STARTS Soon “Improv for Film” is for anyone that has taken a class with Pat or at any other improv school level.A short interview will be done for level 2. From beginner to advanced, you will learn and develop a strong foundation of improve skills. You will start on your journey to learn the craft of improvisation by listening, paying attention, storytelling, status, spontaneity, agreement and making other people on stage look good. At The Actors Loft, Improv coach; Pat Caporuscio will help each student become more present, less self-conscious and will work towards desensitizing you to the fear of “failing” ... Our core improv classes are designed for people who want to be challenged, and who want to meet interesting people in a fun and supportive environment. At the end of the 6-week session there will be an ensemble student show guided and hosted by Pat. For more information and to reserve your seat please e-mail: actorsloft@gmail.com Visit our website for more information: www.actorsloft.com
We abide by these when teaching Improv classes Introductions:
First Class Key Points to Make –
Respect your group by showing up on time. Please let your instructor know if you are going to be late or miss a class. To respect students’ time, the instructor will strive to finish class on time; so the later it takes to begin, the less time anyone has to play.
Students are allowed two absences. A student who misses three classes will be asked to drop out of the class.
Foster a safe environment. Be respectful. Students should be physically gentle and appropriate with one another. Strive not to offend or to be offended. Students should be conscientious of subject matter that people find offensive and/or insulting. Treating each other positively, on and off stage, should be everyone’s goal. Students need to feel that they can try and fail without discomfort.
Come to class physically prepared to participate – you want to wear clothing that will enable you to do whatever anyone else does on stage.
Ask students what they want out of this class – Getting out of my comfort zone. Performing. Conquering stage fright so I can be a trial attorney. Understand where they are.
See shows! You get in free! Watching is essential to learning. Take time in each class to promote shows (specifically –what should they look for) and ask about shows they saw (specifically – what did they like).
During the first class inform them you’ll be sending an email the next day to put them all on a – non spammable – email thread. Note: Classes in the past have set up Facebook pages, etcs. Ensure class has instructor’s contact info.
Have fun. This is the greatest community in the world. Know and enjoy each other. Go out for drinks after first class.
Remember FART
Start of Every Class – Foreshadow: Outline your vision for the specific class and how it fits into the larger picture of A) the class topic (and/or B) On-stage, before-an-audience improvisation. Ask: What shows did you see? Specifically, what did you like / what didn’t you like? What didn’t you understand? What are you exited to do? Remind: Review what has been learned to date. Ask them. Ask for questions. Tell: “This week you have these specific opportunities to see and do improv…” Share the week’s schedule. Focus them on shows that relate to their level/learnings.
In-Class Note Giving:
Accept notes – you may not agree with all the instructors notes; trust that all notes are given for the sake of pushing the group forward and strive to incorporate the instruction you’ve been given. We ask that students try. Every great improviser improvises “their own way,” and until that day – and ideally beyond – they’re learning from their instructor.
Elevate Notes, it can be advantageous to, when giving notes, speak to the group rather than the individual – as the opposite can shame the novice. Rather than, “Joe, when you said no to Jane…” choose “When we negate our scene partners…”
Elevate Notes, part two: To be useful the note needs to provide guidance on how to navigate future scenes better. Knowing what I should have said if I were ever again a penguin in a nunnery is less constructive than understanding how, for example, commitment to emotional perspectives can focus a whacky scene.
There are no mistakes, except for acknowledging to the audience that you think a move was a mistake. If the audience saw it, it exists; to ignore it is to draw more attention to it. Trusting and following, vulnerably and comfortably, we can make anything work by building together on it.
The only one who looks foolish is the one who doesn’t commit to the foolishness. We’re imagining characters and worlds on a blank stage; the improviser who calls us out as “the straight man” is the buzzkill.
The classic “No” Notes (“don’t ask questions,” “don’t be strangers,” “don’t negotiate,” can all be trumped by FEELING SOMETHING ABOUT SOMETHING. The “No” Notes are red flags that an improviser is in their head thinking and deciding rather than feeling and reacting.
Know why the good went well. You have to be able to dissect what made the good scenes good: Heightening emotion? Heightening detail? Heightening reactions? Heightening collaboration? Just being damn funny? A good question to ask a group after a good scene is: What made that easy/fun for you?
Side Coaching: Interrupt with a “Do,” not a “Do Not;” progress is enabled when you show them a path to take as opposed to stopping them in their tracks to dissect how they’re doing “wrong.” Students like it if their instructor is concise, allowing them to re-enter the interrupted scene without being too far in their heads.
Ensure that everyone participates / Focus players on finding a balance inside the group – Encourage hesitators to go for it. Insist that stage hogs dial it back. If you think too much and often miss your opportunity? Push yourself to follow your first instinct. If you often barrel on stage confident you’ll figure it out? Challenge yourself to spend an extra second evaluating how your move will serve what’s already been established. Challenge bullet-proof characters to be affected. Focus aggressive students on agreement and characters that like each other. Push shy players out to play.
Enter a scene in progress only to serve what’s been established on stage, not yourself.
Personal / Written Note Giving:
Students love getting personalized notes. 201, 301 and 401 teachers should be expected to write/give personalized notes to each student.Preparing for post-class notes throughout class is ideal; tracking scenes and tendencies throughout classes is easier than trying to remember scenes and discern trends post-class. Take notes and use your TA.
Students like receiving personal notes after the seventh class, giving them a final class to practice in and an opportunity to hit goals in the showcase.
Focus on constructive notes: ensure there is more “try this…” than “don’t do this…” While you shouldn’t shy from taking the 1-on-1 opportunity to alert players to tendencies that may be detrimental to the group, always strive to provide a potential fix for every perceived deficit.
Showcase
All Classes –
Showcase is about the students, not the instructor. While instructors will be heavily involved in subsequent classes, groups should handle their own performance as they would if headlining with their teacher as no more than a host.
Beginnings and Endings of Showcases need to be practiced. As long as you decide, the choice is yours
Contact Pat at 810-305-3221 Improvisation Level 2 IMPROV
Believing that Improvisation is an essential skill that is crucial to an actors development and to most Commercial auditions, Utilizing Improv games and exercises, actors learn a valuable acting process that will: Improve Commercial Auditions, Expand Personal Freedom, Exercise Creativity and Develop Characters.
Up to Eighteen students
3 hour per session
$ 200 for this 6 week session workshop
PERFORMANCE IMPROV level 1
Wednesdays
The Performance Improv I and II workshops have the same purposes as the Intro Improv but the games, exercises and directions are more challenging. Also, the participants have had Improvisation training. Both sessions conclude with an Improvised show(s) performed at a theater. This workshop is designed both for the new actor who has completed the Intro Improv workshops and have been invited to move on and for intermediate or advanced actor with minimal Improv training. After six classes, there will be a show with an invited audience at a small theater.