WEBVTT 00:00:00.430 --> 00:00:04.389 Hey everybody, welcome back to the SoCap Improv 00:00:04.389 --> 00:00:07.589 Comedy Podcast. My name is Ralph. I'm the owner 00:00:07.589 --> 00:00:10.009 and artistic director at the SoCap Improv Comedy 00:00:10.009 --> 00:00:14.990 Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Contact 00:00:14.990 --> 00:00:18.170 us at admin at socap .ca or ralph at socap .ca. 00:00:18.329 --> 00:00:21.309 This podcast is intended for people who are interested 00:00:21.309 --> 00:00:23.829 in improvising on the stage, but also people 00:00:23.829 --> 00:00:28.149 who love or are interested in what improv can 00:00:28.149 --> 00:00:32.939 teach. while simultaneously having zero to no 00:00:32.939 --> 00:00:37.079 interest or zero to low interest of getting on 00:00:37.079 --> 00:00:39.880 the school. Getting on the school. Getting on 00:00:39.880 --> 00:00:42.420 the stage. My gosh. I was anticipating what I 00:00:42.420 --> 00:00:45.399 was going to say next, which as a quick aside, 00:00:45.619 --> 00:00:49.259 you know, in this era of AI and its disruption 00:00:49.259 --> 00:00:52.500 that it's going to cause to every aspect of our 00:00:52.500 --> 00:00:56.240 lives, I would assume. I'm hoping one of the 00:00:56.240 --> 00:00:59.020 benefits or one of the possibilities is that 00:00:59.020 --> 00:01:02.700 schools can spend more time teaching life skills 00:01:02.700 --> 00:01:06.879 and helping kids develop life skills, which would 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:13.319 mean more art, more visual arts, theater, things 00:01:13.319 --> 00:01:20.280 around nutrition and health, and then other things 00:01:20.280 --> 00:01:24.079 like cognitive biases. Being aware of manipulation 00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:26.540 and things like that, I think that could be, 00:01:26.540 --> 00:01:31.780 you know, a benefit. But we'll see. We'll see 00:01:31.780 --> 00:01:35.260 what happens. Maybe the dystopia will happen 00:01:35.260 --> 00:01:37.959 and 1 % of people will live in gated communities 00:01:37.959 --> 00:01:41.200 with all the resources and 99 % of us will wander 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:44.900 around outside the gates fighting over scraps. 00:01:45.620 --> 00:01:49.140 Who knows? It's going to be exciting, I guess, 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:52.730 regardless. Anyway. I wonder if this has ever 00:01:52.730 --> 00:01:55.890 happened to you. It sure has to me. You're walking 00:01:55.890 --> 00:01:58.989 down the street by yourself with your headphones 00:01:58.989 --> 00:02:02.590 on and some stranger grabs your attention by 00:02:02.590 --> 00:02:04.829 waving their arms frantically. They got their 00:02:04.829 --> 00:02:06.629 phone out. They've got this look on their face 00:02:06.629 --> 00:02:11.129 like they need help. And so you stop because 00:02:11.129 --> 00:02:14.270 they seem questioned. They seem harmless. And 00:02:14.270 --> 00:02:19.340 they ask you. a question like uh excuse me i'm 00:02:19.340 --> 00:02:21.360 looking for such and such a place can you help 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:26.000 me and uh oh okay yeah i can certainly help you 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:31.360 find you know uh the subway or this street or 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:34.580 whatever and just as you're about to go they 00:02:34.580 --> 00:02:37.020 catch you and they say oh excuse me now that 00:02:37.020 --> 00:02:39.340 i have your attention and they start to go on 00:02:40.310 --> 00:02:43.849 with something else. And when they do that, excuse 00:02:43.849 --> 00:02:46.030 me, now that I have your attention, or another 00:02:46.030 --> 00:02:48.569 thing, or they want to continue the conversation, 00:02:48.810 --> 00:02:51.629 so the directions was just a way to get your 00:02:51.629 --> 00:02:56.370 attention, there's an emotional shift, right? 