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Continue reading →: 4 Reasons Improvisers Should Get Their ExerciseWant to be a better improviser? Go for a walk or hit the gym. Here are four reasons that exercise will improve the quality of your shows. 1) You’ll have a greater physical range Sometimes in improv you have to perform physically difficult feats. In these situations, having better cardiovascular…
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Continue reading →: Monday Warmup – Hot SpotI’m starting a new quasi-regular segment this week. On select Mondays, I’ll be posting warm-ups that you can use at the beginning of improv classes or to prepare for an improv show. If you have found these warm-ups to be personally useful, please leave a comment below! Hot Spot is…
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Continue reading →: The Zen of ListeningThe following is an except from the book Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind: “When you listen to someone, you should give up all your preconceived ideas and your subjective opinions; you should just listen to him, just observe what his way is. We [practitioners of Zen] put very little emphasis on right…
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Continue reading →: 32 Ways to Get Unstuck in an Improv Scene – Part IVThis is the conclusion of a 4 part series. These 32 items are compiled from a list that I brainstormed, and include principles that I learned in workshops from David Koechner, Micah Sherman, Mandy Butler, Kevin Patrick Robbins, Armando Diaz, Dad’s Garage, The Village Theatre, and Automatic Improv, as well as a few of my own thoughts. There is…
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Continue reading →: 32 Ways to Get Unstuck in an Improv Scene – Part IIIThis is part 3 of a 4 part series. These 32 items are compiled from a list that I brainstormed, and include principles that I learned in workshops from David Koechner, Micah Sherman, Mandy Butler, Kevin Patrick Robbins, Armando Diaz, Dad’s Garage, The Village Theatre, and Automatic Improv, as well as a few of my own thoughts. Do you…
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Continue reading →: Mixed Signals at Spontaneous CombustionYou can learn a lot from going to improv festivals. At Spontaneous Combustion 4, I learned that Sarah Eldred and Vinnie Valdivia are incredible improvisers. Check out their improv duo, Mixed Signals, doing an awesome show in a unique format.
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Continue reading →: 32 Ways to Get Unstuck in an Improv Scene – Part IIThis is part 2 of a 4 part series. These 32 items are compiled from a list that I brainstormed, and include principles that I learned in workshops from David Koechner, Micah Sherman, Mandy Butler, Kevin Patrick Robbins, Armando Diaz, Dad’s Garage, The Village Theatre, and Automatic Improv, as well as a few of my own thoughts. Do you…
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Continue reading →: 32 Ways to Get Unstuck in an Improv Scene – Part IIn my previous post, I talked about five reasons why improvisers get stuck in scenes. Ideally, we would stay away from those mistakes and all of our scenes would flow smoothly, but in practice, that’s impossible. Maybe you get thrown off by your partner’s idea, maybe nothing in the scene is affecting…
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Continue reading →: 5 Reasons We Get Stuck in Improv ScenesOne of the greatest dangers for an improviser is getting stuck in a scene – that sinking feeling when you can tell that a scene is not going well and the audience is not engaged. Your mind freezes, hijacked by the thought of “I don’t know what to do,” and…
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Continue reading →: How to Lead a Level 1 Improv ClassBuilding an ensemble out of a motley crew of students is a sizable challenge. This is the formula that was used in my first improv class, and only now am I beginning to realize its genius. Get them to work to share their voice. We started out by playing “Ball” in the parking…
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I’m Randall
Welcome to Improv Everyday, where I write about improv and what it has taught me.
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