Performing for a Foreign Audience

You are very excited because you have been invited to play at the Fargleskarg International Comedy Festival. You're all rehearsed, you know your format or set, you have your tickets. Could there be anything else you need to think about? Actually there is... It's worth taking time to think about how well you will be understood.

This blog has come from more than 10 years of performing and teaching in many countries. It will be performance-focused and will mostly be about improv, but much of it also applies to stand-up, theatre and other types of performance. At least with most of these others, you have a chance beforehand to review the text and see if there are things which potentially could trip you up.

It is intended for any performer or group intending to perform for a foreign audience in their own language or a second common language.
Whether you are performing in your own language to people who may or may not have a good understanding of it; or a second language, which you and the audience could be at different levels at, there are a number of issues that may arise. Even performing somewhere with the same official language as your own can be open to problems. Let's have a look at what a few of these things can be.

1. Speak Clearly

This may sound obvious, but a native-speaking audience will almost certainly be able to follow you, no matter how fast you speak, what accent you use, or how lazily you pronounce words. Not so an audience for whom it is a second language. If you speak quite fast, you might find you need to slow down a notch or two. If you tend to mumble or slur words, you might also need to pronounce them clearer. And some accents are harder than others to understand. I've done scenes in certain strong British accents and been told later many people didn't understand a word. If you have a strong accent, it's worth checking how well people get it in the country you are performing in. You might have to soften it. You might not want to hear that, but if you speak a (second) language you are not fluent in, you know how difficult it is when someone doesn't speak clearly and with the pronunciation you learnt it in.

Another side of this is grammar. Grammatically it is highly possible, as many of you will appreciate, to do highly complex things with the structure of what we will call, as most people do, a sentence. Even to a native speaker, that was a complex sentence, spoken to someone who doesn't speak English so well, it might be received by a blank expression. Better to keep it simple.

In improv it usually is better to keep sentences simple anyway. Add a small bit of information at a time and together build something that will become complicated enough. British improvisers, especially, often pride themselves on their verbally dexterous loquacity, and although this plays well to a home audience, it can lose audiences abroad. Be prepared to adapt.

2. Vocabulary

This is an extension of the above, but big enough a topic to get it's own section. Even if you are going to another country that speaks your language, there can be a differences in the words used every day. A lot of the time, this situation won't be a problem. Brits, for example, know a lot of American words and slang thanks to movies, and also Americans hear more Britishisms than they used to. But it is something to especially be aware of if your audience is not fluent in your language. They will most likely not know slang words, old-fashioned or rarer words, or the more complicated word for something where a simpler word exists.

Some of this can be obvious. If you are feeling your audience, you can often sense when something you have said is not clear to them. And it's always possible to fix it if you realise you have used a slang or complex term by saying the standard or simpler word, and/or by describing what you mean.

“Let us go to the refectory. I mean the canteen. You know, where we can get food.”

Maybe that was a little too much, but it is usually better to over-explain than to not be understood.
Of course, it's fine if an audience doesn't get a couple of words during a show and you don't have to second guess yourself with every single thing you say, but if they don't get words key to understanding the plot or relationships, that's a different matter.

Professor Stanley Unwin, eminent scholar and linguist 

(see cultural references)

Common expressions, sayings and euphemisms very often don't translate well and are not understood except by very good speakers of a language. I studied Dutch for a few years, and I can sometimes understand all the words in a sentence but have no idea what it means because they are using one of the many, many Dutch expressions where the literal meaning has nothing to do with what they are really saying.

“And now the monkey comes out of the sleeve.”

What monkey? Whose sleeve? Why was there a monkey there, anyway? (It means “and now the truth is revealed.”)

It's worth remembering that testyourvocab.com found that whilst most adult native speakers know about 20,000–35,000 words in English, non-native speakers have an average of 4,500 words. So you should be avoiding most of the fancy words you know.

Now of course, a lot of genres come with their own vocabulary. If you are doing a Shakespeare show, for example, there is an expectation of a few obscure words thrown in. And I say, verily, do so, but if your audience is not native, you can get away with doing it a lot less than you would for a show at Ye Olde English Society.

3. Cultural References

Everyday, you say things, do things, eat things that are culturally specific. There are facts you know without knowing you know. Facts that other cultures don't know or maybe even disagree with. You are usually so immersed in your culture that sometimes it is hard to imagine that people don't share the exact same experiences and set of knowledge as you all over the world. But people don't share them. Not every culture eats Wheatabix / hagelslag / Skorpor / Pfunchlacks for breakfast.

It's often a shock when you go somewhere and nobody understands your joke about Ant McPartlin / Gordon / Gunde Svan / Paavo Väyrynen / David Levy / Lazlo Philosovic. Even though it would almost certainly get a laugh back home. Every country has its classic comedy go-to celebrities. B-listers whose names you mention and that will nearly always get a laugh. These are rarely celebrities that are known at all outside of your own country.

