iO West Level One - Class 2

Boy, do I need these classes. Going through the basics I'm glad I've done some improv before taking classes because if I had not I would be a wreck. I'm nervous in class and I'm forgetting the basics. Today was about 50/50. Half positive notes and half constructive notes.

Taking notes in class is pretty problematic. I'm using my iPhone 3GS to jot down some of the golden nuggets of improv that Dave Hill doles out now and then but I can't always take the note because a) it looks like I'm texting and b) I'm trying to process the note that was said and I am usually away from my phone. I know that I won't get every little note but I'm hoping I can get the meat of it.

Class 2 - November 9, 2010

Notes:

Exercises:

- Yes (Go): Listening, listening and more listening. Basis stuff here.

- You Statements: Begin each sentence with You _____. (Paint the other person in the scene. Give them a gift)

- I Statements: Start each sentence with I ____. (Paint yourself. How do you feel? Say statements of how I think. What is my characters world view? This angle will become a filter for what you say)

- Saying something the other person said as part of your next sentence: Focus on one part of what the other person says and react to it.

- Cocktail Party: Tee Pee effect. Many unrelated conversations converging.

- Take your time and don't rush it. (This one is difficult. I need to learn to embrace silences better. When the count the seconds that go by when I watch scenes they are pretty long. I should take note. Looking at improvisers like those in Dasariski they really listen and take their time)

- Fall into the pattern of the scene. (Easier said than done. That is assuming you can find the pattern in the first place. Play the game of the scene)

- Focus on one thing and go with it. You can detour but always come back. (When a gift is offered, focus on that gift. Bold gifts shouldn't be ignored. Beginning improvisers think things couldn't be just that. They must add unnecessary stuff)

- React. Don't negotiate. (No brainstorming, no negotiating with logic, don't debate. Just react. Have an opinion and show your characters perspective)

- "Have a thin skin. Let what other people say affect you." (Related to reacting and not negotiating. Be affected by your scene partner.)

- Know your scene partner by naming them. Who are they to you? (Very basic but easily forgotten in my case. Give names. What is this relationship?)

- Commit to a point of view. (Don't be apologetic about your character. Let your character feel a certain way. Have no sympathy for the other characters point of view. Say things from the point of view of your character.)

- "Specifics are like the Holy Grail of improv; it fills in a lot of the blanks" (Details! No Bold Vague statements)

- Must know where the other person is coming from. (What is their point of view? Must listen in order to know what it is)

- Show the importance of _______ (Why do we care about something. Why is the object in the scene of importance? What does it represent? What does it mean to the characters in the scene?)

- Stay in the now. No talk about the future or the past.

- Ask yourself: What do you want in the scene? (Have a goal. What are you trying to accomplish in the scene.)

- Quote from Bob Dassie: "Don't try to solve problems. Deal with them"

- Shotgun to Laser: Analogy of specificity.

- Don't leave anything out. Put everything that you have put out in the scene so far into a backpack then bring it back later. Nothing is by chance or random. Nothing is lost.

Relationship

Do something in the scene unrelated to what you are doing

You and I statements

Saying something that the other person said

Have a point of view

iO West Level One - Class 1

Level One at the famous iO West theater in Hollywood, California!

I can't believe I made this commitment. After seeing Quartet (and after constantly talking big about how I was going to take iO classes eventually) I knew that I could not put it off any longer. It was take the classes now while I have time and sufficient funds or keep putting it off and find myself questioning why I never took the risk. $359 later and a locked in 3.5 hours a week for 7 weeks, I'm officially a student of the iO.

After each class I will compile my notes and I will reflect back on the scenes I did in each class.

Level One - Dave Hill

Tuesdays 3:00PM-6:30PM

The Loft

Class 1 - November 2, 2010

Prelude: That 3 hour drive up to LA was tough. That's a long time to be sitting. It makes me want to get some audio books or find some new albums to listen to so that I don't feel like so unproductive. I had to stop at an AM PM to grab an overpriced tuna sandwich and a medium sized Redbull.

By the time I got into Hollywood I realized that I hadn't used my iPhone once. I'm terrible at directions so this was a mini-miracle. I parked far from the iO. I wasn't seeking valet parking as it's too expensive. I ended up parking near UCB right next to Gelson's Market. A nice 15 minute walk to iO. As I approached the iO I took the corner around Cahuenga to head to the training center.

I was early. 20 minutes early to be exact. Let's hope I can keep this habit. I didn't go upstairs immediately as I did not know what was up there. Instead I waited at the bottom of the stairs for people to show. A few people started trickling in and when those couple people went up so did I.

First Impressions: I kept my mouth shut. I've been improvising for over a year but I didn't want to show my hand. Everyone in class (and when I say everyone I mean the 4 other people who were there) were chatting and building a report. I stayed to myself, not because I was antisocial but because I didn't find interest in their brag talk. A couple of them talking up their improv experience, the places they have performed, what groups they were apart of, and what other classes they are taking...Stab me in the face already. With that kind of talk they better be good (they were pretty decent I must admit). I'd like to keep that expectation low for myself. Actions > Words.