00:02:56.689 --> 00:02:59.030 Okay, you get a little on edge, a little uneasy, 00:02:59.469 --> 00:03:02.889 not really sure what this person wants, what 00:03:02.889 --> 00:03:05.289 their game is, and you get on edge. Like, is 00:03:05.289 --> 00:03:08.699 it going to be that they want money? sex what 00:03:08.699 --> 00:03:10.960 do they want but we get a little like okay this 00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:15.219 is this is now weird and I'm I'm on edge and 00:03:15.219 --> 00:03:20.060 I'm not enjoying this moment anyway that moment 00:03:20.060 --> 00:03:22.639 that happens you know when people seem to want 00:03:22.639 --> 00:03:24.699 one thing but then shift and you're like okay 00:03:24.699 --> 00:03:27.479 I don't know what's going on that happens in 00:03:27.479 --> 00:03:31.340 improv too and uh and we can create it you know 00:03:31.340 --> 00:03:35.650 in other people like if we are If we try to do 00:03:35.650 --> 00:03:37.469 these techniques to get somebody's attention 00:03:37.469 --> 00:03:39.889 by saying something, and then, okay, now here's 00:03:39.889 --> 00:03:41.610 the real reason, right? You're going to get people, 00:03:41.650 --> 00:03:44.789 possibly you're going to get people on edge and 00:03:44.789 --> 00:03:49.050 in this state of doubt. Okay, so that's what 00:03:49.050 --> 00:03:51.050 happens in the real life, in the real world. 00:03:51.069 --> 00:03:54.710 And I'm assuming that almost everybody has experienced 00:03:54.710 --> 00:03:57.590 that. I have experienced it on numerous occasions. 00:03:59.469 --> 00:04:02.090 You know, still every once in a while it happens 00:04:02.090 --> 00:04:08.460 to me. That's doubt. And in improv or in a situation 00:04:08.460 --> 00:04:11.759 where you want to know the person in the real 00:04:11.759 --> 00:04:16.800 world, there's doubt when the improviser themselves 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:19.500 know what's going on or have a pretty clear idea. 00:04:21.399 --> 00:04:23.680 But their scene partner doesn't know and the 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:25.660 audience doesn't know. And in the real world, 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:27.199 the person you're talking to doesn't quite know 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:31.410 what your game is, what you're after. And in 00:04:31.410 --> 00:04:33.670 these situations, you know, I watch audiences 00:04:33.670 --> 00:04:37.790 and they do this. They react the same way, as 00:04:37.790 --> 00:04:39.550 does the scene partner who doesn't know what's 00:04:39.550 --> 00:04:42.870 going on. They kind of hold their breath. They're 00:04:42.870 --> 00:04:45.769 waiting for clarity. And they will give you a 00:04:45.769 --> 00:04:47.790 certain amount of time. And what that time is, 00:04:47.850 --> 00:04:51.889 I can't say exactly. But it's somewhere, I don't 00:04:51.889 --> 00:04:54.050 know, 5 to 30 seconds, maybe somewhere in there. 00:04:54.149 --> 00:04:58.490 But it's different in different situations. Because 00:04:58.490 --> 00:05:01.310 this doubt creates tension. And there's tension. 00:05:01.670 --> 00:05:06.829 And, you know, because that engages our slow 00:05:06.829 --> 00:05:10.069 thinking process, our attention, there's only 00:05:10.069 --> 00:05:12.129 a certain amount of time we can sustain that 00:05:12.129 --> 00:05:15.230 before it eventually goes away. It's like trying 00:05:15.230 --> 00:05:17.470 to meditate and clear your mind of conscious 00:05:17.470 --> 00:05:20.170 thought. You can do that for a few seconds, but 00:05:20.170 --> 00:05:23.329 within five to 20 seconds, your head is once 00:05:23.329 --> 00:05:26.550 again filled with thoughts. You know, and people 00:05:26.550 --> 00:05:28.129 want to know watching, they want to know what's 00:05:28.129 --> 00:05:30.730 happening. You know, what is the game? And I 00:05:30.730 --> 00:05:32.970 don't mean game of the scene in the UCB sense. 