This even goes for bands, films, etc. Some bands and movies are internationally known, but a lot aren't. Just because Frambleplank are huge in your country, doesn't mean they made it anywhere else. In fact, I learnt a long time ago, just because I think a band are awesome and one of the greatest bands ever, doesn't mean anyone else has heard of them. Even people on my street.

If you are going to make references to people, things or events, they have to be well known internationally. This can be hard to judge if you haven't spent a lot of time out of the country in the company of locals.

Madonna, Brad Pitt, the current US president (whoever that is at the time of publication) are all suitably international that most people in most audiences will know who they are. Others you don't really know until you try, and it can vary country to country.
Even local references can be problematic. You might want to throw in that you know who the queen of Denmark is and that will work fine if the audience is made up of Danes, who will nearly all know who their queen is, but if the audience is international (visiting improvisers or local expats (who are only there for a short while and often don't get too involved in the local culture)), it might fly over their head.

Lazlo Philosovic, probably.

Overall it is best to avoid a lot of cultural references (and not just at international festivals). They are a particular type of spice you can add to a scene, but they are almost never necessary. Scenes ultimately should be about the characters and the relationships in the scene. References anyway, whilst funny, often take the scene and the actor out of the here and now and into the head world. They are often anachronistic (meaning out of place), which again can be funny, but it is something else which breaks the reality of the scene and improv seldom needs more of them.

4. Do more than just words

So far we've mostly looked at things to avoid or be careful of, but what are things we can focus more on. Most of the complications as we have seen have been about words. Improv tends to be a very verbal medium.

One approach for festivals is to do away with language. Or at least learn to not rely on it. French and Italian groups are great at doing this. Partly because English is often not so well spoken in those countries but also because they have a very strong physical theatre tradition. They tend to perform very physical shows where emotions, characters, relationships, etc., are not explained but shown. (Which is, after all, what your improv teachers kept going on about anyway.)

Play clear, true emotions, physicalise your characters, heighten your relationships, find and play games that are not word based.
A good story is always about the characters and relationships. As the great Hollywood story guru Robert McKee says, “All stories are 'character-driven'” [Story, Methuen, 1999]. You should always be focussing on characters and relationships. References, jokes and word-play are sprinkles on the top, which are not necessary. If your scenes are all just confection on the top, your audience is going to get diabetes pretty quick.

Teatribu.

A clear character and well-defined relationship can also be something that is shown and not told. Sure, the specifics of a relationship might be hard to convey, but you can tell if two characters love each other, hate each other or whether one is jealous of another who doesn't even notice them. Likewise, we can usually see if a character is confident, shy, adventurous, thoughtful, romantic, fearful, etc, by just looking at them and seeing them interact with the world and others.
A great story can be told without words, and yet as improvisers we cling to words like they are everything.
In fact if you concentrate on the physical, the emotions, the character, the relationships, make it clear what's going on, you don't need words at all. I have seen groups struggling to express themselves in a second language who when allowing themselves to slip back into their own language or no language have suddenly freed themselves to really play.

The Italian team Teatribu often perform in Italian. They use simple Italian and use their great mime skills to make sure we can follow, and everything else is super clear. And the fact it is in Italian makes it all the more beautiful. It's funny that I know almost no Italian, but watching their shows I feel I am fluent. That should be your goal, to make sure the audience completely understands you no matter how well they speak the language you are using.

Conclusion

To summarise, the main points are these...

1. Speak clearly
2. Use simpler language
3. Avoid slang and expressions
4. Avoid references that are not universal
5. Focus on character, relationship, emotions and physicality.

The bottom line is, be aware of what you are saying and doing and be aware as much as possible of your audience. And this is not just good for festivals, this is good for all shows.
Do that and you'll keep the horse from eating the spanners.

IMPRO Amsterdam 2018 - Gotta get down on Friday

On Friday I took a workshop on hip hop improv because one should always push oneself. Plus it’s a workshop with a beatboxer in it, and pretty much anything without a beatboxer is lame. I won’t even go shopping these days without someone beside me laying down some dope beats.

The night started with Friend Friend, where two friends, Amy and Anna, channel their love for each other to portray a heart-warming array of characters. There is so much charm and calm joy on display here. You get drawn into the worlds they are themselves discovering and feel you’ve just watched a show of two people giving each other lovely gifts.

I'll Be There For You. (Photo by Marwan Youssef)

The second show was Stuck in the middle. In this show, one of the players is selected to be “stuck in the middle” which means they are on the stage the whole time and it’s up to the other players to start scenes with you, to look after you, and to mess with you. I was blessed enough that day to be the one selected.

You know that feeling when you are in a toy store and one of the staff comes up and says “here’s a large scale millenium falcon, play with this” and then when you’ve had a little fun another comes up and says “here’s a lego castle, play with this” and shortly after another appears and says “here’s an classic Atari console fully loaded with Ms Pacman…” (Let me know if my references are dated at all.) Anyway if you can understand the concept of this then you understand what it’s like to be the chosen one in this format. A gang of talented performers give you a selection of awesome gifts and the main thing you have to do is react  I’m still a little hyper from it all.