So 2 of them with experience. The other 2 with little to none. And there was another gentleman that joined up about 45 minutes later; I don't know what his deal was. Anyways, we sat scattered around the small room awaiting Dave Hill. Footsteps coming from the door were heard. It wasn't Dave. It was a man (forgot his name unfortunately) who was the head of the training center. He had glasses and that's really all I could remember of him. He passed out some papers regarding information about class and he took attendance and had us fill out papers about an emergency contact person. I was itching to do some improv. But I was nervous.

Dave Hill: When Dave entered I had to admit I was a bit starstruck. Only an improviser would be starstruck like this. Every time I had seen him perform with King Ten, it was utterly amazing. This is a man who knows his stuff. He looks much different when seeing him face to face. I could not believe that he would be giving me notes specifically about me. Okay, enough of that. He's a cool guy.

Notes: The class was small. I hope it stays small. I believe it is going to stay at a maximum 9 people. There were 6 on the first day. After the introduction of Dave as well as us going through the syllabus we were ready to begin.

Here are some of the games we did:

Pattern Game

Hot Spot

3-Line Scenes

(I believe there was one more but I can't remember as I am writing this 3 days afterwards)

Dave Hill had some prominent notes; some of them his improv mantras.

- "It's not about making the perfect choice. It's about making a choice"

(Make a decision. Move the scene forward. All can be justified and supported)

- If everyone is focused on trying to make connections, they will happen.

(This involves listening and doing call backs)

- If ever you are stuck and don't know what to say or do, make statements or give gifts. Make statements of where your character is coming from. Give gifts that tell us about the history, personality, and character of your scene partner. Paint them and define them.

(Give full gifts, not half gifts. Have an opinion about the other person)

- "If blank is true, what else is true?"

(If a character has multiple DUIs, then that character is probably slow to learn)

- "Make little things big"

(If you are going to do something. Do it big. You are a needy person? Be REALLY needy)

- Have a judgement (opinion) about someone in the scene and let that judgement affect your character.

(Have a point of view and react as your character would react)

- Relationship drives action. Context and premise does not drive the scene.

(Name the other person. Who are they to you? How do you feel about them? No plot)

- Ask yourself, what are you trying to accomplish in this scene?

(Why is the audience watching this? While keeping a strong relationship, have a goal. An example of a goal is exploring the different perspectives of two characters)

- The other person is your resource. Nothing else is real except or that other person.

(Use that other person as inspiration. React to what they say and do).

- "There are no mistakes in improv. Only opportunities."

(A mistake an opportunity to make something a game or a chance to justify)

myNotes:

- Name the other person in the scene and say where you are.

- Give better gifts. Specificity is not enough.

- Good job at creating a game

- Had a judgement about my scene partner

The "Invisible" Profession.

"The mark of a good interpreter is one that doesn't leave a mark at all." - *

You are a machine; a tool used to facilitate communication between linguistically and culturally different parties. You do not have opinions and you do not have emotions that do not reflect the individual you are interpreting. You are invisible and without identity.

This was the mindset I rigidly kept for so long. Ironically, my stubbornness to adhere to this standard was facilitated by all the interpreting books I had read and by the Code of Professional Conduct (formerly the Code of Ethics) of the RID. If only it were that easy to be that interpreter mentioned above. That individual however would exist on another plane in which the issues of ethics and morality were never questioned. Perhaps a sort of utopia where everyone made the right choices and the lines of right and wrong were clearly defined. Then again, in a utopia, is there an existence of a "wrong"? More importantly it would be setup a paradox; under the assumption that everyone in that utopia would understand one another (for how perfect would a world be if groups were linguistically isolated?), there would be no use for an interpreter. A low-hanging sign warning you to duck your head to avoid that very sign comes to mind. Where does the line between the roles of a professional interpreter and the bilingual/bicultural individual lie? The successful interpreter will have that answer.

As human beings we cannot fully turn off the "emotion switch" to suddenly become impartial. Unfortunately we are are not robots, we cannot be indifferent and opinionless to all subjects and cannot be invisible (well at least not sign language interpreters). Moreover, an individual with such traits would not make smart ethical decisions (i.e. A friend and former client collapses at a party to which you are in attendance, do you refuse to divulge any medical history you know to the 911 operator that you learned from interpreting an appointment for him/her because it breaks the tenet of confidentiality? The answer is "Yes".). We sure can come close to becoming "telephones" though; as long as we can recognize the time and place when the roles of an interpreter must be put aside and times in which they must be enforced. The interpreter does not seek to becomes these things. S/he is a professional who can make ethical decisions. If s/he is successful, the result is that "invisibility" that they strive for. Bottomline: the caliber of the interpreter is inversely proportional to their conspicuousness.

So to complete that first paragraph above, one must add "You are human".

P.S. *As for the quote atop this blog, I am uncertain to where I may have heard/read this from. I am almost certain that I have stolen it. So for the moment, let us all assume that it had originated with me.