On Incremental Coaching

First off, I owe a huge debt to Asaf Ronen who coached me in Irony City and wrote the invaluable book "Directing Improv". His coaching philosophy has been an inspiration for my approaches. Go buy that book.

When I'm coaching a group that wants to/should address a particular thing I treat practices like workshops. I focus most of the time we have on exploring the concept we're dealing with. This takes the form of a set of incrementally complex exercises leading to concrete scene work.

This is nothing new. We coaches do this already. We pick warm-up then exercises and side-coaching to target specific needs. The main difference for me is how I look at each of those phases. I hope it'll be helpful to you.

Ask: Should we even do this?

Since the group will be hitting the topic hard it's important to know if it's worth it. If it's not a priority there's probably something else you can use the time for.

Here are questions I ask before starting planning.

• If it's a topic you've done before and is still not where they want it. Consider other coaches who are more experienced with that to do a few practices.

• Not all groups need or should spend their time exploring everything. Consider if the topic fits the group's skill level, interpersonal dynamics, and vision for their shows.

• Does the team need what they're asking for or are they better served with something else? Is the topic a symptom of a different issue? Have those conversations.

• Does the whole team want to do this or is it being pushed by one or two people?

Breaking down the topic

From here we can take the request and break it down. The intention here is to create a series of exercises that build on each other to work the muscles for that topic. The progression is the same one coaches use all the time. Typically it looks like this:

Warm-ups → Guided Exercises → Scenes

Solid! My plan is that but from a different point-of-view.

Abstract → Exploratory → Scenic

Abstract

Basically targeted warm-ups. When I approach to a topic I think about the fundamental skills that it requires. This can be anything from listening, reacting, group-mind, etc etc. Then I pull in warm-ups and games that have a connection to those ideas. Importantly I avoid warm-ups that are scenic. The goal is to prime the group to be thinking about the topic in the abstract than executing it in a scene. This isn't a magic trick. I don't wait until the end of warm-ups to talk about what the point is. I typically have a short talk between games and phases of the rehearsal to align everyone.

Exploratory

Then the rehearsal moves into more scene-y exercises. The games here can include things like directed shorter scenes or playing with segments of a scene (eg. initiations, heightening). These should be more structured than the abstract exercises but not yet montages or full sets.

The purpose here is to bring the ideas of the topic closer to execution. This is getting reps in for moves before taking the guardrails off. The actors in this phase should get the feel of the topic's intent so they can more easily do it in the context of a set. I try to connect the dots as much as I can during this transition. Depending on the games being played I might be heavy with side-coaching or heavy with cool-down talk. It all depends.

Scenic

Having worked through the first two phases shift to full scene work. Either scene-by-scene or by doing a montage or running their form. Side coach with reminders of the focus and have a cool-down after the sets. Make sure to have time at the end of the rehearsal to talk through everything from the day.

Benefits

I developed this template to address a few things that I had difficulty with when planning practices. It forced me to consider the topic more deeply that just shuffling up exercises. Having that knowledge in the back of my head lets me pivot during the practice if they need to take a different approach than what's in my notebook.

The use of talk-backs is critical. I try to get everyone to weigh in on what's going on, especially the people are most quiet normally. Get players to say in their own words what's going. Find out what's clicking and what's not. Hearing how other people are thinking is mutually beneficial to you and their teammates. Plus if everyone is saying they don't get it maybe pull the rip cord.

Drawing explicit lines from the warm-ups to the exercise to scenes helps people focus on the topic. I frequently get positive feedback that the discussion of the abstract and how it relates to performing made things clearer. If they can digest the abstract they can act more naturally in a scene. Maybe this is more theater-woo but I've been happy with the results.

Example Plan

The team would like to explore being "more organic". The first step is to ask them (or provide for them) a more exact topic to work with. Organic can mean a lot of things to a lot of people but let's say this team says they want to have fewer scenes born from a premise and more scenes that develop out of itself.

For me, I'd dust off my notebooks and see what I've done in the past to address this. I usually can get a few ideas from that. I'll also google around, and maybe talk to other coaches for inspiration....hey no shame in checking out the Improv Resource Center boards.

I'll pick some ideas around the topic to focus on. In this example, I'll be focusing on a rehearsal about responding rather than planning. I will approach this issue by building up the team's ability to lean on each other rather than making sweeping unilateral moves. One way to stop the writer is to share the pen.

Then I'd get some of the games and start picking and ordering what I can do during rehearsal time for these items. It might look like this.