00:05:33.089 --> 00:05:36.370 I mean, like, what am I watching? So I'll give 00:05:36.370 --> 00:05:40.709 you an example here that happened in a class 00:05:40.709 --> 00:05:44.209 last week where this couple was in the backseat 00:05:44.209 --> 00:05:51.209 of an Uber. And the female of the couple said 00:05:51.209 --> 00:05:55.329 to her husband, well, our marriage is over. You've 00:05:55.329 --> 00:05:59.209 been cheating. And the husband went, what? No, 00:05:59.230 --> 00:06:04.129 no, I haven't. So, you know, I let that go on. 00:06:04.970 --> 00:06:07.689 And in this situation, what usually happens is 00:06:07.689 --> 00:06:10.910 the wife then has to present more evidence of 00:06:10.910 --> 00:06:13.970 how she knows the husband's cheating, which they, 00:06:14.009 --> 00:06:16.790 you know, deny through plausibility, you know, 00:06:16.810 --> 00:06:20.230 plausible denials, right? Like, well, you haven't, 00:06:20.230 --> 00:06:23.120 you've been coming home late. Oh, well, that's 00:06:23.120 --> 00:06:25.079 because at work we're doing this extra thing, 00:06:25.160 --> 00:06:27.240 and I've had to, and I'm sorry about that, but 00:06:27.240 --> 00:06:30.639 that's all done now. Oh, but also, you know, 00:06:30.680 --> 00:06:33.180 there's people calling you on the phone, and 00:06:33.180 --> 00:06:35.620 when I answer, there's no one there. Oh, that, 00:06:35.800 --> 00:06:37.939 well, that's my so -and -so play a trick. Anyway, 00:06:37.959 --> 00:06:40.439 they keep having plausible deniability, and it's 00:06:40.439 --> 00:06:41.939 just spinning the wheels because we don't know 00:06:41.939 --> 00:06:44.839 what's going on. So I let it play out for about, 00:06:44.920 --> 00:06:49.199 you know, 30 seconds, and, you know, the audience 00:06:49.199 --> 00:06:50.860 was doing their very thing. They were waiting 00:06:50.860 --> 00:06:53.360 patiently. And they're starting to tune out. 00:06:53.399 --> 00:06:57.319 So I stopped it. And I asked the actor playing 00:06:57.319 --> 00:07:00.079 the husband, I said, so are you cheating? And 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:04.720 he goes, oh, yeah. And I'm like, well, your denials 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:11.100 sound, they're too good in the sense, in the 00:07:11.100 --> 00:07:15.939 sense of like, no one, only you know that. I 00:07:15.939 --> 00:07:19.959 suspect, in fact, I'm pretty sure you're cheating. 00:07:20.670 --> 00:07:23.009 but I don't know who else is. And so I pulled 00:07:23.009 --> 00:07:24.470 the class and they were all like me. They were 00:07:24.470 --> 00:07:27.250 like, I think he is, but I don't know. There 00:07:27.250 --> 00:07:34.029 was doubt. And that doubt made enough of tension 00:07:34.029 --> 00:07:36.149 that people weren't laughing. And then I asked 00:07:36.149 --> 00:07:38.550 the scene partner, do you know? And she was like, 00:07:38.629 --> 00:07:42.089 I have no idea. I really don't know. And so it 00:07:42.089 --> 00:07:44.209 was a good feedback for this improviser to understand 00:07:44.209 --> 00:07:48.269 that he thought he was being... pretty obvious 00:07:48.269 --> 00:07:50.250 in his denials. Like, no, your denials were quite 00:07:50.250 --> 00:07:53.649 good to the fact that most of us watching from 00:07:53.649 --> 00:07:57.430 the outside were reasonably sure, but not sure 00:07:57.430 --> 00:07:59.889 enough to participate. And that's the thing. 00:07:59.949 --> 00:08:02.269 We couldn't participate in the scene because 00:08:02.269 --> 00:08:05.990 we're waiting for ironclad, irrefutable proof 00:08:05.990 --> 00:08:08.329 that he's cheating, which would come in the form 00:08:08.329 --> 00:08:11.449 of an admission. Yes, you're right, sweetheart. 00:08:11.610 --> 00:08:13.889 I've been cheating. And then we will laugh. Then 00:08:13.889 --> 00:08:15.529 we will laugh because, oh, we know what's going 00:08:15.529 --> 00:08:18.480 on. I can participate. so that the tension is 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:23.060 broken. I'm in now. Or a denial that's so obviously 00:08:23.060 --> 00:08:28.120 fake that we can play a lot. So with the audience 00:08:28.120 --> 00:08:30.500 being unsure, the scene partner's unsure, there's 00:08:30.500 --> 00:08:33.440 just tension, there's no laughs, there's no participation, 00:08:33.700 --> 00:08:37.320 and it feels very dead. And that's going to continue 00:08:37.320 --> 00:08:41.460 until they can't stand it. And then he'll eventually 00:08:41.460 --> 00:08:45.039 admit to it, but by then the scene's over. When 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:47.539 