We'll be there for you (Photo by Marwan Youssef)

After all this fun, there was more fun. A choice of fun. There was The Final Gig, a duo show showing the final concert of a legendary, nonexistent musical pairing, with great singing and high emotions.
The other show was Decibel, a Franco-Finno trio who combine mime and acrobatics with their improvisation. And I really do mean acrobatics, I’ve never seen a group, climb, carry each other and tumble with such ease. They also do the one of the seemingly most difficult improvisational skills: not speaking. Also they had beatboxers guesting because, well, if you can you really really should.

This is the last time we'll be here.

IMPRO Amsterdam 2018 - T to the hursday

Tonight there was an extra early show from the Brazilian mime group doing their living statues show. There are not many improv shows where you get painted from head to toe before you go on stage.

The main presentation got started with Dogville. This is an improvised adaptation of the movie by Lars von Trier. It's the one where the set budget only stretched to some chalk. Also the actors had no trailers and had to be on set the whole time even in scenes not about them. The original movie is in the genre of harsh drama; This was definitely lighter.

Downward Facing Dogville. (Photo by Mathieu vd Berk)

As far as I'm aware this is the only Lars von Trier movie to have inspired improv shows. I’m still keenly waiting for the formats Nymphomaniac and Antichrist.

After the break, North Coast from New York took the stage. North Coast do a thing called hip hop improv. It's exactly what it sounds like it is. The energy they bring to the stage, the rhythmicality, the sheer scale of commitment is exhilarating. They do scenes and games that lead into or somehow involve music. They are not only versatile within the reasonably broad category of rap / hip hop but also jump into other styles too. What really sets them apart from other improv groups who may do music is that they bring with them two world-class beatboxers. What Kaila and Mark can do with their voices will blow your mind. At this moment, I can’t imagine doing a show without a beatboxer in it.

Northcoast in the Haunted House (Photo by Mathieu vd Berk)

Tonight the late night shows were The Ghost Sheep from Brussels with The Fortune Teller where an audience member has their future predicted / improvised; and the sensitive Dutch men from Broos. The Ghost Sheep told the future of one of the beatboxers because, well, every show needs a beatboxer.

The Ghost Sheep Need Ewe!

Broos - the brooding bass-backed boys of improv.

IMPRO Amsterdam 2018 - Tales from the Garage

Flicker is a format by Katie and Chris of Project2 and one I was lucky enough to be in. The simple explanation is that half the scenes are played in the dark and the other half in the light. The scenes without light force you to use sound to create radio plays or soundscapes. They also hopefully remind you to be more physical in the scenes where people can see you. It certainly produced some fun scenes and made for a show with a strong visual identity.

Scene with the lights on (Photo by John Mabey)

The second half was given over to Dad’s Garage. Dad’s Garage are a theatre with a good reputation based in Atlanta in the US. What do they make in Dad’s Garage? Well, lots of things, but tonight two of them showed us Working Title, which is an improvised Hollywood movie. Using the language of movie scripts to help paint and link the scenes, they get a description of a hero from the audience and two very different locations and launch themselves into if. Our hero then somehow gets from the first location to the second one, far from home and what he knows. They hit all of the beats of a good script and clearly know their movie structure. So the show has a well-structured story with some action, a little romance, camera pans and a satisfying end where everyone feels good. But it’s all done with a ton of confidence and a lot of fun, discovering the story as they go and following the twists to their conclusion.

Lights on, cameras on, actions (photo by John Mabey)

After the main shows, there were 2 options as previously:

In one room, most of the cast of the main stage shows ganged up and threw down a show. It was basically a talented bunch of friends putting on a show simply for the joy of what they do.

In the other room, BAFNI from Scooby Doo, I mean BAFNI the Vampire Slayer, I mean BAFNI from The Czech Republic performed. They took stories from themselves and the audience to inspire them in all directions.

I know I promised lots of gossip, but I think everyone is too sleep deprived to cause scandal, or I’m too sleep deprived to notice it. All I can say is that in the green room there is a teddy bear groupie that partied way too hard this week.

Fight's on! (photo by John Mabey)

IMPRO Amsterdam 2018 - Mardi

Tuesday night began with The Ghost of Love, a format where 4 couples go on 4 very different romantic journeys. For each couple, two “ghosts” control them, mock them, add atmosphere, emotions and plot points. The ghosts leave the actors free to play the characters and situations and not worry too much (or anything) about the story, which is always helpful for an actor.

