WEBVTT 00:00:00.620 --> 00:00:03.660 hey everybody and welcome back to the socap improv 00:00:03.660 --> 00:00:07.459 comedy podcast my name is ralph mcleod i am the 00:00:07.459 --> 00:00:10.060 owner and artistic director of the socap improv 00:00:10.060 --> 00:00:14.880 comedy theater in toronto at 154 danforth avenue 00:00:14.880 --> 00:00:17.879 on the second and third floor above the black 00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:22.780 swan tavern we do improv shows classes we also 00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:24.820 have stand -up shows and sketch shows you can 00:00:24.820 --> 00:00:28.800 rent our venue and put on your own shows by sending 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:32.439 an email to rentals at socap .ca that's s -o 00:00:32.439 --> 00:00:35.899 -c -a -p as in peter .ca uh we also do classes 00:00:35.899 --> 00:00:39.460 we're almost always registering for new classes 00:00:39.460 --> 00:00:42.799 our classes are usually seven or eight weeks 00:00:42.799 --> 00:00:45.600 long and we register every seven or eight weeks 00:00:45.600 --> 00:00:50.500 um yeah we do corporate events you can uh we 00:00:50.500 --> 00:00:53.100 do a lot of uh a lot of birthday parties i think 00:00:53.100 --> 00:00:55.119 i was saying it's a week ago or a couple weeks 00:00:55.119 --> 00:00:59.179 ago that done more like uh birthday parties or 00:00:59.179 --> 00:01:04.780 uh um engagement parties in the last year than 00:01:04.780 --> 00:01:07.540 i did in the previous five years and that's including 00:01:07.540 --> 00:01:11.159 or not including i guess the pandemic um because 00:01:11.159 --> 00:01:13.719 obviously we didn't do anything during the whole 00:01:13.719 --> 00:01:20.109 lockdowns um yeah so socap .ca is our url uh 00:01:20.109 --> 00:01:24.049 you can always reach me at ralph at socap .ca 00:01:24.049 --> 00:01:27.989 s -o -c -a -p as in peter dot c -a all right 00:01:27.989 --> 00:01:32.430 so uh this improv this podcast is about improvisation 00:01:32.430 --> 00:01:36.909 improvisation for the stage uh but also uh i 00:01:36.909 --> 00:01:42.189 tend to really delve into improv for its other 00:01:42.189 --> 00:01:45.209 benefits that are not related necessarily to 00:01:45.209 --> 00:01:48.090 being on the stage but in real life like what 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:52.319 Why would someone who is not interested in being 00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:56.280 the next Tina Fey? Why would that person be interested 00:01:56.280 --> 00:02:00.159 in improv? And that's I tried to talk about that 00:02:00.159 --> 00:02:04.359 as well as the reasons for being on stage. I 00:02:04.359 --> 00:02:07.739 just began a new fundamentals one class, which 00:02:07.739 --> 00:02:11.319 are people who by and large are brand new to 00:02:11.319 --> 00:02:16.280 improv or very new. And, you know, as I was saying 00:02:16.280 --> 00:02:20.210 to them. You know, most of my students now, whereas 00:02:20.210 --> 00:02:23.530 20 years ago, most people took improv because 00:02:23.530 --> 00:02:26.169 they wanted to be performers, comedians, they 00:02:26.169 --> 00:02:28.909 wanted to get on stage. And now it's flipped. 00:02:29.009 --> 00:02:33.689 It's very few people come. However, many, and 00:02:33.689 --> 00:02:36.310 I don't know, I'm going to say roughly half, 00:02:36.389 --> 00:02:38.210 probably a little less than half, but around 00:02:38.210 --> 00:02:41.569 that, of my students eventually do make it up 00:02:41.569 --> 00:02:45.860 on stage in some capacity. uh generally that's 00:02:45.860 --> 00:02:50.319 um we do a thursday night show called uh things 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:53.879 to do tonight uh to take advantage of um when 00:02:53.879 --> 00:02:56.539 people type into their search engines and uh 00:02:56.539 --> 00:03:01.020 you know and that's a really fun show um it's 00:03:01.020 --> 00:03:03.620 consistently entertaining even if you're not 00:03:03.620 --> 00:03:06.780 a student or uh but if you're curious i recommend 00:03:06.780 --> 00:03:09.340 coming to that one and you'll see what what it's 00:03:09.340 --> 00:03:11.319 like anyway a lot of a lot of students do wind 00:03:11.319 --> 00:03:14.620 up on stage because it is You know, one of those 00:03:14.620 --> 00:03:21.300 things that, you know, that it is a goal. It's 00:03:21.300 --> 00:03:23.580 something, it's going to be very nerve wracking. 