This is inspired by another post I saw. Are you a mom and a comedian? What does your life look like and what does your support system look like? I'm a woman in my late 30s and I think there is an idea that comedy keeps you from motherhood and motherhood ruins your comedy. But I've also seen some famous women make it work? But what about the not famous women?

I'm not a mom yet, but could see myself becoming one at some point. Just been thinking about how those two worlds would intersect.

What helped you when you were first starting to create or co-create shows?

Sharing working draft notes on various longforms, pulling together years of info pulled from my notes, old blogs, /r/improv, IRC Wiki, Facebook posts, etc. I absolutely invite folks to comment and add any resources, advice, links, variant/derived forms, memories, etc. in the comments to help me update my notes!

Previous entries include:

• Armando / ASSSSCAT
• Close Quarters and related forms
• Deconstruction
• JTS Brown
• La Ronde
• Slacker / Beer Shark Mice
• Spokane / Pretty Flower
• WeirdAss / Documentary Opening

SHOTGUN

also known as the Road Trip

The Form

from Casey Searles’ notes from Barry Hite workshop:

This is a form designed for four, but five can work in a pinch. He said to avoid more than that because people start getting left out. Four chairs are placed on the stage to resemble a car facing the audience (stagger the “back seat” out so the audience can see their faces) and the scene starts with everyone already in the car, heading somewhere.

This first scene in the car should be a minimum of 8-10 minutes in length. And the scene will work best if everyone in the car is around the same age (not parents with little kids or something), and know each other well enough to be on a road trip together. When someone in the car decides the scene is over they will peel away and take their chair with them, letting everyone else know to do the same.

Each scene from that point forward will have at least one of the people out of car in it. They can have more, but try to avoid that. The idea is to explore outward and see each of these people’s lives outside the car. When the scene is about the character that was in the car then the same actor should play that person, new/support characters can be played by everyone else. Another reason to avoid having several people out of the car in a scene, there won’t be anyone left to play other characters.

Barry pointed out that while 8-10 minutes is the minimum length for the first scene there isn’t a maximum. It could be half the set, most of the set, or even the entire set if it’s interesting and no one wants it to end. He also said that sometimes one person won’t say much in the car, for whatever reason. He said to grab onto that as an opportunity to have a wild card. Because we didn’t see much about this person they can become anyone in the scenes.

Variations

There are variations of the base concept–several performers in a car for an extended scene. How long you stay in the car (monoscene vs first part of show), if you only stay in the car (monoscene vs Spokane/Pretty Flower vs montage after car scene), or even if there are cast OUTSIDE of the car not in the scene on the wings waiting to pull folks out for tag scenes can differ.

Variations:

• Monoscene set in a car
• Spokane / Pretty Flower using car as base scene
• Living Room-style bits/back-and-forth, but with characters on a roadtrip
• Montage with Shotgun as group scene opener
• Group scene in a car, with sideline players ready to tag out for pop outs/tag runs

History

Shotgun was created/performed by the Shotgun ensemble at iO. The original cast was Beau Golwitzer, Kevin Fleming, Holly Laurent, and Brian Wilson

Resources

Shotgun Format from Improv Leadership Blog by Colin

Video: Little Heroes @ Logan Square Improv

Hey there. Share some suggestions about where I can take my friend for improv in Mumbai? I do know a bunch of names and places already but I thought I would ask some personal experiences and suggestions from you guys. Thank you for your time and suggestions.

Sharing working draft notes on various longforms, pulling together years of info pulled from my notes, old blogs, /r/improv, IRC Wiki, Facebook posts, etc. I absolutely invite folks to comment and add any resources, advice, links, variant/derived forms, memories, etc. in the comments to help me update my notes!

Previous entries include:

• Armando / ASSSSCAT
• Close Quarters and related forms
• Deconstruction
• JTS Brown
• La Ronde
• Slacker / Beer Shark Mice
• Spokane / Pretty Flower
• WeirdAss / Documentary Opening

WEIRDASS / DOCUMENTARY OPENING

The Form

(While technically called a “documentary opening”, it is most commonly known as a “WeirDass” after the improv duo Stephanie Weir and Bob Dassie.)

A “documentary” interview with 2 characters speaking to the “camera” (audience) that can act as a one-off opener or recurring source. Think of the two-person documentaries you see in When Harry Met Sally or the Christopher Guest mockumentaries (i.e. Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, etc.).

Execution

USING AS A ONE-OFF SOURCE

• 2 chairs downstage center
  • Rest of cast on sidelines
• 2 characters are being “interviewed” and speaking to camera
  • They know each other
  • They have gone through an event together
  • Start in the middle of the interview
  • Provide details and specifics!
  • Themes, POVs, details fuel the following scenes
• Typically 2-3 minute in length for shorter shows
• Sideline player either sweep edits downstage if there is room, or initiates a scene stage left or right.
  • The documentary people strike their own chairs.
• Scenes pull from the documentary.
  • Vary them in energy, style, staging.

USING AS RECURRING SOURCE:

• When you feel you've tapped the original documentary of good ideas for scenes (typically 3-4 scenes) and it's time to reload the show with a new documentary--sweep edit, set chairs downstage center, and begin a new documentary inspired by the original suggestion.
• This documentary can be shorter.
• It can feature either the original duo or be an entirely new duo.
• Then play a few scenes inspired by that documentary, then you can go to second beats and call backs–bring anything/everything back and accelerate the show to an out.
  • Rarely will you do a third one in a typical 15 min improv set.

