A lot of improv pieces take place without props, but people oftentimes act as though they are there, either through pantomime or by saying "There's a giant newt eating my foot!" and then having every else in the act react with that.
Later on, the guy whose foot was being eaten asked if I had a sword; if I had said no, but I've got a lightsaber, the guy running the show would have stepped in and asked me to try making a "Yes, and" statement instead. I think the idea is that we're supposed to take something and heighten it, as oppose to smack it down, because lightsabers are funnier than swords.
Well, I can see how that would work, considering that if it's supposed to be in front of your face there's no sense in saying "no, it's something else." But traditional improv takes place on a stage, among people who have some idea of whom they're interacting with. We were not only doing improv, we were doing it blindfolded.
i gotta say, i was really impressed with how well you ask_kids were at improv - way better than one might expect from a random group of ppl that didn't even really know one another
In Improv I learned that when someone says something about the imaginary reality, you aren't supposed to contradict it. We can add this to the list of rules Askverse broke.
A version of this was what really annoyed me about certain characters in an RP I was in. One was supposed to be quite well off and fashionable, and she had a scene with another guy where she was buying clothes, and when she'd take something off the rack to look at it and mused that it would look good on her, he'd immediately be all "that would look awful with your skintone" - not in the sense of his opinion or exaggerating to annoy her, but actually twisting things so that she was picking out things that didn't suit her. I really disliked that character for so many reasons.
There's certainly a time and a place- if you question a character too much, then they become unreliable. But I still think lightsabers would have made things better.
Lightsabers make everything better. Dinosaurs with lightsabers? Awesome. Zombies with lightsabers? Also awesome. Granted dinosaurs and zombies are already awesome, but still.
when someone says something about the imaginary reality, you aren't supposed to contradict it. We can add this to the list of rules Askverse broke.
I can totally see this in live improv, but I think Askverse is a little different, being online. I think a big part of it is that you have more time to respond online - it's easier to reroute your train of thought than when you're on the spot, when any pause stands out.
Also it depends a bit on what you contradict and, importantly, how you contradict it. Smacking someone down is plain rude, but manufacturing an argument can be hilarious. To use your example, if you say "There's a giant newt eating my foot!", I might say, "It's not a newt. Actually that's my dog. And, errr... it's not eating your foot, if you know what I mean."
I get where your instructor is coming from, but I think it's one of those things where you should know the rules so you can break them properly. :oD
Also, I'm pretty sure Ask-verse laughs in the face of rules. Ha! Ha ha!
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Can you explain this to me in reasonably small words? I don't seem to be getting it.
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Later on, the guy whose foot was being eaten asked if I had a sword; if I had said no, but I've got a lightsaber, the guy running the show would have stepped in and asked me to try making a "Yes, and" statement instead. I think the idea is that we're supposed to take something and heighten it, as oppose to smack it down, because lightsabers are funnier than swords.
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Besides, rules like that are for wankers. ;P
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A version of this was what really annoyed me about certain characters in an RP I was in. One was supposed to be quite well off and fashionable, and she had a scene with another guy where she was buying clothes, and when she'd take something off the rack to look at it and mused that it would look good on her, he'd immediately be all "that would look awful with your skintone" - not in the sense of his opinion or exaggerating to annoy her, but actually twisting things so that she was picking out things that didn't suit her. I really disliked that character for so many reasons.
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now if *I* have the lightsaber and the zombie is coming at me, then fine
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I can totally see this in live improv, but I think Askverse is a little different, being online. I think a big part of it is that you have more time to respond online - it's easier to reroute your train of thought than when you're on the spot, when any pause stands out.
Also it depends a bit on what you contradict and, importantly, how you contradict it. Smacking someone down is plain rude, but manufacturing an argument can be hilarious. To use your example, if you say "There's a giant newt eating my foot!", I might say, "It's not a newt. Actually that's my dog. And, errr... it's not eating your foot, if you know what I mean."
I get where your instructor is coming from, but I think it's one of those things where you should know the rules so you can break them properly. :oD
Also, I'm pretty sure Ask-verse laughs in the face of rules. Ha! Ha ha!
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