Ghosts, Actually. (photo by Robin Straaijer)

The resulting show was somehow very cinematic, touching and filled with metaphor and symbolism. The fact that all 4 paths were very different made this feel like a written piece. The paths were not just a new couple getting together, but an established couple getting over a rocky patch and a couple who has always been together who never experienced a bump, but were still a joy to watch. The fourth couple got together, but it didn’t work out, and this, more than anything, made it a well-rounded show. None of this, four neat, happy endings mulch. And seeing the characters in their couples (or not) in the final moments, dampened many a nasolacrimal duct.

L'Action (photo by Robin Straaijer)

From the joy and heartache of love, we moved on to the joy of joy. La Carpe Haute are from Strasbourg in the bit of France everyone thinks is in Germany. They do physical theatre with a ton of mime, clowning and plenty of heart and soul. If there is an object needed, they will not hesitate to demonstrate or be that object - whatever it is to make sure you know what that object is. There is never doubt. And even that object, no matter what it is, exudes joy. They love to play, they clearly love each other and they commit to whatever they discover about 104%.

To cap off the evening, there was a choice between two solo shows:

Las Vegas I Gave You My Heart (Photo by John Mabey)

The Laser Comedy Show by Chris Fair is comic book drawn right in front of you with the addition of sound. You’ll find comic books pretty lame after this.

The alternative was Trudy Carmichael Presents: The Improvised One-Woman Show, in which Robin Rothman plays a Las Vegas legend telling the improvised story of her life and career in between songs.

Lasers or divas, sometimes in life you have to choose between the two.

IMPRO Amsterdam 2018 - Opening night

Festivals should begin with a bang. That is unless you running The International Festival of Slow Fades, or Disappointed! The Festival for Mismanaged Expectations. (Both of which are great festivals, but I’ll discuss them another time I absolutely promise. Honest.) But this festival went for the tradition of bangular openings.

This show is the first chance for the general public to really see the ensemble cast. For this first show, everyone performed in their original teams. Each team has a show of their own later in the week. Except the Dutch who were only assembled as a team for this festival and are merely along for the ride. It's a kind of taster for the whole week.

(Also there is another team with a main-stage show that is not part of the ensemble, but I won’t mention that now to keep from confusing you. It’s Dad’s Garage.)

Each team showed off a bit of their style and were then given a second challenge to pay homage to another team, which got Americans being Australians, Australians being Dutch and the Dutch rapping. What could possibly go wrong?

Ouestern!

The second half of the show was given over to Project2 an English duo who improvise in the style of science fiction. It is fair to say they kicked the ball straight out of the stratosphere. A lot of improvised science fiction is goofy, soulless, gadget-obsessed parody. (Actually a fair few movies are too.) Katie and Chris (who are the current incarnation of Project2) are doing this out of love and respect. They know their science fiction. They might mock it, but they do it with love. They can find the funny, but they are not afraid to be truthful and their commitment cannot be questioned. The stories they weave and eventually manage to tie together contain so much human truth, that the end was a veritable burst of joy.

And all this with a superbly atmospheric live soundtrack by one half of noughties electronica duo Lemon Jelly.

Zombie vs Sentry Drone

Night at the Museum of Stories

After most of the shows this week, there is a choice of 2 late night shows. Firstly, there were Brazilian living statues with Museum of Stories. Yes those actual living statues you find in most big cities on the streets near the most touristy of spots were brought into theatres to be both statues and actors in scenes. Any improviser who has ever had to try and be still on stage for more than 1 minute can learn a lot from these guys.

And secondly there was some “playback theatre” from local group, Wordt Vervolgd (which means To Be Continued). Playback theatre is where the audience tells their stories and these are then recreated or interpreted on stage for fun or therapy.

In all a great official first night. Well up there with the opening night of Bangfest IV: The Bangening.

IMPRO Amsterdam 2018 - Secret Preshow

A festival the size of IMPRO Amsterdam doesn’t just happen because of the efforts of one person. There are scores of people who help make the magic happen. From the artistic team who decide which teams come to the people who wash the dishes after the performers have eaten. (Yes, this festival provides food for the performers. I know, right!)

As many of these volunteers as can fit in the chosen venue (about 50) are rewarded with an extra free show where they get to see the newly assembled team show what they can do. It’s a very nice pre-actual festival show. A time to really play with your new friends but without the pressure of a show in a 220-seater theatre.

And house spirit makes three.

The players were divided into two groups, spreading each of the national teams as evenly as possible between them. Each group played for 40 or so minutes. Showing off the mixed skills, styles, heights and accents of the cast. It’s hard to remember scenes in shows you were in, but from what I recall there were scenes about how accommodating French hairdressers can be to uncomprehending foreigners; haunted hotels where you can probably never leave; the difficulty of finding pets that will stick around; waiters caught between a hard chef and a gang of customers; the complexities and absurdities of negotiating a shoe shine; and the importance of light-switch positioning when taunting light-fearing demons. All very valuable lessons in life.

You actually can'r even check out anytime you want.

There was definitely a lot of not just playing well together but the joy of playing together on display. It all ended with a huge dance number including much of the audience, which, being almost entirely made up of improvisers, was more than will to join in.