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:25.780 And it's one of those things you do it and it's 00:03:25.780 --> 00:03:28.919 okay. Like many things that we fear that the 00:03:28.919 --> 00:03:32.060 actual doing of the event itself is not as fearful 00:03:32.060 --> 00:03:35.759 or as bad as, you know, the buildup, you know, 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:39.020 in our own brains that we. You know, that we 00:03:39.020 --> 00:03:41.439 think it's going to be. It's usually not that 00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:44.500 bad. People go, oh, okay. Well, if I can do that, 00:03:44.539 --> 00:03:47.479 what else can I do? In that kind of hormetic 00:03:47.479 --> 00:03:50.400 way of that which does not kill you, makes you 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:54.860 stronger. Not always true, but true of many things. 00:03:55.080 --> 00:03:58.800 Like, you know, getting up on stage in front 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:01.759 of people. okay i didn't die the ground didn't 00:04:01.759 --> 00:04:04.400 open up and i didn't didn't swallow me i didn't 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:06.919 make a complete fool of myself in fact i felt 00:04:06.919 --> 00:04:11.000 kind of cool and again uh it can also you know 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:15.439 not go great it's i'm not gonna lie and say everybody 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:20.240 has an amazing time uh some people do some don't 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:24.680 some have a like time but i think it's uh if 00:04:24.680 --> 00:04:26.860 it's something that interests you i encourage 00:04:26.860 --> 00:04:31.069 you to do it for many reasons that I've already 00:04:31.069 --> 00:04:34.329 outlined, but also just to bear in mind, maybe 00:04:34.329 --> 00:04:38.470 your concept of what it would be like is not 00:04:38.470 --> 00:04:41.610 necessarily what it will be like. And in my experience, 00:04:41.649 --> 00:04:44.310 these things are not as scary to individuals 00:04:44.310 --> 00:04:47.709 as what they make up in their brain. All right, 00:04:47.750 --> 00:04:53.870 so today I want to talk about process scenes. 00:04:54.310 --> 00:04:59.319 So a process is... Anything that has a beginning, 00:04:59.480 --> 00:05:02.600 middle, and end, it is like an activity or a 00:05:02.600 --> 00:05:06.639 ritual, something you do in your everyday life 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:09.459 that has a beginning, middle, and end, like making 00:05:09.459 --> 00:05:13.100 a sandwich. Making a sandwich is a process. There's 00:05:13.100 --> 00:05:16.639 a beginning, looking for gathering ingredients. 00:05:16.939 --> 00:05:19.519 There's a middle, the making of the sandwich 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:22.220 itself, and there's an end. The sandwich is complete. 00:05:23.259 --> 00:05:27.180 That is a very simple one, but there are... an 00:05:27.180 --> 00:05:29.819 infinite probably number well probably not infinite 00:05:29.819 --> 00:05:32.500 but a very large number of these things everything 00:05:32.500 --> 00:05:37.339 from surgery doing an operation uh going on a 00:05:37.339 --> 00:05:43.060 trip uh a date at a restaurant um you know going 00:05:43.060 --> 00:05:45.800 to bed waking up like all of these things have 00:05:45.800 --> 00:05:49.879 their their their processes they're they they 00:05:49.879 --> 00:05:52.879 are processes yes they have a process to them 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:56.379 a beginning a middle and an end And the other 00:05:56.379 --> 00:06:00.240 thing about them is that they are, they can be 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:02.399 described, I guess, you can, oh, at the beginning 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:03.980 is this, the middle is that, that's the end. 00:06:05.579 --> 00:06:10.100 And they are independent sort of the emotions 00:06:10.100 --> 00:06:15.740 going on around them. So, right. So the thing 00:06:15.740 --> 00:06:18.519 about process is to have a process in a scene, 00:06:18.600 --> 00:06:23.600 there's a lot of very... benefit great benefits 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:26.500 to having a process and there's also some downsides 00:06:26.500 --> 00:06:29.040 so I'm going to start with the benefits of them 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:36.680 the first one being that it roots you and your 00:06:36.680 --> 00:06:40.259 scene partners in a time and space so like if 00:06:40.259 --> 00:06:43.560 you are exactly if you are with a scene partner 00:06:43.560 --> 00:06:45.720 and