Improvisation and Sketch Comedy
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Sketch Idea Generator
Sketch Idea Generator This is a guide you can use to generate sketch ideas. Keep in mind that out of 10 ideas in comedy, maybe 1 is going to turn out great. But, using these methods you can pump out ideas very quickly and get to that 1 really great idea faster. Enjoy! Adjective/ Profession/ Location Mis/Matching This one is all about pumping out ideas quickly. Make 3 lists. First a list of adjectives. Second a list of professions. Third a list of locations. Then you just connect them in a way that makes sense or in a way that makes no sense at all. Here’s an example: Adjectives Professions Locations Loud A Barista Office Quiet B Librarian A Art Museum A Brave Actor B Truck Stop C Scared C Trash Collector Library Childish Singer Restaurant Smart Mechanic C Home Responsible Pope Grocery Store B If this were on sheet paper by hand I would just draw arrows (i suggest doing it that way). But, for the sake of keeping this digitally coherent, here are some connections I could make: A) Loud > Librarian > Art Museum B) Quiet > Actor > Grocery Store C) Scared > Mechanic > Truck Stop And so on… Then you look at your connections and you try to think of some situation that those make sense. Or you go the complete opposite and connect ones that are total rubbish to put together. For example, what if a librarian, who is forced to stay quiet in her natural environment (the library) made up for it by being loud everywhere else? Next, you would brainstorm that scenario. -
Robert Lepage's Scenographic Dramaturgy: the Aesthetic Signature at Work
1 Robert Lepage’s Scenographic Dramaturgy: The Aesthetic Signature at Work Melissa Poll Abstract Heir to the écriture scénique introduced by theatre’s modern movement, director Robert Lepage’s scenography is his entry point when re-envisioning an extant text. Due to widespread interest in the Québécois auteur’s devised offerings, however, Lepage’s highly visual interpretations of canonical works remain largely neglected in current scholarship. My paper seeks to address this gap, theorizing Lepage’s approach as a three-pronged ‘scenographic dramaturgy’, composed of historical-spatial mapping, metamorphous space and kinetic bodies. By referencing a range of Lepage’s extant text productions and aligning elements of his work to historical and contemporary models of scenography-driven performance, this project will detail how the three components of Lepage’s scenographic dramaturgy ‘write’ meaning-making performance texts. Historical-Spatial Mapping as the foundation for Lepage’s Scenographic Dramaturgy In itself, Lepage’s reliance on evocative scenography is inline with the aesthetics of various theatre-makers. Examples range from Appia and Craig’s early experiments summoning atmosphere through lighting and minimalist sets to Penny Woolcock’s English National Opera production of John Adams’s Dr. Atomic1 which uses digital projections and film clips to revisit the circumstances leading up to Little Boy’s release on Hiroshima in 1945. Other artists known for a signature visual approach to locating narrative include Simon McBurney, who incorporates digital projections to present Moscow via a Google Maps perspective in Complicité’s The Master and Margarita and auteur Benedict Andrews, whose recent production of Three Sisters sees Chekhov’s heroines stranded on a mound of dirt at the play’s conclusion, an apt metaphor for their dreary futures in provincial Russia. -
Ronnie Ray "Very Talented Comedian"
Ronnie Ray "Very Talented Comedian" Ronnie Ray has tremendous presence no matter what he does – Beth Lisick, The San Francisco Chronicle Originally from the south side of Chicago, Ronnie Ray’s passion in comedy transcribes into hilarious real life moments brought to the stage! Trained at The Second City Chicago Ron performs with sketch comedy ensemble Oui Be Negroes and Nation of Improv. As a stand-up comedian his material spans from a PG-13 to an R rating, with subjects that consist of growing up on the South Side of Chicago, the different types of comedians and the often requested crowd favorite that basketball star Shaquille O’Neal should retire from NBA and go back to his career as a rap artist. He his performed at a variety of clubs such as The World Famous Comedy Store (Hollywood), The Laugh Factory (Hollywood), The Improv (West Palm Beach) and Pechanga Comedy Club (Temecula) just to name a few and have been privileged to share the stage with comedy greats such as Damon Waynes, Chris Tucker and Robin Williams. His uniqueness as a comedic actor has given him the opportunity and distinction of being the only comic to perform on Playboy TV (Canoga Park and Totally Busted) AND Nickelodeon (Victorious) along with other T.V. and Movies projects. Such as Paramount Pictures “Save the Last Dance”, Groit Pictures “Redrum”, adding his voice to the Animation “Gangs of LA 1991_ and the award winning comedy from Jib Jab’s Shawshank in Minute, directed by John Landis. A gifted comedic writer, He has written numerous sketch comedy scenes of OBN and has written many spec productions with QRS Productions. -
