Sprezzatura #5 - Shark-wielding Crustaceans
We've had 15° C mornings and evenings in Montreal all week. Sunny, light breeze, going up to 20° in the afternoons.
Oh My Yes. Someone please affix the relative tilt of the Earth just like this.
You know when you wake up in the morning and the blankets are just the right amount of warm? Or you're in the middle of a good book and you've got a great drink next to you, and nothing to do on the horizon? Or you put on your favourite shirt and it feels like it was made just for you?
The last two weeks of September in Montreal are heavenly in the same way.
GAME: Fight Crab 2
I just need you to know that Fight Crab 2 is coming out. And there's a trailer for it. And it's everything I never knew I wanted. Are you on the moon? Wielding a shark? Wearing a tractor? This game asks all the right questions.
ARTICLE: "Why is this bridge here?"
It seems like such an innocuous question. A feature you might pass by a million times without questioning it. But Minneapolis resident Tyler Vigen did question it. And then those questions led to MORE questions. If you thought you weren't going to read one man's journey into the bureaucratic labyrinth, you were severely mistaken.
VIDEO: The Miracle Sudoku
Simon Anthony solves Sudokus on his YouTube channel. Regular Sudokus are a bit pedestrian for him so he gets sent Sudokus with a twist. This one... this one is one of the best videos on the internet. Watching Simon slipping back and forth between madness and genius is incredible. If you thought you weren't going to watch 25 minutes of someone solving a Sudoku, you were EVEN MORE severely mistaken.
Improv Tip
This week it's a little tool some of you on this list may know already but it's a free webpage you can use to generate prompts for your scenes or shows. It's called Can-I-Get-A.
https://www.can-i-get-a.com/You can get a Location, a Relationship, and a Word (Word also includes a bunch of emotions.) I created this with my old friend Gil Browdy, who took this project on as a personal software challenge while he was taking classes. We even got a nice write up in the AV Club when we launched it in 2015.
It all came from me playing word association on my own in my notebook while sitting on the bus.
Hope you find it helpful in your next workshop!
Events
Well, Improv College online teams are back! We've got 4 teams recruiting for the new year, starting Oct 14-15. For 10 weeks, you'll work with a coach and do 4 shows on our YouTube channel. We don't expect you to be at every single session (life happens) but for those 10 weeks, you get to form a team, and dedicate yourselves to one project with an awesome coach from around the world. And if everyone's having a blast (and the schedules work out), the option to continue it into the new year is totally doable! We've been doing this since 2020 and each Team has been a real joy to watch.
Advance Scenework with Vinny Francois (that's me!), runs Saturdays from Noon-2pm Eastern. We focus on short scenes with detailed, personalized feedback.
Stirring The Plot with Velvet Wells (Ottawa), runs Saturday from 3-5pm Eastern. Velvet will take you into their world of longform narrative.
Meet Cute with Aih Mendoza (Manila), runs Saturdays 10pm-Midnight Eastern. You get to dive deep into the RomCom genre with Aih.
The Documentary with Fiona Howat (London), runs Sundays 2-4pm Eastern. Learn this great format that blends comedy and documentaries with Fiona.
As always, we have reduced rate spots available in limited numbers.
Registration and full details on our site.
An Interesting Wikipedia Page: Letters of Last Resort
L8r sk8rs,
Vinny