It’s already uberfun and it’s not officially started.

Megajazzhands

IMPRO Amsterdam 2018 - The cast meet the cast

Drawing the teams from 5 countries (over 3 continents), the men and women behind the organisation of the festival have pulled together an awesome, diverse team of players. There are Hip Hoppers from New York, Science Fictioneers from London, Comédiens physiques de Strasbourg and a couple of talented sheilas out of Melbourne.

These, with 6 Dutch (and adoptive Dutch) players, form the main stage cast for this year’s festival. There are other players doing the more specialised late-night shows and adding to the number of countries and continents, but I’ll talk more about these later.

Some of these people had met before, but many had not. They arrived as several different-shaped containers of talent, and the first stages of mixing them together and making them a team began Saturday, with a dinner and a chance to play together.

Dutch bikes after the storm.

“Familiarity breeds content” is an old adage in improv that I just invented. And so this was a chance for the players to get to know each other, both as players and as people. The more you know and like someone, generally, the better you perform together. It’s true. Try performing with someone you just met who you hate. It’s really difficult. Everything they say is so stupid.

After the foundations of the team were built, the next, more powerful method of bringing people together took place. Dinner! Food unites people. The communal breaking of bread (or, in this case, pizza base), is guaranteed to bring people closer together. Unless for some reason they like Brussels sprouts, in which case everything they eat is so stupid.

Also, there was alcohol. Everything that goes for food, goes for alcohol (except the effects are quicker but much shorter lasting).

After all of this there was a chance to perform for each other and see some of the skills these kids have brought to town. Oh, man, are you in for a great festival!

IMPRO Amsterdam 2018 - introduction (not that it needs one)

In September last year, Theatersportvereningenamsterdam (TVA), organised a kind of knock-out competition to find who is the team to represent the Netherlands in this year’s IMPRO Amsterdam. The various gods of comedy smiled on me that night and I am to be part of the 6-strong cast of funny people who next week will, as they say, represent.

For those of you who don’t know IMPRO Amsterdam, shame on you. But, it doesn’t matter, it will happen without you knowing about it. And even if you know nothing about it, it doesn’t really need an introduction, all you need to know about it is in the title. And certainly if you use it’s full title, “Improvised Comedy Festival Amsterdam The Netherlands 2018.” (Which in Dutch would be “Improvisatiekomedietheaterfestivalamsterdamnederlandtweeduizendachttien” (IKTFANTTA).)

As last year, I intend to blog every day about the festival. This time from an insider’s perspective. As a performer at the festival. I’ll give my impression of the highlights, the lowlights, and the midlights. I’ll give you the low down, the goss, and the words from the streets. I give you as much as I can before I fall asleep through sheer exhaustion, because it’s quite a full-on week.

So, if you can’t make the festival, keep reading and live it through these words and occasional pictures. If you can make the festival, still keep reading and see if you agree with my twisted view of what happened. And if you are involved in making the festival happen, keep reading as all this is dedicated to you.

The Dutch cast: Jochem, Sven, Nardje, Huib, Nicole, and
Myself (winning the goofiest expression competition).

IMPRO Amsterdam 2017: Final Day

Saturday, the final day of the festival. It’s been a long road, but here is the blast at the end. The final day doesn’t include a group doing their speciality thing, which is what excites me most about this (and other) festivals. It does, however, have two shows where a cast of great people who have been performing, rehearsing and eating/drinking together for a week put on 2 high-impact shows. Plus there’s a party. Partying at the end of a festival likes this seems mandatory. Whether you are a performer who's had a hectic but rewarding week in a foreign land, and organiser who has blooded, sweated and teared to make it all happen to what appears seamless to any one outside of the organising circle, a fan who’s seen a few good shows in a week, or a battle-weary reporter, hoping to get the improv equivalent of a pulitzer. (It’s just as prestigious, but it’s imaginary, which is just as well as so is my mantelpiece* is imaginary. (* - I realise this is an uncommon word, so here is is translated for the visiting groups: schoorsteenmantel, manto de chimenea, Cornija de lareira, spiselkransen, mantel, and, um, imagine putting a shelf above the barbeque.)

The first half of the show was a Western directed by Patti Stiles. It had a lot of dramatic tension, a set and costumes which I am always excited about in improv because 95% of improv shows, you have zero props and no specialist clothing except a checked (plaid) shirt, which or some reason is compulsory improv-wear in many parts of the world. It’s a genre that to do well requires more acting than improvisers usually get to use, but they managed to build some great moments / scenes, both comic and dramatic. And the costumes and music helped a ton. Again Felipe’s character, a wronged man who get’s his revenge, stood out and he gave Laura’s character the rare improv gift of a protracted non-comic death. It was a very Western moment.