your audience doesn't know what's happening, 00:08:47.620 --> 00:08:49.960 when they don't know the truth, they can't play 00:08:49.960 --> 00:08:52.720 along. And that's the same if you're in front 00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:54.840 of an audience, you have another scene partner, 00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:58.860 or in the real world, you know, if you are being 00:08:58.860 --> 00:09:02.600 cagey about your true intent and your intention, 00:09:02.899 --> 00:09:06.820 people will tend to read that as doubt and they'll 00:09:06.820 --> 00:09:09.019 be very, and they'll hold off because they know 00:09:09.019 --> 00:09:15.360 it's protective, right? So. I suggested, I said, 00:09:15.399 --> 00:09:18.779 okay, sir, do this scene again. We'll pick up 00:09:18.779 --> 00:09:21.139 from this point where she accuses you of cheating. 00:09:21.419 --> 00:09:26.100 And now play, be more obvious, like really roll 00:09:26.100 --> 00:09:29.000 your eyes. And as Shakespeare would say, protest 00:09:29.000 --> 00:09:32.659 too much. So even though everyone in the audience 00:09:32.659 --> 00:09:34.379 knew what was going to happen, all the people 00:09:34.379 --> 00:09:37.360 in the class knew it was coming. She said, oh, 00:09:37.539 --> 00:09:39.460 well, our marriage is over. So you've been cheating. 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:43.500 He's like, oh, what? Me cheating? How could you 00:09:43.500 --> 00:09:45.360 say such a thing? And then everybody laughed. 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:48.679 And they laughed because it was so obvious that 00:09:48.679 --> 00:09:53.080 he was cheating. And then right away, his scene 00:09:53.080 --> 00:09:58.379 partner just lit up and just played it perfectly. 00:10:00.100 --> 00:10:02.919 Because after he had said an exaggerated denial, 00:10:03.220 --> 00:10:06.759 and she understood the dynamic. The stakes started 00:10:06.759 --> 00:10:08.779 to raise very naturally and everyone had more 00:10:08.779 --> 00:10:12.059 fun. You know, for example, within a couple of 00:10:12.059 --> 00:10:13.720 lines, he was like, well, what about this lipstick 00:10:13.720 --> 00:10:16.059 on your collar? And he went like, oh, oh, this? 00:10:16.259 --> 00:10:19.200 I can explain this. And the audience was like 00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:23.559 laughing with glee, anticipating what kind of 00:10:23.559 --> 00:10:26.100 excuse he was going to come up with. But it was 00:10:26.100 --> 00:10:30.169 much more enjoyable. there's this thing that 00:10:30.169 --> 00:10:32.669 people in my experience have where they're like 00:10:32.669 --> 00:10:35.049 oh I'm gonna I'm gonna get to that like I'll 00:10:35.049 --> 00:10:37.049 explain that later but right now I want to play 00:10:37.049 --> 00:10:43.710 this part it's like you know that is I'm not 00:10:43.710 --> 00:10:46.269 gonna say it doesn't work it is extremely difficult 00:10:46.269 --> 00:10:50.870 or much more difficult than just you know inviting 00:10:50.870 --> 00:10:54.629 people in not not to be dramatic and not to try 00:10:54.629 --> 00:10:57.700 to wow people but to spread joy that's what we're 00:10:57.700 --> 00:10:59.120 trying to do we're trying to spread joy and we 00:10:59.120 --> 00:11:00.860 can't spread joy if the audience doesn't know 00:11:00.860 --> 00:11:03.679 what's going on so the audiences want clarity 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:06.179 just like receivers of information want clarity 00:11:06.179 --> 00:11:09.980 so they can relax and enjoy and participate you 00:11:09.980 --> 00:11:13.059 know in scenes i i often tell and say because 00:11:13.059 --> 00:11:16.179 it's true that the first big laugh you will get 00:11:16.179 --> 00:11:19.000 in a scene comes when the audience understands 00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:23.580 the situation Oh my gosh, I get it now. She's 00:11:23.580 --> 00:11:25.700 excited about their anniversary, but he's about 00:11:25.700 --> 00:11:28.740 to say, I'm leaving you. You know, once the game 00:11:28.740 --> 00:11:32.179 is clear to everybody, you know, scene