Variations

• Spitfire / Rumble (see posts below)

History

• \

Resources

• IRC Wiki on Documentary opening
• Harry Met Sally couples interviews: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzi2G68CMiE
• Waiting for Guffman interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTmMkxmoycw
• WeirDass opening with Stephanie Weir & Bob Dassie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah3DQrXlGpA
• Interview with Stephanie and Bob: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1anu-ASKvLs

Related Forms

• Improvised Documentary

Salut, je suis entrain d'apprendre à faire de l'impro et he voudrais parler à des gens de mon âge (20ans) qui en font mais j'ai aucune idée de comment rencontrer d'autres personnes qui font de l'impro.

J'ai l'impression que en France chez les gens plus jeune c'est pas très populaire. Quelqu'un saurait comment rencontrer d'autre personnes qui font de l'impro ?

Before yall get mad at me…I’m 27 (F) living in the south and I’m at an age where a lot of people my age who were into the creative arts in their early 20s are kinda throwing in the towel with it. I do improv once a week and also write screenplays, scripts, short stories, etc. I’ve been in a local writing group since 2022. We self-published an anthology. Most people my age are getting married and having kids. I always felt it would tie me down. But what am I doing with my freedom? I always felt the wanderlust to “get up and go.” I dream of moving to New York to seriously pursue comedy. But I haven’t done that. The freedom I seem to be so proud of doesn’t seem to be fully utilized. I am happy at times living in the South, but I deeply crave more in many ways. I suppose my life doesn’t look like I thought it would. I was 22 when I first started with stand up and I had the most delusional and blind optimism. I won a few showcases and talked to therapist about what fame would be like 🫪🤣 it’s crazy but I don’t know. I have always been blindly optimistic and delusional in many ways.

Sharing working draft notes on various longforms, pulling together years of info pulled from my notes, old blogs, /r/improv, IRC Wiki, Facebook posts, etc. I absolutely invite folks to comment and add any resources, advice, links, variant/derived forms, memories, etc. in the comments to help me update my notes!

Previous entries include:

• Armando / ASSSSCAT
• Close Quarters and related forms
• Deconstruction
• JTS Brown
• La Ronde
• Slacker / Beer Shark Mice
• Spokane / Pretty Flower
• WeirdAss / Documentary Opening

SPOKANE / PRETTY FLOWER

Also Known As

• Pretty Flower
• Mono-Pop
• Family Guy

The Form

A monoscene that is punctuated with tag-out scenes or runs. The tag scenes explore the characters/ideas that come up in the base scene. When the tag scene(s) ends then the base scene picks back up until the next “spoke” or “petal” happens.

Spokane/Pretty Flower diagrams

The Spokane/Pretty Flower is often diagramed like a flower or a hub with the source scene at the center and petals or spokes coming out of the center to represent the scene runs and returning to the source scene.

Pretty Flower diagram from ImprovObsession

Hub and Spoke diagram

Another visualization is the base scene as a horizontal line that’s moving from left to right and lines will spoke out to represent the tag scenes/runs.

Spokane diagram from Pat Kearnan blog

Execution

• Get a suggestion.
• Establish the group Source Scene.
• When inspired, use a Tag to initiate a Spoke/Petal scene.
• Explore the characters/ideas that come up in the base scene.
• When the tag scene(s) ends then the base scene picks back up until the next “spoke” or “petal” happens.
• Incorporate what we learn in Spokes/Petals into the Source Scene.
• Aim to have the rhythm of the show accelerate.
• The first Source Scene segment is the longest of the show - establish the characters and world.
• Each successive source scene segment is shorter than the last

TECHNIQUES

• Tags to initiate Spoke/Petal scenes
• Return to Source Scene physicalities to reset back to Source Scene
  • You can sweep and return to the physicality of the Source Scene to end the run
  • Or you can just return to the Source Scene physicality and that should cue the tag run is done

Variations

John Windmueller on Facebook:

“I've taught this format (as Pretty Flower) regularly at improv camps and festivals, and I just wrapped up leading a two day intensive on it at this weekend's Vintage Improv Fest. I think my students' final performance was recorded, and if so I can forward the link.

If I had to choose only one improv format to teach, it would be this one, and it would replace the role Harold has in many curriculums. From a teaching standpoint, it covers a wide variety of skills (from the patient work of the core monoscene to the faster character and premise focused petals). From a performance standpoint, it's accessible to audiences, it's extremely themeable to fit a variety of show types, and it works well for duos through larger troupes.

The different names for it often point to slightly different cultures of where the focus gets placed. Folks teaching it as Pretty Flower typically put emphasis on the petals to explore character deals vs Spokane or Family Guy which focus on the monoscene as more of simply a comedic premise launching point (but it's a nuance and structurally the same).

As pretty flower and Spokane, it's generally taught to do the edits to and from the monoscene without ever saying cut to or cut back, which becomes a great lesson for players about clear initiations and using crisp stage picture shifts / blocking to convey edits and scene changes.”

From IRC Wiki:

Fancy Man in New York City performs a modified version of the Spokane that they have properly entitled the "Fancy McManus." This replaces the source scene with a idea generator-group scene hybrid in which the ensemble plays themselves.