you're on a date at a restaurant there's 00:06:45.720 --> 00:06:49.560 a beginning arriving at the restaurant you know 00:06:49.560 --> 00:06:51.519 there's the middle ordering your food having 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:53.699 your food arrive and there's the end oh the food 00:06:53.699 --> 00:06:56.100 is done the check has come and now it's the time 00:06:56.100 --> 00:06:57.939 to decide what to do with the rest of our evening 00:06:57.939 --> 00:07:01.720 so there's a beginning middle and end uh and 00:07:01.720 --> 00:07:05.680 that will root you in a and i mean root like 00:07:05.680 --> 00:07:08.560 it will ground you in a place like we're in a 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:11.819 restaurant because without processes what tends 00:07:11.819 --> 00:07:15.160 to happen are the improvisers just become kind 00:07:15.160 --> 00:07:19.779 of floating heads they are individuals who who 00:07:19.779 --> 00:07:26.660 have no readily definable location uh or um relationship 00:07:26.660 --> 00:07:30.240 who are these people uh and that's a pitfall 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:33.420 definitely of newer improvisers who tend to just 00:07:33.420 --> 00:07:36.899 be disembodied heads or embodied heads i guess 00:07:36.899 --> 00:07:41.319 but without any it just looks like two people 00:07:41.319 --> 00:07:45.240 who kind of know each other in a random location 00:07:45.240 --> 00:07:50.230 that is ill defined and um that makes one's life 00:07:50.230 --> 00:07:54.129 much more difficult so uh that's the first thing 00:07:54.129 --> 00:07:56.470 about having a process is it roots you and it 00:07:56.470 --> 00:08:00.850 also gives you a suggestion of a connection a 00:08:00.850 --> 00:08:04.269 relationship a reason why these two people or 00:08:04.269 --> 00:08:06.470 three people or whomever how many people we have 00:08:06.470 --> 00:08:09.790 would be together in a time and place i mean 00:08:09.790 --> 00:08:12.819 obviously two people in a restaurant It doesn't 00:08:12.819 --> 00:08:15.420 necessarily mean that it is a date. It could 00:08:15.420 --> 00:08:18.319 be friends catching up. It could be a celebration 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:21.300 between a parent and a child. It could be multitudes 00:08:21.300 --> 00:08:25.399 of things, but it has some suggestion. It eliminates 00:08:25.399 --> 00:08:28.860 things that it probably is not, right? It's probably 00:08:28.860 --> 00:08:32.799 not two people who've never seen each other before, 00:08:32.919 --> 00:08:36.110 unless it's a blind date or... But it's going 00:08:36.110 --> 00:08:39.090 to make certain suggestions to one's brain as 00:08:39.090 --> 00:08:40.570 to what's going on. We're not just going to be 00:08:40.570 --> 00:08:43.070 two random people floating around in space. So 00:08:43.070 --> 00:08:45.529 that's number one. It roots us in a time and 00:08:45.529 --> 00:08:49.149 place, which is great. The second major benefit 00:08:49.149 --> 00:08:53.250 to having a process is if you don't know what 00:08:53.250 --> 00:08:56.629 to say or you don't feel compelled to say anything. 00:08:57.480 --> 00:08:59.799 you can go back to your process if your process 00:08:59.799 --> 00:09:01.740 is making a sandwich and you're having a scene 00:09:01.740 --> 00:09:03.720 with somebody and you're stuck with something 00:09:03.720 --> 00:09:06.100 to say well go back to the fridge and get some 00:09:06.100 --> 00:09:09.159 more mayo or some mustard but it will give you 00:09:09.159 --> 00:09:14.919 uh you know you'll feel one will feel less inclined 00:09:14.919 --> 00:09:20.120 to fill empty space with just empty words because 00:09:20.120 --> 00:09:23.000 oh you know i can i can lick off my knife or 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:25.960 i can like cut another tomato uh if it's surgery 00:09:25.960 --> 00:09:29.080 i can go back to opening up the patient or asking 00:09:29.080 --> 00:09:32.899 for gauze or forceps so it roots you and it gives 00:09:32.899 --> 00:09:36.139 you something to do if you don't know what else 00:09:36.139 --> 00:09:39.679 to say right now you can go back to it the third 00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:44.919 thing that's really and my that's really um beneficial 00:09:44.919 --> 00:09:47.220 to having a process and having an environment 00:09:47.220 --> 00:09:50.639 is an environment much like having an emotion 00:09:50.639 --> 00:09:54.570 will make it more likely that you'll be in the 00:09:54.570 --> 00:09:58.610 moment. You'll be present. It's very difficult 00:09:58.610 --> 00:10:02.710 to see the things that are around you in your 00:10:02.710 --> 00:10:07.289 imagination. Like if you are a surgeon, improvising 00:10:07.289 --> 00:10:10.090 as a surgeon, it's very hard to look down and 00:10:10.090 --> 00:10:14.110 see a body and see the body being cut open and 00:10:14.110 --> 00:10:17.309 internal organs and blood and forceps and sponges 00:10:17.309 --> 00:10:19.450 and all that stuff if you are not in the moment. 