The Extreme Staycation

  Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown The temperature is still way above average and in London we are praying for some weather - be that wind, rain, something, some relief from the still, hot air. Last year on a day as similarly hot as today I did an improv gig with my group, The Trophy Room. It was in a room which they had tried to air-condition as much as was possible, but still involved everyone getting there by tube so the whole experience was...sticky. Amazingly, there was still a small, but dedicated audience! They weren't going to let a little heat get in the way of some comedy genius...

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 brain...