This week was full of new faces, new energies and new silliness.
First, we had The Silliest Show Tonight
Fri, 31st July.
Our weekly Friday show returned to some good ol’ short-form improv. We played some classic games ranging from No-S (where every word containing the letter "S" is off-limits) to Emotional Rollercoaster (where the emotion of the scene changes on command) to Freeze Tag (where a scene freezes into a pose and a completely new scene begins from that very same pose).
The audience is an integral part of any improv show and this Friday’s audience helped us create some really fun moments. They ‘dolphin-trained’ our improvisers to execute a mystery action using nothing but “beeps”. Brave volunteers joined us on stage to fill-in-the-blanks of our performers’ dialogues. We also created a fully improvised song based on an audience member’s life (thanks for sharing with us, Zehnab)!
Then, we had our sunday special Make Friends With The Stage
Sunday, 1st August
This section was written by MJ (one of our Jam regulars, thanks MJ)
On Friendship Day, we got together to “Make Friends with the Stage”!
The jam started off with a few warm-up exercises. We paired words like “Chairman” - “Mao”, “Cat” - “Meow”, and “Cow” - “Moo”. Sounds easy, doesn't it? Try it with us next time under a time crunch! Then, we built scenes with the “I Am A Tree” game, where improvisers add themselves as elements to a scene - we built scenes with trees, bees, honey, Stephen Hawking, and the stock market’s feelings about gold prices - it wasn’t happy.
Next, we practiced performing on the stage with games like “Questions Only” (where improvisers have a conversation using questions only), “Alphabet Game” (where improvisers have a conversation where each line of dialogue must begin with the next sequential letter of the alphabet), “Free Scenes” (where improvisers are given a scene on the spot to move along, without any constraints), and “Scenes In The Dark” (where improvisers perform a scene in pitch darkness - stage fright exit left). This led to a lot of fun scenes: a long distance relationship expert talk show (dogs also suffer when their significant others move away), a long-awaited beach trip with friends (planning takes effort), conversations between a table and a chair (they have feelings too), a parent explaining the benefits of a savings account to their child (“but I want toys now”), an art thief framing a detective for theft (uno reverse!), and competitive train ticket collectors (who plan to go to Goa with their earnings).
Along with stage practice, we took turns to learn from others’ performances as an audience. We also learnt how to create an engaging scene - feel your feelings about what your scene partner just said and respond, don’t get caught up inside a conflict loop, and share some weight of decision making in the scene. Finally, it’s ok to fail, take a deep breath, and carry on.
Last up, we premiered our brand new show And, Then!
Sunday, 2nd August
So no one told you an improvised show could be this way? Our newest show ‘And, then!’ debuted with three episodes of an improvised sitcom about four friends (to celebrate Friendship Day!). We were also joined by our friend and guest improviser from Mumbai, Aditya Kashyap.
‘Chaos Around The Pool’ featured relatable problems like prepping for a job interview or finding a date, alongside not-so-relatable shenanigans like having a first date in your living room… while your flatmates refuse to leave! We met Rumi (book-lover, matchmaker, best roomie hehe), Samarth (newest hire at a Big 3 consulting firm and looking for love), Shikha (happy and content exactly as she is) and Benneshwar Maharaj III (call him Benny… and call his dad Benny the Two). There were questionable decisions, running gags, and most of all, so much chaos!
Come join us next week for more jams and shows!