partners 00:11:32.179 --> 00:11:35.399 are much more free to make strong choices to 00:11:35.399 --> 00:11:39.519 play into it. You know, and audiences can participate 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:42.919 and enjoy. And scenes become much more playful 00:11:42.919 --> 00:11:46.080 and less about confusing and cunning and all 00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:48.279 that stuff. It's, you know, not to say that cunning 00:11:48.279 --> 00:11:51.840 is not... a part of improv it is but you can 00:11:51.840 --> 00:11:54.779 be more cunning when you know what's going on 00:11:54.779 --> 00:12:03.480 so in improv i i want to this is this is um because 00:12:03.480 --> 00:12:06.860 doubt doubt can be used i'm not saying never 00:12:06.860 --> 00:12:11.059 have doubt so you know i'm never i never say 00:12:11.059 --> 00:12:14.659 never which is not true I rarely say it and I 00:12:14.659 --> 00:12:18.200 try. So I'm saying in this situation, doubt can 00:12:18.200 --> 00:12:22.039 be very difficult. But, and I also want to change 00:12:22.039 --> 00:12:25.539 or I want to be clear about doubt versus uncertainty. 00:12:26.039 --> 00:12:28.000 Because at the beginning of the scene, there's 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:31.940 tons of uncertainty. We have uncertainty. The 00:12:31.940 --> 00:12:34.259 audience has uncertainty. When you meet somebody 00:12:34.259 --> 00:12:37.679 in public, in the real world, you know, there 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:40.039 is some uncertainty. You know, who's this person? 00:12:40.120 --> 00:12:42.570 What do they want? You know, will this person 00:12:42.570 --> 00:12:44.870 become someone I just talked to for two minutes? 00:12:45.049 --> 00:12:47.370 Will I hate them? Will I fall madly in love with 00:12:47.370 --> 00:12:50.509 them? You know, if you think about the people 00:12:50.509 --> 00:12:52.350 who are not in your family, who are in your life, 00:12:52.470 --> 00:12:55.809 at some point you had a first encounter. And 00:12:55.809 --> 00:12:58.070 before that encounter or as that encounter started, 00:12:58.289 --> 00:13:01.490 you may have had or probably did have a lot of 00:13:01.490 --> 00:13:04.529 uncertainty about where this was going. But staying 00:13:04.529 --> 00:13:08.220 open. So uncertainty at the beginning. I'm a 00:13:08.220 --> 00:13:10.799 big fan of because discovery is part of the process 00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:15.299 and I've covered that in other podcasts. An uncertainty 00:13:15.299 --> 00:13:18.440 like doubt can only be stayed in for a certain 00:13:18.440 --> 00:13:24.259 amount of time before the audience's focus is 00:13:24.259 --> 00:13:27.639 engaged. And there's a time where that starts 00:13:27.639 --> 00:13:31.720 to wane because it takes too much energy. So 00:13:31.720 --> 00:13:34.639 to remove doubt, if your character is lying, 00:13:34.820 --> 00:13:40.350 make it clear. Make it fun. Be playful. Spread 00:13:40.350 --> 00:13:47.350 joy. What? Me? Me? Cheating? Oh, frankly, I'm 00:13:47.350 --> 00:13:50.250 insulted that you would think that. And then 00:13:50.250 --> 00:13:51.889 everybody knows what's going on, and they'll 00:13:51.889 --> 00:13:55.070 play along. Be obvious. Be relatable. You'll 00:13:55.070 --> 00:14:00.330 get way more, and you'll get way further, and 00:14:00.330 --> 00:14:03.509 your scene will get way further. Remember, with 00:14:03.509 --> 00:14:05.750 improv, with me, it's like, look at us. No, look 00:14:05.750 --> 00:14:08.509 at me. Look at us. Look at what we're doing together. 00:14:08.850 --> 00:14:12.809 All right. So my closing thoughts are be very 00:14:12.809 --> 00:14:14.950 careful of doubt. You know, there's places to 00:14:14.950 --> 00:14:19.250 use it. Absolutely. But it's nuanced and it's 00:14:19.250 --> 00:14:22.090 more difficult. Please send me your questions 00:14:22.090 --> 00:14:25.850 or feedback at ralph at socap .ca, S -O -C -A 00:14:25.850 --> 00:14:29.389 -P as in peter .ca. Thanks so much. And hey, 00:14:29.610 --> 00:14:33.480 you all have a wonderful week. We'll see you 00:14:33.480 --> 00:14:36.220 next time. Bye.