WEBVTT 00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:06.719 Hey everybody, welcome to the SOCAP Improv Comedy 00:00:06.719 --> 00:00:10.380 Podcast. I'm your host, I'm Ralph McLeod. I am 00:00:10.380 --> 00:00:12.560 the owner and artistic director of the SOCAP 00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:16.460 Comedy Theatre in Toronto. That's SOCAP .ca, 00:00:16.579 --> 00:00:20.579 SOCAP .ca, that's our URL. We do improv classes, 00:00:20.839 --> 00:00:22.980 improv classes for performance, improv classes 00:00:22.980 --> 00:00:26.699 for self -improvement. We also do shows here, 00:00:26.899 --> 00:00:29.300 we do a lot of improv, some stand -up, sketch. 00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:32.579 We are available to rent. You can rent us to 00:00:32.579 --> 00:00:35.039 put your show on. All this can be found at our 00:00:35.039 --> 00:00:38.659 brand new and very much better website, SoCap 00:00:38.659 --> 00:00:43.520 .ca. You can meet me at Ralph at SoCap .ca. That's 00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:46.780 the best way. Or admin at SoCap .ca. It really 00:00:46.780 --> 00:00:50.420 comes to the same place. That's me. Me, the benevolent 00:00:50.420 --> 00:00:53.899 dictator. As always, the SoCap Comedy Podcast 00:00:53.899 --> 00:00:56.619 is brought to you by a sponsor. Today's sponsor 00:00:56.619 --> 00:01:00.119 is Wexler's Beef. Wexler's Beef. Your mouth is 00:01:00.119 --> 00:01:02.899 in our hands. So check out the Wexler Beef Company 00:01:02.899 --> 00:01:10.420 for any of your meat needs. M -E -A -T, if you're 00:01:10.420 --> 00:01:13.180 curious. All right. So in this podcast, we're 00:01:13.180 --> 00:01:15.560 going to talk about improv and improv for performance, 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:19.879 improv for life. Why improv? Why take it? What 00:01:19.879 --> 00:01:22.879 does it matter? Can it help you? How can it help 00:01:22.879 --> 00:01:26.799 you? And anyway, I'll just give you a real... 00:01:27.150 --> 00:01:30.769 Quick anecdote about how it's helped me. You 00:01:30.769 --> 00:01:33.450 know, one thing that we tend to do as adults 00:01:33.450 --> 00:01:37.030 is we like to gaslight our children. Not in a 00:01:37.030 --> 00:01:39.069 mean way. I'm sorry, we don't do it out of meanness. 00:01:39.090 --> 00:01:42.349 We do it out of care. But we gaslight people 00:01:42.349 --> 00:01:43.989 all the time. And one of the things we do with 00:01:43.989 --> 00:01:47.109 children is when they say something like, hey, 00:01:47.129 --> 00:01:53.750 mom, dad, caregiver, I am going to school and 00:01:53.750 --> 00:01:57.219 I want to go because I'm scared. And 99 % of 00:01:57.219 --> 00:01:59.819 the time adults say, hey, I'm going to be scared 00:01:59.819 --> 00:02:04.060 of. We take away their, we try to tell them that 00:02:04.060 --> 00:02:07.500 their concerns aren't founded. We gaslight them. 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:10.680 They say, you're wrong. I know you don't know 00:02:10.680 --> 00:02:13.340 what's going on. So more children are supposed 00:02:13.340 --> 00:02:15.699 to trust their instincts if we tell them from 00:02:15.699 --> 00:02:19.080 a very young age that they're wrong. So here's 00:02:19.080 --> 00:02:21.139 what I would do. This happened to me. This literally 00:02:21.139 --> 00:02:23.060 happened to me when my dog, about three years 00:02:23.060 --> 00:02:25.599 ago, when she was about five. Said, Daddy, I 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:26.960 don't go to school. And I said, what's wrong? 00:02:27.060 --> 00:02:29.340 She goes, I'm scared. And I went like, yeah, 00:02:29.479 --> 00:02:32.060 of course. It's a scary place. There's adults. 00:02:32.439 --> 00:02:35.659 There's that kid that bites. It's a terrifying 00:02:35.659 --> 00:02:37.319 place. And I totally understand you're scared. 