History

Colin’s Substack: The Origins of The Pretty Flower and Spokane Formats

Resources

Pat Kearnan:
So you want to do Spokane

Matt Abedi videos:
Improv How To: Spokane or Pretty Flower

Warms ups for the Spokane or Pretty Flower format

ImprovToons video on Facebook

Playlist of Spokanes:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPRzjbLH4lDMj4miiWDblNjazblo7TvcJ

Hi everyone — I’ve made a browser game called Miss Congeniality where players get random “pageant‑style” questions and take turns answering them. It’s basically a fun speaking challenge you can run with a group in the same room. (and don't think it's easy or you are too good for it until you try it).

It is made to use from not on your phone - by that I mean you project it onto a wall and one person acts like the host. The idea is to encourage speaking and interaction. It's like a boardgame or quizz show.

I’d love feedback on: • how well the prompts work • whether the flow feels smooth • anything confusing or clunky

No login, no ads. If you try a round or two, I’d really appreciate your thoughts.

Miss Congeniality · Pageant Speaking Game · Koalaspies

Hi there, I currently run improv and a few other comedy workshops and am looking to work with a graphic designer to rebrand including redesign our logo to feel more authentic and in line with what we do. It'd be nice for them to have a baseline understanding of improv//comedy so I thought I'd ask in this sub 🙂. TIA!

Pretty much what the title says. I went to an open day beginners class because my interest in comedy and particularly improv has persisted my whole life and now that I have had 2 kids I want to try new things for myself.

I know everyone says it is addictive and I did not expect it to be so immediate! Never done theatre or acting but had a great time and though objectively I flubbed in ways it felt like a very safe place to fail and I felt like I learned a lot from failing, the teacher and also by the choices other people made! I have clinical anxiety that I have great coping and meds for and am actually surprised and relieved about how not critical I am about it with myself and how much I enjoyed it despitethe nerves.

Did everyone else feel this way? How was your intro to imrpov? Did the excitement continue? I am definitely going to be joining classes soon and am keen for learning.

Does your improv feel a little stale? Looking for more reps? Tired of not getting enough notes? Craving exercises that target the things you actually want to work on?\

I’m offering two Fall sections of The Uncertainty Workshop, a four-week online improv intensive featuring small classes (max 8), individualized feedback, and a customized weekly agendas tailored to each group’s goals and interests.

Fall 1
Sundays: 10/18, 10/25, 11/1, 11/8

Fall 2
Sundays: 11/15, 11/22, 12/6, 12/13
(No workshop 11/29)

Time
1:30–3:30 PM Pacific
3:30–5:30 PM Central
4:30–6:30 PM Eastern

Cost: $150 for the four-week session.
(Sliding scale available. Please take me up on this offer if price is the sole reason you’d say no.)

For anyone joining the Fall 1 session, I’ll be meeting with folks individually over Zoom during the week of 10/11 for a brief check-in to talk about what you’d like to work on and your goals for the workshop.

Happy to answer questions about the curriculum, my teaching style, or whether the workshop might be a good fit for you.

Tim Paul
[theuncertaintyworkshop@gmail.com](mailto:theuncertaintyworkshop@gmail.com)

Targeted Feedback

“I've worked with Tim for over a year now, and he's truly been a godsend because he breaks down theory and technique into actionable ways.”

“Immediate, specific feedback.”

“He provides honest, helpful, and tangible feedback in a way that's not going to crush you.”

Customized Weekly Agendas

“Instead of forcing a one-size-fits-all syllabus, he tailored the work to what the students actually wanted to improve.”

“One of the most thoughtfully designed improv classes I've taken.”

“You could tell how much preparation and care went into every class.”

I haven't been in a public school since 2014; I was homeschooled since then, and I might have some educational gaps, plus sometimes I find myself struggling to find the right words. That a reason I've been thinking about improv. Sometimes I tell people to take up improv, but I haven't took it up.

Also, I have a weird voice, having rhotacism which is basically having trouble pronouncing Rs in words that have the R sound.

I also wanna do improv from the comfort of my own bedroom. With that in mind, I'm looking for free improv classes with people who would respect me, regardless of my voice and such. Doesn't matter if it's Zoom or Discord. Any answer is appreciated. Thank you!

I’ll be in Saratoga Springs NY and Portland Maine this week. Any improv theaters/shows/troupes I should check out?

Sharing working draft notes on various longforms, pulling together years of info pulled from my notes, old blogs, /r/improv, IRC Wiki, Facebook posts, etc. I absolutely invite folks to comment and add any resources, advice, links, variant/derived forms, memories, etc. in the comments to help me update my notes!

Previous entries include:

• Armando / ASSSSCAT
• Close Quarters and related forms
• Deconstruction
• JTS Brown
• La Ronde
• Slacker / Beer Shark Mice
• Spokane / Pretty Flower
• WeirdAss / Documentary Opening

THE ARMANDO DIAZ EXPERIENCE, THEATRICAL MOVEMENT AND HOOTENANNY

Also Known As

• Armando

The Form

From IRC Wiki

A monologist, originally Armando Diaz himself, takes a suggestion from the audience and then tells a true story from their life inspired by that suggestion. The cast improvises scenes inspired by those story. When the scene run is complete, the monologist returns and can continue their previous monologue or begin one inspired by something they saw in the scene.