00:10:19.740 --> 00:10:21.960 it's very hard to be doing that and be thinking 00:10:21.960 --> 00:10:24.399 about like oh what's for dinner or oh this person 00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:28.320 in my life is totally vexing me um and that will 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:32.240 make you more alive and more part of uh something 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:34.500 that's bigger than yourself which is one of the 00:10:34.500 --> 00:10:37.379 magical things about improvisation is that it 00:10:37.379 --> 00:10:42.679 it does it brings you into uh an experience an 00:10:42.679 --> 00:10:45.019 event something that's happening between you 00:10:45.019 --> 00:10:47.500 and other people that's not just dry empty words 00:10:47.500 --> 00:10:50.460 it's an experience and that's one of the major 00:10:50.460 --> 00:10:52.860 benefits which i've talked about in other podcasts 00:10:52.860 --> 00:10:54.860 and i won't go into here so those are the big 00:10:54.860 --> 00:10:59.080 three right it gives you uh it roots you in a 00:10:59.080 --> 00:11:03.639 specific time and place mostly uh it suggests 00:11:03.639 --> 00:11:06.100 interactions with other people and connections 00:11:06.100 --> 00:11:08.120 and reasons why you would be there and things 00:11:08.120 --> 00:11:11.000 that we can discuss and talk about And the third 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:13.740 is it helps bring you into the present moment. 00:11:13.919 --> 00:11:16.659 I can always, not always, I shouldn't say always, 00:11:16.700 --> 00:11:19.279 but often I can tell when people are present 00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:22.059 because they can be improvising and someone will 00:11:22.059 --> 00:11:23.620 say, oh, what's that over there? And they'll 00:11:23.620 --> 00:11:25.940 turn and without missing a beat, they'll say, 00:11:26.019 --> 00:11:29.120 oh, that's a bird. You can only really do that 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:30.740 if you're in the moment. If you have to look 00:11:30.740 --> 00:11:33.080 and you have to think about what that is and 00:11:33.080 --> 00:11:35.340 reject three things because they're not interesting 00:11:35.340 --> 00:11:38.690 enough and like, oh, it's a flying saucer. that 00:11:38.690 --> 00:11:41.570 person generally is not in the moment they're 00:11:41.570 --> 00:11:44.409 not part of an experience that's happening right 00:11:44.409 --> 00:11:47.269 now they are inventing they're lost in their 00:11:47.269 --> 00:11:50.549 own head uh and that's not a criticism that's 00:11:50.549 --> 00:11:55.490 just that's that's um for me it's it's it's it's 00:11:55.490 --> 00:11:58.990 a that's where we don't want to be because it 00:11:58.990 --> 00:12:03.850 cuts us off from our you know flow state from 00:12:03.850 --> 00:12:06.070 our experiencing things with other people state 00:12:06.730 --> 00:12:08.590 being part of something that's bigger than my 00:12:08.590 --> 00:12:12.649 self -state which is one of the uh to me things 00:12:12.649 --> 00:12:15.830 that we strive towards as human beings when i 00:12:15.830 --> 00:12:17.210 look around that's what i see what people want 00:12:17.210 --> 00:12:19.549 right to make connections with other people to 00:12:19.549 --> 00:12:21.450 be part of something bigger than themselves and 00:12:21.450 --> 00:12:24.970 that's that's what that all entails so so that's 00:12:24.970 --> 00:12:27.590 that's what a process is and that's what a process 00:12:27.590 --> 00:12:30.450 scene is and and really you can have scenes that 00:12:30.450 --> 00:12:32.809 have processes within process within a process 00:12:32.809 --> 00:12:35.549 so not to get too far down the rabbit hole but 00:12:36.059 --> 00:12:38.840 you know if you're going on a trip say you and 00:12:38.840 --> 00:12:41.360 your your scene partner and you're a couple and 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:44.419 you're going on a you know a long overdue vacation 00:12:44.419 --> 00:12:47.379 well the first part of the process might be packing 00:12:47.379 --> 