At the complete other end of the emotional spectrum, the second half was a High School Musical. Teenagers come to terms with life, love and becoming adults; and sing about it whenever possible. It was a lot of fun (one could say gleeful), and the Swedes, who brought the format and perform this a lot, really shone. Plot- and end-wise there was a bit of confusion, mostly due to having a bit too large of a cast, but the big production numbers benefitted from having those numbers, providing large dancing ensembles (as these things often do). And, of course, it would not have not been anything without the 3 highly talented musicians who composed and played the music on the spot. If you are going to close a festival (and they all have to at some point), you can’t do it with more energy than a musical - old Chinese proverb.

So that was the festival. If you went, I hope you recognised it and brought back fond memories, and if you didn’t, I hope it gave you the impulse to go next year. As ever the quality of the performers invited is top notch and I hope to see more of them all elsewhere.

 Mantelpeace out!

IMPRO Amsterdam 2017: Day 5: Friday

Today’s open stage had 3 musicians and a full room . It’s certainly grown over the week and is definitely something people want. Improvisers, like all junkies, need their fix.

The first half of the main show was Midnight Radio, a format devised together by Emil Struijker Boudier and Sarah Michaelson despite being several thousand miles apart. If you don’t know who these people are, let me get all wikipedia on you. Emil is an Amsterdam-based improviser most known for taking the art of tech-ing improv shows up to 11. He was the main tech of easylaughs before the pirate ship Boom Chicago kidnapped him one night. Sarah is also known as DJ Mama Cutsworth and provided the soundtrack for several shows this festival, most notably with the mostly-Colombian group Picnic, of whom she is the non-Colombian part.

It was a really nicely different show. The premise is that there is a midnight call-in radio show hosted by the above mentioned two (and really, there should be). The rest of the cast call in in character and request a piece of music, which, Spotify-permitting, is played. The music is then played and used to inspire or provide the soundtrack for the scene. And then another caller.

Again this was a vehicle for some great scenes, and some lovely callers. And there was a genuine feel of two DJs who have been together for ages despite having met the previous weekend. But this is a theme of the festival. By Friday, you have a strong cast of players who you would swear all knew each other since Jesus was a young improviser.

Felipe’s puppy stole the show. But there were plenty of other good moments. It started with a super-strong wordless scene with Dave, Roemer and Victoria acting out the classic boyfriend finds girlfriend flirting with another guy and bullies him out of money so that now boyfriend has all the cash, so girlfriend leaves with him. There was an interesting, almost surreal scene of a woman harvesting hearts that lead to what is possibly the call-back of the festival when Marta returned to collect a broken heart in the final scene.

The show was followed by British duo, Folie à Deux. Yes, I know it’s French. After Brexit, they will have to be called “You don’t have to be mad to be in this duo, but it helps,” which is not nearly as catchy.

Charlotte and Andrew are clever, good actors and have a ton of chemistry. There is much wit on display and they take their time to explore the world and the characters, plus find some games to play on the way. Returning to stories always sees them moved on nicely. The doomed romance between a hotelier and the only guest in the One Season Hotel was a particular joy to see unfold.

At this point in my notes, it says “Nele is great.” No one can argue with that which is why I wrote it exactly as she said.

I rounded off the night in the company of Phil Lunn, whose show centres around a female cabaret singer who has been around the block. She tells us about her life (with much help from the audience) and then sings songs inspired by those events with titles from the audience. The songs are great and the life story, from humble beginnings to present day, provides a nice arc.

IMPRO Amsterdam 2017: Day 4: Quinta-feira

Backstage at festivals the atmosphere is nearly always of excitement. Sometimes towards the end, it’s exhaustion mixed with excitement, but mostly it’s excitement. Every year at IMPRO Amsterdam, the back-stage snacks get more elaborate than the year before. By 2024 there will be meals served by a butler.*

(* - probably not.)

The first show off the night was Cage of Fools which is a hosted show of short games with intermediate chats with the players. It somehow reminded me of the short-lived British TV improv show Fast and Loose.

In between games the host, Rod Ben Zeev, asked them questions about relationships. It was a nice chance to get to know something about the festival cast, or half the cast, although it was the bit that was more hit and miss than the games. By now, the cast is working well together and the show had some great moments. Something different than what normally happens at the festival these days.

After the break, we were treated to Impro Fado, a format by Portuguese group Os Improváveis. Fado is a style of music and the word fado means “fate.” As well as 3 actors they had 2 musicians and a singer. After every scene, the musicians and singer performed a song about what had happened. The show and songs were mostly in English but with some Portuguese. We didn’t mind that. In fact, although the actors weren’t held back too much by their English, they were physical and emotional enough that we could have followed with a lot more Portuguese. The singer sung much better when singing in her mother tongue. I think partly because the Fado style is very much tied to the Portuguese language. She had a phenomenal voice, and we could have happily listened to her sing the Lisbon telephone guide.

