Notes from 2nd City Almanac

Okay, well, I borrowed the 2nd City Almanac of Improvisation from Nifer and took some notes from it that I thought might come in handy to me currently or in the future...or that I simply understood without thinking too much about it. Here are the notes that I took from it:

• Asking questions, when you're not playing the game of "Questions Only," is like asking for permission for your idea or saying "I have an idea. Why don't you come up with it?" In stead of asking a question of your scene partner about something, endow them with something...A gift. (as I wrote this, I was thinking of the line from Raising Arazona when the guy says to Nicolas Cage, "Son, you've got a panty on your head. That's not necessarily the same, but it's what kept coming to mind).
• Live in the now. The future and past are going to get you thinking about "Plot" -I did it "Because of the diamond." - Tomorrow, I'll go on this great adventure. Talk about the present - where you are now and who you are with...how you feel about them especially.
• Don't say no. "Hey, you want to go on this great adventure with me that is a lot more interesting than your current situation?" "No." "Okay. Well, see ya." In stead, Yes (and...) it. "Yes, I'd love to go. And then...
• Everything each charicter does or says should affect the other characters on stage.
• Don't ignore you're environment.
• Focus is one of the keys. If focus is lacking, the scene will fall apart.
• There are no mistakes or accidents unless you make one obvious.
• To improvise is to expand and highten the discoveries in the moment.
• Add to the imidiate last thing. Don't put something to the side to wedge your idea in.
• You don't have to "try to be funny" Laughter will happen just by your being human; humanity is funny enough. Trying to be funny will just be annoying.
• Listen VERY HARD to everything outside yourself...This includes minute details.
• Play to the top of your intelligence. A redneck is as smart as you. A nural surgine is as limited as you.
• Try not to invent but discover.
• People watch. The way people act in real life is real.
• Play against the cliches. They will turn your charicter more into a caricature.
• A space can be anything - until something is placed there.
• Show - Don't tell. Trust the audience will see it.
• Trust the moment and the fellow actors.
• When your scene partner does or says something, it's a gift; not a challenge.
• Accept their reality. Be ready to abandon yours.
• Rather than focusing your energy on what you are going to say, focus on the charicter's point of view or the group's activity.
• One can do anything on stage. It's believable if done honestly.
• Listen to your partners. Don't fish for jokes.
• The funny will find you. Don't worry about finding it. All you have to do is play the scene.
• Become a part of the whole. Be eachother's stage manager. Help and be helped (and P.S. don't be afraid to edit).
• To find an end to the scene, look to the beginning.
• Assume the audience is intelligent enough to think and feel for themselves. Don't hit them over the head to get the point across.
• Explore a beat to it's fullest, then let it go.
• On stage, the thinking should be in an ecological fashion; nothing should go to waste.
• Be aware of patterns and play with them.
• Learn to discover human nature - Not what you want the scene to be about.
• Don't be affraid to follow the fear. It's more interesting to the audience to follow than deny the fear.
• State the obvious...especially if everyone is too emparrased to mention. Follow up-Be willing to embarras yourself.
• Cut before the climax.
• Do not attempt to parody anything unless you know what, where, how, why, who, and which you are parodying.
• Treat the absured seriously.
• Don't complicate the complications.
• Do the weird, not the normal.
• Make accidents work.
• Plan less, discover more.
• Be careful not to win the game by going off the board.
• If you follow a fantasy long enough, it becomes real.
• A dream found is a dream lost.
• Charicteristics help a charicter express basic emotional patterns.
• Every line should advance the scene forward.
• When playing a child, play as smart as an adult. When playing an adult, try not to loose the childlike wonder at the world.

Okay, well, those are the notes I jotted down. I did it in a notebook and it took 3 sheets.