00:12:50.080 you know gonna get our suitcase we fill our bags 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:52.899 it's done oh we're all packed right then we have 00:12:52.899 --> 00:12:54.779 to get to the airport oh well we call a cab we 00:12:54.779 --> 00:12:57.580 got in the cab we arrive at the airport so and 00:12:57.580 --> 00:13:01.360 that's all within a larger process of going on 00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:03.419 a vacation which could be broken down into like 00:13:03.419 --> 00:13:07.240 well first we have to get on the plane first 00:13:07.240 --> 00:13:09.220 we have to get to the location the second one 00:13:09.220 --> 00:13:12.720 is we experience the what happens on the vacation 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:15.539 which is where we'll find out what's really going 00:13:15.539 --> 00:13:18.340 on between these people and then the third part 00:13:18.340 --> 00:13:21.240 is the return home and um just before i move 00:13:21.240 --> 00:13:24.460 on to the pitfalls there is one extra little 00:13:24.460 --> 00:13:26.360 thing that i left out which is a bit more of 00:13:26.360 --> 00:13:30.059 an advanced idea and it probably should have 00:13:30.059 --> 00:13:32.159 its own podcast but i'll just touch on it here 00:13:32.159 --> 00:13:36.639 and that is that the process can become a metaphor 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:39.539 for the relationship between the characters so 00:13:39.539 --> 00:13:42.460 for example if it's two people out and they're 00:13:42.460 --> 00:13:46.940 golfing uh you know if the relationship is going 00:13:46.940 --> 00:13:49.960 well you know after one character strikes a ball 00:13:49.960 --> 00:13:53.470 the other character will say nice shot whole 00:13:53.470 --> 00:13:56.789 in one right and that that will mimic or be a 00:13:56.789 --> 00:13:59.110 metaphor for what's going on between the people 00:13:59.110 --> 00:14:01.090 oh they like each other things are going well 00:14:01.090 --> 00:14:04.409 versus if they don't like each other they hit 00:14:04.409 --> 00:14:09.149 the shot oh that's uh oh you really hooked that 00:14:09.149 --> 00:14:12.269 one or you put that one in the water or you know 00:14:12.269 --> 00:14:14.590 it's somehow you hit somebody right it's bad 00:14:14.590 --> 00:14:17.590 and that will tell us oh there's a there's something 00:14:17.590 --> 00:14:21.350 going on that's bad within the relationship Generally, 00:14:21.409 --> 00:14:23.690 I'm not saying this is always universally true, 00:14:23.750 --> 00:14:27.710 but generally, very generally, it is true. And 00:14:27.710 --> 00:14:30.970 similarly, if something goes, maybe everything's 00:14:30.970 --> 00:14:32.610 going well, but then something goes amiss in 00:14:32.610 --> 00:14:35.789 the process. Oh, now the stakes are changing 00:14:35.789 --> 00:14:39.190 between the individuals, right? We're operating. 00:14:39.710 --> 00:14:42.669 Everything's great. Sponge, retraction. Great. 00:14:42.750 --> 00:14:45.029 Oh, get that sewed up. And then if something 00:14:45.029 --> 00:14:48.190 goes wrong, oh, doctor, he's losing a lot of 00:14:48.190 --> 00:14:51.720 blood. Oh, that means. There's tension now in 00:14:51.720 --> 00:14:53.899 the process and that tension will bleed over 00:14:53.899 --> 00:14:58.299 and become a metaphor for the tension or disharmony 00:14:58.299 --> 00:15:00.139 that's happening between the characters. So there's 00:15:00.139 --> 00:15:04.639 a back and forth there too. If you're doing a 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:08.139 process of making somebody dinner and everything's 00:15:08.139 --> 00:15:10.100 going well, they'll like whatever you put in 00:15:10.100 --> 00:15:13.580 front of them. You put mac and cheese, love mac 00:15:13.580 --> 00:15:17.740 and cheese. Put steak and eggs, whatever, they 00:15:17.740 --> 00:15:20.070 love it. they you know they're not having a good 00:15:20.070 --> 00:15:22.590 time you put in front of them filet mignon they 00:15:22.590 --> 00:15:24.250 were like are you kidding me you know i'm a vegetarian 00:15:24.250 --> 00:15:28.649 which just as a an aside you know if i had a 00:15:28.649 --> 00:15:30.649 dollar every time someone offered someone like 00:15:30.649 --> 00:15:33.669 cheese or milk or something and it's almost written 00:15:33.669 --> 00:15:37.049 unwritten rule now a rule not rule but it's almost 00:15:37.049 --> 00:15:39.169 always you'll hear you know i'm lactose intolerant 00:15:39.169 --> 00:15:41.710 and if anybody ever says that to you in a scene 00:15:41.710 --> 