00:02:37.620 --> 00:02:39.460 And she laughed. And she said, Daddy, you're 00:02:39.460 --> 00:02:41.520 silly. And I said, get your coat. And she did. 00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:44.280 And we went to school. And no problem. So I avoided 00:02:44.280 --> 00:02:47.599 the fight. I avoided all of that. And I showed 00:02:47.599 --> 00:02:49.379 her that her concerns were legitimate. Because 00:02:49.379 --> 00:02:52.099 she wanted to be heard. That's what people want 00:02:52.099 --> 00:02:54.930 most, usually, is just to be heard. I just want 00:02:54.930 --> 00:02:58.250 someone to take my concerns seriously so I don't 00:02:58.250 --> 00:03:00.590 think I'm crazy. So that's how, that's a direct 00:03:00.590 --> 00:03:03.270 way of how improv helped me become a better father, 00:03:03.370 --> 00:03:06.250 more attentive father. Father that says yes rather 00:03:06.250 --> 00:03:09.949 than no. Father who yes -ands what her daughter 00:03:09.949 --> 00:03:11.909 says. And that's what I try to do. I mean, obviously, 00:03:12.030 --> 00:03:14.930 they're children. We're adults. Sometimes, you 00:03:14.930 --> 00:03:17.050 know, I'm not saying indulge everything, but 00:03:17.050 --> 00:03:21.169 there's an example of I didn't tell her that 00:03:21.169 --> 00:03:25.310 her concerns were unfounded. I recognized them 00:03:25.310 --> 00:03:27.430 as legitimate. She felt heard. And that was enough 00:03:27.430 --> 00:03:29.590 for her. She was happy to go to school. And that 00:03:29.590 --> 00:03:32.009 was kind of the end of it. You know, I mean, 00:03:32.069 --> 00:03:34.830 in the three or four years since, you know, she, 00:03:34.930 --> 00:03:38.250 like most children, has voiced her displeasure 00:03:38.250 --> 00:03:42.210 with going to school, to say the least. And that 00:03:42.210 --> 00:03:44.870 I'm also totally on board with. We can have a 00:03:44.870 --> 00:03:48.590 conversation about school. Institutions. That's 00:03:48.590 --> 00:03:52.520 not just school. That's not just. It's institutions. 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:59.259 It's top -down, top -down central planning. It 00:03:59.259 --> 00:04:02.120 doesn't work. It doesn't recognize the people 00:04:02.120 --> 00:04:06.500 who are in the lines, to use the war analogy, 00:04:06.759 --> 00:04:10.120 who know better what's going on. The people who 00:04:10.120 --> 00:04:12.560 day -to -day do the stuff, whether it's teaching 00:04:12.560 --> 00:04:15.139 in a class, whether it's policing streets, whether 00:04:15.139 --> 00:04:20.139 it's administering to someone's soul. They know 00:04:20.139 --> 00:04:23.180 what they need, but central planning tells them 00:04:23.180 --> 00:04:25.040 that they're wrong and this is what you really 00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:28.000 need. It's a whole other conversation. Anyway, 00:04:28.100 --> 00:04:30.639 that's improv, and that's a real way it can help 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:34.180 you. So today, what I was going to talk about 00:04:34.180 --> 00:04:38.319 is Ralph's three rules, three rules for improvisation. 00:04:38.779 --> 00:04:41.500 Sorry, no, let's back up. Not rules. They're 00:04:41.500 --> 00:04:45.439 not rules. If I had one rule about improv, so 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:49.449 an unshakable rule. And I go back and forth. 00:04:49.490 --> 00:04:51.430 I'm not really sure if this should be a rule, 00:04:51.569 --> 00:04:54.250 but I keep looking for a scene that is successful 00:04:54.250 --> 00:04:56.629 that breaks this rule, and I've never seen it. 00:04:56.709 --> 00:05:00.589 So in as much as I can say it's a rule, just 00:05:00.589 --> 00:05:03.509 because I haven't seen an example when it's not 00:05:03.509 --> 00:05:07.009 there and it seems worse, that's agreement. An 00:05:07.009 --> 00:05:09.649 agreement that exists on the level of improvisers, 00:05:09.649 --> 00:05:13.050 on performers, or if you're playing a game with 00:05:13.050 --> 00:05:15.300 someone in the real world, to