Teaching again - this Friday only !

Hi friends - Just wanted to let you guys know I'm teaching the Friday night Drop-in this week at the Pit. (Filling in for Ashley, who's out of town.)

It's the "Scenework Fundamentals" drop-in, so the content will be a little less out there than my Thursdays were. Whether that's a good or bad thing is your call :)

Anyway, 7-10 on Friday at Simple Studios, I'd love to have any or all of you there. I miss drop-in teaching. It's gonna be fun.

Have kickass holidays and I hope to see you there!

Yer pal,
Geoff

Tonight's the Night -- for something Else (No Class!) (Anymore!)

Hi everybody, just a quick reminder that there's no THursday Drop-In tonight, or any other Thursday for the knowable future.

I'll really miss you guys, and the chance to work with new and returning students every week.

BUT!!! Drop-Ins are good, and useful! The Pit knows this. So they're preserving the Friday night, and Saturday & Sunday afternoon Drop-Ins on an ongoing basis, for you guys.

Full info here: http://www.thepit-nyc.com/dropins2.html



Fridays will always be "Scenework" with Ashley Ward, 7-10.



Saturdays will always be "The Workout" - the class designed to your order every week, with Pete LePage, 3-6.





Sundays will alternate between Short Form with Justin Zell and Long Form with Brett Wean, 3-6. See the PIT drop-ins page for the exact schedule & who's teaching Sunday this week.


I was asked to also teach Sundays so it would be a 3-man rotation, but I work Sunday days at my jobby-job, so no dice.

I'll really miss you guys. Thanks so much for coming and putting so much of yourself into the work every week. Thursday Drop-In really wasn't a class that you could come in and half-ass, and none of you did. Thank you for that.

These 7 classes are an absolute highlight of my year, and my improv career so far. Thank you.

Come see my PIT house team, Punch, any and every Wednesday night at 9:00, for free at the PIT.

And feel free to drop me a line with your questions, thoughts, pictures of birds of prey, or restaurant recommendations.

With Thursday nights freed up again, I'll be available to coach improv teams again, too, and would be happy to work with any of you.

Any more plugs to cram in?. . . I guess not. I can always edit more in later. Hooray!

Keep playing from your gut; keep stepping out on stage with nothing in your head. Everytime you do, an angel gets a free sub sandwich.

Thanks again.

Your pal,
Geoff

Tonight's the (Last) Night - Let's (Learning) Party!

It's strictly for financial reasons on the part of the Pit. What're you gonna do.

I'll tell you what we're gonna do: We're gonna have one great last Thursday Drop-In class together! Email me today if there's anything you especially want to do, and we'll do it.

Other than that, we're gonna hit favorite exercises, def get some Intervals in there, and probably make up an exercise or two on the spot, as has been the norm.

I've come up with a brand new kind of Intervals that any TDI veterans (or adventurous newcomers) will be welcome to try. It's badass.

This class has truly been a highlight of my year, and of my improv life so far. Thanks to all of you for being a part of it, and I'd truly love to see every one of you tonight.

The more we get, the more I'll adjust the exercises to keep people on their feet as much as possible and on their chairs as little as possible.

Let's rock it out.

Can't wait!

Your pal,
Geoff

P.S. --This here below is now my new favorite video ever. And appropriate for tonight!

Tomorrow - The Rumors Are True: It's our last class

Sad but True

For financial reasons, the Pit's cancelilng the weekdcay Drop-In classes for the foreseeable future.

It makes me very sad, but I'm thrilled that we at least get one more class. That's this Thursday.

C'mon out, and work with me in here one last time.

I'll write more later.

It's been, truly, a party while it's lasted.

Let's party one more time!

Your pal,
Geoff

That Was Awesome: "100 points for naming her "Cabinet"

Kickass dudes - including two eager returners from last week, and one brought in by major glowing recommendations from one of the returners.

We had a really great time, I think. People had specific stuff in mind to work on, and I think we got to all of it, at least a little.

I'll say this: Three and Four-person classes may not be sustainable from a business point of view. But while they last, wow, I think they're great for the people involved. You get so much individual attention, and so many more times on stage than you do in your normal team rehearsal, or 18-person class.

