Isn't It Time We Took Tech Seriously
How can we use lighting and sound better in our improv. In this episode, you hear from two improvisers who also do tech and who give you a view from the tech box. This episode aims to help on-stage improvisers and improv teams think more about their tech.
You will hear from:
Cleo Pettitt - Lloydie's cousin and a professional set and costume designer
Charlotte Brown
Matt Holman
Host:
Lloydie James Lloyd
Podcast Theme:
Composed by Chris Stevens at Studio Dragonfly
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Improvising with Tech
This is the improv chronicle. So I'm in Nottingham after seeing a pantomime
Charlotte: I don't know, I've just watched a lot of movies and it just I don't know, it makes sense to me.
Lloydie: This is the improv chronicle. I'm Lloydie. So I'm in Nottingham, and I'm just walking back from having seen the pantomime at, Nottingham Playhouse. Now, if you're not from the UK, explaining British Pantomime is probably an highly different podcast altogether. However, what I've just seen involved loads of different sets brilliantly painted by my very talented cousin, who's walking home with me. And also, loads of amazing costumes who were also designed by my very talented cousin, who's also walking with me. And it's got me thinking, in improv, we don't get any of that whatsoever.
All of the different aspects of theater contribute to a show
And I thought about how much all of the different aspects of theater contribute to a show. What would you say your costumes and your set designs actually contribute to the show that we've just seen?
Cleo: Well, firstly, I suppose they are funny. Actually, that's not true.
Lloydie: They all do no, it is true, actually.
Cleo: They all do different things. The dame ones are always funny. but it creates in Panto, it's got a whole different world that you're in, so it creates this different world. So it's heightened reality. It's bright colors and exaggerated characters. So straight away, you know who people are. They're sort of set up as stereotypes.
Lloydie: In improv, we don't have the sets, we don't have the costumes, but we do have things other than the improvisers in order to help us create a world and to create other things that might be amusing, intriguing, or that might make us invest in the world in which we're situated just a little bit more. And so in this podcast, we're looking at the world of tech. We're looking at the world of lighting and of sound, and how that can enhance the show that you're watching.
Charlote Brown does tech and improv wherever people will pay him
Charlotte: I'm Charlote Brown. and I'm currently in Chicago. And, I am, a loose cannon and a free agent. So I do tech and improv wherever people will have me. And as far as tech goes, wherever people will pay me.
Lloydie: do you think improvisers, when they're preparing to do a show and when they come on stage, do you think they think enough about the tech side of things? Light, sound, et cetera?
Charlotte: I think it's one of those things where improv has that misnomer of a lot of people think it's just, oh, this is completely made up. But a lot of improv has structure. And I think that people don't necessarily think of the structure as far as tech goes enough because a lot of times people will just be like, oh, hey, can you turn on a light or whatever to the next team behind them. and so I think it's one of those things where it can add so much to a show, but people don't necessarily know what even the options are to be able to expand their show in that way.
What tips would you give to an improv team in terms of what tech is available
Lloydie: What tips would you give to an improv team, in terms of what tech might be available to them or might be able to elevate what they do.
Charlotte: If you're doing like a long form show, definitely thinking about how whatever you're using as inspiration, how say you're using film noir and thinking about how in film noir and those types of movies, how, the light is usually dark and there's a lot of shadows and mystery and things like that could really elevate. So I think it's just thinking about whatever source material or whatever show you're doing. Or like, for example, if you're doing a short form show and there's a scene where it's like, oh, we're in a forest, you could throw up some depending on the capability of whatever space you're in, you could have a splash of green lighting or that type of thing, where it's very much dependent on just thinking about whatever context you're developing and kind of performing in. And a lot of that is especially know, short form where you're kind of doing a lot of things in a short span is very much where the improvisational element comes in, which is like the most fun.
Matt: Hi, I'm Matt. I have been doing improv, out in Norfolk, Virginia and Chicago and other places, for about eight years now. I mainly specialize in musical improv, which I've been doing for about seven years, inside of those eight years. But I perform locally with a ah, bunch of different groups. the one that I collaborate with the most is a group called Commonwealth Comedy right now. And I teach musical improv, at the Push Comedy Theater out here in Norfolk.
Lloydie: If you're on stage and you're an improviser, what do you need to understand about what's going on in the Tech box?
Matt: Well, whenever I would go and Tech for an improv group, I would always pull them aside and kind of ask them, what do you need? Because there's groups that I've worked with that want a lot of Tech involvement, that they're okay with that, and then there's groups that don't feel that way, where they kind of just want lights up and down and play the song when the set's over kind of thing. so I would always have that conversation because I wouldn't want to throw off the flow of the improv by doing something that they weren't necessarily expecting. improvisers that were more open to more Tech involvement and things. I would do, like, color shifts for Mood, especially with musical improv, which I also TechEd for a lot, where it's like you cultivate this emotion or this energy, and it's like if you go ahead and the most simple example is everything's a little spooky. So you go and change the light color to a more, like, bluish hint. And that kind of creates this idea in the audience that the scene that we're looking at is spooky. And a lot of times I feel like really good tech, especially when it comes to lights, is going to be invisible to the audience, but helps to enhance that mood.
Using lights to subtly shift focus in improv can be incredibly powerful
Lloydie: What are other invisible ways that as a person on lights or even sound that you can invisibly influence an improv scene?