Warm-Ups

• A mirroring exercise with restarts when leading is noticed
  • There are a few exercises that fit this, I pick one for the group that works for them. If the team is green I like pairing off, if a little more advanced I like a circle mirror. Be strict if you see actors making too big of shifts.
• Point-and-go
  • The team clusters up and someone runs to the other side of the room and strikes a pose everyone else runs over at the same time and contributes to the silent tableau. Once it's settled someone runs back and starts it over again.
• Busby Berkeley
  • An exercise I got from Susan Messing... I think she made it? You have the group in a single line facing each other's backs, like a snake. The head of the snake will make a move with their arms, legs, posture etc and it should ripple down the line. When comfortable have the group walk around the room while doing it. Maybe call for a reverse. Make sure to shuffle the head.
• Conducted interview
  • The old-fashioned short-form conducted interview is helpful. Be purposeful in the conducting. Keep people honest.

Discussion: This set of exercises/warm-up emphasize being sensitive to taking in information and continuing its trajectory. This isn't rocket science. But it's helpful to talk about it out loud. This is table setting for the rest of the practice. Encourage speaking to what was hard/easy for each player.

These warmups are a great time to watch the actors and see if there is anyone that's having a tough time with the concepts. I side coach them to nudge them into the groove. Even if you don't do that it's heplful to note who might be having a harder time of it or who more easily performs

Exploratory Exercises

• One character montage
  • Each actor gets moment to create a character. Maybe by monologue, or having things painted on them, or just a suggestion. This can be done in front of the group or off-stage. Then every other cast member will run an initiation with them. The goal is not to play into the game of the character but rather to take them into completely different place, different situation. It should not feel like a tag run, and keep it away from crazy town. As a rule all characters should know each other. This exercise works holding on to your character while accepting surprising offers. I'd recommend this for intermediate groups.
• Boring Scene
  • Get a specific location appropriate for two people (Long haul truck, Security booth, Roadies backstage). A pair will be dropped in with the following structure
    • They know each other
    • They like each other
    • Nothing exciting happens in regards to the location will happen
    • No big relationship revelations
    • This scene is at least 8 minutes long.

Give direction that silence and small precise object is helpful to give space and relaxation. The intent here is to remove the explicit pressure of creating entertainment and rather collectively exploring a moment of low stakes. Reactions are much easier here. Side coach any big moves out. Great for greener groups.

• Emotional Switch
  • Another classic short-form. Call switch on a player and force them to pic a new emotional treatment of their line. Make clear that the work in this exercise isn't in the player making the emotional change but rather the partner accepting it. Encourage immediate, clear moves. Do not allow histrionics. Do not allow the scene to turn into justification or mindless history-delving.

Montage / Sets

• Mirror Peas in a Pod montage
  • Montage, all scenes are two player and are started with a 10-30 second silent agreement on a character form (posture, speech, energy) and must be of similar minds. Edit should completely clear the space (e.g. sweeps, painting in a location). This can ladder back to the Boring Scene exercise, but with more allowance of more wackiness and incident.
• The Kramer
  • Run a series of scene with the following pattern
    • Two person scene long enough for establishment. Must know each other, must like each other. Mostly peas in a pod. No emergencies.
    • Entrance of a third character with a strong connection to one/both of the main characters
    • The original characters will have opposite reactions of the new character
    • After 2-3 minutes the interrupter will leave and the scene will close within a minute with the two original characters. The fallout from the Kramer should inform how they return to the original conversation. Like the character switch have the team avoid wild characters and try to play subtler. This should be a fun exploration of a mirrored relationship being stressed and relieved.
• Set with side coaching. Look for opportunities like:
  • Switching choices.
  • Taking a big move and turning it in. ("Your experiment will kill us all!" "Oh so it's my experiment now."). Snipping out big concepts as they start forces more reaction.
  • Remove meaningless banter. Just because we're focusing on reacting to each other and agreeing as we go don't let things wallow in insignificant shit. It's fun and all but keep it coming from inside. Force them to make their banter mean something about them or their relationship. Do some coaching to find an emotional undercurrent.

Improvise

This is like the framework I like to walk into the room with but I let it go where it needs to go. If there's an aspect to this they take to strongly I'll chase that. If they love the physical mirroring maybe I add an exploratory exercise like mirror-to-scene (face-to-face mirror with vocalizations, doesn't need to be words, then turn into scene). If they're a hardcore writers' room of a team maybe I have more warm-ups that build trust in collaborative story telling.

Wrap up

I keep 10 minutes at the end to talk with the team about the topic and their experience. Vocalizing what (if anything) they learned is crucial to not having this all slip off their brains. Encourage people to share favorite moments of the set, difficult moments for themselves, and any observations on the topic of the day. Ask them where they want to go with this next. Even if you're dropping in, it's good to get them to think about direction while still warm