The Congressional Impressionist

williebhines: mikescollins: anthonyking: thatbirch: thatbirch...

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 17:12:37 -0400

mikescollins:

anthonyking:

thatbirch:

thatbirch:

I hear Will Hines singing songs to my baby on internet radio most mornings and I finally recorded one of ‘em for all of us to enjoy.

Thanks, Will!!

Will sang this song to my daughter again this morning.
I’m not complaining.

Imagining this is Will Hines singing is one of the funniest things I’ve ever asked my brain to do. Thank you Birch.

I genuinely cannot stop laughing.

this is the strangest thing i have seen on tumblr

I don’t physically laugh at much when staring at my computer screen alone. I laughed at this. Hard. Can we please have an entire album of the actual Will Hines singing children’s songs?

Ok lets do an improv post - Game in a scene = Chorus in a song

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 13:05:00 -0400

I’m going to be a haughty asshole and talk about “game” like I understand it. Sorry.

The game in the scene is equivalent to the chorus in a song.

The chorus of a song is what the crowd gets excited about when you come back to it. You’re glad to hear it twice. You’re probably thrilled to hear it a third time.

When I use this analogy in class, I always use “Sympathy For The Devil” by the Rolling Stones as an example. The core of that song is the confrontation with the devil. Everyone gets excited when Mick Jagger belts out, “Pleased to meet you! I hope you guessed my name!”

But as great as that classic piece of rock poetry is, it’d be pretty dull if they just repeated that chorus over and over again for 5 minutes, right? “But whats puzzling you is just the nature of my game….Pleased to meet you, hope you guessed my name…” I’m already bored. You have to take a break, but still keep the audience’s engagement in the scene.

This is where you let the game rest and fill in the scene with all kinds of other great elements. Committed acting, visually badass object work, sub-games and other fun bits of business. This is where you talk about Anastasia screaming in pain, every cop being a criminal and how all sinners are saints. Or just a solo from Keith. The “woo-woos” are a sub-game.

A student once asked me for a comprehensive list of games possible in an improv scene. Fair question. How many types of choruses are there in a song? I guess you have various basic genres/archetypes, but it’s infinite. The saxophone solos in “Baker Street” are completely different than the chorus in “Sympathy” but it serves the same purposes - it’s the game of the song. It’s what I as a listener, consciously or not, want more of.

Game isn’t about filling in the blank. It’s not looking for a single correct response and being “wrong” if you don’t fill the blank in correctly. What’s the part of your scene/song YOU find rewarding to revisit?

I will probably (and fraudulently!) not be able to do any of this the next time I perform, but it sounds decent on paper and I think it’s helped some students in class, so here it is.

And here’s a killer version of “Sympathy For The Devil” to enjoy as a bonus to my self-aggrandizing advice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1jUGKzthv4

Old Texas lawyers almost coming to blows during a...

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 10:21:31 -0400

Old Texas lawyers almost coming to blows during a deposition.

This is one of my favorite videos on the Internet.

ucblove: “BA-HA! BETH APPEL: HILARIOUS ALWAYS!” Submit Yep,...

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 14:25:42 -0400

ucblove:

“BA-HA! BETH APPEL: HILARIOUS ALWAYS!”

Submit

Yep, pretty much.

The fastest way to drink water. Worth your 30 seconds.

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 11:13:00 -0500

The fastest way to drink water. Worth your 30 seconds.

Barney Frank is NOT HAPPY about being passed over by Deval...

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 14:11:56 -0500

Barney Frank is NOT HAPPY about being passed over by Deval Patrick to serve in the United States Senate.

If you spend any time at the UCB Training Center, then...

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 11:57:00 -0500

If you spend any time at the UCB Training Center, then you’ve probably been tempted by the terrible pizza place across the street. It seems so close. You only have a few minutes before class. It’s cheap.

Enough.

The pizza-like product they serve barely meets the quality standards of a middle school roller rink birthday party, and I cannot abide people consuming it, when some of city’s truly elite pie lives a mere block away.

Find some self-respect, and walk one avenue west and one street north to New York Pizza Suprema. Suprema is one of the finest functional pizzerias in the city. There’s no phantasmagorical allure of a grandfathered in coal oven. There are no celebrity photos. At lunchtime most customers have either a hard hat on their head or a radio clipped to their belt.