And we're doing 3 hours, at that!

I really believe this class is worth perpetuating. If you think so too (or feel like it's something you want to check out sometime or other), I urge you to come out sooner rather than later. Big numbers now will help carry us through any lean weeks in the future.

The lean weeks are great, they truly are. But we need some bigger weeks to keep it worth the theater's while to keep us going.

Why did this get depressing? It's the weatheroutside today, I bet.

Last night was awesome. Everyone was game as hell, and we got to do the unprecedented combo of Solo Intervals followed by Pairs Intervals. All three guys loved it.

It's seriously such a huge joy for me to get to introduce the stuff I love in improv to people, and to see them see the beauty in so much of what we do.

Also, one guy had an iPhone, so we were able to check the Yankees scores during the break.

Thanks for another great week, you guys. I hope to see you (and all the rest of you!) and your friends in the next few weeks to come.

Wahoo!

Stuff we did included:

Word Smash
Crossing:
-Silent
-With asides
Turn Out
Silence
Emotion Chairs
Son of a bitch
This is Bullshit
Raw Intervals
Pairs Intervals


Notes I took included:

100 points for naming her "Cabinet"
Cabot?
Gender confusions
Fitler
W/ the fuckin Krinkles
I love the long ones b/c the change!
statements
single
"yesterday, today, and the day before"
Yay! not sefl-conscious [sic]


I find I'm taking less notes every week. Maybe that's me growing to trust my short-term memory more, as I get comfortable teaching. I don't think it's laziness...

See you soon!

Your pal,
Geoff

Punch cards! $5 off for PIT students!

Big News!

Two new promotions to make Drop-In classes (especially the Thursday...) an even better economical choice:

1.) The Punch Card: Just like at the sub sandwich shop -- come to 9 Drop-In classes (any combination of days), and the 10th class is free!

2.) PIT Student Discount If you're a current student at the PIT, just show your PIT student ID at the desk when you pay and you get $5 off the (already 50% off regular levels') price of your drop-in, every time.

We Drop-In teachers have been pushing hard for these from day one, and are thrilled they're getting implemented.

If this makes it possible for you to come to more drop-ins than you could before, that's fantastic. If those added classes are all mine -- Better Still.

Hope to see you soon, punch-card in hand!

Your pal,
Geoff

Tonight's the Night: Week 6 - Pimp Away!

Good lord, that's garish. BUT, it does accidentally touch on my point - which is not original at all, but true, so we're gonna work with it: Pimping, in improv, is not a crime.

Now, there's an important distinction to make between true, bad pimping, and "giving gifts", which is a wonderful, helpful move that too often gets lumped in with pimping.

Now here's the secret: Even the bad pimping isn't bad. Certainly not when you know your partner.

Anyhow, that's the definite item on the agenda tonight - Fun with Pimpin'.

I'm also looking at some more Whispered Secrets, since that went so well last week, and maybe some more Holiday Gift Exchange, Basement/Unbasement, Open Crossing, and, of course, Intervals.

Haven't come to my class yet, and are wondering what the hell those things are? Well, roughly translated they boil down to: Awesome, Awesome, Kickass, Fantastic, Fun as Balls, and Incredible. Hope that helps.

7-10, tonight, Simple Studios on 29th, $20, come on out!

N.B.: Actual pimps are very bad people.

Hope to see you there!

Your pal,
Geoff

Thinking about Pimping

I'm thinking this week we'll do some work on pimping, the sin that isn't. Also known as giving gifts.

But "giving gifts" gets such less interesting Google Image results:

vs.

That was Awesome - Week 5: Rain Schmain

Sure, it rained all day and never really did stop at all. I feared the worst.

I shouldn't have worried.

We had 4 intrepid souls say screw the rain and make their way to us, and we had a great time. It was an international crowd - 1 from Holland, 1 from Russia, 1 with a very Greek name, and 1 from the Bronx. Which I believe is in central Asia.

It was a really, really good time. As promised, we did the silent exercise I'd planned, and wouldn't you know it, these awesome folks started working in awesome, seamless use of silence where appropriate throughout the next exercise we did too. It made a definite difference.

