Day 75 - Friday 29th May 2020

Location: London, UK

COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak

Lockdown

And, improvise! Words that many actors dread to hear.

A couple of years ago I decided to do some training in improvisation. We studied it at drama school, but that was quite a while ago and I decided I needed and wanted to hone my craft.

I had done a couple of sessions at The Actors Centre with Paul Foxcroft, so I sought him out and ended up studying three levels of improvisation with him, Ben Fogg and Richard Soames at Monkey Toast Improvisation. And I loved it!

My initial reason for signing up was to get more confident in this discipline and because it frequently arose during castings, commercials in particular, but I'd had to improvise in auditions for all kinds of things including film and theatre. I was slightly surprised at how much I enjoyed it - the scope for creativity and the infinite possibilities the empty stage, a small suggestion and the collective brains of a group of people can generate is intoxicating. Don't get me wrong, it's also terrifying but kind of like going on a rollercoaster terrifying.

After completing training, a group of us formed The Trophy Room and have been gigging (until about March when something stopped all live performances, can't think what it was...). I really look forward to getting back in the room with them to play sometime soon.

If you want to watch some excellent improv, check out Middleditch and Schwartz on Netflix.

Lunch Break: Listen. Commit. Act. Using Improv to Succeed in ...

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1st November 2020

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The Extreme Staycation

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