agree. Oh, are 00:05:15.300 --> 00:05:17.620 we flirting? Oh, we're flirting. Oh, that's nice. 00:05:17.819 --> 00:05:20.660 That's cute. That's cool. You know, because if 00:05:20.660 --> 00:05:22.240 you have disagreement, one person thinks they're 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:23.899 flirting and the other person thinks we're just 00:05:23.899 --> 00:05:26.899 hanging out, being friends, right? You can see, 00:05:26.920 --> 00:05:29.180 oh, that would lead to some issues. That leads 00:05:29.180 --> 00:05:32.339 to some issues. You know, obviously being honest 00:05:32.339 --> 00:05:34.339 can straighten those things out, but that's to 00:05:34.339 --> 00:05:37.759 do and all that. So that would be my sort of 00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:40.899 rule that the improvisers have to agree on what 00:05:40.899 --> 00:05:42.819 we're doing. We have to agree that you're my 00:05:42.819 --> 00:05:45.370 dad and I'm your son. And we have to agree that 00:05:45.370 --> 00:05:47.790 I'm asking for the keys to the car, and we have 00:05:47.790 --> 00:05:51.410 to agree that you as my father are very skeptical 00:05:51.410 --> 00:05:53.649 because the last time you lent me the keys, the 00:05:53.649 --> 00:05:56.670 car betrayed. So we have to agree on all that 00:05:56.670 --> 00:05:59.149 stuff. Now, first, we don't know at the beginning. 00:05:59.470 --> 00:06:01.550 That's what's going to happen. We only notice 00:06:01.550 --> 00:06:04.050 it as it's happening, as it's unfolding, in the 00:06:04.050 --> 00:06:07.290 moment. Oh, okay. I am your father, and it's 00:06:07.290 --> 00:06:09.569 improv, and it's a... A car that doesn't exist, 00:06:09.670 --> 00:06:11.430 so I can give you the keys. You can smash it. 00:06:11.470 --> 00:06:13.370 It doesn't matter. It's irrelevant. But for some 00:06:13.370 --> 00:06:16.149 reason, I'm pushing back on that. I don't want 00:06:16.149 --> 00:06:18.769 to give you the keys. And why is that? Oh, because 00:06:18.769 --> 00:06:21.670 last time, this happened. And now you've got 00:06:21.670 --> 00:06:24.189 a whole story that's unfolding and discovering 00:06:24.189 --> 00:06:27.529 in real time. At some point, we'll have a discussion 00:06:27.529 --> 00:06:30.569 about discovery versus invention and how discovery 00:06:30.569 --> 00:06:35.110 is exhilarating and delightful and invention 00:06:35.110 --> 00:06:41.250 is boring and obvious. Terrible. Not to put too 00:06:41.250 --> 00:06:43.810 fine a point on it, but in general, discovery 00:06:43.810 --> 00:06:45.310 is what we're trying to do. We're trying to discover 00:06:45.310 --> 00:06:47.110 our characters and discover what's going on. 00:06:47.769 --> 00:06:50.709 Discover all these things about ourselves, our 00:06:50.709 --> 00:06:52.350 characters that we didn't know at the beginning. 00:06:52.550 --> 00:06:54.069 I like to think that the characters knew all 00:06:54.069 --> 00:06:56.490 along and they're just letting us know. Oh, okay. 00:06:56.569 --> 00:07:00.569 Turns out I'm a total knob. I'm the bad guy in 00:07:00.569 --> 00:07:03.490 this scenario. Okay, great. Or I'm the hero. 00:07:03.870 --> 00:07:05.500 Didn't know that at the beginning. Didn't know 00:07:05.500 --> 00:07:08.319 I was going to have to be a narcissist and defend 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:11.920 being a narcissist and actually say why being 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:14.339 a narcissist is a great thing and that you're 00:07:14.339 --> 00:07:17.339 a knob if you're a stupid head, if you're not. 00:07:18.040 --> 00:07:19.660 Anyway, to go back to what I was trying to say, 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:24.160 three best practices, let's call them. And what 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:26.759 I like about them is there's only three of them. 00:07:27.720 --> 00:07:30.290 If you do these three things. your scenes will, 00:07:30.370 --> 