At a student's request, we also hit specificity nice and hard, playing one round of "I've got the Motts" and then transforming it in the next round into "Christmas Gift Exchange", which was an absolute blast. Just hysterical, which it wasn't even really intended to be. Learned something valuable on that one, I did.

We also got to try out the long-rumored, never-before-seen Pairs Intervals -- and they were great. A very different experience from solo Intervals - and it was observably enjoyed by all.

All in all, a fantastic week. And no one seemed put out in the least about the slight emergency time change, so I guess I was making too big a deal out of it. Sorry bout that.

Stuff we did included:
One Word Story
Word Smash (Thor-style)
Open Crossing
basic scenes:
-status
-relationship
I Got the Motts
Christmas Gift Exchange
Silence scenes
Whispered Secrets
Pairs Intervals

Notes I took included:
Time to shuck the oysters
great strategy in a pinch
very nice
beautiful pimpin
+ yay accept gifts
wonderful instincts <-> have an opinion
present it to him

Another awesome one. Can't wait for next week. Thanks to everyone who came out, you all did really good work.

See you soon, I hope!

Your pal,
Geoff

Alert! We're Starting at 7:30 tonight (venue's fault)

Yo! I just got the call from Simple Studios -- they goofed on some booking issue. Long story short: We're going to start at 7:30 tonight.

I'll still be there at 7:00, since I figure some of you guys will. It'll be a nice chance to chat a bit, I hope. We can still go til 10:30, thus getting in our full 3hours -- but we'll play it by ear, since I know leaving promptly at 10 can make a difference for those with travel or other types of plans.

Sorry about this, friends. They'll get an earful from me. Nobody messes with my class and gets away with it!

See you at 7:30! Or 7! Or, hell, 9:45! (please try not to come at 9:45)

Your slightly exasperated pal,
Geoff

Tonight's The Night!: Week Five- Gettin' Silent

I'm on the run, but just want to confirm that we're gonna rock one of my favorite exercises tonight - nice and simple, just some scenes with a lot of silence. We'll also do some Open Crossing, maybe some emotion chairs and/or Basement/Unbasement, and intervals, sweet intervals, in one configuration or another, depending on turnout.

We had a record-breaking turnout last week, which makes this a big night. Am I expecting 10 again? I'm expecting awesome again.

Come on out! $20, 7-10, Simple Studios. Get freaky. Or classy. Or whatever your gut wants you to do.

I love this class.

Your pal,
Geoff

Tomorrow: Week Five - we get to silence

All right!

Week five is tomorrow, and among other stuff we're gonna make good on the part of my class description that says "exercises involving... silence".



Easy, Eddie. You can talk all you want.

Your pal,
Geoff

That was Awesome - Week 4 Blows the Roof Off

Holy macaroni!

Last night was fantastic. The.. burbly durbly. It ruled. 10 people - beating the previous record by a margin large enough that the margin itself would beat the previous record.

The margin between the margin and the previous record would itself be large enough to beat the previous record.

Free gin awesome.

And hoo, boy, they were game as could be.

Stuff we did included:
Rubbing the google (copyright Kevin Scott)
Slap Daggers
Word Smash (Thor-style)
Open Crossing
This is Bullshit
Emotion Chairs
Basement/Unbasement
And
Raw Intervals

Notes I wrote included:
Very realistic w/ the One sided dialogue then appropriate
& varied degrees
DARK OK
The Birth of Fred Schneider!!!
Bruce Lee & Bruce Willis

Everyone stretched themselves in one or more of these exercises, and a lot of truly spontaneous, unplanned, surprises, and dynamic work ensued.
I really felt like I got to see people getting in touch with their instincts -- and even better, people letting go of that "outside eye" that we improvisers use to evaluate everything we do while we're doing it.

I'm proud to have helped this class to happen.

Now, jumping from 3 awesome people last week to 10 awesome people this week was a big adjustment, and there are a couple of adjustments still to be made. I'm going to break up the Intervals to make sure no one has to sit too long, and definitely reduce the time we spend on warmups to 15 minutes or less.