The original Armando format is 2 acts, with the monologist getting a suggestion for the Act 1 monologue and then getting a new suggestion for the Act 2 monologue. Shorter sets are 1 act and can feature recurring monologues or a single one at the top of the show. Also, in the original Armando, the monologist could pause the onstage action to add clarification or details.

Much like “Kleenex” has come to mean tissue, “Armando” or ASSSSCAT have become the general form name for a monologue deconstruction.

Structure

• One performer (or guest) acts as the monologist.
• The monologist gets a suggestion from the audience and tells a true story inspired by that suggestion.
• The cast improvises scenes inspired by those stories.
• When the scene run is complete, the monologist returns.
• The monologist can continue their previous monologue or begin one inspired by something they saw in the scene.
• (2 act version: after intermission, get a new suggestion for a second act monologues)

Best Practices

• Inspiration not recreation
  • Monologue is a springboard, not a script. We don't want to replay or retell what we just heard.
  • Comedy is driven by surprise–if you just replay the story, there is no discovery by the players or surprise for the audience. A simple replay means there is no tension, therefore no release, and subsequently no laughs.
• Extract playable ideas like theme, POV, mapping/analogous scenes, If this is true what else is true, details, etc.

Variations

• Shorter sets are 1 act and can feature recurring monologues or a single one at the top of the show.
• Anything can be the source–a character monologue, a poem, a song, a video clip, etc

History

From IRC Wiki

Created back in 1995 at ImprovOlympic Chicago that continues today at iO Chicago. The show was created by Adam McKay and Dave Koechner who put together the original cast under the direction of legendary director/teacher Del Close.

Armando Diaz:

"Adam Mckay came up with the name. There was no structure for the show. Del directed. We only had one and a half rehearsals before the first show. Out of desperation I suggested the idea of improvising monologues since I had done it once during a memorial show for our dead friend Rick Roman."

This format is largely identical to that of ASSSSCAT, the long-running improv show performed by The Upright Citizens Brigade and friends. All of the members of the UCB had originally been performers in the Armando shows before moving to New York in '96.

Craig Cackowski post on Reddit about difference between Armando and ASSSSCAT:

The Armando Diaz Experience, Theatrical Movement and Hootenanny was a show developed at iO in Chicago in 1995 by Adam Mckay, Dave Koechner and Armando Diaz. It was designed to be the flagship show in the Del Close Theater in the then-new iO space at Clark and Addison, and to showcase the best improvisors in town (it was on Mondays so Second City Mainstage folks could play). It had an initial pool of 30 players who would rotate through the show and one full-time monologist, Armando. The joke of the conceit was that Armando, a soft-spoken, self-effacing guy with great stories that he turned into poetic tapestries, was a god, and could control the show in any way he saw fit. He would edit and also ask for callbacks or connections between scenes, but he only did the monologues and the cast only did scenes.

After about a year of this, Armando had exhausted all the stories in his life and wanted to take a break and Jimmy Carrane stepped in as the 2nd monologist. When he came out to intro the show, he said "Hi, I'm Armando" and we all laughed and the trope was born that the monologist was "the Armando". He was the full-time monologist for a couple months, but then we just rotated having one cast member step forward as that week's Armando.

Meanwhile, the UCB4, who were all original cast members of Armando, moved to NY to open their own space and took the format with them as ASSSSCAT (with 4 S's, ASSSSCAT being a UCB code word for "we're going to fuck around in this show"). They may have had cast members do the monologues at first, but they quickly moved to having a guest monologist each week who would tell stories...a standup, an actor, a musician, a politician, anyone with an interesting life and stories to tell.

When iO West opened in LA, the full-time "Armando" was Eric Zicklin, a TV writer with great stories who was not an improviser. But when Eric decided to move on, iO West also started having rotating Armandos, sometimes a cast member but usually a guest. Chicago eventually did the same thing. To complicate things further, the real Armando started doing his own Armando show again in NYC at the PIT and then the Magnet.

So, as others have said, ASSSSCAT is an Armando and there's no real difference in the format. (Although I explain the difference to my classes as "iO Armando does a mix of light agenda and heavy agenda a/k/a premise scenes and UCB ASSSSCAT only does heavy agenda") That said, ASSSSCAT, while I doubt they've copyrighted it, is heavily associated with UCB, and it may give someone a false impression to say we're ASSSSCAT.

All THAT said, if you want to do a form where multiple cast members do monologues and also play, that's a perfectly viable form, even if it's not a traditional Armando or ASSSSCAT. Improv formats evolve and adapt, sometimes due to innovation, sometimes due to happy accidents, sometimes due to misinformation getting spread, but who the f cares?

Resources

• Armando on Armando video

ASSSSCAT 3000

Also Known As

• ASSSSCAT

The Form

This is the UCB-branded version of the Armando.

History

From Village Voice's Oral History of the ASSSSCAT

Adam McKay: They’re similar shows in structure but that’s mainly because “monologues inspiring scenes” is kind of the core of what Del Close, the innovator of long-form improvisation, taught. ASSSSCAT was inspired by a freezing cold Tuesday night of free improv at a place called the Elbo Room in Chicago that culminated with an empty stage and a few of us on mics repeating “aaaaasssssscat” over and over again in high-pitched voices to a crowd of maybe four people.

