The Improv experience expands around Central Florida

It is with Great Pride and excitement  that I announces New Improv opportunity for the central Florida community.   With the current FUNdamentals of improv class, taught  at the Orlando Main Library, being filled with 20 students and going strong.  The expansion of this improv experience will start in July at the Herndon Branch in Orlando. Also expanding further to continue this improv experience, we also announce The FUNdamentals of Improv will  expand  its award winning class in to Osceola county at the Celebration Library near Disney  This amazing class  helps so many not only to learn Improv as you see on TV. But learn to truly Listen, be in the moment, take chances, and go beyond your own limits.   The benefits from learning improv  are far reaching.  Registration will open soon for the new summer classes. 

 its funny how many never talk about the work side of improv!  Many want to just be in the spot lite! Be the star!   there is a lot that goes on before the lights go up!  and even when the lights go down!   I laugh when i hear people say  " oh its improv, it can be done anywhere, anytime, you can pretty much do what you want when you make it up".    the little kid in me just wants to punch them in the face!  because  that belittles all the work that goes in to making improv happen.   so that  no one gets hurt, players or audience,  no one gets offended, no one get sued, making sure that the locations guild lines are followed  be it by the owner, city or town.  If anything happens good  the players will ravel in it and have a great time!  if anything bad happens  the person or people that work behind the scene setting everything up that will take the brunt of it.   I am just sending this out here because things don't just happen!   there is a lot of troupes out there that work very hard for each and every show they put on. 

my question for thought is this " If you show up 5 minutes before a show and leave 10 minutes after the show did you really do the essences of improv or where you just present on stage to be in the light."   just something to think about.

You cant go wronge by holding on the the golden rules

When it comes down to it, its about you!  what is your game plan for the scene?  do you like to play, like to be in the spot light? Improv is more then just the games and being on stage.   Its also about coping, decision making,  going for the funny, forcing your point or dropping it, being steamrolled, or having your scene partner become so involved in their  physical acting  and taking command of the stage that they don't really need you on stage.   

Now we are taught to control these impulses  so that its a balanced scene. every player has just one golden rule, support your scene partner. Working together with you build a story that is bigger and better then either could build on their own.  The audience will love it and as a player your will have fun!    This is not to say that the above items will not happen we are human, and things happen  not ever scene your in will be Oscar winner.   When these happen what do you do?  do you drop your offer and follow  your partners  idea and plan - not 100%  you will never go wrong as long as you fall back to "yes And"   you can yes and, and hold on to part of your offer or character.  But when  you come up to a partner that is steamrolling and making it their scene and their agenda. The number one rule is  kill them! find a reason to kill them. right there in the middle of the stage.  sounds easy!  know make it bold! and follow threw with a reason for the killing them.  Every story needs an ending and every ending doesn't have to end happily every after.  some really good scenes have ended on a players death bed! Remember that is your stage too.  that is where you play! where you have joy and discovery  don't let anyone take that from you. hold tight to the core rules of improv and have fun!

Another form of " Yes And"

When your on stage you are never alone!   From the front the audience is there to support you and go on the journey with you. remember they want to see you succeed.   On stage you have support for your scene partner, All you need to remember is, be in the moment and Listen.   you are only responsible for dealing with the last thing your partner said and react to it.   your reaction is another form of "yes and"  it will expand the story and build the energy and display the relationship your two characters have.    So you are never on stage alone, have nothing to say or do, or add to the moment.  Have fun and it will grow from there.

What is the best piece of improv advice anyone ever gave you?

What is the best piece of improv advice anyone ever gave you?

Ok, this is a pretty tough question. I've gotten tons of great improv advice over the years. I have no qualm with sharing it, because it is my belief that all good things should be shared. Someone had to share with me first.

I think the time in which advice comes to a person can be as crucial as the advice itself. Sometimes you just have to be in a certain mindset to properly absorb the advice to its fullest. Given this, it's possible I've heard great advice that wasn't so great for me at the time.

I will share with you three pieces of great advice from three different points in my career so far.

