The degeneration of quality scenes in the DMIL was indirectly caused by poor judging. Thus, I feel it is important to show examples, and have YOU be the judge. Let's see how well this works.
Theater Sports is based upon a three-tiered judging system for a very specific reason: Following the rules of the games, and having quality scenes that people care about, are just as important as making the audience laugh. Each judge rates each scene on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the best.
1. Narrative - Judges the Story. Do the characters DO something? Does the scene have a beginning, middle and end? Do they head towards the danger instead of talking about it? Do they have strong, believable, consistent characters? Is there an established location and environment?
2. Technical Judge - Judges the rules. Do they "Brown bag?" (Do they swear, make dirty comments, touch on subjects that would be inappropriate for a "Family Show"?) Do they follow the rules of the scene? (The simpler the rules, the more exactly they must follow them.) Are they consistent? Do they "Continue the illusion?" (Do they avoid walking through their own pantomimed furniture and doors?)
3. Entertainment - Judges entertainment value. How funny was the scene? Did they find the humor organically (or was it just a coupla guys telling jokes?) Honestly, was it really funny? How funny was it? Really? That's pretty funny.
Here's an introduction to technical judging, and the style of Theater Sports:
Watch the first 4:30
What is the brown bag? It's pretty simple:
An overview for the Narrative Judging:
First Clip: Exactly what NOT to do. These performers use gags and gimmicks instead of characters (very Monty Python), and it is obviously being driven by the interviewer. This scene should change dramatically when the interviewee says "So, do I have the job?" because the answer should be "Yes, and..." (or something equivalent) --so they can head towards an unfamiliar format and explore the possibilities. Another sign that something is very wrong is the length of the scene (7:00!) "You should always leave the audience wanting more." - Kieth Johnstone
An overview of Entertainment Judging:
This is fairly simplistic. Did you watch the above scenes? Did you find them funny? If you did, score them higher then the not-so-funny ones. End of story.
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5 comments:
For a more hands on approach, you can attend workshops and take classes if you have the time and money to devote to it.
Comedy Sports High School League
I didn't really find any of the scenes compelling, interesting, or funny. The last one with the Canadians is slightly better but that's only because Canadians are funny by default.
I don't know much about improv, but it seems to me that the Upright Citizens Brigade Imrov classes are your best bet. Those theaters, in NYC and LA, continue to produce tremendous comedy talent. Pretty pricy place but you are learning from some of the best.
I have to agree with Ryan, I wasn't too into the videos. And I heart Canadians. I think your topic is interesting though. Improv seems to be really entertaining. How long have you been interested in it? Here's a blog I just found about a Canadian Improv.
I think the art of improvisation is definitely a sport. It requires training, practice, and its really hard! I really like to watchWhose Line Is It Anyway? because it amazes me how good those people are at improvising and being funny all at the same time!
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