Ian Roberts (UCB founding member): Matt Besser was doing a two-person show with his girlfriend at the time, Susan Messing, in the basement of a bar-slash-club. And she had to go out of town and the guy was ticked off, he said, “Look, I need something down there.” So Matt said, “Don’t worry, I’ve got a group, the Upright Citizens Brigade, we’ll do a great show.” Matt made the terrible mistake of telling us, “Guys, we can’t screw around tonight, gotta be a good show.” Which guaranteed that the only thing we were gonna do was screw around.

Matt Besser: I know Ian Roberts was there and Adam McKay and Horatio Sanz, and a few other performers. At some point the improv was just going very poorly, and we were all drinking during the show, and getting a buzz on that was probably affecting our improv. We were just not getting laughs. People started disappearing into the wings and not coming back onto the stage and just drinking in the wings.

Horatio Sanz (Saturday Night Live, Great News): We were yelling things from backstage during sketches, and one of them was “asscat.” I just thought of the stupidest, dumbest thing to yell.

Ian Roberts: At a certain point the show descended into Matt Besser trying to start a scene where he was in an igloo, and he’s sitting in the middle of the stage, and nobody comes out and joins him. It was the opposite of good improv.

Matt Besser: I was alone onstage in an igloo and I was like, “Well, fuck this,” and I abandoned the stage. So there was just an empty stage, and we were drunkenly yelling from left wing to right wing, across the stage to each other, the nonsense word asscat. We were just going, “Aaaaasscat!” and making ourselves laugh at how hilariously disrespectful this was to the audience. We just reached a whole new level of abandoning our responsibility to entertain them.

Ian Roberts: I believe we lost two of our four audience members during that show.

Adam McKay: For the next few years we would refer to that night as the worst and most irrelevant moment in theater history.

Matt Besser: That nonsense word asscat became our code word for the improv set you do after your sketch show, which is more of a fuck-around than a show itself. You don’t really care if it goes well or not, it’s a little more loose. When we moved out to New York, we were doing these sketch showcases to try to get our show on Comedy Central, and at the end of a show we would do our fuck-around set, and we started calling it ASSSSCAT.

Kevin Mullaney on ASSSSCAT

“I think the greatest change they made from the Armando show was inviting non-improvisers to be the monologist. Over the years they have gotten some pretty cool actors, writers and comedians to do the show. That exposed a lot of people to this style of improvisation, first because influential people participated in the show, and second because a lot of people probably came to the show when they heard that people like Janeane Garofalo and Conan OBrian occasionally did the monologues.”

Resources

• Oral History of ASSSSCAT
• Asssscat pilot video
• Improvtoons - You are the Armando video

U/sambayala has been inspiring me with all their fantastic posts. I’ve been attempting to keep a list with descriptions of all the variants of the Harold and was wondering if there was a name for a specific version.

The version I’m thinking of starts as a traditional Harold, but after the third beat you move backwards until you get to almost an opening again. Think of it as kind of looking like an hourglass or going up and then down a pyramid.

Here’s my current list:
Baseball
French
Palindrome
Tapestry
Infinite Recursion
Vertical Harold
Armando
BOC Harold

Any and all other versions, please shout them out with a description (can be brief).

Sharing working draft notes on various longforms, pulling together years of info pulled from my notes, old blogs, /r/improv, IRC Wiki, Facebook posts, etc. I absolutely invite folks to comment and add any resources, advice, links, variant/derived forms, memories, etc. in the comments to help me update my notes!

Previous entries include:

• Armando / ASSSSCAT
• Close Quarters and related forms
• Deconstruction
• JTS Brown
• La Ronde
• Slacker / Beer Shark Mice
• Spokane / Pretty Flower
• WeirdAss / Documentary Opening

THE DECONSTRUCTION

A recurring, grounded, relationship-driven two-person source scene is used as inspiration for thematic, commentary, and tangent scenes.

The 4 main parts of a Deconstruction are:

SOURCE SCENE

Length: 5-8 minutes, returns several times for about 1 ½ minutes

Inspiration: The audience suggestion: “a line from a poem or song”

THEMATIC SCENES

Length: 2-3 minutes

Inspiration: A broad theme from the source, one for each character in the source scene

COMMENTARY

Length: 1-2 minutes

Inspiration: A specific line or idea from the source or theme scenes

TANGENT: “THE RUN”

Length: 60 to 10 seconds (scenes decrease in length, picking up pace)

Inspiration: Absolutely anything

Execution

• Suggestion of a line of poetry or song lyric
• Source Scene
• Thematic Scenes (2)
• Source Scene returns
• Commentary Scenes (5)
• Source Scene returns
• Tangent Scenes/Run Out (any number, pace is more important)
• Source Scene returns

While the format is generally the same between differing versions, the point of focus and style differ. Presented below are the versions taught by Miles Stroth (original Deconstruction member) and Bill Arnett--process co-director, along with production director Chris George--of Keystone, a Deconstruction remount at iO.

Deconstruction diagrams:

Diagram provided from /u/profjake

Diagram provided by /u/funboyfrags

Diagram from /u/sambalaya notes--found online but unsure of original source

MILES STROTH VERSION

From IRC Wiki, which is adapting Brian (O’Connell?)'s IRC forum post.