1) Early on, I got a lot of mileage out of this advice:
"You have the ability to be naturally funny, without even trying. So don't try."
That's sort of paraphrasing, but it's something along those lines.

by relaxing and reacting naturally and truthfully, a person can be wonderfully charming and funny. It's a piece of advice that is often given, I believe, but it came to me at a very important time. It came to me quite comfortably to react truthfully onstage. Trying to be clever was not a strong suite of mine. When put on the spot to be funny NOW, I couldn't always deliver. But I could always be trusted to take risks and be truthful. Plus, the audience can always sniff out a performer who is trying too hard, and it's off-putting and sad.
When I finally heard, "Don't try and be funny, in fact it's better if you don't." It was so freeing. Like, thank you god!

2) Later into the work, this was some advice I grooved on for awhile:
"Commitment is everything. Double down."

  Never bail on scenes.  You're onstage, things aren't going right or feel weird or whatever and you want to take two steps back away from what you were doing. You want to give up or drop back.
DON'T.
Commit more. In fact, commit times two, or, in other words, double down.
Why?
Because when you drop your commitment you kill momentum, you kill interest, you kill characters and ultimately the scene or show begins to die. You may feel as though you've saved yourself and your dignity, but honestly you've bailed on what you were creating to no good end. And who gets into this work to be dignified?
When you feel weird, instead of backing off you instead commit to what you're doing more. In this you find inspiration, you bring the audience in, you move things forward, you make discoveries.
Easier said, than done, of course. Our knee-jerk reactions in life are usually bad habits and momentum killers in improv scenes.

In life:
Weirdness? Back away. (I must save myself, I don't want to see what happens next.)

On stage:
Weirdness? Go towards. Go further. (I am intrigued...What will happen next? I want to know.)


3) Recently, I am loving this advice:
"Let go of fear/failure in the moment and laugh off mistakes."

It's kinda funny to me because on one hand it's like, "DUH. Let go of fear! Everyone knows that."
Okay but the thing is, fear is elusive and bends and twists into other things and never really goes away. And I wouldn't want it to go away completely, either. Fear lets me know I care. But dammit fear better not get in the way of me doing good work or feeling good on stage.
BUT IT DOES! What?

I have no trouble giving myself up to the moment, being present has become one of the more pleasurable elements of improv for me over the years. I love living in the present moment, I'd rather not be thinking ahead. My real trouble comes when I get a curve ball thrown at me that trips me up and puts me in my head. There is nothing I hate more onstage than feeling helpless. Any number of things can trip me up - tech flubs, miscommunication with fellow players, audience heckling, physical mishaps, the necessity to help correct dying scenes or faltering storylines, my own self doubt, etc, etc. Sometimes these things can be wonderful gifts that can be turned into improv gold, other times they just stall out the show and you have to turn around and start 'er up again - or try, at least.

I have quick gut-wrenching reactions at times to these surprises, usually from a place of fear or concern because - dammit - things were going so well a second ago! no one wants to watch people onstage who are obviously full of fear and uncomfortable. And it's so true. Even when people are smiling, if there is a desperation behind it to be the best and be funny and do well the associated content reads wrong. The audience probably couldn't even tell you most of the time why they didn't laugh or didn't enjoy the performance. But that tenseness is easily read and no fun. We can't laugh at someone's obvious pain (most of the time).

And then as the performer, you can't really loosen up and be spontaneous if you're filled with fear and desperation. All around, no good. No one likey.
But, this is not easily solved, either. I mean, we're only human. We have fear. Being raised one foot higher and having a spotlight put on you does something. Even if you do well once, you suddenly have an expectation to do the same or better next time.

 Don't expect the world of yourself. Don't compare this show to all the others. Live in the moment and if something weird pops up, laugh it off. Sincerely laugh it off. Like, literally try to find failure funny. Find your own failure funny. Umm. Sounds crazy, but it can work. Or at least, it's been working for me so far. Every improv show has weird moments of miscommunication. Lately I've been trying to just laugh it off and move on, instead of tensing up for a moment. I have a natural tendency to laugh at awkward moments anyway, I've just been taking it another step further by removing my gut reaction of fear of failure. Improv is an imperfect art-form, duh, it's okay for failures to happen, especially if you have fun achieving them. Enjoying them actually made me able to move past them more quickly. They were out of my head and I could focus on the moment again. The joy of failure.

