Improvisation Class // On this page I will blog on a weekly basis about the week’s improv class. I will share what the objective was, key improv concepts and what struck me about the weeks class. The purpose of the blog is also to give class participants the opportunity to share their thoughts and insights.
Improvisation class 1 – The power of vulnerability
Basic human contact – the meeting of eyes, the exchanging of words – is to the psyche what oxygen is to the brain. If you’re feeling abandoned by the world, interact with anyone you can. Martha Beck – oh Mrs Beck, how wise you are. For it is in human interaction where life happens. This ...
Improvisation class 5 – Stories
By Luci and Burgert The focus of last nights class was story. As the participants trickled in and we moved our chairs into the habitual circle De Wet shed a little natural light on his story by telling us about his drumming days with a band called Jesse Jordan. I googled “Jesse Jordan Band” this ...
Improvisation class 4 – Characters
Class 4 was about characters – how they walk talk and feel. We started with gibberish games (Emotion gibberish, Gibberish switch and Gibberish Insults). Gibberish helps one to focus more on how a character talks than what they say. How a character talks is just as important if not more important than what the character ...
Improvisation class 3. Present in every moment
The third class was all about listening, awareness and being in the moment. We started the class with a relaxation exercise to help us become aware of our bodies. Becoming aware of your body is a great way to get out of your head and become present. Next we played Mirror Mirror. In this game ...
Improv Class 2 – Yes and
Yes and is a phrase used to describe the most fundamental practice in improvisation. Yes and means you accept an offer and do something with it. And remember from last week’s class that “everything is an offer even a so called mistake. Not accepting an idea is refered to as a “block” in improv. To ...
Improv class 1 – Just play
On my way to the opening class in a series of 8 in Improvisation, I came to the realisation that the current series is the 5th since the inception of these classes last year. I felt so honoured that every time I present a class between 6 and 12 people show up and unquestioningly open ...
Improv class 7 – Physicalization
Physicalization is the method used by improv players to create imaginary locations, objects, and events. The best way to help the audience and your fellow players see the objects and environments that you create is if you, yourself, create those imaginary environments. We started the class with a warm-up game called “Sound ball” or “Morph ...
Improvisation class 6 – Status
We started the class with 2 name games, namely Bang bang and George. What I love about George is how the clapping is like the principles of improv. At first it is really difficult to get the clap sequence right, but after some practice you don’t even think about it anymore. It becomes a structure ...
Improv Class 5 – Make up your own story
Story was the focus of this week’s class. We started the class with an exercise from Imago Relationship Therapy. In this exercise each participant gets the opportunity to say in a few sentences what they need to say to be fully present. One of the others must then mirror that persons exact words back to ...
Improvisation class 3 – Make your partner look good.
We started the class with a relaxation exercise to help us become aware of our bodies. Becoming aware of your body is a great way to get out of your head and become present. Next we played a series of mirroring exercises. First just one person creating a sound and a move which is mirrored ...
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