00:07:32.589 by and large, be successful. There's way more 00:07:32.589 --> 00:07:35.350 other things to do, but these are the three I 00:07:35.350 --> 00:07:37.829 like to really focus in on because if you do 00:07:37.829 --> 00:07:41.730 these three, scenes and interactions with people 00:07:41.730 --> 00:07:46.550 generally go pretty well. And if you don't, it's 00:07:46.550 --> 00:07:50.850 difficult to see successful scenes. Maybe number 00:07:50.850 --> 00:07:52.730 two you can get away with not doing. Yeah, you 00:07:52.730 --> 00:07:54.110 can definitely get away with not doing number 00:07:54.110 --> 00:07:56.550 two if you have a strong game that we're playing. 00:07:57.379 --> 00:07:59.319 And we'll talk about games at some point. But 00:07:59.319 --> 00:08:01.319 right now, I just want to go back to the three 00:08:01.319 --> 00:08:05.120 things that are, there's three of them. And they're 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:08.420 simple to sort of understand. Not so easy to 00:08:08.420 --> 00:08:10.839 do, obviously. Well, I shouldn't say obviously. 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:13.699 There are, I mean, if anybody could do them, 00:08:13.779 --> 00:08:15.420 if I just told people to do these three things 00:08:15.420 --> 00:08:17.100 and they did them right away, you wouldn't need 00:08:17.100 --> 00:08:20.180 me. That would be bad for me. Then I'd have to 00:08:20.180 --> 00:08:23.279 go find a real job. Don't do that. But if you 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:25.720 do these three things or focus on them. you'll 00:08:25.720 --> 00:08:27.579 be successful. So there's three of them. They're 00:08:27.579 --> 00:08:30.680 fairly easy to understand what they are about. 00:08:30.860 --> 00:08:33.200 It's harder to do in practice. But what's nice 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:34.799 about them is they're things you can control. 00:08:36.039 --> 00:08:38.899 I've said before that improv, like stoicism, 00:08:39.240 --> 00:08:41.600 likes we like to control what we can control 00:08:41.600 --> 00:08:45.080 and not worry about the things we can't control. 00:08:45.179 --> 00:08:47.340 So things that are outside our control are, will 00:08:47.340 --> 00:08:50.559 the audience like me? It's beyond your control. 00:08:51.039 --> 00:08:53.200 You can do some best practices that will give 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:56.100 you a better chance of them liking you. But at 00:08:56.100 --> 00:08:57.919 the end of the day, it's beyond your control. 00:08:58.059 --> 00:09:01.220 Well, then they find you funny. You can't really 00:09:01.220 --> 00:09:05.080 make... Everybody wants to be good, but that's 00:09:05.080 --> 00:09:07.159 beyond your control. There's really no way to 00:09:07.159 --> 00:09:10.320 be good unless you think about the practices 00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:12.259 that will give you a better chance of success. 00:09:12.539 --> 00:09:14.419 So we go back to these three things. There's 00:09:14.419 --> 00:09:16.059 three of them. They're fairly easy to understand, 00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:20.649 at least on paper. And they are... things that 00:09:20.649 --> 00:09:23.350 you can control and you can get better at them. 00:09:23.590 --> 00:09:27.389 It's a process. So I, as an improv teacher, am 00:09:27.389 --> 00:09:30.730 very process -based, very systems -based, not 00:09:30.730 --> 00:09:32.710 results. I don't care about results. I mean, 00:09:32.730 --> 00:09:35.169 I do, obviously. I shouldn't say obviously. What's 00:09:35.169 --> 00:09:39.269 it mean obviously today? I try not to be concerned 00:09:39.269 --> 00:09:41.629 with the results because at the end of the day, 00:09:41.669 --> 00:09:43.269 whether the audience has a good time or a bad 00:09:43.269 --> 00:09:46.370 time, it's beyond my control. Someone might be 00:09:46.370 --> 00:09:48.070 having a crappy day when they came to my show. 00:09:48.429 --> 00:09:49.669 And they're just going to continue their crappy 00:09:49.669 --> 00:09:51.850 day. But what I can control are these three things. 