00:15:47.080 the best response is i know eat it And it's automatically 00:15:47.080 --> 00:15:49.379 funny. Oh, you knew they were lactose intolerant 00:15:49.379 --> 00:15:51.700 and you gave it to them anyway. You know, it's 00:15:51.700 --> 00:15:56.159 just somebody fishing for vague negativity or 00:15:56.159 --> 00:15:59.879 a conflict. So ratchet it up. Give them what 00:15:59.879 --> 00:16:01.659 they want. Ratchet it up. I know. That's what 00:16:01.659 --> 00:16:04.279 I gave it to you. Now, there are two major pitfalls 00:16:04.279 --> 00:16:07.720 to processes which I'll touch on. And these are 00:16:07.720 --> 00:16:13.730 ones to really be on your guard about. uh the 00:16:13.730 --> 00:16:17.110 first and the main one is that the process becomes 00:16:17.110 --> 00:16:19.870 what we talk about right sandwich you know if 00:16:19.870 --> 00:16:22.110 whenever somebody says can i get a suggestion 00:16:22.110 --> 00:16:24.230 you're making dinner the first thing someone 00:16:24.230 --> 00:16:26.409 will say what's for dinner right oh you're making 00:16:26.409 --> 00:16:29.990 soup oh i love your soup yum oh great is that 00:16:29.990 --> 00:16:35.769 you know are those peas and here's this the reality 00:16:35.769 --> 00:16:38.309 nobody cares about your process nobody cares 00:16:38.309 --> 00:16:41.679 about the actual thing like if the process is 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:44.019 a job interview nobody cares if you get the job 00:16:44.019 --> 00:16:46.460 or not he's really since it's not real it's really 00:16:46.460 --> 00:16:49.779 hard to make us care the process only exists 00:16:49.779 --> 00:16:52.600 so that we can see these characters so while 00:16:52.600 --> 00:16:56.000 you have the process try not you can maybe you 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:58.179 know a line here and there oh it smells good 00:16:58.179 --> 00:17:00.620 and that will tell us oh it's going well right 00:17:00.620 --> 00:17:02.799 versus oh geez what are you cooking that's awful 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:06.809 tell us it's bad so as long as you're don't the 00:17:06.809 --> 00:17:09.049 scene is not about the process itself even if 00:17:09.049 --> 00:17:11.650 you comment on it it's really about the characters 00:17:11.650 --> 00:17:15.049 and relationship so don't get caught up in talking 00:17:15.049 --> 00:17:18.109 about the actual process there's a there's a 00:17:18.109 --> 00:17:21.730 sort of a aside one of these or a specific case 00:17:21.730 --> 00:17:23.769 of the process scene which is the teaching scene 00:17:23.769 --> 00:17:25.710 which is let me show you how to flip burgers 00:17:25.710 --> 00:17:30.109 nobody cares nobody cares and um you know years 00:17:30.109 --> 00:17:32.690 ago there was like this huge if anybody does 00:17:32.690 --> 00:17:35.920 a teaching scene you'll be banned um i'm exaggerating 00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:40.140 but you know yes yes if it's a scene about showing 00:17:40.140 --> 00:17:42.440 someone how to flip burgers or or fix a bike 00:17:42.440 --> 00:17:46.319 or surgery uh it's not gonna be interesting and 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:50.099 we can't don't even i again that's a whole separate 00:17:50.099 --> 00:17:53.819 podcast which i will get to uh but for now uh 00:17:53.819 --> 00:17:58.559 don't make your scene about the process uh and 00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:01.160 the second major pitfall about doing a processing 00:18:01.160 --> 00:18:06.079 is a lot of people find it very difficult to 00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:10.500 just make a sandwich uh without making it they 00:18:10.500 --> 00:18:13.559 want to make it interesting right so they can't 00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:15.700 just have you know oh here's some cold cuts and 00:18:15.700 --> 00:18:17.960 some tomatoes and some lettuce and some mayo 00:18:17.960 --> 00:18:20.940 between two slices of bread yum no it's got to 00:18:20.940 --> 00:18:25.980 have like are those bad things is that uh you 00:18:25.980 --> 00:18:28.440 know the blood of my enemies you know they'll 00:18:28.440 --> 00:18:31.259 they'll try to make that interesting and i'm 00:18:31.259 --> 00:18:34.769 not saying never do that but the The thing is, 00:18:34.789 --> 00:18:38.150 it's weird. And when I say weird, what I mean 00:18:38.150 --> 00:18:41.009 is it's outside my expectation. I don't make 00:18:41.009 --> 00:18:42.549 a sandwich with the blood of my enemies in it. 00:18:42.650 --> 