You can have opinions. For god's sake you *should* have opinions, just don't let those opinions impede the moment.

And, what do you know, all these pieces of advice are great for real life too! Don't try so hard! Commit to what you're already doing more! Let go of the fear of failure!

Hot damn, improv is awesome.

Be specific.

Picture a table in a restaurant. Can you see it? Chances are your image is a little fuzzy and undeveloped, the words bringing up a general impression of a place without detail, a sort of generic impression of restaurantness which may change from moment to moment as your mind wanders. Or, you may have pictured an actual restaurant from your past which may not have been what I had in mind at all, and might, in fact, have been incompatible with my vision if, say, I had asked you to go on to imagine examining the fine silverware while your image had been of a cheap burger joint.
Now, picture a five star French restaurant with starched white table cloths and stiff tux clad waiters. Or a southern bar-b-que shack with rough wooden picnic tables and a chalkboard menu. Or a Parisian sidewalk cafe with a view of the Eiffel Tower. Or a fast food stand, with plastic tables and plastic food. Or an International House of Pancakes. Or a British Pub. The more specific we are in our images the clearer they will be in our minds, and the more easily we transmit that specificity to the audience the clearer these images will be for them. And, the clearer they are, the more real they will be. It is by giving them these images in detail that the scene's reality will be shared by all.
So, be specific! This means making choices early on as to what those details will be, and sticking to them. There are no wrong decisions at this point, any specific choice will help to establish the Where in our minds, piece by piece, as we create the reality of this scene.
Suppose we have a scene that is to take place in an office. Well, what kind of office? A lawyer's office? An accountant's office? The oval office? It would be easy to simply establish a desk and a telephone and go from there, but if your conception of where you are is fuzzy it will certainly be so for the audience. Make a decision. These places will all be different in some way.
Let's make it a stockbroker's office. Before you say a word you should be able to communicate a sense of where you are through what you do. If you were suddenly transported to a broker's office you would probably be able to tell where you were just by looking around. The objects around you would give it away instantly. Just as a set designer and property master of the formal stage must decide what telling objects to include on the set, you must produce them in your space. And, just as an actor on the formal stage would never walk around the set before a scene and describe where he was and point out those objects, you must bring them to life by using them.
In our broker's office, there's probably a stock ticker or some sort of trading board. Read off some numbers. Much trading is done by computer these days, so go ahead and type in a trade. Pick up the telephone, dial, and advise your customer (Who? Detail again, "Mr. Trump, about Amalgamated Widget ...") to sell something. And, finally, open your window and invite your boss to come in off of the ledge. Now, we're in a stockbroker's office and no one had to come right out and say it. Specific details did the job painlessly.

Start strong.

The thing about short form improv is: it's short. You don't have a lot of time to fool around, so go ahead and dive in to the scene. Don't waste your energy with waking up in the morning, getting into the car and going to your location, or making greetings to your scene partners ("Hi, Bob." "Hi, Phil. Nice day, huh." "Yep." "How you doin'?" "Can't complain...") start the scene in progress.
Start your relationships in progress, too. Nothing is more boring and gives you less to work with than a transaction scene -- the typical shop clerk and customer who don't know each other scene -- yet actors time and time again will start any scene with a retail setting with the same old "May I help you, sir?" If you were actually in a store and you heard one person say that to another, would you even bother listening in on their conversation? Why would you think your audience would be interested in that, then? Why not give yourself some emotional juice to work with by assuming a back story between these people and going from there? Same store, but: "Yeah, those jeans do make your butt look big. I'm sick of lying to you." or "Great nightgown! Why don't you wear that tonight and we can invite your sister over to join us?" or "I don't need school supplies, Mom, I'm dropping out!" Now, you'd want to listen.

Find the game.