00:09:51.950 --> 00:09:55.649 So number one, agreement, also known as yes anding. 00:09:56.710 --> 00:09:58.389 I'm going to talk about yes and at some point 00:09:58.389 --> 00:10:00.870 a little more in detail. But when I say agreement, 00:10:00.950 --> 00:10:04.490 that we as performers or people in the real world, 00:10:04.549 --> 00:10:07.710 we're engaging in some kind of interaction. We 00:10:07.710 --> 00:10:10.769 agree on what's going on. So on stage, that's 00:10:10.769 --> 00:10:13.970 you're my father and I'm your son. And I'm asking 00:10:13.970 --> 00:10:15.529 for the keys to the car. And you're not giving 00:10:15.529 --> 00:10:17.649 them to me because last time I tore the car up 00:10:17.649 --> 00:10:20.549 a tree. We agree on that. You know, I don't think 00:10:20.549 --> 00:10:23.850 that you're my father and you think I'm a doctor. 00:10:24.649 --> 00:10:28.149 And that can work as long as we both agree on 00:10:28.149 --> 00:10:35.590 that. But that's a bad example. You know, we 00:10:35.590 --> 00:10:37.909 agree that you're my father and I'm your son. 00:10:38.309 --> 00:10:40.809 We don't disagree. I think you're my father and 00:10:40.809 --> 00:10:43.690 you think that you're my doctor. Again, you can 00:10:43.690 --> 00:10:45.769 be my father and my doctor, but that's a different 00:10:45.769 --> 00:10:49.620 thing. This is what I'm trying to say. We're 00:10:49.620 --> 00:10:51.379 trying to agree on who we are. We agree on what 00:10:51.379 --> 00:10:53.320 we're doing. We agree on the games we want to 00:10:53.320 --> 00:10:56.019 play. That level of agreement can go very, very 00:10:56.019 --> 00:10:58.940 deep. It can just be at the level of who we are. 00:10:59.059 --> 00:11:01.659 But also we can agree on that we don't like each 00:11:01.659 --> 00:11:04.360 other. And then we can agree as to why we don't 00:11:04.360 --> 00:11:07.279 like each other. Because you were mad that you 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:08.980 were in a van and then I came along and you had 00:11:08.980 --> 00:11:10.659 to give that up and come back and take care of 00:11:10.659 --> 00:11:17.480 me. That's a rotten thing to do. So we can agree. 00:11:17.879 --> 00:11:19.360 And that's what we really want to do. We really 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:21.559 want to agree on what's going on. Who are the 00:11:21.559 --> 00:11:24.179 stakes? Who's our main character? Who's the bad 00:11:24.179 --> 00:11:28.559 guy? All that stuff. And that might sound daunting. 00:11:29.019 --> 00:11:35.080 And it is if you want to try to put in real time, 00:11:35.200 --> 00:11:38.580 start making these agreements and check them 00:11:38.580 --> 00:11:41.379 off on a list. It just happens. The nice thing 00:11:41.379 --> 00:11:44.000 is when you say yes, these things just happen. 00:11:44.419 --> 00:11:46.019 And it's time to get out of the way of them a 00:11:46.019 --> 00:11:47.720 little bit. The second thing that we can do is 00:11:47.720 --> 00:11:49.860 we can make choices. And we make choices based 00:11:49.860 --> 00:11:53.200 on how we feel in the moment. What's happening 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:55.159 right now? How do I feel about it? I love it. 00:11:55.159 --> 00:11:59.679 I hate it. I like you. I hate you. Right? This 00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:01.759 is what we want to do. We want to make choices 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:03.399 about how we feel. They're tied to an emotion. 00:12:04.519 --> 00:12:09.240 So when I ask for the keys, your reaction might 00:12:09.240 --> 00:12:13.000 be alarm, concern, or like, oh, frustration. 