I began the exercise by selecting an instrument, I chose the saxophone and quickly emitted a slightly brassy pitch through pursed lips in attempt to reproduce the sound of the instrument. Once my melody was solidified, others joined. The exercise continued until the whole class was performing in a semi circle – creating a unique but harmonious sonic palate. I was rather impressed for the first try it sounded pretty decent.

Upon repeating the exercise, I began to notice a trend: whoever began the exercise seemed to be the designated, “lead musician” so I tweaked the exercise slightly in order to “level the playing field”. It was suggested that the leader should become a conductor once two or more people joined, but it was difficult for our group to approach the stage before having thought of an instrument to select as well as a riff that would actually fit the melody line. 

A few participants mentioned that selecting and reproducing an instrument sound was one of the more difficult parts of the exercise. The exercise would probably be helped by reviewing a selection of instruments and tones before the exercise begins. Technically, participants could choose their instrument beforehand; while this does remove some of the improvisational components, it can make the exercise easier. Smaller group sizes (e.g. 4 – 5) would be another beneficial change. A handful of participants would perform, allowing the rest of the participants to be audience members until the next group to take the stage. Overall I was thrilled with the outcome and along with these additional changes, I feel that it could be an exciting team-building exercise. 

Once again, the reading for this week also reminded me of many things I often forget to include in my every day interactions.

This concept explains why apparently “plotless” scenes can be so engaging.  For example, the picnic scene in class between Alexandria and Florian was extremely hilarious. Yet it was not intuitive in understanding why, as there was no clever or complicated plot, and was mostly banter and complaints from one person to the other. However, in light of “status”, it is precisely the back-and-forth ( “see-saw”) between the two that makes the scene so interesting.

Still, the concept of “status” is still a bit foreign and theoretical to me and I think it may take some practice before I become more comfortable with how “see-saw”ing works in improvisation.

It’s frightening to think of each conversation we have as involving a shift in status–I’m not saying it isn’t true, but this view propels the idea that everyone is truly self-serving and manipulative. I’d say that I agree with the status idea to an extent, but I wouldn’t assume that every comment everyone says is, even unconsciously, an attempt to make others feel higher or lower in status. Sometimes people are just talking, and sharing–so I’d cut everyone a break!

Johnstone’s discussion of status, especially as a tool in comedy, made me think of the following clip from The Office, where Andy Bernard and Dwight compete to be the most polite. Andy is so attached to his status as a polite guy that he can’t let a moment pass without returning a favor. He wants the upper hand; he doesn’t want to owe someone something. Enjoy the clip, it’s only a small part of the great scene, but I think it’s a good example of how competitions in status aren’t necessarily about putting others down but about keeping the status structure how you want it to be.

The Office Clip–Status

“… Outdo one another in showing honor…”

In the reading, from the get go, I got this vibe that there was this “I’ve-got-something-better-than-that” type of subject. For the purpose of making it interesting, I think that it is interesting, but I can’t help but wonder if we try to outdo one another in life. I wonder if that is the purpose or rather it is the reason for the causes of different conflicts. In the example, it mentions the “see-saw” battles between Mrs. X, Y, & Z and Mr.’s A, B, & C. Here is shows that it starts out with a scene that goes from a slow and stead line to an angular curve in a second! With Mrs. X starting the conversation, the constant intervening of the others causes the scene to be more interesting because it has more depth and more breadth.

