Saturday, June 12, 2010

I welcome thoughts about our shows. Also fellow performers are encouraged to add thoughts concerning the art of making it up on the spot. For me, I get in the "zone" doing improv; I don't even know how it works after all these years but it is magical.

20 comments:

  1. I wonder about what audiences experience when you're "in the zone", while doing improv.

    What effects have you noticed in others?

    Is it sometimes contagious - when one performer gets in the "zone", do others sometimes or even frequently end up in the zone, also?

    Thanks!
    -David

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  2. The audience as a whole is drawn in when one or more performers are in the "zone"; not necessarily every person gets involved, but there is an energy coming from the audience which can be felt or heard as applause or laughter.

    The effect is contagious for the performers who are interacting with the engaged performer.

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  3. We recently conducted 2 different corporate events using team building and improvisation at the Hotel Monoco in downtown Baltimore through the event coordinator, Harriett Goldberg at Concierge Plus. The "shows" were murder mysteries where all played parts and shared information using team building and improvisation. One group out of the US and Canada had time to work on improvisation using short form techniques - here creativity and working together was stressed as well as having fun and laughing. The second group based in India and currently working in the US, was dynamic in their team building not stopping even during dinner.

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  4. Show completed tonight at St John's Lutheran Church is Phoenix, Maryland. The audience had not experienced an improvisational/interactive play. They were polite and laughed, not expecting what was going on. It did not take them long to understand that the rules of theatre here are relaxed and that they can participate which they did with pleasure.

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  5. We did a great private show in Ocean City Maryland on Thursday night and received a standing ovation from an audience that deserved the same. This was at the Hotel Clarion where we have done some shows smaller in scope previously. The signs are good for performing public shows here for people on the shore.

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  6. Last night we did a small show on the train in Middletown Pennsylvania. I played two characters: 1) The victim; then 2) the cop, solving my own murder. It was fun to stretch my skills again and make the quick adjustment between the two people. One was British and the second was a former American cowboy in S. America now homicide cop. There were only 29 people in the audience on a hot evening but it was like Broadway in the countryside of rural Pa. The four of us worked as a finely tuned machine.

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  7. We are about to have our best holiday/xmas season in years. We are really gonna be busy in December.

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  8. First public show in Ocean City, Maryland at the Grand Hotel last weekend was a major success. Although the number of participants in the mystery were low, they were the most enthusiastic and focused I have ever seen.

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  9. We live in a world where few people are really paying attention. We as a society are lost in our own world whether one we created or through some sort of modern instrument whether it is TV, the Internet, a hand held or another "communicative" devise. Sadly it affects what goes on in public and even sadder what goes on in the every day work world. It does not matter what social order or age category, or whether it is in product creation or customer service or the consumer himself. Regrettably, lack of focus happens even with the artist and the performer. Business and society suffer from lack of attention, following a linear path regardless of its failure to be of any good, and not daring to think outside of a predetermined box, if there is any thinking at all. There is a lack of concern for others and increased anger which we have all noticed everywhere. Improv is one of the cures that can counter this trend. Within a short period of time, participants can experience the lost arts of paying attention, being in the moment and experiencing the wonder and joy of life as it transforms right in front of them. Improv can be a way of life and a way for business. Teaching improvisational skills and improvisational comedy to non performers is an extremely useful business tool in team building, improved communication, creative thinking, and much more. Having fun and laughing is a most effective way of learning and having any organization function.

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  10. We did our first show on the Pride of the Susquehanna in Harrisburg PA last night. This is a paddle boat and looks like a floating bar room. The show went well although we faced torrents of rain while performing and making our entrances from the outside.

    Going home was the real challenge; I opened the door on the boat to leave and came face to face with what seemed a northeasterly - we walked somewhat unprepared on the long pathway to our car through rivers of water.

    We stopped at Maple Donuts just south of Harrisburg off I 83 to try to dry out and get hot coffees and teas to warm up.
    A memorable beginning for a new territory.

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  11. We attended your murder mystery on the Black-Eyed Susan on Saturday the 30th, and you included me in your performance. It was so much fun! Thanks for reminding me of my high school acting days, and keep up the good work!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for posting this. I apologize for not responding earlier but the summer got away from us. I especially like that you had fun which is our main goal.

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  12. We had a really nice piece on the radio this morning - WITF, in Harrisburg, PA.
    http://www.witf.org/arts-culture/2012/09/murder-mystery-cruises-on-pride-of-the-susquehanna-riverboat.php

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  13. We were on the M & H RR last night - now in our 10th year there. We do just a few shows a year here and we understand they are turning people away. Most of the audience we have seen before and they come to see and enjoy the show. What a pleasure it is to do a show for folks who want to have a good time. There has been a few times recently where we have had to fight with drunks during the show. This is exhausting and leaves us wondering why we even bother. My estimate is that most people are good and decent people. It is the intoxicated and especially the rude sober people who think everyone paid to listen to their generally loud and boring conversations that should really find someplace else to be. It would be nice to charge them for the performances they destroy.

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  14. We were on the M & H RR last night - now in our 10th year there. We do just a few shows a year here and we understand they are turning people away. Most of the audience we have seen before and they come to see and enjoy the show. What a pleasure it is to do a show for folks who want to have a good time. There has been a few times recently where we have had to fight with drunks during the show. This is exhausting and leaves us wondering why we even bother. My estimate is that most people are good and decent people. It is the intoxicated and especially the rude sober people who think everyone paid to listen to their generally loud and boring conversations that should really find someplace else to be. It would be nice to charge them for the performances they destroy.

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  15. Great show at Garlic Poet for Vineyard at Hershey on Saturday - we performed the show in 3 spaces like the old days on the New Freedom dinner train. Plan to do shows at the Vineyard this summer once new pavilion built.

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  16. And...a great beginning last night aboard the Black Eyed Susan for our first show of the season.

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  17. We have a show in LaPlata Maryland on Sunday May 19th at 6 PM - dinner and show only $25 - location is Grace Lutheran 1200 Charles St - it would be a shame if you are in the area not to take advantage - contact my client by Monday May 13, 2013
    http://www.otterproductions.com/MurderMysteryMay19.html

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  18. Great show in LaPlata, Maryland this past Sunday - near perfect show and near perfect audience. The kind you want to put on salary and take them with you on tour.
    We are getting ready to start the summer season on the Black Eyed Susan paddle boat in Baltimore on May 31st http://www.baltimorepaddlewheel.com/publiccruises.html
    as well as the Pride of the Susquehanna in Harrisburg Pa on June 14th
    http://shop.harrisburgriverboat.com/Murder-Mystery-Dinner-Cruise_c5.htm

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  19. After a long time due to serious family matters I return to comment here. Now into the 21st year under my name, I am expecting the best year ever.

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