TFPC Ep 18 – Paul Killam BATS

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Also, long-form is put under the microscope. Is it really the arts end of the form? And what of the delicate bond between  shyness and imagination?What does introspection deliver to an active, up and at ‘em form and just how do you teach non-competitiveness when you yourself bear a competitive streak? A candid and forthright chat with a textured, articulate mind.

BIO

Paul was born in Stanford, California, and grew up in Davis where he obtained a a degree in Dramatic Arts from UC Davis. After graduating he moved to Seattle, where he became involved in Theatresports, and played his first match just before BATS Improv was created in 1986.

He moved to San Francisco in 1989, became a member of the BATS Main Stage Company (then called “The Varsity”), Pulp Playhouse, and helped form True Fiction Magazine. He has gone on tour with the San Francisco Mime Troupe, participated on The Weber Family Christmas and is a film and commercial actor.

Paul served as the first Artistic Director of BATS from 1996 to 1998 and has played Theatresports in Seattle, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, New York, Los Angeles, Orlando, Palm Springs, Stanford, and Sydney, Australia.

LINKS

BATS improv

An article about BLIND DATE from the Toronto Star

Hello Sattelites

Em’s writings

SHOW NOTES

Some post recording was done to clean up questions. Content, wherever possible, is based explicitly on original recordings.

“New Segment” will be in Ep 19. “You Really Oughta See This!” was ready to go, but system crash corrupted data on the cusp of publication.

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IM Vocal Women

IM Vocal Men

   TFPC Ep 17 – Live Nude Improv with Andy Crouch

Seeing Dionysus in ’69 got Andy Crouch thinking. Could improv, a form not famed for its body intimacy, explore the same themes with more intensity? Can spontaneity, in fact, heighten the charge created by improv’s foggy fourth wall ? And what of a title that doesn’t infer nudity with an asterisk, but blazes a promise to public and performer alike….

Body consciousness, the need for narrative skills, eliciting honesty from an audience and how a naked body can help pull a great story from any origin point. LNI!

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Andy Crouch teaches and performs with The Hideout Theatre in Austin, Texas.

The cast for “Live Nude Improv” was…Marc Majcher,  Ruby York, Jessica Arjet,  Brett Tribe, Peter Rogers, Jordan T. Maxwell and more to come…

LINKS

Cast thoughts on Live Nude Improv and some more here.

Hideout listing for the show.

The Marc Maron podcast.

An article on Dionysus in 69 from the Austin Chronicle.

Hello Sattelites on Myspace.

Em’s online writings.

TFPC Ep 16 – Pilgrimage & Addiction – Jay Ray

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What happens when something you love becomes something you really don’t? Improv is a form that relies on  childlike spontaneity for its spark, but does it also invite a  certain childish cruelty? What of politics, ambition, inner demons and outer challenges and the delicate negotiation of achieving group mind? How does the influence of a great teacher affect your expectations? And does fearlessness on stage  mean that fear, like Galileo’s energy, merely finds another form?

Jay Ray speaks candidly about things that were and will never be again.

DATES and THINGS

Jeremey was in Australia from April 2007- April 2009. He trained and performed with Impro Melbourne and was an active member of the Technique (Rookies) group. In April 2008 he returned to Canada for three months. This is where the disastrous show discussed occurred.

Prior to that he trained with Rapid Fire Theatre. They contributed $800 toward his Australian tuition.

He is now happily married and lives back in Canada.

LINKS

The Spaces website here.

The Spaces music on itunes.

Em’s writings and Your Looking Eyes.

Notes:

Kaci and Kurtis are referred to as being from “The Austin Improv Circuit.” This is a colloquial term for improv in Austin and not a troupe name.

Louisa May Alcott also tied with Suess and Vonnegut for Top 5 honours. Soory ’bout that Little Women folk.

TFPC EP15- Matthew Stillman: Improv and Spiritual Codes -The 10 Commandments

R/Click and Save As to download. L/Click to play in browser. Run time 44.00

Matthew Stillman has been actively studying and performing long form improvisational comedy in New York City since 1996. He runs a creativity consultancy – stillmansays.com and coaches improv and has loads of other balls in the air.