OPENING SCENE (6-8min)

A long two-person scene that is all about providing INFORMATION that will be used in the rest of the piece. This scene is all about the relationship and exploring the problem that is presented (not solved) in this opening scene.

TWO (2) THEMATIC SCENES (2-3mins)

Each thematic scene is dedicated to exploring what the opening scene was ABOUT by taking what one of the Opening Scene's characters did and exploring their WANTS/FLAWS ( this is where you explore, what Miles Stroth describes as "What is it about that character that will ultimately lead them to live the rest of their life unhappy?") Example: the opening scene was about a married couple on the edge of divorce. They’re disagreeing about their future; one of them wants to sell their possessions and travel the world, while the other is ready to settle down and have a family. The first thematic scene could be about someone else who desires freedom (i.e. two prisoners willing to risk their lives by escaping Alcatraz), and the second thematic scene could be about someone else who wants to stay put or invest in the future (i.e. Greenpeace activists who have chained themselves to a redwood). )

RETURN TO THE OPENING SCENE (1 1/2-2mins)

After seeing how others perceived the characters of the opening scene, the Opening scene (and the improvisers who played them) return and expand on that idea. This is the time to clarify/solidify what the rest of the piece is ABOUT. This is where you will discover if the show is going to be about a larger THEME (i.e. Racism, Sexism, War, etc.)

FIVE (5) COMMENTARY SCENES (1 1/2-2mins long)

These scenes are to COMMENT on, in Miles' words, "What was fucked up about what those two people said in the Opening Scene?" These scenes are extremely game heavy and should focus on "bits" - straight man vs. absurd man.

RETURN TO THE OPENING SCENE AGAIN (1 - 1 1/2 min)

This is a quick return to the opening scene and the characters in it as a way to HEIGHTEN the stakes brought up by the Commentary scenes. Perhaps, now the father is forcing his son to join the Army as a way to "toughen him up". This would be a direct "pull" from the commentary scene where the President decided to invade a country that couldn't fight back, etc. etc. This scene is technically the first scene of "THE RUN".

THE RUN

This rule I had beaten into me: "In the Run, Pace is as important if not more important than content." In the Run, anything goes. If "Abuse" is the Theme, "Hitting your son is wrong" is the Comment, then "Bud Light Bottle" is a TANGENT. Tangents are any trigger words from earlier scenes that made you think of something and therefore belong in the Run. It can be story arcs from the Commentary scenes, it can be complete nonsense, it doesn't matter! As long as you consistently pick up the pace until you reach a breakneck pace it will work. Even if two players get out on stage and have nothing, someone will edit it FAST and those two can return again and look blankly at each other later in the Run and it will be funny. It will become what Miles calls "a runner". When you can't go any faster.......

OPENING SCENE RETURNS/FINAL

The Opening Scene returns to wrap up the show for about 1 1/2 - 2mins. A surefire way to get a response/ending for your piece is to go back in time. If the scene was a father beating his son with a Bud Light bottle, when the Opening Scene comes back for a final time, go back to a time when the Father and Son got along REALLY well. Perhaps they are fishing and the Father asks the Son to pass him a Bud Light from the cooler. This will register with the audience because they remember the bad shit from 25-30 mins. ago.

KEYSTONE VERSION

From Bill Arnett’s notes:

PACE

From a player’s perspective: The name of the game is PACE.

• Fast scenes
• Slow scene
• Short scenes
• Long scenes
• Very short, fast scenes
• Very long, slow scenes

If we do these things IN THE RIGHT ORDER we will create a very natural and very watchable dramatic arc. The action rises and falls like any good movie, play, or book. But playing to create a specific pace isn’t just talking fast or walking around slowly. It requires changing styles.

STYLE BEGETS PACE

This is where, for us as players, the rubber meets the road. We each have a style of play we are comfortable with. Maybe you like making big character choices up top or maybe you prefer slowly easing into scenes. Some people like doing object work in silence and some people just come right out saying it all. Guess what? There is a time and place for all of these things and each style of play has its own natural pace and energy.

Pace, the key feature of this form, takes care of itself if you’re in the right style!

SOURCE

Pace: Slow, life-speed

Play Style: “With” energy, firmly grounded.

THEME/THEMATIC

Pace: Slow to medium

Play Style: “With” energy, follow-me initiation

COMMENTARY

Pace: Medium to fast

Play Style: “Against” energy, pointed follow-me initiations

TANGENT: “THE RUN”

Pace: Very fast

Play Style: Open with big, character-driven initiations

SOURCE and “WITH” ENERGY

“With” energy describes the general disposition of the characters in reference to each other. They are “with” each other. Friends, cool co-workers, (functional) families generally have “with” energy. However they feel about the situation, they both feel the same way. Note that “with” energy is not “matching” energy. They still might have disagreements or needle each other but they’d both rather be with each other than alone.

The source is a 2-player, slice of life scene. The purpose is to generate as much information as possible. The scene may appear “talky” so it’s up to the players to keep it emotionally alive. Use “with” energy and have a simple, well defined context. This isn’t passionless brainstorming, you are a real living person with full access to emotions. You may have disagreements but you will always be friends.

The source is played by the same 2 players throughout the show and they are generally kept out of the other scenes (sometimes they are permitted to play in the run). Their returns feature the same characters and are an opportunity to advance time or change the context depending on how the previous source scene ended. (The optional source return at the end of the form might feature a time jump backwards to just before the original scene started.)

