In tonight’s Improv class we had to play “not funny” scenes. Not funny meaning to stay in the moment longer, and not just start rattling off jokes. It forced us to focus longer, and look for the next best thing, not the big thing (joke). Sometimes you tell a joke in the scene and it doesnt “make your partner look good” (The second rule of Improv). In other words it doesn’t give them anything to react to, or build upon. It can take the life out of the scene.

We also focused on a Platform Tilt. Which is when you play a normal scene and then something happens (sometimes drastic, sometimes funny) to tilt the platform you and your partner(s) have built.

In the scene I was in, I played a father of a teenage girl, who was dragging her around to work with him. We were arguing in the scene about her wanting to go hang out with her friends, and the tilt was that her mother and I were divorced. I only had a little time with her each week. It was difficult staying in character and letting the scene emerge. I enjoyed the challenge of all that and also building the tilt, which changed the tone of the scene. We got some good feedback afterwards as well.