LINKS

Matt’s book available here and website here

Discuss the book and theory on Twitter

Em’s blog and prose here

The books Matt recommends;

TFPC Ep 14 – Wellington Wisdom – Voices of the NZ Fest  

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A view from the musician’s chair, improvising for children, playing with earhtquakes and doing a solo improv show. This and more. Wisdom from Wellington. The NZ Improv Fest!

Featuring : Sam Smith, Robby Ellis,  Brendon Bennets, Christine Brooks, Hamish Parkinson, Eli Matthewson, Merilee McCoy, Mr & Mrs. Bun & Rebecca De Unamuno.

LINKS

Em’s Blog and Your Looking Eyes.

TFPC Ep 13 – Tony Totino Loose Moose and other things

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Impro has few trans national touchstones. Sure, there’s the eternal flame-war between Delheads and Johnstone clans, but the form, for the most part, rests uneasily in its own transience.

Here, Tony chats about one significant moment in improv, the early days of ‘The Moose’. On working with Keith Johnstone and the creation of the seminal formats, Theatresports tm (and its subsequent bastardization) and The Life Game tm.

The role of genre in story and our responsibility, or otherwise, to research its beats, Norwegian mythology and impro, why use set when you can mime,… and just how would you improvise in the style of Conan the Barbarian?

Tony Totino. Ep 13.

LINKS

The Loose Moose now.

Teater Liksom on Wiki.

Impro Theatre and The Flint ep about them.

Some more about David Ives.

Find Stewart Kohinga’s music and info here and his youtube channel here.

Em’s book of poetry, “Your Looking Eyes”, here

CORRECTIONS

None as yet.

TFPC Ep 12 – Randy Dixon: Improvention 2011

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From Street Theatre A, Improvention 2011, Australia, the last of the ‘fireside chat’ series. A live recording of Randy Dixon speaking with good friend Rama Nicholas about his growth as a young improviser into the world travelling teacher and player he is today. His unique trake on the  Keith V Del debate, facing death with Del Close and what art can draw from such things, and his hopes for the roads yet to be walked..

Run time 56 mins

LINKS

Unexpected Productions

Randy on Applied Improv Network

The Joseph Campbell Foundation

Improvention

LD JP 1

LD JP 2

TFPC Ep 11 – Vox Pops from Improvention 2011

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Marcel Proust  on travel wrote, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”

Thanks Google.

Festivals operate in such rarefied air.

A year’s work can fly by as if but a foot-note, epiphanies can slow time for a blessed moment, and connections can be forged, broken, and connected again.

And that’s just on stage.

A collection of interviews from Improvention 2011 participants

Featuring Rik Brown, Mim Carville, Amy Moule, Mel Bennet, Jen O’Sullivan, Jaime Cerda, Cale Bain,  Merrilee McCoy, Catherine Hagarty, Glenn Hall, Ben Crowley, Michelle Nussey and the first ever censor beep from the drive by specialist, Ep 7′s Jason Geary.

LINKS

The Spaces. Feature band’s fab website.

TFPC Ep10 – Fireside chat with Per & Kettil : Improvention 2011

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The impact of childhood and the collaboration of friendship. The challenge of a two-act musical, improvising in Zimbabwe and a show taking shape about “the biggest day of your life,” – the day you die. Per and Kettil speak about impro, what it means to them and the discoveries yet to be.

 TFPC: Ep 9 -Fireside chat with Felipe Ortiz

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Felipe Ortiz is the founding member of La Gata and co-director of its improv shows. He travels the world playing and teaching improvisation as well as clown and acrobatics.

He directed “Deja vu”, La Gata’s first “new circus” show which featured in “les mois Moliere” in France, and “Festival iberoamericano 2008″ in Bogot’a – Colombia. His solo clown solo “la Cita” was part of “Festival iberoamericano 2010″.

His background is peppered by contemporary dance, contact dance, capoeira, circus and acrobatique techniques, improvisation, acting and clown.

Felipe was a feature guest of Improvention 2011.

Questions from the floor came from, in order: Jason Geary, Rebecca  De Unamuno, Jaime Cerda, Tim Redmond, Kevin Blair, Nick Byrne, Linda Calgaro, Libby Klysz, Marko Mustac and Natalie Bochenski.

Note: Due to Improvention timelines, the interview with Tony Totino has been pushed back. Possibly Ep 13.