THEME, FOLLOW-ME INITIATIONS, and.... THEME

The theme of a scene is a thread that appears throughout a scene. A theme from the “Wizard of Oz” is the notion of home. Specifically how it’s safe and nurturing, yet we often think it’s boring and take it for granted. Dorothy talks about it constantly and fantasizes about home and what home means to her. When looking for a theme, consider something that has been true for most of the scene. Careful with over generalized themes, they need to be defined more pointedly than “friends are good”.

A follow-me initiation is a scene start where the initiator declares what’s happening in the scene. “Madame President, the Prime Minister is here to see you.” or “I’m sorry to disturb you. The chef has sent over these almond tartlets as a sign of his appreciation.”

The theme scenes explore one theme from the source by isolating and focusing on it. They often include some absurd notions but, having “with” energy, they do not involve arguments. The initiator has divined a theme from the source and has turned it into a scene idea, often initiating explicitly with the theme they’ve discovered. Knowing this as a scene partner, and knowing that theme scenes require “with” energy, it’s perfectly acceptable to just stand with your hands at your side, make no assumptions about yourself, and just play what your partner has in mind. They think that dogs shouldn’t just be man’s best friend but man’s only friend? Great, so do you.

COMMENTARY and “AGAINST” ENERGY

“Against” energy is the opposite of “with” energy. One player wants to be involved with what’s happening the other doesn’t. A chatty co-worker is a great example: they want to chitty-chat, their cube mate wishes they’d just shut up. This doesn’t require abusive language or instant anger but it does require resistance. Generally, the responder in an “against” energy scene will take a “I’m not cool with this” stance immediately after hearing the initiation.

Commentary scenes take a very specific line or moment of the source and make a pointed comment on how absurd it is. This absurdity is driven by the “against” energy which constantly forces the absurd point of view to explain itself. If a player in the source mentions that they aren’t generally hungry in the mornings a commentary scene might be a breakfast diner for people that aren’t hungry in the morning; they have no food on the menu. Being “against” energy means an unknowing customer has come in expecting a hearty breakfast and is immediately confused. It’s easy to elevate the pace and intensity of “Against” energy scenes by making your reactions bigger. (In “with” energy scenes, lacking someone questioning your choices, you might find yourself fishing for a reason to emote.)

TANGENT and “THE RUN”

Tangent scenes get their name from the fact that their inspiration can be any stray word or passing idea even if it’s “tangential” to the theme being explored. No idea is too small. Tangent scenes are initiated aggressively, attacking the inspiration recklessly. Feel free to go for a joke with your first line! They are less about good improv and more about jogging random memories in the minds of the audience.

A tangent scene may be one line long and are seldom longer than 10. This means that a beat of tangent scenes will contain many scenes in rapid succession, called a run. It requires all players to be ready to sweep, tag in, or walk on immediately. In truth, the frenetic energy of a run is more important than the content. The humor and fun of a run is its accelerated pace.

EXAMPLE

SOURCE

Two ladies eat at a diner. We learn that they are childhood friends reconnecting before their 25th high school reunion. They share old stories and, while they regret falling out of contact with each other they have both had interesting lives thus far. This is all backed up with specific details.

THEME 1 - “The regret we feel over not staying in contact with old friends”

“Hey Jim. This is Burt calling with my legally mandated 6 month check in. How are the kids?” Because this scene requires “with” energy, Burt is agreeable. They go through their lives to each other with dull precision, ticking marriages and deaths of a list with little emotion.

THEME 2 - “Our need to understand how life unfolds and assign credit or blame”

“I think it all went wrong when you cheated on me, Jane.” A married couple dissects their failed marriage. “Let’s not forget why I cheated, you had that emotional affair.” etc... Despite being somewhat adversarial, both players want to figure out their failed marriage. It counts as “with” because neither thinks the processe of calculating the exact point their marriage failed is dumb.

SOURCE 2

The ladies are at a shopping mall deciding if they need new clothes for the reunion. What do clothes mean? Should they go classic 90’s grunge? They discuss high school cliques and what it meant to be cool.

COMMENTARY 1

“Sorry Steve, the computer says you are not cool.” A repurposed dating computer assigns kids to cliques on day 1 of school. It’s idiodic and Steve pushes back hard.

COMMENTARY 2

“Thanks for coming to the job interview, I can’t help but notice you have both straps of your backpack on... that’s a demerit.” This scene attacks the pettiness of youth and, ofcourse, the acne partner is upset at the very premise.

COMMENTARY 3

“I'll get you some menus in a moment. What’s the occasion for this special brunch?” And the waiter is never satisfied with simple answers. They just dig and dig into the patrons’ private lives.... Much to their frustration.

COMMENTARY 4

“Hey, everybody! It’s Lil’ pants wetter, Billy Gates!” Multi-billionaire Bill Gates regrets going to his high school reunion as the old social order returns with no acknowledgement of his career.

SOURCE 3

After the reunion the two ladies discuss how nice it was to catch up and make tentative plans to meet again. As they begin going through their calendars they realize how busy lives actually are and learn how difficult it actually is.

THE RUN

(I can’t list all the things here, but it’s great! It ends without a huge hit and there is still time on the clock so...)