Matt: So, our setup that we have, we've got a kind of unconventional stage, let's say, that where, the bulk of the stage is. It's not actually just like a full stage front. It's like half a stage. Then there's a door where it's like where the audience enters, and then there's a staircase leading upstairs. So a lot of times, improvisers will use that staircase as a way of entering a scene. Or a lot of times, someone will be like, I'm going to play God. And they go up the staircase, because it's a way of doing that. So one of the things that I would always have to keep an eye out for when I'm doing Tech and improv is for where is the focus of the scene? And that was one of the ways that I would kind of invisibly do that. Because we have separate lights that go to the main stage portion and then to this almost side stage, the way a lot of people use it, and being aware of the scene and what's happening in the scene, and using the lights to kind of shift focus in a way. So there would literally be scenes where we might have someone on the main stage interacting with someone on the stairs. And a lot of times what I would do is I would put them in different colors. So, like, for example, someone on the stair is God. I'm putting full up white lights on him. Like, boom. that's it. And then if he's arguing with a normal person, then I might dim that down a little bit or change that light to be more yellow to reflect, like, a more, grounded kind of perspective from the person on stage rather than that. And so using lights to invisibly kind of shift focus in the scene was something that I would do once again. Not really being like, I want people to look over here, but more following the energy of the scene and the way that it goes to be like, you should be paying attention to this part, not this part. And, doing things that way, where it was just subtle shifts of color, or in some more extreme cases, blacking out, like one half of the stage. Because this thing is happening over here that has now become the scene.
Charlotte: One of the things that inspired me to get into Tech was, there is a technical improviser in my hometown, theater. His name is Charlie Downes. And, the theater is all short for him. So I remember in a forward reverse scene, there was a gunshot, and he chose to do a gunshot effect. And then when the scene was in reverse, he played it in reverse. And then so it was just the skill of him being able to go back and forth between those two things, where it was I don't necessarily know that the general audience really necessarily appreciated it, but I was like, whoa, that is so cool. And that was, like, the first time that the tech really stood out to me. And then, it was just like, yeah, that moment of like, wow, that's really cool. and it was just something so small, but that really, added to the whole scene, and just added to the game of, like, oh, forward reverse, and even the tech is going in forward reverse.
Matt: Musical improv is where the bulk of my experience is, and I tech the I tech a decent amount for musical improv shows. And while all of the musical stuff and everything is really happening on stage.
Matt: And this actually wasn't one where necessarily I was in the booth. I was actually on stage for this. We did a show that became a musical about, like, time travel, and our tech person, Nate, who was working that at the time, he came up with some kind of on the fly lighting effect to basically simulate time travel. So anytime that I, was the time traveler, I walk up and I throw the switch. I'm like, we're going back in time. He had this very involved light sequence that really helped kind of make the audience feel like, oh, we're traveling back in time much more than if I had walked up, thrown the switch, and then we just move into another scene. And it eventually got to the point where we were intersecting timelines. The timeline collapsed. Everyone was time traveling, and we were singing this song that was really chaotic, and everything was overlaying. And what Nate did was, he kept going and laying these lighting effects that he'd been kind of establishing for different scenes and stuff like that, over this song that is supposed to be all of these timelines converging, which I think really heightened the visual experience for the audience. Once again, much more than just, I'm standing on a stage, and we're all just spinning around, screaming, which is kind of what happened, but he did that in a really cool way, where people were able to look and be like, oh, this is all of these timelines converging, and everything collapsing. And so I think when it comes to improvisers and how they use tech, I don't think a lot of improvisers think about that, that they pay attention to the fact that you can go ahead and take these lights, these sounds, and they can be used to add something rather than take away from it. I feel like there's a perception that by including heavy tech in your shows and things. It removes some of the, magic, I guess, from improv where it's like, oh no, you're not creating this world just with your imaginations and your prop work and all of this anymore now that you've got all these other elements adding into it, that it's not quite as pure, so to speak. But I think that what a lot of improvisers aren't aware of is the ways that tech can heighten and increase the audience involvement as well as I think, in the improviser sense.
What should improvisers know about using tech in their shows
Lloydie: So what should improvisers know about using tech in their shows?
Matt: I think when it comes to using tech in improv, it's important for improvisers to know that it's not going to steal their spotlight, no pun intended, steal the spotlight, so to speak, where, I have seen it a few times where it has stolen the spotlight. But that's more because they were working with a tech person that maybe wasn't an experienced improviser or wasn't fully engaged with the soundboard and the lights board and things like that. I think just being open to the fact that the use of lights and sound can enhance your performance and not take away from it. I think it's something that improvisers, should really keep in mind when they're trying to feel like, trying to consider whether they should be using tech in their shows.
Charlotte: People don't really think about how they've because a lot of people have been like, oh, why don't you teach a, workshop about tech? And I'm like, I don't know, I've just watched a lot of movies and I don't know, it makes sense to me, because there's so many we know as people, even if outside of improv, like, what makes a good story and the rhythm and kind of the storytelling structures. Because humans have been telling stories for millions of years. So I think people just don't really necessarily it kind of goes back to what we were saying at the beginning of people don't even know because they've never really had the discussion. And tech isn't really something that's really talked about. It just is something that I've noticed just kind of happens in a lot of places. And so if people have the experience of being in theater and then transitioning to the improv world, then they're more likely to take those theatrical elements of scripted work to improv. Whereas what I've noticed in particularly the States, is that improv is more people come to it more from just purely the improvisational side of things. So they're just like, oh, we're just going to get up on stage, turn on a light, and we'll see what happens.
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