00:12:13.179 --> 00:12:15.500 Here we go again. well whatever choice you want 00:12:15.500 --> 00:12:17.279 to make or relation oh my god my son wants to 00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:19.620 drive a car he's got a date this is exciting 00:12:19.620 --> 00:12:21.779 martha get in here the kid's gonna want to date 00:12:21.779 --> 00:12:23.580 you can be excited you can be whatever you want 00:12:23.580 --> 00:12:25.500 to be whatever and which these means number three 00:12:25.500 --> 00:12:27.159 which is we make choices and we do things that 00:12:27.159 --> 00:12:29.379 are fun for us to do us as the improviser as 00:12:29.379 --> 00:12:32.360 the actor right in the real world i flirt with 00:12:32.360 --> 00:12:34.059 somebody because i'm excited by that because 00:12:34.059 --> 00:12:36.600 i want to because i'm attracted to somebody right 00:12:36.600 --> 00:12:38.639 that's that's what you want to do and that makes 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:41.830 you more fun um And the same thing on stage. 00:12:41.990 --> 00:12:43.210 Oh, you know, it'd be fun to do right now. It'd 00:12:43.210 --> 00:12:45.789 be fun to die a glorious death. That would be 00:12:45.789 --> 00:12:48.210 fun. You know, in the real world, I'm only going 00:12:48.210 --> 00:12:50.049 to get to do that once. But on stage, I can do 00:12:50.049 --> 00:12:52.850 it multiple and multiple times. Or it might be 00:12:52.850 --> 00:12:54.690 fun to talk with an accent. Or it might be fun 00:12:54.690 --> 00:12:57.710 to play a narcissist. It might be fun to yell 00:12:57.710 --> 00:13:00.090 at somebody. And it's very fun to yell at someone, 00:13:00.169 --> 00:13:02.970 you know, in a way that is safe. Because then 00:13:02.970 --> 00:13:06.240 when you improvise... it's safe, right? The way 00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:08.159 you can yell at your friends and call your friends 00:13:08.159 --> 00:13:10.039 all kinds of names. But, you know, since there's 00:13:10.039 --> 00:13:13.320 no intent to be really mean, it's fine, right? 00:13:13.460 --> 00:13:14.779 And sometimes you get mad at your friends and 00:13:14.779 --> 00:13:17.080 you say things that I'm talking like the way 00:13:17.080 --> 00:13:19.840 we just goof around, you know, and take the piss 00:13:19.840 --> 00:13:23.320 out of people. Um, that kind of thing. That's 00:13:23.320 --> 00:13:25.000 fun to do. And that's fun to do on an improv 00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:27.179 stage. So those, those are my three rules. Oh, 00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:29.379 no, not rules. Sorry. Three best practices, three 00:13:29.379 --> 00:13:31.139 guidelines. These are three things I look for 00:13:31.139 --> 00:13:33.000 and try to emphasize when I teach. I always come, 00:13:33.100 --> 00:13:35.980 I often come back to these three things. Like 00:13:35.980 --> 00:13:40.159 I said, there's way more out there to do. But 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:42.419 as a starting point, that's good. And it's always 00:13:42.419 --> 00:13:44.360 good to come back and refresh those things if 00:13:44.360 --> 00:13:47.679 you've been doing it for a while. Uh, which is 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:50.120 something, you know, we'll talk about. and things 00:13:50.120 --> 00:13:53.759 at some point for sure. But for now, just come 00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:58.360 back to these three practices. Agree. Yes. This 00:13:58.360 --> 00:13:59.700 is the game you want to play? I'll play that 00:13:59.700 --> 00:14:02.519 game. Yes. We'll play the infidelity game where 00:14:02.519 --> 00:14:04.480 one of us gets caught cheating and we have an 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:06.120 argument about it. Do you want to play the breakup 00:14:06.120 --> 00:14:08.240 game? Great. We'll play the breakup game. Do 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:09.799 you want to play the I'm asking for the keys 00:14:09.799 --> 00:14:10.919 you're not going to give them to me because I'm 00:14:10.919 --> 00:14:13.139 a knob game? Play that game. So agreement. We 00:14:13.139 --> 00:14:15.419 agree on what we're doing, what's going on, who 00:14:15.419 --> 00:14:17.860 we are, all that stuff. And the more we can agree. 