[HN Gopher] Learnimprov - Just the first improv game site
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Learnimprov - Just the first improv game site
Author : herbertl
Score : 109 points
Date : 2021-03-15 14:52 UTC (8 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.learnimprov.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.learnimprov.com)
| danenania wrote:
| I just joined a weekly improv class via Zoom. It's a blast! I can
| tell it would be even better in person, but it's still good on
| Zoom. I wish I'd started years ago. It's like a hack for skipping
| all the tedious aspects of meeting people and going straight to
| the part that's actually fun: letting your guard down and being
| spontaneous.
|
| I've been impressed by how legitimately funny a group of total
| novices can be. Sure, there are _plenty_ of misses, but also
| times where everything clicks together perfectly and the result
| gets me laughing as hard as I would at a professional comedy
| show. I 'd recommend it to anyone who could use a pandemic pick-
| me-up.
| aantix wrote:
| Which improv group?
| munificent wrote:
| Improv is fascinating to me. I've really enjoyed it as an
| audience member, and some part of me would love to try it as a
| participant. But I find it so nerve-wracking that even reading
| this site makes my hands sweat.
| germinalphrase wrote:
| Do it. Especially at the beginning, "being funny" is not the
| main focus (and it's just fun)
| ionforce wrote:
| You should totally do it. You can do it from the comfort of
| your own home now.
| jamcohen wrote:
| Does anyone know any good improv in the bay?
|
| Pre-pandemic I would go to the 11am text message show at UCB
| Franklin in LA and it was consistently amazing.
| logandavis wrote:
| For sure! I'm an SF-based software engineer who's also on an
| improv team that did monthly performances in the Before Times.
|
| There are three "big" improv theaters in SF which I know of:
| Endgames Improv in the Mission, Leela in SoMa, and BATS Improv
| in the Marina. The show you might've heard of is "Your F'd Up
| Relationship", which is put on by Endgames Improv's main house
| team on Fridays at 9 and 10:30. That's a great one to start
| with. Speaking as an improviser, those performers are
| especially strong, and the format helps them be consistently
| funny.
|
| You can also take classes from those theaters, or from a couple
| other spots, like Thunderbolt Comedy (who actually have a
| really neat online platform called Pineappl: a web app that's
| designed specifically for improv, so that performers can
| simulate being on stage, maintain consistent relative positions
| to each other, set custom backgrounds, etc. without wrangling
| any of the messy Zoom stuff like covering up your camera when
| you're "offscreen".)
|
| Unfortunately the city's comedy scene has taken a massive hit
| due to the pandemic. I have to imagine that being locked in a
| crowded room with 50 strangers all laughing is just about the
| last thing that the city is going to allow to reopen. It seems
| like Endgames is in financial trouble, since they've put one of
| their theaters up for rent and the other one is running
| GoFundMe's. To me, watching Zoom improv really just isn't the
| same -- really, so much of the improv experience is sharing it
| with an audience. I really do hope the theaters survive the
| pandemic so we can have in person shows again when it's safe!
| miiiiiike wrote:
| My favorite quote about improv came from a stand-up comic I used
| to see around NYC: "The three best comedy shows I've ever seen
| have all been improv.. And so were the worst 498."
|
| Here's a thing a guy did about the death of UCB New York:
| https://youtu.be/rObi3xZTQUk
|
| Comedy that isn't about politics, memes, or the pandemic is the
| one frivolous thing that I miss about the before times.
| jeffgreco wrote:
| They have a pretty interesting "Deprecated" section to document
| games that they no longer recommend. Some are because of changing
| cultural mores, but others are because of danger to self and
| property!
|
| > Toilet Roll: This scene must be completed before a burning
| length of toilet paper reaches the player's pants.
|
| https://www.learnimprov.com/teaching/deprecated/
| xyzelement wrote:
| Thanks for pointing that out. It was interesting and a little
| disheartening to see the reasons (changing cultural mores) for
| some of these deprecations. I feel like humor is always going
| to be somewhat overlapped with lack of propriety, so it's
| unexpected to see a humor-focused site do that.
|
| I guess you can say that improv is meant to teach you fast
| reactions rather than "funny" ones.
| trynton wrote:
| "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves: Deprecated. A story from Arabia
| interpreted by a French colonialist and profiteered by
| Disney."
|
| "Blind Dubbing: Deprecated as we no longer need to use the
| term blind. Replaced with Reversed Dubbing."
|
| "Blind Stalker: Title of Blind Stalker has been Deprecated
| because it is insensitive. A fish net stocking may be funny,
| but stalking is not."
|
| "Corridors: Deprecated because of unnecessary and outdated
| language: pimping, and slut shaming."
|
| "Deaf Translation: Deprecated due to ableist shenanigans."
| mrkurt wrote:
| Improv grew up especially gross, there's a lot of baggage to
| get rid of. It wasn't gross in a "this isn't PC" kind of way,
| it was gross in a "the people who were largely responsible
| for the rise of improve were abusive" kind of way.
|
| The thing about the games is that they're used as both
| warmups and short form entertainment. There are much more
| entertaining games than most of the ones that were replaced
| because they're racist or creepy.
