I3 Individual Improv Intensive, with John Abbott

01/19/2022

I love this scene, and how its basically doing two things at once:
1) Demonstrating a guy who keeps trying to read his audience, and deliver to it
2) Using gibberish to show emotions

A barbarian warrior learns the finer points of playing with an opponent's severed head.About Key & Peele: Key & Peele showcases the fearless wit of stars Kee...

08/09/2021

"Thought is the enemy of flow"
- Vinnie Colaiuta, drummer

03/05/2018

So you might recognize this guy... he's been in the news a lot lately. :)
I don't want to make it sound like I "knew" Jordan Peele when he was at iO. In the improv community, you sometimes end up at the same party or bar with a lot of other people. Early on when I was doing improv, I introduced myself to him and Rebecca Drysdale after they had done a preview of a show called "Two White Guys."
Sketch based shows are sometimes... sketchy. Comedians aren't known for their work ethic. That's part of why we became comedians. But Two White Guys was written and edited brilliantly, and I could tell that they had rehearsed it until it was right. I don't remember what I said to them. I just remember that it was rushed, and that I'm certain I sounded like a complete jerk when I complimented them for "rehearsing".
Fast forward to the Chicago Improv Festival, 2007. Jordan is part of a panel of Mad TV performers and writers, and performs with the group later that night. I know its going to sound like I'm full of it, but once again, I was struck by his writer's mind.
I am an improviser. I am also a writer.
There is a reason that I was extra thrilled to see Mr. Peele win an Oscar for writing last night, just as I was thrilled to be the person charged with taking these photos back in 2007.
Thank you, Mr. Jonathan Pitts, for giving me that chance to meet so many of the people that I've admired.

03/02/2018

I'm a big believer that there are very few subjects that are taboo in comedy.
You don't think that the Holocaust should be made fun of. Right?
But you thought that the Springtime For Hi**er scene in The Producers was one of the funnier things you saw?
Or how about Kate Winslet, in Extras?
Here's Kate talking about how she became invited into that episode, closely followed by the genius that makes uncomfortable subjects, funny. (HINT: part of it is because we're not supposed to talk about uncomfortable subjects)

In this web exclusive video Kate reveals how her appearance in the show came about thanks to a signed photo of David Brent.

02/28/2018

I've been trying to define a word that I use, called "chasing."
Its difficult to describe, but I think we've all seen it. You know that moment when an improv team isn't getting a reaction from the audience? So they try *everything* to get some sort of reaction?
At one point in time, you'll feel like they are willing to do anything to get the audience on their side.
They resort to what I call "chasing": a desperate act of everything and anything in their comedic cache to get a giggle out of the audience.
Imagine a clown that can't get a kid to laugh. So he pulls out the squirting flower. The honking horn. He pulls hankies in one continuous line from his pocket. He's doing everything that he knows with a balloon, because the kid is lifeless.
That's chasing.
In improv, people tend to pull out the same "jokes" when they're chasing. When you look backwards at what you did, its embarrassing. But we've all done it.
Its easier to do that then to be vulnerable. Vulnerable can get the audience on your side, but it takes time. Worst of all, it takes vulnerability. Comedians normally didn't get into comedy because they're good with being vulnerable.
But every stand-up that's a giant success will tell you that their first huge laughs came when they were very vulnerable.

That's how I became a fan of Mike Birbiglia. When he's good, he's great. When he's at his best, he's vulnerable.
Mike has learned the fine art of making the audience follow you. If you're not familiar with it, look him up.

When you're on stage, if you're a rock star, you can get the audience to do many things by *willing* them to do it.
If you're a comedian, you can get them to follow you.

With all of this in mind, the next time you find yourself chasing, remember that the audience wants to follow us. We just have to give them a chance. And they can't follow us... if we're chasing.

02/24/2018

The longer I perform, the more I become aware of performers who basically made a scene happen with a single reaction. Or with an unsaid thing, that let's you know everything that they are thinking.
This is a classic scene from the first episode of Miami Vice.
Some background, to help you understand what is going on.
Just a reminder to the set up of the scene.
The show starts with Detective Sonny Crockett, who is about to go on a drug deal with his partner. Right away, the drug deal goes wrong, and his partner is killed in an explosion near a car.
They were set up.
A few scenes later, he shows up at his estranged wife Caroline's house for his son's birthday party. He's drunk and distraught. Caroline tries to contain her rage as he hands his son a present.
Throughout the show, its clear that Crockett has been an undercover detective for too long. He says something about how he's having trouble telling the bad guys from the good guys, and he suspects that someone inside of his department has been feeding a drug dealer information.

