Five Best Improv Apps

Have you heard of Rule 34? Let me cut and paste the official description from Urban Dictionary:Rule 34: Generally accepted internet rule that states that pornography or sexually related material exists for any conceivable subject.

Everything has been porn-ified. And, after years of using iOS and Android devices, everything has been app-ified as well. Rule 35 should state, An app exists for any conceivable subject.

There are apps for everything. Thousands and thousands of apps to wade through. Many of them can help an improviser. Should you get to searching and discover them yourself? NO! You don't have time for that. You're a busy improviser who has "yes, anding," to get to.

Let us help. Here are five apps we find indispensable throughout the week. These are Android Apps. I will create an iOS post soon. They're all free too, so put away your credit card.

1. Desk Bell

So simple. So helpful. There are lots of improv games that involve bells. If you want to stop scrambling for a bell, and muttering, "I thought I left it over here," do yourself a favor and download Desk Bell. Tap the screen and enjoy that sweet bell sound. It offers a continues looped bell sound when you want to signal the end of a game. WARNING: the looped bell sound can drive you crazy after 10 seconds. (imagine a toddler hyped up on 3 Red Bulls relentlessly ringing a bell. Sounds like that. It's can get annoying. Also, don't give toddlers Red Bull.)

2. Improv Toolbox The app was created by the Gainesville Improv Festival. If you're running a short form improv games show, you'll want this app. This is your one stop shop for timers, suggestions, and a soundboard that includes a knock, airhorn, and "yay" sound effect (I hope you have people in the audience and don't have to use this). I particularly love the suggestions, as it gives you options like genre, emotion, event and occupation.

3. Improv Hoedown Remember Whose Line is it Anyway with Drew Carey? He sure loved the Hoedown. The audience loved it too. Heck, audiences still love it. You can stop searching for the music. Just download the app. It can offer suggestions, play the music, and record your masterpiece. The creators offer a Paypal button if you'd like to donate, but the app is free.

4. SimpleMind Free Mind Mapping It's efficient, and effective. Even the name is efficient! Is it simple? Yes. Is it free? Yes. Does it offer Mind Mapping? Yes. SimpleMind Free Mind Mapping! When you need to just let your mind wander, but trace all the brilliant ideas you had along that wandering, this is the app for you. It's a great way to see how you and the team got from one place to another. I use it with the teams I'm teaching or coaching to show the progression from idea to idea, and how it influenced the scene.

5. Improv Game Dictionary

Sometimes, you just want to discover new improv games. Improv Game Dictionary offers up a collection of 40+ improv games. While many of them, Freeze, New Choice, and World's Worst are improv classics, you might find some new gems for your improv show.

I hope this article helps you out when you're preparing and performing your shows. Like I said, there are hundreds of apps out there. What are some of your favorite? What have you been able to use for improv? We can help the improv community discover new and exciting apps.

Improv Workshop and Addiction

I have an addictive personality. I don't mean, "let's see what's Paul's doing! I can't get enough of that guy!"No, I mean, "I like improv. This brings me joy! How man improv classes and improv festivals can I attend this year. Go!" That sort of addiction. It has it's pros and cons. Cons??....ummmm.....hmmm....well....uhhhh. OK, I can't think of many cons. Hell, improv brings me joy. Surrounding myself with teachers like Susan Messing, Rafe Chase, Tim Orr, Mark Sutton, and Joe Bill just magnifies the happiness. Yes. Addiction. I was addicted. To improv, and took a lot of improv workshops. I read books, registered for master class workshops, poured over clips of 3 for All, and Upright Citizens Brigade's Asssscat videos like it was football game film.

Then, I went to San Francisco and studied at BATS. A teacher suggested: "you should do other things." I didn't quite understand. "Go to a museum." But I have improv. "Go read some fiction." But I have improv. "Go find another hobby." But I have improv! "The more you learn, the more you go see the world around you, the richer your improv scenes become." Ohhhhh.

That made a lot of sense. I'm no good at an improv workshop or show if I don't have any life experiences. I got tunnel vision, everything I saw was improv, and the art suffered. The comedy suffered. No one is sitting home on a Saturday night thinking, "Let's go support some local comedy that feels small naive and immature."

So, what did I do with this new insight? Honestly? I wish I could say I went scuba diving in Figi, sky diving in Paris, and fed baby penguins who knew of nothing but life on the streets. They're tough penguins. (side note: if you google "penguin movies," you'll be surprised to find tons penguin films. Well, I was surprised. Maybe you won't be. Maybe you helped produce some of them. In which case, great work with Happy Feet!)

Nope. Instead....I flipped through magazines. I hoarded magazines and stared at ads. And, you should too!

Magazine's are packed with hundreds of worlds. Each ad is a world. You can enter it. You can see how it makes you feel, and what ideas are there. And, then you can jump to another, and adsorb that world. And, on and on and on.

It's an experience hack. Better then real life, and trying new things? No. Never. But, before a show, if you're trying to get your brain flowing with ideas, and thoughts, open up a magazine. I keep a bunch backstage at Blacktop Comedy.

The California Comedy Festival is Here

The third annual California Comedy Festival arrives this weekend at Blacktop Comedy! Are we excited? Very.

Should you buy tickets? Yes!

Will your eyeballs thank you after a weekend of amazing improv at Blacktop Comedy Theater? Of Course!

This year, the California Comedy festival brings together teams from all over the country. We have teams from Dallas, TX (Potty Talk), Phoenix, Arizona (They No Girls), Los Angeles (In Transit, Red Door), and San Francisco (The Letters, 5 Deadly Improvisers), and Fremont (5 Play). Plus, catch great local talent like Dead or Alive, Shorties, and ComedySportz in Sacramento. These are amazing teams. We were so impressed with their submission tapes we new they had to be at the festival. They'll be here soon, performing on Friday and Saturday night.

The festival has undergone some changes in the last few years. Initially, we called it the Milky Way Improv Festival, because, well....that's sounds pretty huge. The second year, we called in the California Improv Festival. This year, we're excited to announce we've settled on a name for years to come, The California Comedy Festival! Makes sense. We're all about comedy.

We're also very excited to move the festival into the new home of Blacktop Comedy Theater in Rocklin, CA. We have spent months sprucing up the new theater, excited to bring this festival to our theater. A larger theater means we can also keep all our workshops at Blacktop. We have a lot of classrooms in our new Rocklin location.

There are soooo many brilliant workshops during the California Comedy Festival. We minimized the class overlap, so you can take as many improv classes as you'd like. I know I'm going to jump into four. I'm an improv nerd, and am very excited about the classes:

BEING YOUR REAL-ASS SELF with  CHELSEA M. COLEMAN

IMPROVISED STAGE COMBAT: THE ART OF FIGHTING WITHOUT FIGHTING with DEREK YEE

PLAYING THE SILENCE with BEN LEDDICK

BEING VULNERABLE  with BILL STAHL

ENSEMBLE APPROACH TO IMPROVISATION with RISH SANGHVI

Finally, we'll be grabbing drinks every evening after the shows, celebrating amazing performers, and an addictive art form we call improv.

Want to join us? We'll be at Dragas and Loree's Little Shack in Rocklin. Dragas is a great new brewery that opened off Taylor road in Rocklin. It's close to the theater and Dutch Brothers (oh yeah...we'll likely be spending a lot of time getting drinks at Dutch Brothers in Rocklin too). Loree's Little Shack is.....um...eclectic. Yep, that's the perfect word. Strong drinks, lots of happiness, and opened late.

We’ll be at Dragas Friday night, and Loree’s Saturday. See you at the festival!