Acting : Improv, you're my hero! by Doug Kayne

For those of you who have been snooping at my various blog posts (especially during the Introduce Yourself Weekends), you would know I am an improv guy. I've been performing improv as a member of one group or another since 1994, and been teaching it in some capacity since 2005. I could talk for hours about improv -- games, exercises, characters, techniques, you name it. I recommend that everyone studies it -- not just to build your resume, but to gain the skills to be comfortable improvising when necessary. There is power in the embracing of "Yes, and..."

I know improv gets a bad rap at times -- for some reason, if you ask someone to come to your improv show, it will be occasionally met by sneers of disgust. But, it truly is a fantastic art form. And a useful technique as well -- in fact, from what I understand, improv training is something that casting directors for soap operas look for, given the sheer amount of pages being shot at any one time.

(This is where I put in a completely shameless plug for my improv group, THOSE FOUR MISFITS (www.ThoseFourMisfits.com, our next show is on Friday, August 7 in North Hollywood).

Now back to our regularly scheduled blog post.

Improv can also be a show-saver at times. I can't tell you how many times improv has saved a scene during a play when something goes awry. One of the things improv helps build is trust in your fellow performer, and when you're doing a show, this trust is key. And when things go sideways (as they always seem to do in live theater), improv can help things get back on track.

I'll give an example...and I'm going to praise one of my fellow performers, Andrew Schub, for this one. I'm an improv guy, but his improvisation helped set the play back on track.

I was doing a production of PETER PAN AND WENDY (not the one you're familiar with -- same story, different script, different music, different songs, different dances). I was playing a dream role -- Captain Hook. And, while the material itself was....less than stellar, the cast was awesome, and we had a great time together I enjoyed it immensely -- even the week when I had lost my voice and had to strain just to get a whisper out to be heard in the back row (we weren't mic'd) for back-to-back shows. I still have the hook that was made just for me, and it has appeared in other stage productions of Peter Pan as well.

There were two swordfights in the play, both between Hook and Peter Pan. In the first fight, the tech crew was waiting for a particular sequence to be performed to signal them to hit the sound cue of the crocodile. Rehearsals went off without a hitch. As did the first couple of weeks of shows. And then...on this particular show in question...as I pull out my sword...the blade starts to separate from the hilt (for those who are in the know, we discovered at that time that the sword being used was a push tang, not a full tang). The blade just sort of drooped. In slow-motion. Peter and I looked at each other, with him offering me a "What do we do now?" look. Without missing a beat, Andrew (who played one of my pirate crew) said, "It's all right, Captain. It happens to the best of us sometimes." The adults laughed. The kids didn't get it (when they're older!). We were able to have some banter going on until the sound cue arrived as needed. The scene was saved. And we were able to get the sword repaired in time for the next show.

That wasn't the only time a play I was in had to be saved by improv. Remind me sometime to tell you about the time the thick wooden sword broke at the beginning of the choreographed fight, flying upstage and almost hitting a cast member in the head. I could tell you all sorts of stories. We had to now improvise elements of the fight. And it's not just fight scenes either. What do you do when a piece of furniture isn't moved when the scene changes, and someone has to go get it in character? Improv helps there as well.

Improv isn't just a skill to build your resume with. It's a valuable tool to hold in your arsenal, helping you stay in the moment, flexible, and at times save the production.

Wait a minute...now that I think about it...maybe it's just shows I'm in... Am I the cause of all these mishaps?

Yes, and...