Comedy Improv Troupe To Showcase Its Skills
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
I did.
Over the last month I took part in the comedy improv workshop at the North Webster Community Center, and I had such a great time each week that I couldn’t wait for the next week’s class.
Now, I, along with the 11 others from the class, are set to perform in front of a public audience and you’re invited.
The name of our group was chosen as ‘Don’t Apologize’.
The showcase is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the North Webster Community Center. It’s free!
So you get an idea of what the workshop was like, at least for me, I kept a mini-journal of each of the weeks. If it sounds enticing, come see the showcase Tuesday.
Or, there’s also another opportunity to take part in a comedy improve workshop. The level one workshop will be offered Mondays from 5 to 7 p.m., Aug. 27 through Sept. 24 at the NWCC. The final showcase for the workshop will be at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 25. Cost is $50 per person.
Week 1
On the first night of the comedy improv workshops, it was all guys. Seven of us, taught by one woman, Jessica Hardy.
We ranged in age from somewhere around 22 to 38, but everyone was eager to get right into it.
Hardy started with the “rules” of improv. Yes, there are rules, but it doesn’t mean that improv is heavily structured.
The rules are pretty easy to remember. Say yes. Stay in character. Listen. Support the other players. Stay in the moment, and don’t get in your head. That last one always trips me up as I’m constantly in my head.
She then introduced herself and her background, including having gone through Second City in Chicago and being the director of the Chicago Comedy Film Festival.
Hardy’s credentials are impressive and more than validate her teaching an improv class.
After her introduction, we all introduced ourselves. Then for the rest of the night, Hardy had a lot of improv exercises.
I got to be a daughter, a python and someone else’s hands throughout the course of the night.
Everyone has their own nervous tick. Mine, when I’m in front of a group of people, is to laugh. By taking the improv workshop, I was kind of hoping to work that out of my system.
Week 2
Three women had joined the group for the second week. One guy from last week couldn’t make it, but a guy from the previous comedy improv group returned, giving us a total of 10.
I thought it would be interesting to see how more people would affect the class.
Hardy reviewed last week’s workshop, gave a miniature version of her bio again for the newbies and went over the rules of improv again. She also reminded participants to be safe with each other’s bodies, don’t pick each other up.
That was a good reminder as during the first session I surprisingly got picked up, only to quickly fall. But I caught myself so no harm, no foul.
We started the class with a warm-up circle. Then we went into some games you may have seen on shows like “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”
During “Let’s Make A Date”, Taylor White really brought his skills as a game show host. White seems to really have a talent for improv and comedy.
Hardy indicated that while this session was game based, next week would be scene work.
Everyone in the group took turns during infomercials, with Owen Stech and Todd Lucas doing really well selling their two objects this week.
During the showcase, you’ll see some more “commercials”.
From them, Hardy reminded us to go with it, have fun, share the energy on stage and agree on everything.
Hardy had us play another round of “Hands”. It’s a great exercise that gets you out of your head and you don’t have to think of everything yourself.
You’re sitting in a chair, but your hands are someone else’s. You sit across from another person, whose hands also are not their own. It actually is a fun game to watch and participate in. The difficult thing for me during my turn was knowing exactly what “my hands” were doing all the time without looking down. Sometimes, you just have to improvise.
To conclude the night, we did a “Panel of Experts”. I didn’t feel it was particularly my strong performance of the night, but Derick Gamble as a mime expert really stole the show. He shows a lot of potential for acting, especially comedy and improv, so I wish him luck as he pursues it further in Chicago.
As we packed up, Hardy told the class we all did a good job and she would introduce more improv games next week and do scene work.
She also told us our free show for the public would be at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 21 at the North Webster Community Center. The public was invited. Oh boy!
Week 3
To start out the third week, Hardy had us play “Concentration”, also known as “Patterns”.
In “Concentration”, there’s a category, let’s say animals. Each person in the circle takes turns pointing to the same person over and over saying the same thing in that category. Mine happened to be cheetah. The circle goes round and round until you are concentrating so much on your turn and word, it becomes a “dance of improv”, as Hardy said.
Then another category is thrown in. Let’s say food. You’re suppose to point to a different person with a different category, however, I ended up pointing to the same person for both of the categories. Oops!
So there were two categories going around - animals and food.
Even though there are mess-ups, the circle keeps going, and faster and faster.
Hardy said some more professional improv groups can do five categories at a time. That definitely takes concentration.
After a game of “Slow Genius”, which is three people acting as one mind answering questions from the crowd with one word each, Hardy then told a story about how some bad feedback she got was good for her.