|
| But also, Big Booty is hilarious and still very common in
| Chicago.
| murph-almighty wrote:
| In-person improv is one of the things I miss the most with the
| pandemic. Fortunately a lot of enthusiasts have adapted with web
| technologies and have been streaming shows on Zoom- I joined a
| team recently that has actually never performed in person!
|
| In NY's scene there's a surprising amount of software engineers
| who do improv as a creative outlet. I started taking classes at
| Magnet Theater about 1.5 years ago and it's been a great way to
| pull my brain out of work. More specifically, it's nice to enter
| a mental space where I need to empty out my mind, listen to what
| my scene partner is saying, and progress a situation that's
| presented to me- its close to the concept of mushin[1] but in an
| acting context.
|
| Improv theaters in NYC have (for the most part) been suffering
| financially, and if you're in the area, once things are in a more
| normal state, I strongly advise checking out shows, whether it's
| UCB, Magnet, PIT, or any of the other theaters! Some places
| (namely Magnet) also do twitch streams if you're looking for
| something to watch on a random night.
|
| [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushin_(mental_state)
| doomrobo wrote:
| The Squirrel Theater is a new one that I also recommend people
| check out. It's a non-profit founded by former UCB people, and
| has a strong commitment to diversity. They're completely online
| right now, but looking to get a physical space some time this
| year.
|
| https://www.thesquirrelnyc.com/
| cambalache wrote:
| > ... and has a strong commitment to diversity.
|
| Experience has shown that comedy and "diversity efforts" are
| negatively correlated
| tashi wrote:
| Yeah, it's all been downhill since they shut down the
| Chitlin' Circuit and people like Richard Pryor started
| showing up in mainstream venues.
| schnevets wrote:
| When I did UCB 201, 10 out of 16 members of the class were
| Software Developers. There is something uniquely appealing to
| such a face-to-face activity that can still benefit a tech
| worker professionally (by practicing public speaking and on-
| the-fly thinking)
|
| It is disappointing that improv and all live-theaters
| perpetually struggle to stay afloat (even without COVID). It
| should not be a challenging model; a class just requires a
| teacher, students, and a clear performance space.
| Unfortunately, that space is a scarce commodity in the largest
| cities and finding enough students is impossible in a smaller
| city.
| murph-almighty wrote:
| Space is a _huge_ consumer of income, and Magnet has already
| lost its practice space that they basically couldn't use in
| KTown. If they lose their theater space it'd be pretty
| fucked.
|
| I think the economics are a little weird as well- improv
| coaches basically are hourly employees, and the sticker price
| for a class (400+ for 10 3h sessions and a ending show) can
| get a little daunting especially as you go further along.
|
| Aside: Apparently UCB has a bit of controversy surrounding
| its finances and paying staff, though I am not super familiar
| with it and can't speak to it further, but I'll point you
| here: https://www.vulture.com/2020/03/ucb-layoffs-
| coronavirus-begi...
| bikeshaving wrote:
| This post upsets me. I'm sorry, I can't imagine anything more
| insipid than a UCB 201 class where the majority of students
| were software engineers. It's yet another example of nouveau-
| rich tech workers obliviously ruining something with their
| money.
|
| Most NYC improv classes before the end of the pandemic crept
| up to around 450 dollars for a class which met once per week
| over the course of 8 weeks plus two shows. This is terrible
| value and flat out unaffordable for aspiring comedians who
| decided to move to NY. For them to be priced out by software
| engineers who see improv as some kind of corporate public
| speaking training is kind of devastating, not least of which
| because I considered the UCB (at least in the era of the
| Chelsea theatre) to be a sort of hallowed ground growing up,
| where I could go see some of the funniest people in the
| country for free at the 9PM Sunday ASSSSSCAT after waiting
| the entire afternoon in line.
|
| The pressures of financial mismanagement and the enormous
| amount of demand from well-paid professionals who wanted to
| give comedy a go ruined improv comedy in NY. The fact is many
| of your peers probably "passed" the 201 "graduation"
| requirements, despite not having a single funny thought most
| days, because of the tantalizing incentive of getting these
| people to pay for more classes. A "school" where some of the
| greatest comedic minds were once gathered became a cult where
| people paid tithe, and the result is some of the worst live
| theatre the world has ever produced.
|
| I sincerely hope the UCB never comes back, and that if improv
| ever rises again, it does so in more sensible cities like Las
| Vegas, Atlanta or Miami. What happened in New York was
| senseless. Also, maybe software engineers should think a
| little bit about how their money shapes their local
| economies.
| NewHatMatt wrote:
| A few years ago I started a small side-project
| (https://improvtonight.app) to help find shows at local improv
| theatres. I stopped updating it at the beginning of the pandemic,
| but have started brushing the dust off again. Along with in-
| person shows, I'd like to include an area for virtual shows, as I
| suspect those will continue to be produced at least in some
| capacity.
|
| If anyone has any theatres or virtual shows they recommend
| adding, please let me know either here or via email (found in my
| profile).
|
| One of my favorite virtual shows is by a team here in Chicago
| called Cigarette Sandwich
| (https://www.twitch.tv/videos/931265538). I think they've adapted
| really well to the virtual medium.
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