Please, anyone who's taken this class or who is thinking about checking it out, don't hesitate to drop me a line here, on facebook, or at my email, with your questions, concerns, suggestions, threats, or recipe requests. I'm good with eggs and meats.

Thanks to everyone for coming out, and I hope to see you (and you) next time.

Wahoo!

Your pal,
Geoff

Tonight's the Night -- Week Four

Yep yep yep, tonight's the night, week four of Thursday drop-in. I'm pretty goddamn excited. Maybe not... sexually excited like Mr. Courtin (Courtin' indeed!), but very excited.

Last week was such a blast for everybody, and they're all planning to come back and are gonna try to bring friends who they think could use it.

Want to add yourself to that number?

Do it.

Doooooo it.

For real.

We're gonna keep on jumping tonight, as I continue to refine my methods for getting you out of your head and fully open and on the stage with no plans whatsoever. It really worked well last week.

If you want more surprises per show, come work with us.

I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so.. I'm so... scared?

7:00! Simple Studios! Wahoo!

Your pal,
Geoff

That Was Awesome -- Week Three Made Me Happy

Well well well! How the pendulum has swung! Last night was really great. 3 awesome people came out, and we worked our asses off.
They were each game as hell and threw themselves into everything we did; and let me tell you, they really made beautiful work out of every bit of it. Each of them spent at least one exercise working on stuff that is a challenge for him/her. Everyone stretched themselves, and everyone got into the flow of things and starting having stuff bubble up out of themselves whose origin they couldn't really identify.
Which is the main point of this class.
So Kudos!! To Ann, Athos, and Patrick. You guys did really, really good work yesterday.
And also left me really, really happy.


Stuff we did included:
Word smash, Thor-style
Phone tag
Open crossing
Emotion chairs
And a glorious hour of Raw Intervals

Notes I wrote included:
No real reason to do it
ah well, we're learning to teach
30s scene
Chinese takeout
cocktail cabinet
awe- can b + or -
jealous is not peevish
Nice!
Silence to be used
Filter - Apply it to multiple things
Allow it to ⇑⇓ in intensity
⬑MAYBE NOT
Yay! Being oblique - nice
Neat! jovial-faced suspicion
Mathematics
Neat! two-person scene of all asides
Crisper transitions
Falafels → that's your right in the intervals
Arc
swirl -- spiral!
(Bus stop)
that just happened
Intervals can go dark
No need ever be funny
+ NEW RULE whoever goes 1st gets to go again at the end
Able to twist OK!!! this does that to you now
Hand car -- in head at 28
3 towns so organic!
(right?)

Seriously, this class was frigging great last night. It was an awful lot like my fondest dreams of how this class can go.
You three, come back. And you who haven't come yet, or haven't made it back, come on out. The Thursday drop-in is getting better and better.

Your pal,
Geoff

Tonight's the Night! Week Three!

No time to type much -- gotta run out the door. But tonight's gonna be awsome, I can feel it.

I bought a stopwatch, man, no kidding.

This shit just got real.

I hope to see you there!

Your pal,
Geoff

That was Awesome - Week 2

Well that was awesome. Attendance was a little low, but the class dynamic was awesome and people have told me they plan to come soon. We shall see...

Stuff we did included:
Raw Intervals
Character Slip Intervals
Nogoodnicks
Silent Crossing
Basement/unbasement

all with the emphasis on organics.

Notes I took included:
Yeh uh huh typical teen
timid "Russian" Groceries to Mommy
Brian?
I no hung up
Cheaters!
woman
Curser Phone Breaker
Follow it, each of you

It really was a ton of fun and I think everyone involved had a great time. As usual, I learned a ton, and was able to pass on a few things if I do say so myself.

Two days til Week Three - I am super looking forward to it.

Come on out!

Your pal,
Geoff

Tonight's the Night! Week Two!

Like I said yesterday, I'm really looking forward to tonight. We're gonna try a lot more stuff, including scenic and non-scenic work (i.e. more exercisey exercises) to get our flow flowing and our weight up on our toes.

