Hey everybody, welcome back to episode 36 of
the SOCAP Improv Comedy Podcast. My name is Ralph
McLeod. I am the owner and artistic director
of the SOCAP Comedy Theatre in Toronto, Ontario,
Canada. SOCAP .ca, S -O -C -A -P. You can contact
us at admin at SOCAP .ca. Open to all questions,
comments, good or bad. At SOCAP we do classes,
shows, corporate events. We're your one -stop,
one -stop? Yes, we're your one -stop place for
all things improv. Today's episode is In the
Beginning. So we're going to have a little look
at beginnings in improv, starting a scene. Two
people, three people. But we'll stick with two
because it's easier, but all this would apply
to three or four. So not to get into like dichotomies
of like there's only two ways to do things, but
there are. But I'm going to say there's a dichotomy.
There are two general ways to approach the beginnings
of scenes. And I'm going to use a metaphor of
a painter because I've read this about painters.
The visual artists tend to come to a canvas with
paint and have. Kind of two ways of approaching
it. Again, not to get into dichotomies. I'm sure
there are multiple ways, but two general ways.
One is to have a clear idea in your head what
you want to paint. I'm going to paint this bowl
of fruit or I'm going to paint from a photograph
or something that's in my head, but I know what
I'm going to paint. The second is to just start
making strokes on the page and then discover
what's there. A more organic process, a less
thought out process, a more... In the moment
process, I would say, though I'm not a visual
artist, but when I think about this in terms
of improv, I think the second one is a more artistic
way. Now, before I go on any further, this is
not about good versus bad. This is a great way.
That's a bad way. This is my way. And I have
a very strong point of view about this after
teaching improv for three decades plus. have
found value in how I do this, but that's not
to say that any other school is wrong. I'm not,
there's no judgment in this. So coming back to
sort of the approach one of beginning, and this
is the one that I see, like most beginning students
will do this. It's taught this way. I was taught
this way of starting scenes. And this is the,
approach of laying on of information or exposition.
So a performer might step out and say to another
performer, hi dad, I'm home from school. Or hello
sweetheart, what do you want to make for dinner?
So these are expositional phrases that sort of
set the beginning platform, who, what, where,
opening conditions, act one, whatever phrase
you like to use. It's an expositional way. It's
a declarative way. In fact, there's a very popular
drill that I used to do and would teach. This
is 20 years ago, where you would do a line. You'd
have a left side and a right side, and character
A from the right side would step out, and they
would have to, in one line, establish a who.
Hello, Dad, I'm home. Or just, Hello, Dad, would
be enough. And then character B would step out
and then supply the where. Welcome home, son.
How was school? And then character A again would
then have the third line, and they would have
to decide and dictate what's going to go on.
Oh, school was great, Dad, but I've got my first
date this weekend, and I need to ask your advice.
And see, in there you've got, in three lines,
you've got a nice little setup. And it's laying
on of information. We work together and we build
something. And there are multiple ways. You can
do it that way with three characters or two characters,
sorry, back and forth, each adding on a little
thing. It was a drill. Or one character might
just step forward and say, well, sweetheart,
here we are in Paris, walking down the Champs
-Élysées on our honeymoon. That gives you the
same kind of idea where one character, states
it or two characters state it but it's it's a
very it's a declarative it's expositional and
it sets the stage and uh once again in no way
disparaging that uh because the the definitely
the value of it is it gets every on the same
page it builds a context quickly and it it kind
of overcomes very quickly that sort of uncertain
phase where everybody's like oh i don't know
what's going on And it can make people very hesitant
to make suggestions or in some cases it makes
people not want to listen because they're just
focused on, oh gosh, I need to get something
out so that we know where we are. So it has value
and it definitely works and gets people on the
same page. But for me, it's either a solo act.
Or it's an act of invention where people are
going in their head and they're not focusing
generally on each other. They're sort of just
trying to get a grip on what's going on. And
it cuts them off from a lot of the other stuff
that might be going on. Like if I've already
got in my head that your mom and I walk out and
I say, hi, mom. But you in your head were thinking
like I'm your partner. Well, now there's some
problems going on in our brain that we've got
to set. You know, we've got to be. And again,
all can work. But for me, it's a solo creation.
It's invention. And it keeps the audience outside.
So my approach. is much more like that painter
who steps to an easel and sees a blank canvas
and puts a mark on it and goes like, oh, that
looks like something. Let me see what's over
here. And in that way, when we begin an improv
scene, you're much more like an explorer or a
detective, an investigator, an archaeologist.
