We’re recruiting improvisation teachers! – The Maydays

We’re recruiting improvisation teachers! - The Maydays

[ad_1] CALL FOR APPLICANTS We’re recruiting improvisation teachers! The Maydays are committed to diversity, and we hope to receive applications from candidates with a broad range of backgrounds including but not limited to: race, ethnicity, gender, gender identification, sexual orientation, class and physical ability. The Maydays are one of the UK’s longest-running improvisation companies established…

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Black Box Beats warm-up | Improv As Improv Does Best

Black Box Beats warm-up | Improv As Improv Does Best

[ad_1] Lights come up on black-clad high school students standing on and around wooden boxes of varying heights. You know what’s coming next. Staccato sophomoric pretension. A wonder to laugh at, if you’re not in the actual audience and/or have to drive a performer home afterward. Like with The Invocation, a structure of that kind…

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Energy and Rhythm

Energy and Rhythm

[ad_1] Maydays director, Jen Rowe, talks Energy & Rhythm, ahead of her upcoming Online Improv Elective: Energy and Rhythm for Character and Scene this Wednesday from 19:00-21:30 GMT. “The moments when your energy fully connected you to the world and you received energy back from that connection.” Patsy Rodenburg, vocal coach for the National Theatre,…

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Zoom In On Help Desk

New Year, New Curriculum | Improv As Improv Does Best

[ad_1] With its focus on characters interacting, Help Desk games are perhaps the rubric most conducive to Zoom. As such, I found myself hewing much more closely to my typical Help Desk curriculum this class. The biggest hurdle came in navigating Pivots and Split Screens. Appearing on a Zoom screen it’s certainly not easy to…

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Zoom In On To The Ether

Zoom In On To The Ether

[ad_1] The Patterns & Games class where we go over To The Ether games is always my favorite. This time was virtually no different. Understanding the atomic structure of patterns can help a group collaboratively build evolving molecules which combine into complex compounds.  Patterns that facilitate game play can be defined by three “moves.”  A…

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Zoom In On Hey Everybody

New Year, New Curriculum | Improv As Improv Does Best

[ad_1] “Hey, Everybody,” we say as our initiation in some form. Maybe it’s “Team, take a knee,” “Soldiers. Attention!,” or the Zhubin Parang special, “People, people, [important person] is ready for your questions.” The potential for trouble in a “Hey Everybody, get out here” initiation is high. Players may rush out on stage to support…

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Zoom In On Organic Games

Zoom In On Organic Games

[ad_1] Students were taught the 4 Key Lessons for building collaborative improv games on Day One. In subsequent weeks focused one of 4 rubric group games designed to explore the power of each of those key lessons. At the end of the day – which really is the class showcase – the audience isn’t looking…

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Zoom In On Patterns & Games

Zoom In On Patterns & Games

[ad_1] I taught my first Patterns & Games class through Zoom. I had been nervous going into it assuming I’d have to tweak my teaching materials significantly to work within this new world. But as I learned when approaching Silent Games, the mechanics of collaborative pattern play are applicable however Group Games are attempted. Need…

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Zoom In On 4 Key Lessons

Zoom In On 4 Key Lessons

[ad_1] When I teach Patterns & Games in-person the first class is always Kick The Duck, Red Rover. I love this game. When I say “Go,” the class is to align behind a gibberish group game. It’s always a mess to start, and then I begin laying in the lessons and with each iteration the…

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Zoom In On One Person Scenes

Zoom In On One Person Scenes

[ad_1] Agreement is awesome. Don’t you think. In class number two, we focus on that first of our 4 Key Lessons: Seek Symmetries. Bringing characters into group games brings new opportunities for chaos.  Simplifying character-based group scenes with balanced stage pictures and shared emotional perspectives can help a team confidently navigate the chaos.  Here’s how…

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