The scenes were highly dramatic and the story was closer to tragedy than comedy, but that suits the style of the music. There was some levity, but I always feel refreshed watching a show that is not trying to be funny. And the end of the main character going back to the abusive relationship she ran away from rather than stay with the kindly man who gave her freedom was fitting the genre and, unfortunately, life.

Of the late night show, I saw Ohana performing Sidekicks. Ohana seems to be a sort of improv band camp and the cast or this show were a collection of improvisers from various currently European countries. Their format, Sidekicks, follows two minor characters whilst around them or behind the scenes a bigger story is played out which the just bumble through. It’s very much based on the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, which follows two minor characters whilst the story of Hamlet goes on around them in the background. The 2 central characters are a basically a comedy double-act comprised of two dumbards who talk about comedic inconsequentials whilst they almost get involved with (but never quite do) the action.

It’s an ambitious plan. The show was a lot of fun and they achieved what they set out to in a broad sense. There were some funny moments and the central duo had some nice games. This is a group that has un together but does not perform a lot together. I love the concept, I do feel it would have been much stronger if the backdrop had not been comic but epic or tragic. But instead it was very often played for laughs which took away from the power of the comedy of the central duo.

I’m looking forward to more high-concept format applications next year. Personally I want to see a show based on the movie Momento that plays scenes in reverse order.

IMPRO Amsterdam 2017: Day 3: Miércoles In The Lion's Den (part 2)

Continues from Part 1.

Two Colombian clowns and a Canadian DJ are in a theatre. One Clown turns to the other and says absolutely nothing. Now that’s comedy!

Picnic Impro are Felipe Ortiz, Daniel Orrantia and DJ Mama Cutsworth. Their show, Speechless, uses the amazing physical skills of the two Colombians to create a very different show to other improv shows. They are both great clowns, physical actors, mimes and even have some acrobatic skills. They show that there really is no need for words. Acting, situation and music can provide the emotions and the stories that emerge. And sure, there is a limit to the complexity a story can have when there are no words, but given the choice between a great simple story with compelling characters or a highly complex story in which we get lost and eventually stop caring about the characters, if we did in the first place, most people would go for the first option.

That’s not to say the stories are simple. They are straightforward and there is an honesty of emotions, but a lot of stuff happens. They take their time to portray it and make it as clear as possible. It all helps make it very compelling.

This show had the strongest start to any of them. They had a strong opening using spotlights and their eye for physical comedy they made us laugh and impressed us just by appearing in spotlights.

DJ “MC” provided the soundtrack. She has a director role sometimes, cuing music that will bring certain scenes back and perhaps steering the emotions, and at other times she has the perfect track or sound effects to heighten what is going on.

Felipe’s portrayal of a child was so spot on, we needed no information. We could see the rough age and the relationship with the parent. From this start we got to see a cycle of life story, saw the parent get old in front of our eyes and in a finish that moistened eyes all over the theatre, the Death came and led the parent into the light. It was an amazing moment and I must commend Emil Struijker Boudier, technical improviser extraordinaire, who was on fire this show. He was doing all sorts of subtle light things, that most people probably wouldn’t notice, such as slight light changes when doors and windows are opened or closed. But in the end he was ready with a set of lights at the side of the stage to be the literal light to be walked into, so that the whole show ended with perfection of sound, lighting and movement.

It really makes you wonder why do we need talking at all? And certainly don’t need nearly as much talking as goes on in most improv scenes.

IMPRO Amsterdam 2017: Day 3: Midweek Cute (part 1)

My plan had been to be a day behind the festival in these updates, you know, life and stuff. One thing which should not slow me down as much as it does is I’m still waiting for a robot vacuum cleaner to arrive, which I realise means it’s not really a robot vacuum cleaner at all because a robot vacuum cleaner would have delivered itself days ago.

The main show started with “Promised,” a format about 2 people coming together and falling in love. The audience picks which of the cast they want to fall in love. This time they picked WIll Luera and Roemer Lievaart. A European audience will typically pick 2 men when presented with a choice like this. It happens much less I’m sure in shows in Saudi Arabia or Alabama.

The audience named them Mike and Sanderson, which was pretty restrained of them. The show, which is a kind of an indie rom com, has four acts pertaining to the four seasons. It starts in Summer with them randomly in the same place, but with other people. I say randomly, but because it’s love it’s actually fatalistically or, as it’s a romcom, it’s more plotpointedly.

Before each act, the main characters have some facts told about them. The facts paint the characters a bit, but didn’t seem to get used much.

It was great to see the worlds around the main characters, although there were not so many strong relationships there, which I missed because the main characters don’t meet until the end and so that relationship, which is usually central to a romance story, is not there. A way some stories where the couple don’t meet until the end get round this is by having a strong relationship between them because they are communicating without knowing or showing that their lives are so parallel that you know they are going to be together.

Will Luera and Charlotte Gittins had such great chemistry tonight both when she played the love doomed by the self-discovery Will’s character had to go on and the domineering tango teacher. The latter scene was lifted even higher by an impromptu tango song by the two musicians and a singing Swede.

