course, some questions are worse than others; some questions provide information, rather than require it. Asking, "Look, what's that?" is much less helpful than, "Look, is that a lottery ticket?" Of course, it's easier to simply say, "Look, there's a lottery ticket."
GAME MOVES IN SCENES
People are natural game players.
Some of the games are obvious, like Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, and baseball. Dr. Eric Berne's book Games People Play deals with more subtle, psychological, interpersonal games that people play to get what they want out of a specific relationship.
Likewise, improvisers initiate game moves to indicate the types of games being played in a scene. The game provides the structure needed to solvethe problem of the scene.
The games, or scenic structures, are always created on the spot as part of the improvised initiation. Picking up on the game move separates good game players from those who don't pay attention. When an actor discovers what his fellow improviser wants, he should, by all means, give it to him!
Some scenic games (games that develop in the context of a scene, as opposed to those performed as the result of a deliberate decision) are standard, easily taught techniques, like one-upmanship or speaking in verse, while others are invented on the spot.
Most of the time, the scenic game is discovered within the first three lines of the scene. When it is missed, it's usually because the players haven't paid close attention.
Film and televisioncomedy are filled with scenic games. The Marx Brothers' "Stateroom Scene" fromA Night at the Opera is really a game of "How Many People Can We Cram Into This Tiny Room?"I Love Lucy usually involved a game of "Try to Sneak Into Ricky's Act." In their slapstick films, Laurel and Hardy generally played a game that critics refer to as "Reciprocal Destruction," which is just what it sounds like.
Even Monty Python's "Argument Sketch," like the majority of their sketches, is a good example of a scenic game. Ifit was an improvised scene, a
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