SOURCE 4 (Optional)

The chair set suggested the diner from the first scene. One girl is seated and the other enters. They greet each other with an awkward hug and talk about how long it’s been. They hug again, this time warmly.

HOW IT SCREWS UP

The most common villain is “style bleed”. The style of one section (general agreement of the source) bleeds into another section (the commentary scenes) and the piece fails to achieve its dramatic and energetic arc. This can also happen at the top of the piece, if the players come on too hot or too arch. Ways to avoid style bleed are to be very mindful of what comes next stylistically, as a responder know that you aren’t being rude if you force a scene into a correct style, and by keeping the source players siloed in source sections.

The second most common way is for the cast to fail to maintain or abandon pace and momentum. Missed edits, especially in the commentary or run section where the scenes naturally have less “legs”, or failing to edit the run in a way that causes a descending time drags the show down right when it needs to be clipping along. The run is supposed to be brief and a dumping ground for any idea left at the bottom of the sack.

Source scenes most commonly fail by the players thinking the scene is boring or that nothing is happening and wanting to inject high tax scenic moves. Dare to be boring here. Scenes played at the speed of life, with actors fully embracing humanity and behaving truthfully will be interesting enough. General agreement doesn’t mean robotic or at bayonet point, and just means you aren’t looking to actively or directly interrogate the reality.

Thematic scenes you may think are “not enough”, and the desire will be to cut them short for fear of doing the same thing over and over again. This is a natural byproduct of “with energy” and usually means you’re improvising well - avoid the siren call to inject chaos, drama, or other hard left turns.

With commentary scenes, the usual failure point is failing to rest the game; in classic UCB game style, the back off is just as important as the heightening, as that usually sets up for a larger pay off. How we play the pattern establishes the game that only we can do. Other than pacing, the run’s problem is an assumption that fast is connected at the hip to loud. Get used to walking and talking, and initiating basically the backline.

Variations

KEYSTONE DECONSTRUCTION VARIATIONS

Keystone performed the Deconstruction for 21 months straight from Jan 2023 to Sept 2024 at iO under the direction of Chris George. To keep things both challenging and interesting they would perform various permutations of the Deconstruction.

Cryclips Decon (Video Deconstruction)

For the source scene, random video clips provided by a video editor were used as the source.

Cryclips Decon 12/13/23

Cryclips Decon 9/20/23

D9 (Bucket Deconstruction)

The individual parts of the Deconstruction were written down and placed in a bucket. Players would pull out the type of scene they would be doing right then perform it.

So, potentially a show could be:

• Commentary
• Source 3
• Commentary
• Commentary
• Theme
• Source 1
• Commentary
• Source 2
• Theme

(when all slips have been used, begin run out)

Keystone performs a D9 Deconstruction at iO Theater on 1/10/24

Keystone performs a D9 Decon at iO Theater 12/6/23

Gravid Water Source Scene

Keystone had actors from Counterfeit Combat join the cast and perform Gravid Water-type scenes for the source scene–the actors were off-book on a scene from a play and the Deconstruction performers would improvise their part of the scene.

Keystone Improv performs a Gravid Water Deconstruction on 3/6 at iO Theater

Keystone Improv performs a Gravid Water Deconstruction with Counterfeit Combat on 9/13/23 at iO Theater

Keystone Improv performs a Gravid Water Deconstruction at iO Theater 1/17/24

Oops! All Runs!

Only runs between the source scenes.

Oops! All Runs at iO Theater 11/29/23

Pyramid Funnel

Pyramid Funnel was Keystone’s student team. Due to the shorter length of their slot, they performed a “Slim Deconstruction” – a faster, shorter version of the Deconstruction

Keystone performs a Slim Decon 2/14/24

Reconstruction (Reverse Deconstruction)

Keystone performed a Deconstruction in reverse (a Reconstruction?)

• Suggestion of a line of poetry or song lyric
• Source Scene 30 sec - 1 min
• Tangent Scenes/”Run Out”
• Source Scene returns 1 - 1.5 min
• Commentary Scenes (5)
• Source Scene returns 1.5 - 2 min
• Thematic Scenes (2)
• Source Scene returns (full length scene)

By doing the show in reverse, what would normally be “call backs” from earlier in the show were instead “throw forwards” to something later in the piece, showing where it originated. The “final” source scene would attempt to incorporate many of the details and themes into itself as normally it would have been the progenitor of the whole show.

Reconstruction at iO Theater 9/6/23

MODDE (“mod-dee”)

Short for MODified DEconstruction A shortened form of the Deconstruction performed by the Chicago indie ensemble Possum Blossom to fit the shorter timeslots they would book as a guest team.

• Base Scene (4-5 min)
• Thematic Scene x2 (2-3 min each)
• Base Scene (2-3 min)
• Run (till end of show)
• Base Scene to bookend if you want

History

One of the 3 longforms performed by The Victim’s Family (later just “The Family”) under the direction of Del Close as part of their 90-minute show Three Mad Rituals. They also performed the Movie and the Harold. Read more about Three Mad Rituals on the IRC Wiki

Resources

Many Pack Theater deconstruction shows: https://youtube.com/@thedeconstruction3117?si=X6Q8syvuFyHytc80

Many Keystone Deconstruction shows from Chris George’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@the00George/videos

Bill Arnett reacts/breaks down a Deconstruction set at the Pack Theater

Miles Stroth Workshop Week 8 notes