The Poetics of Persian Music
The Poetics of Persian Music: The Intimate Correlation between Prosody and Persian Classical Music by Farzad Amoozegar-Fassie B.A., The University of Toronto, 2008 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in The Faculty of Graduate Studies (Music) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) August 2010 © Farzad Amoozegar-Fassie, 2010 Abstract Throughout most historical narratives and descriptions of Persian arts, poetry has had a profound influence on the development and preservation of Persian classical music, in particularly after the emergence of Islam in Iran. A Persian poetic structure consists of two parts: the form (its fundamental rhythmic structure, or prosody) and the content (the message that a poem conveys to its audience, or theme). As the practice of using rhythmic cycles—once prominent in Iran— deteriorated, prosody took its place as the source of rhythmic organization and inspiration. The recognition and reliance on poetry was especially evident amongst Iranian musicians, who by the time of Islamic rule had been banished from the public sphere due to the sinful socio-religious outlook placed on music. As the musicians’ dependency on prosody steadily grew stronger, poetry became the preserver, and, to a great extent, the foundation of Persian music’s oral tradition. While poetry has always been a significant part of any performance of Iranian classical music, little attention has been paid to the vitality of Persian/Arabic prosody as its main rhythmic basis. Poetic prosody is the rhythmic foundation of the Persian repertoire the radif, and as such it makes possible the development, memorization, expansion, and creation of the complex rhythmic and melodic compositions during the art of improvisation. -
Improvisation Improvisation Theater Facilitation Guide
Improvisation theater facilitation guide Author: Oana Gheorghe 0 CONTENTS IMPROVISATION THEATRE ..................................................................................................... 2 Short history ................................................................................................................................ 2 Principles of Improvisation theater ............................................................................................. 3 IMPROVISATION THEATER - AS A METHOD OF (FORMAL AND NON-FORMAL) EDUCATION ..... 5 Participant and roles .................................................................................................................... 6 Organizing the workshops ........................................................................................................... 8 Who and how does assess? ......................................................................................................... 9 EXAMPLES OF GAMES SPECIFIC TO THIS METHOD ................................................................ 10 Sound ball .................................................................................................................................. 11 Catch and pass ........................................................................................................................... 11 The story of the group ............................................................................................................... 12 Draw according to directions ................................................................................................... -
Comedy Arts Concentration Guide Virtual Summer 2020 Program Description
COMEDY ARTS CONCENTRATION GUIDE VIRTUAL SUMMER 2020 PROGRAM DESCRIPTION We’re going digital and we’re excited! Why would we want to do comedy on the internet? Because never before have aspiring comedians had the same technical resources as the folks at SNL and The Second City! Here at DePaul’s Summer Program in Comedy Arts, we’re running with this opportunity and taking it straight online to push ourselves to create in new and innovative ways! The Comedy Arts concentration will prepare students to be highly adaptable multidisciplinary comedy creators. Students will build the knowledge and skills to perform, write, direct, and produce their own original comedy as individuals and an ensemble in a fun, fast-paced environment. Comedy always responds to the moment it exists in, so students will primarily focus on relevant practices and platforms in creating and producing digital comedy, equipping students with the ability to create and produce their own original content and share it across a broad array of platforms. We’re seizing the moment we’re in with a typical Chicago “Yes, And” attitude to see the unique opportunity at hand! Courses in improvisation, sketch comedy, and standup will anchor the program with additional workshops and masterclasses in special topics (and special instructors!). SAMPLE SCHEDULE (CENTRAL DAYLIGHT TIME) Includes daily writing/digital content assignments, viewing & reading assignments. MONDAY 11:00-1:00pm Improv 1:00-2:00pm Lunch w/ optional Zoom hangouts 2:00-4:00pm Sketch Comedy 4:00-5:00pm Tech Lab TUESDAY -
