one down, how ever many to go...
Mar. 13th, 2009 11:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prusikThe Harold student show was tonight. All in all, I suspect it was decent. People laughed. I ended doing more of the Harold than I'd intended because I didn't get out of the way on sweep edit in time. (In certain contexts, if someone walks across the stage, they are sweeping away the old scene and starting a new one. If you don't get off stage in time, congratulations, you're in the new scene. There are no mistakes. You intended to stay on stage.) On the other hand, it all seemed to have worked out ok. I do need to internalize everything I know about improv scene work so that I can just do it. (e.g., I think I committed an unintentional denial with a bit of wordplay that completely did not work. Oops. We recovered from my slip up though.)
Right now, the Harold is a lot of thinking because you have to keep so much stuff in your head. I always wish I could do a Harold to throw away, then do a Harold for real. Miracles of miracles though, we tied all the plot threads together at the end. However, we never made it back to our original suggestion. (And, as usual, I could never have predicted what the audience suggested: Easter Island.) I've never actually seen a Harold that managed to tie all the improvised scenes back to the original suggestion. I'm sure if I watch enough Harolds, I'll see one.
Anyway, an actual, seasoned Harold team, Rondo, followed us. They were absolutely awesome. Everyone was always on the same page as everyone else. They turned their rare miscues into opportunities for more game playing and humor. They always hit the game of their scenes and heighten the game in interesting ways. Watching them is always a "Oh, that's how you do it!" session for me.
(In case you haven't noticed, apparently, the way I enjoy improv is to break it down and put it back together as it's happening in front of me. This can make my descriptions of what happens at an improv show awfully clinical, but I'm having fun. Really!)
Next up, a week's worth of rehearsals and a choir concert. I really like the music we're singing, especially the Finzi Requiem da Camera. It should be a lot of fun.
(Yes, Clarion is supposed to tell me one way or the other by or on the 20th. However, all I can really do there is wait. I really wanted to do something else though so I bought a pint of ice cream. If I don't get in, I eat the ice cream as consolation. If I do get in, I eat the ice cream as celebration. Either way, at some point, I'm having ice cream. Actually, I bought two pints. One for each Clarion.)
Right now, the Harold is a lot of thinking because you have to keep so much stuff in your head. I always wish I could do a Harold to throw away, then do a Harold for real. Miracles of miracles though, we tied all the plot threads together at the end. However, we never made it back to our original suggestion. (And, as usual, I could never have predicted what the audience suggested: Easter Island.) I've never actually seen a Harold that managed to tie all the improvised scenes back to the original suggestion. I'm sure if I watch enough Harolds, I'll see one.
Anyway, an actual, seasoned Harold team, Rondo, followed us. They were absolutely awesome. Everyone was always on the same page as everyone else. They turned their rare miscues into opportunities for more game playing and humor. They always hit the game of their scenes and heighten the game in interesting ways. Watching them is always a "Oh, that's how you do it!" session for me.
(In case you haven't noticed, apparently, the way I enjoy improv is to break it down and put it back together as it's happening in front of me. This can make my descriptions of what happens at an improv show awfully clinical, but I'm having fun. Really!)
Next up, a week's worth of rehearsals and a choir concert. I really like the music we're singing, especially the Finzi Requiem da Camera. It should be a lot of fun.
(Yes, Clarion is supposed to tell me one way or the other by or on the 20th. However, all I can really do there is wait. I really wanted to do something else though so I bought a pint of ice cream. If I don't get in, I eat the ice cream as consolation. If I do get in, I eat the ice cream as celebration. Either way, at some point, I'm having ice cream. Actually, I bought two pints. One for each Clarion.)
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no subject
Date: 2009-03-14 05:48 am (UTC)Lack of the specific detail: what kind of ice cream?
I'm currently favoring Phish Food or Americone Dream, but if I could find it in the grocery store, I'd be eating HD Mayan Chocolate.
I'm wondering if there is an improv group around here that performs Harolds.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-14 12:22 pm (UTC)Ginger from their Five series. (i.e., it has only five ingredients: Skim milk, cream, sugar, ginger, and egg yolks. However, by ginger, they mean ginger, ginger puree and ginger juice. This is undoubtedly how they maintain a consistent strength of ginger flavor from batch to batch.)
Caramel Pear and Toasted Pecan
I think I've seen Mayan Chocolate in the stores around here. (I'll pay more attention the next time I'm at a supermarket.) Maybe you can pick up a pint if you're here for ReaderCon.
I'd be surprised if there weren't people doing improv where you live. Whether they're doing Harolds is a bit dicier. There are definitely different schools of improv. Improv clubs ran the gamut to not doing Harolds at all, to doing Harolds exclusively.
e.g. If you take classes from the Upright Citizen's Brigade, they teach improv by teaching the Harold. It is The Way. Moreover, they recommend everyone start with their 101 class regardless of previous experience because they have their own terminology and methods. As a corollary, their performers are almost always UCB trained. (In any case, based on their reputation alone, if I lived in NYC, I'd totally take classes there. Going down there once a week really is not practical...)
no subject
Date: 2009-03-14 03:46 pm (UTC)Good for you on your improv-triumph! That you made it through without dying is triumph enough for me! It takes a lot of courage and love of the art to get up there and create. I hope you are as proud of you as I am!
no subject
Date: 2009-03-16 12:58 am (UTC)