One Guy a Dog and Pizza Place

I usually walk Coqui in the morning. Coqui is a dog. He loves stopping to sniff and pee on everything. He's the classic dog. Bushes were made for marking, and he has big plans. I'm not in a hurry, it's a leisurely walk. I'm not power walking the block. (Is there a band name called Walking the Block? That sounds like a good band name). I usually walk Coqui around the same time every morning, 9am, so the surroundings are pretty standard. Nothing out of the ordinary. Pigeons, Ford Focus, and garbage cans. Got it. Seen it.

However, last week I walked Coqui in the evening, after a show at Blacktop. It was late, but not so late that everyone was asleep. The world was still alive, but this was a different world. Music was drifting down from bedrooms, TVs blaring sport clips on ESPN (I'm pretty familiar with that dah-du-dah dah-du-dah,) and smells wafting from late night porch dinners. It was a drifting, blaring, and wafting world.

It was fantastic! Same Roseville street, but suddenly so much more vibrant, and alive. A change of time changed the space. I wasn't bored. I was intrigued. What were they eating? What is that band? Are they talking about football? I wonder how the San Francisco 49ers will do this off season.

My mind was suddenly filled with thoughts, and ideas, and I didn't plan that. I had no plans to think about Kapernick and the failing niners. I wasn't thinking, "I should really invest in a cookbook." I just experienced these thoughts, because I switched up Coqui walking time.

It's amazing how much our brain generates when we change things, when we move from the familiar to the new. One of the best teachers I ever had was Mark Sutton and Joe Bill who told us, a room full of improv nerds furiously scribbling down everything they shared, "a pizza place is a big location. Try being in the break room."

Brilliant! How many times have you began a suggestion of "Pizza Hut" tossing dough in the air. Go ahead, raise that hand! You know you've done it! We all have! But, how stale does that scene start feel (fine! You got me! pun intended). Tossing pizzas in the air is like walking Coqui at 9am. Look around, you've been here before! It's hard to see something new when we're beginning with such familiar territory. Our mind can feel in a rut, and it's not generating any new thoughts.

But, start in the break room, and suddenly, you notice the security system, a bottle of Jameson Whiskey, and a dart board. That's new! Time to play.

Halloween Music for Productions

Our Rocklin and Sacramento improv audience love theme shows. It feels different, and more dynamic. Are you planning on a Halloween themed improv show? If you are we have what you're looking for. You need music you can use in the show.

Attached is creative commons zero music and sound effects you can use for your shows. Any shows. Have a haunted house? Use it. Concert? Use it! Trying to scare away the neighbor children that keep smoking pot on your porch? Use it! (also...you might want to close your porch off) (why are they using your porch as a meeting spot? Get rid of those Adirondack chairs. Keep that porch uncomfortable and you'll find it empty). 

Seriously though, music can be expensive, and if you're like us, your theater isn't made of money. You use what you can, and I hope you can use this music. If you like these collections please let me know and I'd be happy to create more collections. We use a lot of music in our productions, Teen Slasher, Off the Cuff Broadyway, Dead or Alive, The Shorties, etc. Audiences love being transported into the work and we've seen the music in our improv and sketch comedy shows a very simple way to accomplish this.

Great intro. Unnerving, and definitely menacing. Something is coming. Your audience is going to nervously giggle. It's 30 seconds of dread.

Looking for suspense underneath the scene? Here's a clip of three minutes of suspenseful music. Really helpful in an improv scene if you're just trying to let people know, "something not right here."

Halloween isn't complete without uncomfortable piano music. This will help put your improv audience on the edge of their seats. When I heard this music I immediately thought of movies like Scream and Halloween.

The classic violin that signals trouble in a Halloween show. If your improvisers are walking through a forest, drop this into the scene and your audience will gasp. They'll understand something is about to happen...and it's not a hug. Enjoy!

When I heard this track I thought of explorers wandering around underground, about to meet there doom. You know....cheery stuff!

Thanks for listening to all these tracks. We've been using them in our show Teen Slasher, and will definitely keep them for future productions too. I hope they serve you and your theater!

Music has helped our work. Have you been using anything that helps emerge the audience into your shows?

San Francisco 49ers and Tension

I'm been thinking a lot about tension recently. Our improv classes have been great recently, but I've noticed improvisers are filling the silent moments with words. Lots of words.

It's killing the tension. And people love tension. I was thinking about tension last night while watching the San Francisco 49ers cling to their small lead over the New York Giants. We humans love us some tension. We've designed games full of the stuff! Football is a 20+ billion dollar business built on tension.

Sadly, the 49ers lost, but I was hooked until the last second. I was hoping they'd defend the run, the pass, and keep Eli Manning and his receivers out of the endzone. And, when Eli and the Giants scored, I was still tense. I was tense hoping Kaepernick and the 49ers could march the length of the field and win. When the time expired, I was tense thinking about what this meant for the rest of the reason.

Did the 49ers loss change my life? No. Not really. Everything has been operating normally today. But last night, it felt important, because everyone treated it like it WAS important.

There's always SOMETHING to be tense about it, if we allow it onstage. We don't have to honor tension, but we sure are missing out on a fantastic tool if we ignore it. When we treat the scene as important, and respect the tension, the audience will buy in. At the very worst they will laugh watching a bunch of actors treat something ridiculous as super serious.

I don't mind a scene full of conversation, but punctuate it with some silence, and give the audience time to absorb what's happening. What do the words mean. Give them a few seconds to imagine what COULD happen, instead of needing to constantly adsorb what just did happen. One of the best things the NFL has is the 24 seconds between plays. That's 24 seconds the fans get to sit there and imagine that next incredible play that's going to propel there team to victory. I know I did it last night.

"Wouldn't it be great if Carlos Hayne could smash through the defense and run for 80 yards and a touchdown?"

And, then for the next 24 seconds I waited, and hoped.

Tension is that beautiful moment in which the audience is full of hope, and wonder. Let's take a cue from the NFL and add a bit more tension.