Comedy depends on structure, and subverting structures When improvising an unstructured scene (one without much of a game to play off of) you have to "find the game" which really means just finding a structure to work within. Say you and a partner are playing two old people talking about your operations and you keep trying to top each other with a more comically horrific illness -- you've found a game of one upmanship. Or you're doing a scene with a health inspector who finds something only to have the chef come up with an outrageous explanation as to why conditions are like that -- you've found a justification game. Finding a game or structure to work within helps you set up the humor and gives you something to play. A scene without some sort of structure that's completely random usually goes nowhere.

The students were Amazing in their showcase!

We had an Awesome Improv show today!  The students we so full of energy and attacked the stage with so much fearlessness and teamwork the Audience love all of it.  I am very proud of them for 8 weeks of watching, listing, and learning and trusting and jumping in has made them better students and performers.   GREAT JOB! GREAT SHOW!

MORE PHOTOS ON FACE BOOK - power2improv

I find that people say "NO" or turn down opportunities many times before they even see what it really has to offer them.   It is so easy to just say "NO,  I cant do that,"  Saying  "YES, or i am going to looking to that or try it "  can be scary !     Remember this   you can do anything you put your mind to. The only one that can truly stop you or block your path is you.     Trust that if you Yes And it and you go full energy in to it  you just may surprise yourself and raise your personal limits.

 Be better then you think you are!   You can do it!

Some time you need to stand on your own two feet and look around and see how you can add to it.  Life is what you make it , so Life is Improv!   so there is no reason to not make it up as you go along!

What's the Main Difference Between teaching Kids versus Adults?

The kids have an advantage because they have yet to lose their ability to play.

Their life is still all about playing. When you tell a kid to play, they simply do. When adults think about playing, they want to analyze the game first. They think about what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, whatever. When they play the game, they want to make sure they’re playing it right. It’s actually a little harder for them to let go and have some fun…and that’s all I want them to do. Let go and play!

Think of when you were a kid. You would play cops and robbers, house, cowboys and Indians, school, etc.  If you tell a kid he’s going to be a mobster, the kid says, “Okay, I’m a mobster.” And in that moment, they believe it. He IS a mobster, he’s not playing one. Adults want to know about this mobster, who he is and why he’s that way. They feel a grown up need to be more thorough.  They want to analyze and sometimes that can work against them, especially when it comes to improv.

The way I teach is by experience. Kids are naturally curious. If you tell a kid a candle flame is hot, there’s still a good chance he or she is going to touch it. They need to know, to experience for themselves. When they experience something, that experience becomes a fabric of their being. They don’t have to think about it anymore. Now they know, they have their answer because they’ve experienced it.

It’s the same with improv. I teach them all these life lessons through playing. If you simply tell them about things like communication, trust, confidence, etc. they might not get it. But if you let them learn it from an experience, the lesson sticks, even as the kids think they’re simply having fun and playing a game. They are young and open to these experiences, which is something we lose a little later in life. But not kids, they play, they learn, they experience.

Power2Improv and The Students of the FUNdamentals of Improv would like to invite you to their Improv showcase on  Sunday February 24th   2pm at the Orlando Library.   This show is packed full of fun and s fully interactive. So bring the family out to this  FREE show for all the giggle and laughs you can handle. 

Today is the Launch of the NEW Power2Improv.com.  All bright and shinny for the new year, New plan, and More FUN!   Find out about our shows, improv classes, Corporate Training, School mentoring and couching,  This is a Fun exciting time as this is step one with many more to follow, With coming announcements of new corporate partnerships and a School based Coaching program to help students be the best they can be.  So Join, Click, Link and follow our New site, Blog, Twitter, and radio show.   Its all about FUN and opportunities for players, our Audience and our Fans!  Remember  Improv is always just a click away. Now you have the power! The power 2 Improv.   www.power2improv.com

Students learn improv for upcoming showcase

Teaching new students and watching them grasp the fundamentals of improv and watching them stand on their own on stage is exciting and pure magic.  This is the eight week and they have their showcase this coming Sunday Feb, 24th at 2pm and the downtown Library.