#77 Yes, And! instead of Cowabunga!
Issue #77 Yes, And! instead of Cowabunga!
30th August 2023
The improv tour has begun.
I am writing this missive in Germany just a few scant hours before my first rehearsal for Improfestival Karlsruhe 2023. From there I'm onwards to Montreal, Toronto, Lillehammer and Sofia.
I won't be properly home again until the end of September, nor see Laura or Radio for all that time.
I feel extremely excited and also a little adrift (as I often do at the start of ADVENTURES).
So here's to all the new friends, old friends, improv shows and classes that lie ahead.
Wish me luck!
Rule of three
[Game] The Wikipedia Game
This is great fun. Like that game where you have to connect Kevin Bacon to other actors through his co-stars, The Wikipedia Game drops you on a random page of the mammoth online encyclopedia and challenges you to get to another random page in as few steps as possible. I just did Chromatography to Miami in seven links.
[Movie] Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
I loved TMNT when I was a kid (although they were Heroes and not Ninjas in the UK). Part of the appeal for me was just the insanity of having a kid's cartoon based on a black and white underground comic. This new movie version made me feel like a kid again. The animation style builds on the amazing work done for Into the Spiderverse and looks sensational. And it's actually funny and vibrant and only 99 minutes long. The best bit for me? My favourite Turtle, Michelangelo, is really into improv and directly uses that training in the climactic battle. At one point he even yells Yes, And! instead of Cowabunga!.
[Video] Jon Ronson: For the Love of Time Travel
Amazing writer and improviser, Karen Reed pointed me towards this incredible video. It's gonzo journalist Jon Ronson (Of The Men Who Stare at Goats fame) chairing a roundtable with people who genuinely believe in time travel. The highlight for me is a middle-class British woman who seems convinced she travelled back in time when she's clearly just visited a hotel in rural France.
Spotlight
If you're looking for improv in the Autumn, I'd love to work with you.
Both/ And - London-based class about improvising psychologically realistic characters and the contradictions inherent in being a member of humanity. Suitable for anyone who loves the idea of more theatrically-daring improv. Co-taught with Emily Murphy.
Improv Cinema Club: Acting about Acting Edition - Online class that's part-movie discussion group and part-improv fun times. This season we're looking at films about artifice and the craft of acting itself. Co-taught with Tara Judah and Liz Allen.
Longform thoughts
"Have you tried dressing up as a hungry fox to scare the bins?"
Presenting the epic tale of that time I put a bin in a bin.
Radio contact
Oh, I didn't see you down there, Radio.