00:14:18.250 --> 00:14:21.330 And the more detail that we can agree upon, the 00:14:21.330 --> 00:14:26.970 better. But at the beginning, just doing, right? 00:14:26.990 --> 00:14:30.250 And then how we feel. Those two things. And really, 00:14:30.450 --> 00:14:32.769 it's like, you're my dad, I'm your son, great, 00:14:32.950 --> 00:14:36.350 and I need you. You've got a great scene already 00:14:36.350 --> 00:14:39.190 because you've gone on number two, which is my 00:14:39.190 --> 00:14:43.129 choices. The choice to hate is great. Another 00:14:43.129 --> 00:14:45.590 world, but on stage. In fact, on stage, a lot 00:14:45.590 --> 00:14:48.600 of what we do, A lot of what I do, anyway, when 00:14:48.600 --> 00:14:51.940 I teach people is really how to be garbage people. 00:14:53.100 --> 00:14:54.860 Because it's so fun to watch garbage people, 00:14:54.940 --> 00:14:57.480 bad examples of parents, bad examples of children, 00:14:57.639 --> 00:15:00.139 bad examples of partners and spouses. Like, these 00:15:00.139 --> 00:15:04.240 are fun to watch bad people. Not people who are 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:06.980 bad at their job, but just like evil, self -centered, 00:15:07.120 --> 00:15:11.220 self -righteous, narcissistic, psychopathic characters. 00:15:11.399 --> 00:15:14.529 They're fun to watch. And I think it's like going 00:15:14.529 --> 00:15:16.370 to the zoo and seeing a wild animal in the cage. 00:15:16.470 --> 00:15:18.289 It's like, it's exciting because it's a kind 00:15:18.289 --> 00:15:21.509 of an experience, but it's not real. So it's 00:15:21.509 --> 00:15:25.169 safe, right? It's like movies. I love zombie 00:15:25.169 --> 00:15:27.210 movies, right? It's my favorite kind of horror 00:15:27.210 --> 00:15:29.309 movie. And because it's not real, I don't want 00:15:29.309 --> 00:15:30.850 to really be chased by zombies. That would be 00:15:30.850 --> 00:15:33.210 terrifying. But to see it and experience it, 00:15:33.289 --> 00:15:35.769 you know, in a kind of an airs -ass way, a safe 00:15:35.769 --> 00:15:39.529 way, it's very fun. So, agreement, make choices. 00:15:39.789 --> 00:15:43.879 Thermistry, do what's fun. But to have fun, you 00:15:43.879 --> 00:15:47.080 know, fun, messing around, it's good. Like good 00:15:47.080 --> 00:15:50.159 natured misbehavior is very, very exciting and 00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:52.340 it's really nice for us. The thing about having 00:15:52.340 --> 00:15:55.960 fun, when you have fun on behalf of the group, 00:15:56.059 --> 00:15:58.700 it's exciting and fun. When it's all about yourself, 00:15:58.899 --> 00:16:01.940 it's not so fun. Then you look like a show off, 00:16:01.980 --> 00:16:04.259 like you're showing up people. So it's a way 00:16:04.259 --> 00:16:06.500 to have fun and misbehave within the group. It 00:16:06.500 --> 00:16:08.720 adds to the experience, doesn't detract from 00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:11.000 it, making it about me. Anyway, those are my 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:14.559 three guidelines, not rules. I almost said rules 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:16.379 again, but I caught myself and said guidelines. 00:16:16.419 --> 00:16:19.100 Three best practices that will make your scenes 00:16:19.100 --> 00:16:21.919 fly. And again, that's where we start. Those 00:16:21.919 --> 00:16:26.379 three things. Agreement. Make choices. Do what's 00:16:26.379 --> 00:16:29.220 fun. All right. Have a great week. And wherever 00:16:29.220 --> 00:16:31.759 you're going, be safe. Be well. Be kind to people. 00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:34.500 It's tough out there. Bye.