She learned from that experience that she not only will not always get her way, but sometimes you just got to go with the flow. She’s also learned not to apologize when it comes to improv.
We then started a scene exercise called “Alphabet”. Two people on stage take turns telling a story with one sentence at a time. Each sentence has to start with a letter of the alphabet. And there is a setting for the story.
Through this particular exercise, I just accepted the fact that sometimes you just have to go with the flow. If your partner doesn’t follow the “rules”, if you stick with them as the exercise progresses, you may get them back on track. If not, at least you tried and did your best.
Hardy asked us if it was nice to rely on something like the alphabet to tell a story. White gave the best answer when he replied it was, but it was hard to stay “in the scene”.
The group then continued to work on scene work, including “Soap Opera La Rond”, which really got a bit more complicated as Hardy introduced more elements to it.
Ending the night, we played freeze tag, which was a free-for-all to get the energy out. Everyone really had fun with it, and it went really fast. I think we could have gone a whole other hour and not gotten bored of it.[[In-content Ad]]Week 4
Tuesday night’s session started out with three exercises – freeze tag (my personal favorite), Ninja and Concentration. Both of the last two were about patterns, keeping energy up and going and, well, concentration.
Instead of breaking into two smaller groups this time for Concentration, we just did one big circle. That made the game more challenging, yet at one point we were able to keep the two categories going. However, often we lost one category, only for someone to pick the ball back up.
I think that’s a good idea for any “team” activity. Help each other, help the team, keep it going.
Before running through the show for next week, we did the exercise “Line from A Book”. Basically, two people perform on stage, and when someone from the audience calls out, “Line!”, the performer with the book has to read a sentence from the book. That line then has to be incorporated into the skit.
Somehow, with the book we had, I thought my performance with Cindy Darr Nei went fairly well and was kind of funny. My perspective was that we worked well together on that scene, plus she’s a good partner to work with.
I felt a little more comfortable on stage during that exercise, so I’m a little more confident about Tuesday’s showcase right now.
I hope people venture to the North Webster Community Center at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday for our showcase. I think we’re nervous but excited to show you what we’ve learned.
Parents can bring children at their own discretion, but there is some adult “tonality,” as Hardy put it.
But it should be a lot of fun.
For more information about the showcase or the next comedy improv workshop, call the NWCC at 574-834-1600.
I did.
Over the last month I took part in the comedy improv workshop at the North Webster Community Center, and I had such a great time each week that I couldn’t wait for the next week’s class.
Now, I, along with the 11 others from the class, are set to perform in front of a public audience and you’re invited.
The name of our group was chosen as ‘Don’t Apologize’.
The showcase is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the North Webster Community Center. It’s free!
So you get an idea of what the workshop was like, at least for me, I kept a mini-journal of each of the weeks. If it sounds enticing, come see the showcase Tuesday.
Or, there’s also another opportunity to take part in a comedy improve workshop. The level one workshop will be offered Mondays from 5 to 7 p.m., Aug. 27 through Sept. 24 at the NWCC. The final showcase for the workshop will be at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 25. Cost is $50 per person.
Week 1
On the first night of the comedy improv workshops, it was all guys. Seven of us, taught by one woman, Jessica Hardy.
We ranged in age from somewhere around 22 to 38, but everyone was eager to get right into it.
Hardy started with the “rules” of improv. Yes, there are rules, but it doesn’t mean that improv is heavily structured.
The rules are pretty easy to remember. Say yes. Stay in character. Listen. Support the other players. Stay in the moment, and don’t get in your head. That last one always trips me up as I’m constantly in my head.
She then introduced herself and her background, including having gone through Second City in Chicago and being the director of the Chicago Comedy Film Festival.
Hardy’s credentials are impressive and more than validate her teaching an improv class.
After her introduction, we all introduced ourselves. Then for the rest of the night, Hardy had a lot of improv exercises.
I got to be a daughter, a python and someone else’s hands throughout the course of the night.
Everyone has their own nervous tick. Mine, when I’m in front of a group of people, is to laugh. By taking the improv workshop, I was kind of hoping to work that out of my system.
Week 2
Three women had joined the group for the second week. One guy from last week couldn’t make it, but a guy from the previous comedy improv group returned, giving us a total of 10.
I thought it would be interesting to see how more people would affect the class.
Hardy reviewed last week’s workshop, gave a miniature version of her bio again for the newbies and went over the rules of improv again. She also reminded participants to be safe with each other’s bodies, don’t pick each other up.
That was a good reminder as during the first session I surprisingly got picked up, only to quickly fall. But I caught myself so no harm, no foul.