00:18:45.210 Now, if you can make that relatable to me, 100%, 00:18:45.210 --> 00:18:51.529 go for it. But in general, if you are a doctor, 00:18:51.730 --> 00:18:54.970 I didn't make this joke or this comment, but 00:18:54.970 --> 00:18:58.470 I could have. And that is that nobody would ever 00:18:58.470 --> 00:19:03.220 go to an improv doctor. for treatment because 00:19:03.220 --> 00:19:05.519 whenever people improvise as doctors or surgeons, 00:19:05.700 --> 00:19:08.079 they are so inept at their job that nobody would 00:19:08.079 --> 00:19:12.099 ever go to them because they want to make the 00:19:12.099 --> 00:19:14.059 process interesting. Oh, I can't just be a regular 00:19:14.059 --> 00:19:16.460 doctor who takes blood pressures and prescribes 00:19:16.460 --> 00:19:20.519 medications. I have to take out their heart while 00:19:20.519 --> 00:19:22.460 they're sitting in my office. No, that's just 00:19:22.460 --> 00:19:26.099 bizarre. And again, if you can make it relatable 00:19:26.099 --> 00:19:27.940 and make me understand what is happening and 00:19:27.940 --> 00:19:31.519 why that's possible, great. But don't think that 00:19:31.519 --> 00:19:33.640 just by making some kind of joke about the process 00:19:33.640 --> 00:19:35.920 being weird that that's going to make us interested. 00:19:36.039 --> 00:19:38.640 It won't. It'll just turn us off completely because 00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:41.359 we won't know what's going on. And the cardinal 00:19:41.359 --> 00:19:44.119 rule, again, I keep saying the word rules. I 00:19:44.119 --> 00:19:48.480 don't mean rule. But an audience that doesn't 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:50.480 know what's going on, that's not involved in 00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:54.000 what's happening, will very often tune out because 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:58.690 the idea is it's not for them. don't make your 00:19:58.690 --> 00:20:02.569 process don't try to make it interesting by making 00:20:02.569 --> 00:20:09.130 it uh weird weird without making it relatable 00:20:09.130 --> 00:20:11.769 you can make it weird i love it but you gotta 00:20:11.769 --> 00:20:15.069 you gotta explain to me why you know why there's 00:20:15.069 --> 00:20:17.910 blood of your enemies on that sandwich and that's 00:20:17.910 --> 00:20:22.349 a whole other podcast too um so the so my general 00:20:22.349 --> 00:20:25.200 kind of rule of thumb for people sorry to use 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:28.980 that expression uh i'm gonna take the word rule 00:20:28.980 --> 00:20:31.680 out of my vocabulary somehow but the general 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:35.400 principle or guideline is if you want to be a 00:20:35.400 --> 00:20:37.880 doctor and you're a bad example of a doctor like 00:20:37.880 --> 00:20:40.019 my favorite one is the therapist you know the 00:20:40.019 --> 00:20:43.059 the talk therapist the cognitive behavioral therapist 00:20:43.059 --> 00:20:48.740 who uh is uh you know treating a patient and 00:20:48.740 --> 00:20:51.839 you want to be a bad therapist okay great that's 00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:54.569 fine but here's what the the general guideline 00:20:54.569 --> 00:20:59.809 is be a therapist like do what a therapist would 00:20:59.809 --> 00:21:03.549 do as best as you can while at the same time 00:21:03.549 --> 00:21:07.269 uh being a garbage person so maybe you're a therapist 00:21:07.269 --> 00:21:10.190 who like belittles their patients or like oh 00:21:10.190 --> 00:21:12.349 my god do you have to keep talking all the time 00:21:12.349 --> 00:21:15.589 uh or makes it about themselves so how am i doing 00:21:15.589 --> 00:21:18.130 as a therapist what a scale of one to ten are 00:21:18.130 --> 00:21:20.470 you you know do you feel you're getting better 00:21:20.470 --> 00:21:26.609 uh those are great But don't, you know, don't. 00:21:27.150 --> 00:21:29.329 My favorite one, I guess, is I say all the time 00:21:29.329 --> 00:21:32.589 is like, if you're a surgeon, don't don't do 00:21:32.589 --> 00:21:34.410 your surgery with a chainsaw. But that's what 00:21:34.410 --> 00:21:37.569 most people will do. They'll start up a chainsaw. 00:21:37.589 --> 00:21:40.650 What is happening? Hold on. Stop. It's not funny. 