Although this may be the case, the different statuses of people range in real life. In the aforementioned example, it seems that these people are of the same social status (i.e.: there is no royalty or entitled people). If however, there was an arrogant football quarterback or a egotistical basketball captain, then the scenario would change. For example, if those two were thrown in together in a high school setting, the main purpose would be to outdo each other with no one getting anywhere, other than “I-am-this” and “I am that.” It’s like putting two alpha males together; it will be a bragging rights competition. Furthermore, if there was a gorgeous female involved, then it would be an even more dubious competition of “oh, look at me, I play football and I’m the man!!” to “yea, yea, I can shoot from half-court, can you do that? (Slam-dunk)…” It would be interesting to include a newbie into the scene. While these two alpha males are challenging one another to a game of “who-is-better,” lurking near-by and under the radar is another male, who is not like the two alphas. This male is more or less a gentleman who does sports, but is also academically gifted and intelligent. Whilst the alphas are outdoing each other, this male, let’s call him a beta male, comes in and takes the female from both of them. Confused, dazed, and shocked, the two alphas are at a loss of what has happened! That… Is the beauty of patience. On a more realistic level, the opportunity for all three males is presented, however, the beta male was smart and strategic about his options and when his opportunity was open, he seized it with an open heart! In the end, it worked out for the beta, and for the alphas, not so much, but it was a great “see-saw” battle of bragging rights!

Referring back to the quote that I found earlier online, it relates to this reading in that (a) it is okay to outdo each other (b) but out – do one another in a way that will make the person you are outdoing look good.  Oh and beware of betas!! =O)

And that is what I have generally viewed improv as: saying the first thing that comes to mind and just working with it. But Johnstone sheds new light on just how deep the rabbit hole goes (again the first thing that came to me mind) when it comes to speaking. It is interesting the connection he makes between what you say and the resulting “statuses” that it assigns to the parties involved. I never really gave thought to such  ramifications of what I said. I just wanted to convey an idea. I wanted to respond. Of course, I am careful not to be intentionally demeaning in what I say but I was always focused on the content of what I said, not the possible implications. I just have to be extra careful now I guess.

(Man, this improv thing is getting deep. )

Seventeen again would define the categories of our nature as being fake and real. But really it’s not that simple. Just because you’re aware of the impression you’re giving off in a certain “performance” doesn’t mean that you’re being “fake” and manipulative in the negative stigma that it has. Because, if that was so, we’re all guilty of being fake all the time.  We all control ourselves to be more studious and scholarly in a classroom environment, confident and classy at a mixer, and calm and collected in a waiting room.  We want our teachers to know we’re smart, we want the girls to slightly want to be us and the guys to like us, and in a waiting room, we just don’t want to be the “weird” one that deters from the norm.  We aren’t being manipulative, we’re just tweaking our natures by circumstance. And we know what aspects of our personality may appear to be part of our subconscious, and we’ll still control them.  Maybe if we’re on a date, we’ll answer the phone form our parents more politely than usual. It’s not necessarily us being fake.  It’s more just us attempting to be successful within a social context.  Let’s face it. We just like being in control of our day-to-day lives. And as a said before, social interactions is central to our day-to-day lives.

I’m definitely more aware of my own tendencies throughout the series of performances that make up my life.  Maybe my next blog post will be things I notice about my own self-controls!

When I initially signed up for this class, I thought I would be able to apply the things I learned directly to my everyday life, and that’s what has happened. The most important thing I’ve learned from this class is how to respond to a situation when it doesn’t go as planned. I have become much more adept at recognizing that the situation is not meeting my expectations, not dwelling on this, and thinking on my feet to adapt to the new unexpected situation.

I tended to try to predict how a conversation would go even before having it with someone, and sometimes I was right about how it would go. In this situation, I would have pre-practiced lines that I would use and the conversation would move along rather smoothly. Many times though, the conversation would take an unexpected turn, and I would be left speechless, partly because I was bewildered that it did not go according to my prediction, but also because I did not have any of my pre-conceived statements to fall back on. This bad habit of mine would often get in the way of me having a good time at parties or other social get togethers.

Obviously, this was quite the bad habit, and it kept me from fully enjoying the spontaneous aspect of life. It halted my creativity in conversation, and honestly probably made me look like a boring individual to talk to. The exercises we have been doing in class that force you to change your perspective on a seconds’ notice and develop a new train of thought have done wonders for me outside of the classroom. I now find myself talking to people I’ve never met before about pretty much anything under the sun.

Not that I wasn’t able to do this before, but now it’s a much easier task.