Immediacy in Comedy: How Gertrude Stein, Long Form Improv, and 5 Second Films Can Revolutionize the Comedic Form
University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2013 Immediacy In Comedy: How Gertrude Stein, Long Form Improv, And 5 Second Films Can Revolutionize The Comedic Form Alexander Hluch University of Central Florida Part of the Acting Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Hluch, Alexander, "Immediacy In Comedy: How Gertrude Stein, Long Form Improv, And 5 Second Films Can Revolutionize The Comedic Form" (2013). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 2933. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/2933 IMMEDIACY IN COMEDY: HOW GERTRUDE STEIN, LONG FORM IMPROV, AND 5 SECOND FILMS CAN REVOLUTIONIZE THE COMEDIC FORM by ALEX HLUCH M.A. in Theatre, Bowling Green State University, 2010 B.A. in Theatre, Ohio State University, 2009 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Acting in the department of Theatre in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Spring Term 2013 ABSTRACT Comedy has typically been derided as second-tier to drama in all aspects of narrative. Throughout history, comedy has seen short shrift in both critical reception and academic investigation. Merit is simply placed on drama far before that of comedy. -
Improvisation for the Theater: a Handbook of Teaching and Directing Techniques Pdf, Epub, Ebook
IMPROVISATION FOR THE THEATER: A HANDBOOK OF TEACHING AND DIRECTING TECHNIQUES PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Paul Sills, Viola Spolin | 416 pages | 28 Jul 1999 | Northwestern University Press | 9780810140080 | English | Evanston, United States Improvisation for the Theater: A Handbook of Teaching and Directing Techniques PDF Book Improvisations move through fear, boredom, laziness, and distraction to a sustained awareness of creative options. It then focuses on how we can use creativity, with a particular focus on co-creativity, to pave the way for new visions of the future and innovative solutions, and explores how storytelling can be applied to teamwork and presentations. With 53 specific, usable tools this book will improve your improv coaching, directing or teaching right away. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world , and other notations in the work. Northwestern University Press , - Performing Arts - pages. My improv training has helped me more in my life and my career than most of my formal training. Improvisation acting journal, perfect to wear to acting class at school, during acting exercises and acting games. This in-depth look at the techniques, principles, theory and ideas behind what they do is both authoritative and entertaining. Max Schaefer is a distinguished full-time teacher, actor, programmer, and president of Underdog Educational Software company. The result is both an ideas book and a fascinating exploration of the nature of spontaneous creativity. Sort order. This new edition of a highly acclaimed handbook, last published in and widely used by theater teachers and directors, is sure to be welcomed by members of the theater profession. -
Sketch Comedy 2019 Syllabus
THTR 470: Sketch Comedy for Theatre 2 Units Fall 2019—Mon/Wed—12-1:50pm Location: MCC 107 Instructor: Kirstin Eggers Office: MCC 214 Office Hours: By appointment — please schedule via email. Email: [email protected] Phone: (c) 323.898.7388 — emergencies only, email preferred. Course Description “The duty of comedy is to correct men by amusing them.” — Molière In this experiential writing and performance workshop course, students will explore and develop their unique comedic voices via the creation of comedic sketches, through the entire process — from idea generation, to writing, revision, rehearsal, and finally production and performance of a fully realized sketch comedy show, with an emphasis on creative collaboration and ensemble building. Learning Objectives Throughout this course, students will work to identify their own comedic viewpoints through the medium of sketch — comedic explorations of concepts, characters and situations. Students will learn sketch writing structure through the study of prominent existing sketches, and techniques for sketch performance and original character creation. Students are expected to generate a high volume of comedic concepts and written material to serve their own creative exploration, and their own work ethic and writing practice. Students are also expected to serve the needs of the group, and work toward building a true comedy ensemble. Although we will be working toward a final workshop presentation, this course is focused on process over product — you are not expected to be funny 100% of the time, or even 10% of the time. You are expected to be brave, be open- minded, and stretch out of your comfort zone to explore and strengthen your own unique comedic voice. -
Film 150: Screenwriting