Towards the end of the show, he finally finds the link. Its a list of payoffs from the drug dealer: and it points to Sonny's previous partner.
It is the ultimate betrayal.
He takes the information, and confronts his ex partner with it at his home. The ex partner is with his family, so he follows Sonny outside. Inside of Crockett's car, Sonny asks him "how much" money.
$75,000 he says. His ex partner starts to try to explain himself to Crocket, when Crocket interrupts and asks him where the (drug) deal is going to go down.
The ex-partner tells him. And then this (clip) happens.
There is outstanding acting and directing throughout this clip. Its one of my favorite clips of all time, because it shows you how Miami Vice became a show.
Up until this point, Crockett has been looking at Tubbs sideways, trying to figure out if he can trust him. Now he feels like he's the only guy that he can trust, simply because he doesn't know him.
On the way to the drug deal, he stops to make a phone call.
The name of the actress in this scene who play Crockett's estranged wife is Belinda Montgomery. She is in this scene for less then a minute. She has maybe 5 lines? And she makes this scene.
There is something in her intent that shows me that she's initially wondering why he's calling, and then suddenly realizes that he needs reassurance, and she softens to give him that. Its done in such an honest way that it hits me in the sternum every time.
Listen.
React.

Copyright Goes To NBC Universal Studios

02/24/2018

About 10 minutes in, they talk about the beauty of doing improv.
Which makes me a little bit weepy.

Take a look behind the scenes with the Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld casts, as they make a fictional Seinfeld reunion episode. Starring Larry David, Cher...

02/20/2018

I mentioned before that I've taken up shooting baskets - after running - as a way to stay in shape.
Stick with me. This is related to improv.
I've been trying to throw free throws. When I miss, I'll grab the ball in whatever direction it bounces, and try to make a basket from there. When I hit a free throw, I walk back to the line and tried to see if I could make it again.
At one point in time, I decided that I was going to try reallllly, really hard to see if I could throw 3 free throws in a row.
Doubles came fairly frequently. 3 in a row was getting way too hard.
After the second successful free throw, I'd find myself standing on the free throw line, thinking "I have to make this one!"
Naturally, I'd miss.
I know that professionals in all sports have been known to check in with sports psychologists to find out what's going wrong. But there I was, actually face-to-face with the same thing. As soon as I put pressure on myself to make it, I couldn't throw a free throw for the life of me.
Remember that time when you were in an improv audition that you needed to nail? Or when you were performing in front of friends - and you wanted them to see that you were funny - and you could actually feel their eyes on you?
Remember that time when that cute woman/man was in the audience, and you wanted them to think you were cool?
Its the same thing. We're putting too much pressure on ourselves to be perfect. To throw that 3rd free throw.
Because I "know" that - and I understand the psychology of not wanting to miss - I tried a half dozen techniques to try to forget that I was on the 3rd throw. Its hard to do.
Have you been watching the Olympics this past week? Have you seen the amount of Olympians making "dumb" mistakes, doing things that they would never do under any other competition?
Its because they want it that bad.
We want to make the audience laugh, badly.
A while back, Anne Libera gave me a piece of advice that stuck with me. She said: "Fail intentionally."
Its a hard lesson to learn, because its a hard lesson to understand. Improv is a very messy business. If 3 out of 4 of your scenes make that swishing sound as they go through the basket, you are a great improviser. But we want better then that. We want to be funny... every single time.

I realized that I had made a turn when I had a bad show, and laughed at it. It helps that I was performing with a great group of people on a team called Wing Night.
We knew how to laugh at our bad shows.
When you can laugh at your bad shows, it gives you a certain amount of freedom. It means that suddenly, you aren't putting all of that pressure on your 3rd basket.
This isn't life and death. Its not. People will forget your bad scene within 5 minutes, unless you actually are still in the same scene 5 minutes later. Are you watching your friends in a bad scene from the sidelines? Edit. In a bad scene? Recommit. Listen harder. And then, when its all over? Laugh at yourself.
We are not in the Olympics.
We are not getting paid $150 million over 5 years.
You can fail, and life will go on.

02/16/2018

I've been making this point lately about how if you keep making the same kind of joke over and over and over, its like hitting the same note on a piano continuously.
Imagine my surprise when I found Alan Alda making a very similar comparison?

Full interview at http://emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/alan-alda

02/12/2018

"We weren't thinking about the next line. We were just listening to each other."

Jerry Stiller reveals surprising backstage tidbits about his role on the iconic sitcom.

02/10/2018

If you're planning on creating a sitcom, its good to read up on what worked. In this case, Seinfeld, and how Elaine was added to the cast.
There is a good lesson hidden in here about how to make sure that the director/writer doesn't want to work with you.