This isn’t a “destination pizzeria” like Grimaldi’s, but the food is every bit as good. Above you’ll see a fresh mozz slice, “upside down” slice and a small root beer. Perfection on every level, and I think all together like 6-7 bucks? Oh, and the fresh-out-of-the-oven plain slices make both of these look like reheated dog shit. They’re that good.

Family owned. Everyone behind the counter could not give more of a damn about the pizza, and it shows.

I hope I don’t catch you across the street. There are no excuses.

Orson Welles does a commercial for a board game.

Sat, 05 Jan 2013 12:02:54 -0500

Orson Welles does a commercial for a board game.

Another Orson Welles wine commercial. This time for the...

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 01:36:26 -0500

Another Orson Welles wine commercial. This time for the burgundy.

Orson Welles doing a commercial for Vivitar cameras, with the...

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 01:09:03 -0500

Orson Welles doing a commercial for Vivitar cameras, with the flash built right in.

Orson Welles doing a commercial for Japanese whiskey.

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 02:26:19 -0500

Orson Welles doing a commercial for Japanese whiskey.

Orson Welles discussing “The Battle Hymn of the...

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 17:15:42 -0500

Orson Welles discussing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

He called it the greatest song ever to come out of America.

Improv Nonsense: You Go To Them

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 22:28:14 -0500

Improv Nonsense: You Go To Them:

improvnonsense:

One of the most common categories of questions I get to this improv blog is the “I’m playing with someone bad. What do I do?” Variations include that so and so is sticking out amongst the group, or maybe is behind everyone else, or playing really broadly, or mugging at the audience, or is somehow…

Another fantastic post. This one really hit home for me. I had this problem for years. I fucked myself over because of it. Badly. I probably got cut from Harold Night because of it. Twice. Whatever shit is bothering you, in the end it really is about you. It’s not about them. “Go to them” is about the most succinct way someone could articulate it. Anything else leads to the Dark Side.

Also it’s fucking crazy Will remembers specifics from a scene he did in 1998.

Improv Nonsense: Trying To Win The Scene

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Improv Nonsense: Trying To Win The Scene:

improvnonsense:

Saw this in a class:

A: So you hated the dog I bought for you.

B: Yeah, well I already had 4 cats. The dog is going to murder those things. You buy me the worst gifts. You always buy me gifts that just don’t fit.

A: (side coached to say why he bought a dog as a gift) I got you it because I…

Great post. The desire to win in a scene is pervasive, and this is a wonderful example of how so much beginner improv has this aggressive, confrontational “tone” it. Anyway, here’s my two cents on this scene…

If this were a more advanced class I’d probably just let the scene go, but in a 101 when long-term neural pathways are being carved, I’d probably have side coached very early on and asked if we can have the same initiation, but somehow keep things “cool” between the two characters. The more aggressive new improvisers get the worse their yesanding gets.

Choice notes are bullshit, but here are some hypothetical responses to that initiation I think would avoid the caustic tone Will discussed. And yes, these are responses I’ve had the benefit of thinking about and editing and re-writing, so yes in the context of improv I realize I’m being a fucking hypocrite. Sorry.

A: So you hated the dog I bought for you.

B1. Yes, you’re right. I do. He’s really cute, is great with the cat, but it’s taken a shit on my pillow every night since I got him.

B2. Yep, I hated him. He made me realize I’m not ready to have that baby. You were right, Ross.

B3. Yes, I absolutely hate him. That whole “I love dogs thing” was just to get a second date with you.

While trying to avoid the gaucheness of praising my own choices, I do think these responses manage to diffuse what is admittedly a pretty aggressive initiation. If a minute or two into the scenes generated by any of these responses a character FINALLY couldn’t take it anymore and got pissed, yeah than I can handle it. But you don’t start there. You get there. Unless a scene specifically and directly needs it, you should do everything in your power to stay cool with your scene partner a line or two in without playing dumb.

Real audio of Orson Welles doing commercials for frozen peas,...