We started the class with a warm-up circle. Then we went into some games you may have seen on shows like “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”
During “Let’s Make A Date”, Taylor White really brought his skills as a game show host. White seems to really have a talent for improv and comedy.
Hardy indicated that while this session was game based, next week would be scene work.
Everyone in the group took turns during infomercials, with Owen Stech and Todd Lucas doing really well selling their two objects this week.
During the showcase, you’ll see some more “commercials”.
From them, Hardy reminded us to go with it, have fun, share the energy on stage and agree on everything.
Hardy had us play another round of “Hands”. It’s a great exercise that gets you out of your head and you don’t have to think of everything yourself.
You’re sitting in a chair, but your hands are someone else’s. You sit across from another person, whose hands also are not their own. It actually is a fun game to watch and participate in. The difficult thing for me during my turn was knowing exactly what “my hands” were doing all the time without looking down. Sometimes, you just have to improvise.
To conclude the night, we did a “Panel of Experts”. I didn’t feel it was particularly my strong performance of the night, but Derick Gamble as a mime expert really stole the show. He shows a lot of potential for acting, especially comedy and improv, so I wish him luck as he pursues it further in Chicago.
As we packed up, Hardy told the class we all did a good job and she would introduce more improv games next week and do scene work.
She also told us our free show for the public would be at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 21 at the North Webster Community Center. The public was invited. Oh boy!
Week 3
To start out the third week, Hardy had us play “Concentration”, also known as “Patterns”.
In “Concentration”, there’s a category, let’s say animals. Each person in the circle takes turns pointing to the same person over and over saying the same thing in that category. Mine happened to be cheetah. The circle goes round and round until you are concentrating so much on your turn and word, it becomes a “dance of improv”, as Hardy said.
Then another category is thrown in. Let’s say food. You’re suppose to point to a different person with a different category, however, I ended up pointing to the same person for both of the categories. Oops!
So there were two categories going around - animals and food.
Even though there are mess-ups, the circle keeps going, and faster and faster.
Hardy said some more professional improv groups can do five categories at a time. That definitely takes concentration.
After a game of “Slow Genius”, which is three people acting as one mind answering questions from the crowd with one word each, Hardy then told a story about how some bad feedback she got was good for her.
She learned from that experience that she not only will not always get her way, but sometimes you just got to go with the flow. She’s also learned not to apologize when it comes to improv.
We then started a scene exercise called “Alphabet”. Two people on stage take turns telling a story with one sentence at a time. Each sentence has to start with a letter of the alphabet. And there is a setting for the story.
Through this particular exercise, I just accepted the fact that sometimes you just have to go with the flow. If your partner doesn’t follow the “rules”, if you stick with them as the exercise progresses, you may get them back on track. If not, at least you tried and did your best.
Hardy asked us if it was nice to rely on something like the alphabet to tell a story. White gave the best answer when he replied it was, but it was hard to stay “in the scene”.
The group then continued to work on scene work, including “Soap Opera La Rond”, which really got a bit more complicated as Hardy introduced more elements to it.
Ending the night, we played freeze tag, which was a free-for-all to get the energy out. Everyone really had fun with it, and it went really fast. I think we could have gone a whole other hour and not gotten bored of it.[[In-content Ad]]Week 4
Tuesday night’s session started out with three exercises – freeze tag (my personal favorite), Ninja and Concentration. Both of the last two were about patterns, keeping energy up and going and, well, concentration.
Instead of breaking into two smaller groups this time for Concentration, we just did one big circle. That made the game more challenging, yet at one point we were able to keep the two categories going. However, often we lost one category, only for someone to pick the ball back up.
I think that’s a good idea for any “team” activity. Help each other, help the team, keep it going.
Before running through the show for next week, we did the exercise “Line from A Book”. Basically, two people perform on stage, and when someone from the audience calls out, “Line!”, the performer with the book has to read a sentence from the book. That line then has to be incorporated into the skit.
Somehow, with the book we had, I thought my performance with Cindy Darr Nei went fairly well and was kind of funny. My perspective was that we worked well together on that scene, plus she’s a good partner to work with.
I felt a little more comfortable on stage during that exercise, so I’m a little more confident about Tuesday’s showcase right now.
I hope people venture to the North Webster Community Center at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday for our showcase. I think we’re nervous but excited to show you what we’ve learned.
Parents can bring children at their own discretion, but there is some adult “tonality,” as Hardy put it.
But it should be a lot of fun.
For more information about the showcase or the next comedy improv workshop, call the NWCC at 574-834-1600.
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