00:21:41.210 --> 00:21:43.829 It's it's it just turns people off. Now, again, 00:21:43.970 --> 00:21:47.170 if you can write the third part of that. the 00:21:47.170 --> 00:21:49.829 synthesis part you know antithesis antithesis 00:21:49.829 --> 00:21:52.869 synthesis and tell me why this doctor is operating 00:21:52.869 --> 00:21:56.869 with a chainsaw in a believable -ish way i'm 00:21:56.869 --> 00:21:59.690 in 100 but a lot of people won't do that they'll 00:21:59.690 --> 00:22:02.529 just make the process weird and and hope that 00:22:02.529 --> 00:22:05.009 that's going to be funny and it's not you know 00:22:05.009 --> 00:22:06.450 the things that we think are going to be funny 00:22:06.450 --> 00:22:12.690 are not in general in general okay very few absolutes 00:22:15.159 --> 00:22:17.660 If you get the impression from me that I'm talking 00:22:17.660 --> 00:22:22.079 in absolutes, I'm not. I'm talking general guidelines, 00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:27.079 principles. Everything can be subverted. Again, 00:22:27.180 --> 00:22:28.880 I've said this before, but if I had one rule 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:31.740 about improv, it's probably that everybody on 00:22:31.740 --> 00:22:33.660 stage has to be in agreement as to what's going 00:22:33.660 --> 00:22:37.740 on for it to work. It can be funny without that, 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:39.539 but typically it's funny because we're laughing 00:22:39.539 --> 00:22:41.859 at the train wreck that's happening on stage, 00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:44.859 not because of it. Not because of what's happening. 00:22:44.960 --> 00:22:48.059 We're laughing at, not with. Anyway, process, 00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:51.079 great for the reasons I've outlined. Roots you 00:22:51.079 --> 00:22:53.599 at a place. Gives you something to do if you're 00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:58.059 stuck for a moment. It keeps you in the present 00:22:58.059 --> 00:22:59.920 moment. If you can open your eyes, if you can, 00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:02.759 in your imagination, see everything that's going 00:23:02.759 --> 00:23:04.599 on around you, like really see the tomatoes as 00:23:04.599 --> 00:23:08.140 you cut them. um and also it's a good metaphor 00:23:08.140 --> 00:23:09.880 for what's happening between the relationship 00:23:09.880 --> 00:23:14.180 the two major pitfalls again are that uh it becomes 00:23:14.180 --> 00:23:16.880 about the process we're just talking about fixing 00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:21.740 this bike or going on a trip uh and not actually 00:23:21.740 --> 00:23:23.900 having an experience between the characters the 00:23:23.900 --> 00:23:26.759 emotional stakes are not changing and the second 00:23:26.759 --> 00:23:29.880 one is that we try to make the process more interesting 00:23:29.880 --> 00:23:35.279 by being weird and wacky about it And again, 00:23:35.339 --> 00:23:37.539 the weird and wacky stuff can work as long as 00:23:37.539 --> 00:23:41.240 you do all the work. Things can't just be a joke. 00:23:41.619 --> 00:23:44.579 That's it. It's going to be, this is real. It's 00:23:44.579 --> 00:23:46.519 a real thing. It's not just a joke. It's a real 00:23:46.519 --> 00:23:48.759 thing. I'm cutting, I'm a surgeon and I operate 00:23:48.759 --> 00:23:51.220 with a chainsaw. Okay, that's real. What kind 00:23:51.220 --> 00:23:53.759 of surgeon will operate with a chainsaw? Not 00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:57.200 a good one. That's true. Maybe one that's got, 00:23:57.359 --> 00:23:59.660 you know, doesn't have a lot of other options. 00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:03.960 Maybe it's an alternate reality where... you 00:24:03.960 --> 00:24:07.599 know chainsaws developed long before anesthetic 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:10.200 or modern medicine maybe but again you got to 00:24:10.200 --> 00:24:12.720 do the work and make that relatable to me so 00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:14.720 that i can follow you anyway that's my time today 00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:17.180 thanks so much for tuning in a little late today 00:24:17.180 --> 00:24:22.210 uh but uh appreciate all of you listening please 00:24:22.210 --> 00:24:24.930 send me your questions, comments, ralph at socap 00:24:24.930 --> 00:24:27.289 .ca. If you're sending them and writing them 00:24:27.289 --> 00:24:30.829 on, you know, on the, wherever you're getting 00:24:30.829 --> 00:24:32.690 this podcast, I probably don't see them because 00:24:32.690 --> 00:24:34.690 no one's letting me know that they exist. All 00:24:34.690 --> 00:24:36.309 right, take care. Thanks so much. Bye.