I will go ahead and stay that at this early stage of the Pit's drop-in program, class size tends to be smaller than the regular Level 1-5 classes, which means a whole lot more reps for you per class than you'd usually ever get during a 3-hour class with 18 classmates. More than you'd usually get during a New York-standard 2-hour team rehearsal, for that matter. By a lot.

And it makes it a lot more doable for me to work what you want to work on into the class's content, and follow any threads that come up as we work.

Don't worry about getting tired - we take a break in the middle, and if we're really getting worn out we can slow down the physical exertion level, or take a second break, or, hell, split early.

But I don't plan on it.

Three hours is a fantastic amount of time. As far as I'm concerned, it should be the standard length for a rehearsal.

At the least I'm going to make it the standard length of my class.

I hope to see you there, this week or in the weeks to come. You won't regret it. It will be fun as balls.

Your pal,
Geoff

Tomorrow: Class Two

What'll we do?

I've got stuff planned, obviously. Is it obvious? Either way, I've got stuff planned.

We'll almost definitely do some intervals of a few different kinds, pairs work, silent work, deliberately boring work, reactive work, and crisis work.

I want to dip our toes in a couple of short form devices that create the need for instant decision.

I'm also doing some thinking about what warmups and non-scenic exercises will translate well to smaller numbers of people. You know, just in case we get smaller numbers of people. ;)

And as always, my ideas going in are the outline from which we depart as is meet in the moment.

You're paying for the class. It's your class. I'm gonna keep doing my damndest to make it good for you.

See you there at 7!

Your pal,
Geoff

Class Notes Video

I set those notes I jotted down below to video using xtranormal.com.



[Note: I kifed the idea off of Keith Huang, who's been using xtranormal to fantastic effect in the Pit Forums. I did know about the site before that though, so phooey.]

The "script" again:
Alpha Sigma Phi?
Kerstin <---YES!
So wrong we like it better
Sob story - Yes!
-Reality-
If it's weird, you can call it weird
Whimsical
extremity- solve with quiet + silence, + solemnity
YAY F1
Composure - Self-awareness
Show us - i.e. tell us, + then live w/ it
give us happy
Jail! YAY!
"You're pissin' in the wind, you try and come after me"

Your pal,
Geoff

That was Awesome - Week 1

That was awesome.

Stuff we did included:
Basic Scenes.
Raw Intervals.
Character slip Intervals.
Directed Reaction Moment Scenes.
Basement/Unbasement.

Notes I took included:
Alpha Sigma Phi?
Kerstin <---YES!
So wrong we like it better
Sob story - Yes!
-Reality-
If it's weird, you can call it weird
Whimsical
extremity- solve with quiet + silence, + solemnity
YAY F1
Composure - Self-awareness
Show us - i.e. tell us, + then live w/ it
give us happy
Jail! YAY!
"You're pissin' in the wind, you try and come after me"

I had a really good time, and learned quite a bit. I hope you guys did too. Thanks for coming out, and I hope to see you coming back.

Your pal,
Geoff

Tonight's the Night

Tonight's the night, dear friends. Tonight we begin the Pit's Thursday night Drop-In Class: Playing from the Gut.

I couldn't be more excited.

The way I approach improv is with a hierarchy of trust that values the impulses of instinct and emotion over the thoughts of the mind. I trust my subconscious more than my conscious mind.

I believe that every good move of improv should be learned, then practiced until it becomes a habit. The habit, maintained, becomes a reflex. And the reflex, allowed to act over time, becomes instinct. And once good moves are loaded in, "dropped down" as some people say, you can truly get out of your head once show time comes, and let your guts, your instincts, your intuition lead you.

What this boils down to for our workshop is that we're going to practice good improv behavior, but even more so we're going to practice letting loose and letting fly. Abandoning concern and caution and seeing what happens when we get out there and get loose. Timidity is a wonderful trait to portray in a character once in while. But in an improviser, it's to be eliminated.

We will also, fear not, cover all the good stuff that we all should be practicing as improvisers. Commitment, decisiveness, object work, status, editing technique, silence, surprise.

But more than anything else, this class is about the joys (and delightful terrors) of plunging in.

I hope you'll join us, and, having joined us, will return. It's going to be fun as balls.

Your pal,
Geoff