Kansas City Improv

Okay, so everyone in the Kansas City improv scene posted blogs stating the best and worst things about the scene here. Seeing as how I'm not terribly experienced and certainly don't have big enough picture to truly comment about such things, I don't have a lot of room to say much, but........

Best-New players are discovering improv all the time! Myself included! We are taking our first tentative steps into this big beautiful world, much like Bambi, and discovering it in all it's glory.

Worst-There appears to be a lack of training in this town, unless you were lucky enough to discover improv in high school, and we don't have many sources with which to draw mentorship from, much like Bambi after his mother was shot. It is a little difficult to find your place amongst the highly experienced and uber talented when you're just beginning, and at times it makes one feel unwelcomed. (Fortunately there are some out there who encourage and draw in improvlings such as myself)

Just this newcomer's humble thoughts on the matter, pretty much the only angle I can clearly see to comment on.

Super fantastic....

http://www.amazon.com/Playmobil-3172-Security-Check-Point/dp/B0002CYTL2

Read the product reviews at the bottom, hillarious!

Before the show....

If you follow my photo blog you'll know that I went filming with the Hypothetical 7 a week or two ago. Here is the video we took, after editing and whatnot, of course. It was the first thing we showed at the Westport Coffeehouse so it made gullible people think, "Hey...they's been walkin' around Westport all day...how'd they change clothes so quick? They're magic!" (gee I hope nobody in the audience was that stupid) So yeah, anyhow, thought this video was cute and figured I'd share it. Enjoy!

Yeah, that'll happen.

I got a jury summons recently. The date of my "appearance" is March 12th. First of all, that's a Wednesday, when Jason goes back to work. Second, they want me to appear before Leigha even gets on the bus. Third, I put in an appeal saying I can't find childcare...and they basically said, "Whatever, see you March 12th." Yeah.....................................if I'm still a resident of Leavenworth County by then, I'm so bringing Brianna with me. This is rediculous. They say you're responsible for finding your own childcare but that you can postpone your "service" if you can't and I did just that, which was denied. Um, yeah. Not happening.

I'm just going to allow you to draw your own conclusions from this.

Recognition: I has it.

I went to Roving Imp rehearsal tonight and John told me that our production of "The Complete History of America (abridged)" tied for third as "best overall play" in the Kansas City area. We were listed in the proffessional category, too! I can't believe it, that's such an honor! I'm so proud to have been a part of it. It's such a shame that we literally had to cancel 1/2 our performances due to nobody showing up. Jason is the only person who came to see me, even though several of my friends said they'd make it. Some had good excuses (sick kids and no transportation) some did not. I wish someone could have come so they could understand why this is such a big deal for me.

Review

Here's a review of our set:

"Antiprov started things off right with the best introduction of the night - choreographed dancing to a skipping CD. I was immediately focused and ready for a fun set. The team was not subtle about their message: they knew the rules of improv, and they were dead set on breaking every single one before our very eyes.

Antiprov became the first team in Thunderdome to bring short-form to the competition, which was a refreshing change of pace. A lot of the games worked great. But quite a few of them reminded us of why improv has rules - there were several scenes that, when breaking the choice rule, couldn't quite get off their feet or become more than just a gimmick.

The fast pace of the set was exciting, but it also made the team appear more nervous and panicked then they probably were - and rushing though things led them to fumble some game descriptions. In a normal short-form set, this wouldn't matter as much, but for Antiprov, the jokes were often in those descriptions.

The team was incredibly crafty in thinking up rebellious ways to make fun of the art of improv, and possibly my favorite line of the night was "We don't need a suggestion for this one," followed by the brandishing of scripts. Using the audience suggestions to make a Mad-lib (and making fun of themselves at the same time) was a brilliant moment and one of the spotlights of the entire night."

-"Anonymous" reviewer on the improv boards.

I'd say this is a good review, and the critiques are completely fair. There is a way to break the rules correctly, but it is extremely difficult. Sometimes we'd hit it dead on and it was fantastic. We didn't quite get there Friday but it was still great. The fast pace was due to the fact that we practiced getting our set done in 15 minutes despite the 30 minute time limit. We were told by our coach to keep up a fast pace and laughter would slow it down to the proper amount. Great and accurate notes, but we were so used to hitting that breakneck stride that I guess we didn't realize it would look quite so frantic from the audience, although I know that was appreciated as a contrast to the longforms, which were also great, this was just different.