tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6760979004610207513.post3663986698223466502..comments2023-10-19T18:54:00.378+01:00Comments on More about Improv: Agreement and the Comedy StorePeter Morehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16088377719121666891noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6760979004610207513.post-89414856531814300082010-04-08T09:43:12.222+01:002010-04-08T09:43:12.222+01:00Blocking is basically saying "no" to som...Blocking is basically saying "no" to somebody's idea. Also called "bopping."<br /><br />"Ah, Professor."<br />"I'm not a professor," is a classic block.Peter Morehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16088377719121666891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6760979004610207513.post-75870158490341437922010-04-07T10:03:15.579+01:002010-04-07T10:03:15.579+01:00I could do with an example of what a block is exac...I could do with an example of what a block is exactly....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6760979004610207513.post-36224441630256847672010-04-04T09:09:14.159+01:002010-04-04T09:09:14.159+01:00Although I got into impro partially because of reg...Although I got into impro partially because of regular attendance of the Comedy Store on Sundays, by the time I found Theatresports at the Hen and Chickens and started learning "proper" impro, the style made me bristle as well. I was a bit snotty about my first opportunity to be taught by Lee Simpson, until he actually started teaching of course. It takes a very talented and in sync gaggle to hold up a brilliant blocker or surrealist like Merton or Izzard, and they have to be extremely funny and have good timing before they go off reservation with their reality/scene shattering ways.<br /><br />The reason you bristle is not just pretentious purism, it's that you worry about those who think that the blokey blocky method is wot how it is done, rather than taking the example of their supporters working like buggery like Santa's elves to keep it going. We've all had to cope with the guy who thinks he's the next Merton (once we realized that we're not, of course).<br /><br />Some antipodean impro teachers run an exercise which starts with wordlessly mundane action then gradually travels up the curve of absurdity culminating in great life moments followed by literally anything you can imagine. Part of the point of this is that once you've established a reality with the audience you can bend it in increasingly outlandish ways. If a blocky bloke has good timing and is well supported, this can work in longer forms, but it takes collective wisdom and an absence of ego to pull off.Brian R Tarnoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12963403837782148443noreply@blogger.com