Sat, 15 Dec 2012 13:16:50 -0500

Real audio of Orson Welles doing commercials for frozen peas, fish filets and hamburger beef. Completely worth your four minutes and 22 seconds.

Johnny Carson’s final television appearance. What a...

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 23:10:20 -0500

Johnny Carson’s final television appearance. What a master. Dave reacts like he’s been shot.

Brandon Scott Jones does an amazing (but quick!) impression of...

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 21:19:21 -0500

Brandon Scott Jones does an amazing (but quick!) impression of Johnny Carson.

Some additional thoughts on fighting in improv

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 17:50:00 -0500

I really enjoyed reading Will’s post on hostility in early improv. As usual Will is pretty comprehensive, so additional comments from me probably aren’t required, but here they are!

During 2012 I taught almost exclusively 101 classes and seemed to coach mostly younger groups. I’ve watched a LOT of beginner improv, and I agree with pretty much everything Will said.

I think the desire to fight in improv comes from the absurdly counter-intuitive nature of this artform. Until you get up and do it and succeed at it on your feet, YesAnding runs counter to everything your mind/body tries to do when the supposed goal is to MAKE PEOPLE LAUGH NOW! Aside from the fact laughing NOW isn’t the goal anyway, the main reason I see new improvisers fight is because they simply don’t trust their yesanding, and that being real will actually achieve the end goal of “funny.”

I shamelessly crib from Anthony King at least once every class I teach, so I’ll go ahead and do it here. I’m sure I’m paraphrasing him terribly. Anthony said fights in improv initially seem satisfying because they SIMULATE what feels good about an improv scene. You’re reacting, you have a point of view, chances are you’re committing more. In terms of the raw indicators, the scene is “better.” But it’s the equivalent of giving someone a short term stimulant - the payoff is short, the results artificial, and the long-term use damaging. You’re better off developing the real muscles.

As a way around this, I generally ask students to be agreeable as a matter of default. I’m very, very quick to note/stop a scene if someone is angry/fighting for no reason. Since I understand it does take time to develop confidence with yesanding, I find the simple note of, “Just be cool with ______” generally gets it done. Being agreeable should be as much a part of your default as playing it real. And honestly I’ve found if you nip it in the bud early enough, students will quickly adopt the “be cool with it” approach because it gets them more laughs in class than the fighters.

I feel like lots of improvisers at UCB at some point saw Curtis Gwinn (seem to) angrily say, “What the fuck is wrong with you!” in a Roo Roo show and get a huge laugh. Without more experience, you think that contrarian aggressiveness is what actually generated that laugh, when you probably missed the dozens of agreeable, accepting, facilitating moves he made leading up to that point. I do enjoy the “buzz” of an angry fight scene. I’m a lousy actor, and to again reference Anthony’s metaphor, being angry in a scene sometimes makes me “feel” like a better actor. But I tell myself I’ve got to get there, not start there. I don’t think getting angry 2 minutes into a scene is necessarily bad. 20 seconds? You bet.

The fighting comes from fear. The fear lessens the more you trust and commit to your process. Eventually, you trust your process so much you don’t give a shit about making the audience laugh. Sometimes I give the example of going to a horrible open mic and seeing comics DESPERATE for your laugh, begging for it, working for it. Compare that to someone like Louis C.K. who doesn’t give two shits about the audience laughing. Does he want his set to be funny? Absolutely. The point is he’s so 100% confident in his process he knows its going to succeed, and thus he doesn’t have to work FOR it. The same is true of our work.

Posting the Thanksgiving Carson/Severinson clip always sends me...

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 16:36:42 -0500

Posting the Thanksgiving Carson/Severinson clip always sends me down a rabbit hole. I think this is Carson’s most badass unscripted, spontaneous moment. You see flashes of the harsh and not always so friendly “real Johnny” the public never saw, what was at the time an unprecedented look at the behind the scenes workings of a television show, and it’s also just goddamned hilarious.

In what is now a Thanksgiving tradition, I present what has to...

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 22:18:50 -0500

In what is now a Thanksgiving tradition, I present what has to be the single funniest spontaneous 5 minutes in late night television history. Johnny Carson and Doc Severinson talk turkey. This. Is. As. Good. As. It. Gets. Enjoy.