PROVISIONAL SYLLABUS: Subject to Change – Film 150: Screenwriting Film 150 Screenwriting (M & F 1 - 5 pm) Natasha V. Summer Session 1: June 26 - July 28 [email protected] Class Location: Rm 141, Soc Sci 2 Office Hours: M/F noon - 1 b4 class Office Location: TBA And by appt (email request) This is an introductory course in which students learn some basic principles of screenwriting, in the context of a Sketch Comedy Workshop class. Emphasis this Summer is on Sketch Comedy Writing, and how Sketch differs from other types of comedy (Stand Up, Sitcoms, Comedic Feature Films, & Improv vs. Written Skits.) Telling jokes is how we critique and understand the world, ourselves, and other people. Having a funny idea, and wanting to share it, is a deeply human impulse. Your job, as screenwriters, is to learn to write your sketches in the funniest, most effective way possible for an audience. You want to move people to laughter so they can understand something new and unique about life. The main activity of this class is writing——you’ll write at least TEN short comedy sketches, ½ - 4 pages in length each. (“Brevity is the soul of wit” – W. Shakespeare.) We will be primarily concerned with STRUCTURE, CHARACTER, and HUMOR, as key components in sketch writing. We will analyze television sketch shows and your own scripts in terms of their structure, characters, and comedic effectiveness. Becoming a better writer is a journey, and we all learn by attempting things and growing beyond our limitations. We learn by WRITING, first and foremost. I will expect you to write MORE sketches than those you decide to present in class, and I expect you to revise your writing both before and after you present in class. -
Street Theatre for Edutainment”
“STREET THEATRE FOR EDUTAINMENT” A PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH CONDUCTED WITH YOUTH IN DELHI 5th April,2010 Anjali Capila, Phd Associate Professor, Department of Development Communication and Extension, Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi. Pragati Bhalla, Post Graduate, 2010, Department of Development Communication and Extension, lady Irwin College, University of Delhi. Abstract Youth constitute an important section of our society. They are the biggest reservoir of human resources and are the future of our country. Their development has direct affect on the development of the nation. Street Theatre is not a moment’s act. It is a participatory approach which deals with fictional narratives and thus used for communicating important societal issues. It allows individuals to express themselves in their own unique way. The freedom to participate is always there. The influence of Theatre activities on development can be seen as it stimulates life skills and challenges the attention of the participants and audience. Life skills are developed through experiential learning. Skills are always developed through active participation in activities that enable young people to sharpen their thinking, social and self- management skills. The context and environment in which activities take place influences the outcomes not only in terms of building life skills but also sensitizing the youth on the issues that are focused in the activities. The present study entitled Street Theatre for Edutainment: A participatory research with youth in Delhi was conducted with the active participation of young people who developed Street Theater to communicate messages among audiences. The views of participants from various colleges of Delhi about street theatre were also sought. -
IMPROVISATION: METHODS and MODELS In
IMPROVISATION: METHODS AND MODELS in: Generative processes in music (ed. J. Sloboda) Oxford University Press 1987 Jeff Pressing (text only) I. Introduction II. A survey of pertinent research (a) Some physiology and neuropsychology (b) Motor control and skilled performance (i) Theories of motor control and skill (ii) Special issues relevant to improvisation A. Skill classification B. Feedback and error correction C. Anticipation, preselection and feedforward D. Hierarchy vs Heterarchy E. Time scales for the control of movement F. Timing and movement invariants G. Motor memory (iii) Skill development (c) Studies and theories of musical improvisation (d) Oral traditions and folklore (e) Intuition and creativity (f) Artifical intelligence (g) Spontaneous speech III. A model of improvisation (a) How people improvise (b) The development of improvisational skill IV. Conclusions IMPROVISATION: METHODS AND MODELS to appear in: Generative processes in music (ed. J. Sloboda) Oxford University Press, 1987 Jeff Pressing I. Introduction How do people improvise? How is improvisational skill learned and taught? These questions are the subject of this paper. They are difficult questions, for behind them stand long-standing philosophical quandries like the origins of novelty and the nature of expertise, which trouble psychologists and artificial intelligence workers today almost as much as they did Plato and Socrates in the fourth and fifth centuries BC. In a previous article (Pressing 1984a) I summarised a number of general properties of the improvisation process on the basis of the diverse historical writings of artists, teachers, and musicologists. This material was integrated with precepts from cognitive psychology to sketch out the beginnings of a general theory of improvisation.