The whole show built nicely so that Spring, the final act, starts as summer did, with the main characters in the same place as before, but now they (and we) are primed for what they call in movie terms a meet cute. This is where the couple meet properly for the first time and you see the spark of what will come. (Or at least until Summer if you’re being cynical.)

IMPRO Amsterdam 2017: Day 2: Twosday

As a reaction to the heated activity around the Compagnietheater Amsterdam always gets very cold in the week of the festival. It often snows. It hasn’t so far, but the canals are freezing and extremities get a bit numb if you let them. The Swedes on the other hand, are enjoying the very mild temperatures.

Today’s open stage had lights, music and members of the main-stage cast. It’s certainly building.The crowd also seems to be growing.

The first main-stage show was Mortal Coil a format devised and directed by directed by Patti Stiles. It’s an interwoven-stories type of format and Patti gives subtle direction in that she doesn’t use a lot of words but she gets a lot of information in there. She sets up a clear start and then usually leaves the actors to find their path. She brings the strands together with ease.

The stand-out story was the relationship between a queen and her servant (played by Marta Borges from Portugal and Felipe Ortiz from Columbia). It was a bitter-sweet tale of two people who love each other but could never admit it because of their differing roles. They played perfectly the pathos underscored with some great physical comedic games. It’s exactly the sort of thing Chaplin was aiming for.

The main show of the evening was Big Bang Improv from Boston in the US. The name is well chosen. They start strong and keep expanding. They start by getting something that “brings you joy” which is a simple and powerful way to begin and already puts the audience in a good mood.

Movement is a big part of the show and they managed to use much of the theatre and also the audience. They swap easily between scenes using a variety of techniques, but it is always clear that a new scene has been started. Even when there is little movement to show a new scene, there are clear physical, vocal and emotional cues. They are great at following paths, heightening, using whatever happens and creating great “what if?” situations.

The most notable moment for me was the expression “broken sperm” being expanded by logical steps so we can see the full world of spermatozoa including this one broken sperm making it through to graduating university (presumably graduating cum laude).

A great show which found a great end incorporating much of what had happened before.

The Greek group Bus Kai (which is probably not pronounced how you think) performed their show Myth to Myth as one of the late-night shows, They are a duo who take their inspiration from the mythological stories they read as children, bringing their childhood books for the audience to pick a phrase out of to inspire them.

They then took the structure of these myths and brought our two heroes on a journey of both literal traveling and self-discovery. They had a good use of the structure and archetypes of these myths. They struggled a little to find the end but we were still very much with them when they did. A fun turning of myths into a cute modern story.

Finally, I’m reposting this famous photo from the battle of Impro Jima...

IMPRO Amsterdam 2017: Day 1: The Måndagening (part 2)

Continues from previous blog.

From the first part, I’m still thinking about an infinite number of Patti Stiles and what kind of amazing universe that would be. Everything you did (and I’m not just talking on stage, but in the rest of life as well) would be supported 100% by at least a million Patti Stiles and there would be nothing you could not achieve. It’s a great thought.

Brush-hour

Back to the show. After every set in the first half, you were left with a determination to see the show of that group. For the Swedish group (Gbgimpro from Gothenburg (which is Swedish for Gothem City (possibly))), you had little to do to be able to see their show except not go home early. After 15 minutes to top up your alcohol / nicotine / sugar levels, they took the stage to do their format “Big Issues.” This is a collection of scenes and stories related to a theme in the form of an issue we face everyday as people. They are hugely likeable performers. Right from the beginning you want to be their friends and make sure they are getting enough to eat. They start off with such energy and quick changes, you get sucked in easily. The stories were good, the changes seamless. The initial pace was hard to maintain but their likeability, undoubted talent and sense of fun did not wane. And although it seemed to take a little finding, they did get back to a variation on the first scene for a very satisfying finish.

Every night a choice has to be made between one of two late-night shows. This night I saw the Romanian group Improvisneyland with their show “what makes you you?” They had professional promo material and a strong concept including introductory videos. Their concept was about looking beyond the national and regional stereotypes and looking at what makes people who they are.

We were presented three segments of scenes about 3 different aspects of both stereotypes about different places and the deeper questions of what makes us us (or we we? No, maybe not). These three parts allowed them to introduce us to the three regions in modern Romania and to show us a bit about them. So we were going to at least learn something.

It’s quite a tall order to tackle something like this especially when they can include such tricky subjects as “casual racism” and espespecially doing it in a second language.

There was a running story about a “gypsy servant” that evolved nicely to subvert the stereotypes which was necessary for comfort of the audience, but sometimes tricky in improv because you can get stuck in the portrayal and attitudes that were started.

The group brought an earnestness but still with a sense of fun that helped pull them along. It was a worthy endeavour that we admired them for doing in a language that was not their own. My favourite line of this show was the heart-felt, “I like his eyes: they’re sad.”