You're coming in to try to find out, well, who
am I? Who are these people? Where am I? What
is this whole thing look like? And in that way,
you're much more open. You're much more in touch
with all of your surroundings and the people,
the environment around you. You start seeing
the world in your mind's eye. And you become
much more mindful, which makes people want to
watch you more. So in this case, the approach
number two is the... exploration. You discover
the scene and uncover the reality that we didn't
know when we sat down. So this is my preferred
method. So instead of inventing dialogue and
things that will create a who, what, where quickly,
it's more about who am I? Who are you? And how
do we start? With feeling. So it's less thinking
and more feeling. What does this feel like? When
I come out on a stage and I look at you and we
make eye contact, what information do I derive
from that? So rather than me dictating who I
am and who you are, I feel what this feels like.
Eye contact is very powerful. So I walk out and
you might look at me and I might get from that
there's a bit of anger or... or caring or something
or love. And I want to, oh, and I want to think
about, well, when I see that, what do I feel?
If you feel hostility towards me, I might feel
mischievous hostility towards you. So I'm focusing
on how I feel. I'm focusing on what my partner
is giving me. I'm focusing on the environment
where I am, how I'm feeling. You know, maybe
I've had a bad day and I walk and I want to not
like, you know use that to um pull up a lot of
things but i i don't want to cut myself off for
myself because i'm my muse right so like the
pain so this thing's so how this works so you
walk on stage notice your partner notice the
feeling that you have and then develop that and
then based on what you start saying which is
more it's less about like trying to very quickly
dictate it's like but once you feel it it's like
oh you're mad say that oh you're oh you're not
having a good day that's a great opening line
you're not having a good day and they'll just
agree no i'm not in fact i'm having a crappy
day it's a big yes and they're like oh and then
you can feel like well how do i want to respond
to that well i could i could be like well great
that's good i'm glad you're feeling it i'm glad
you're having a bad day or hey i'm sorry do you
want to talk about it So you start piecing this
together and then it's like, well, who do I feel
like? Okay, if I'm being sympathetic, I feel
more like someone who likes them. If I'm being
hostile, maybe I'm someone who's either not a
good person, not a nice person, or maybe I'm
justified in feeling this way. I want to figure
that out. So here I am. I'm more of a detective,
an archaeologist. I'm uncovering what's going
on. And we work together moment to moment to
build something. So why is this powerful? Number
one, it removes a lot of pressure from us to
invent something funny, smart, interesting, which
a lot of us do. We walk on a stage and of course
we want to be liked. We want to impress people.
That is very, very difficult. And in that desire,
it leads us to make choices that push the audience
even further away by trying to be interesting.
You know, interesting is a double edged sword
and I wouldn't say don't do it, but it comes
with certain expectations, certain requirements.
If you're going to be very inventive, very original,
very interesting or weird, which a lot of us
want to be because we think that's going to be
funny. It also builds genuine connection with
your partner. You're all you have is the other
person and you work hard together. And this act
of discovery, of figuring out, oh, when we started,
I didn't know that I was, you know, your partner.
And today's the day that I wanted to, like, tell
you that I don't want to be your partner anymore.
Didn't know that when I stepped up. But here
I am, and here I am in this moment that we have
built together and discovered it together. It
also keeps you very present in the moment and
grounded. So less panicky, more tuned in, dialed
in to the moment. You are serving the moment,
not serving your self -conscious desires. It
invites the audience into the moment with you.
If you are relatable as you build it, they come
along for the ride. So it's less like they're
being told something and they are now experiencing
something because there's real, surreal moment
happening. It's not just words. It's a moment.
Your silence is very useful because you take
more time. You're not trying to rush. I mean,
you might be trying to rush, but you're not rushing.
You're slowing down. And I have to tell you,
stillness is very watchable. If you walk out
on stage and you look out over the audience and
in your mind's eye you see mountains and trees
and blue sky and clouds and birds. and you inhale
and you smell the fresh air in your mind's eye,
that's very watchable. That's way more watchable
than you walking up, improvising the greatest
opening line in the history of improv. So this
is obviously very difficult to do, especially
for new people. After you get used to it, it
becomes much easier. But it does have certain
challenges, right? It does require trust. And
it requires you to be okay with uncertainty and
stillness. And while those are very tough at
the beginning, it will make you more of a robust
improviser. It also is great at being out in
the real world. These skills, all the skills
that I teach are so applicable to being out in
the real world. Whether you're at a dinner party
and you're doing small talk or just meeting new
people. And finally, once you learn to do this,
panic subsides. Overthinking subsides. You exist
in a moment. You're not being distracted. You're
existing. Okay, so that's all I want to talk
about today is beginnings. If this sounds interesting
to you, come and work with me because I do this
a lot because and the students that I, whenever
I do this a lot and students experience some
of the exercises I take them through, you know,
the laughs that we get are very deep. So yeah,
so if you hear something you like, come and take
a class with me or come and like email me and
talk about it. My work focuses mainly on exploration,
connection, shared discovery, agreement, making
choices, developing a point of view, all those
good things that are great, not only on stage,
but also in the real world. Anyway, thanks very
much for your time. Tune in next week for another
episode, episode 37, and take care. Bye.