Pre Gig Thoughts:
So it had been about a month since my last Improv gig at Fuel Cafe bar back in April. I figure that if I'm to be performing in a show in June with Starship Improvise, I should get in a bit more practice in front of an audience, and since the only criteria for performing is attending the Box Of Frogs Impro Workshop the night before I thought I'd give it a bash. Okay, I probably shouldn't count this as a proper gig as it's more like a showcase, but I am. Deal with it. It's an opportunity to do a shortform games again (much like Gig 1 with WOW Impro) and I'm sure it'll be fun.

The Gig Itself:
I was involved in the opening group game: "Story, Story, Die." I didn't win at this. I never do. Got voted off third out of six players.

The Second Game I was involved in was the game "Hands Through." I was a gardener (with Craig providing my hands) talking to his boss (Lee, with Jenny providing the hands) about a problem with the garden.

The Third Game I was involved in was the game "Playbook." I had only seen this game done before, but never played it. Two people start a scene, one person reads lines from a play and the other person must justify and respond to what that person was saying and create a proper developed scene. I was reading from the Play's script and Craig was improvising with me. If I recall correctly, the play was Jumpers by Tom Stoppard. It's a weird play, but it made for a good scene.

The Final Game I was involved in was "Three Headed Expert." One player (Karen) holds an interview with an "Expert." The "Expert" is actually made up of 3 improvisers (Lee, Myself and Craig) who can only speak one word at a time. Our topic was "Space" which resulted in our expert paying someone we met at a party £1000 to build a rocket to travel to Mars. Incase you are wondering, we paid him the money, but never saw him again.

Post Gig Thoughts:
The show was meant to start at 8pm. When I arrived at the venue at 7.15pm(which was 15 minutes late after being stuck in traffic getting there), I found out that there might not be much of an audience as there was a big Birmingham football game on that night.

By 8.15pm the audience had arrived. The audience was made up of one guy. His name was Joe. He was nice. He brought his own precussion which he used to indicate that we had hesitated in "Story, Story, Die." It actually worked quite well.

We cut the show short, so I didn't get to play a couple of the games that I was scheduled to play (One of them was "Word Count:" Three people in a scene, but they can only talk in sentences of 3, 4 or 5 words at a time. I can't recall what the other game or two were.)

It was all good practice, and I had fun doing it. And there was an audience member there, so I'm counting it as an official gig, only just though. (Had there been no audience there, we still would have played some games, but I wouldn't have counted it.)

So that's three improv gigs in the bag.

I'll probably put my name down for next month's gig on 13th June, too. So if you're in the area, drop by and let's try and double the size of the audience.

And by Kiddie Winkles, I do of course refer to the highly dignified Winkle society of Kidderminster. I feel I should make this clear after the Kiddie Fiddler gaffe of a few weeks ago, when it should have been obvious that I was addressing the Kidderminster Fiddle Society, Music Division and not any other group.

Anyway, moving on.

This week was another special one for me (if you apply the word "special" in a frivolous way like fresh bean sprout, or Qualified Heart Surgeon), in that while I had to go to work, the only stairs that I had to deal with all week, were the stairs in my office building.

That's right! I scored a ground floor room in the Travelodge. And it was just off the reception, too so I didn't even have to walk very far.

That's a Room 3 info card, baby.

So fuck you, stairs. I win this round!

I quit to work on one good sketch.

And work on it I did, so that I could submit it to the Sketch And The City Competition.

And without further ado, here is that sketch:

(Two Men, JOE and STEVE are sat in a waiting room.)

(Joe is reading a newspaper.)

TANNOY (OS)
Number sixteen. Number sixteen to Room C, please.

JOE
What’ve you got there?

(Steve is holding a MAGIC WAND.)

STEVE
It’s a magic wand.

JOE
(puts down newspaper
and looks at Steve.)
That doesn’t seem likely.

STEVE
But it totally is a magic wand. And I can prove it.

JOE
How?

STEVE
(waves Magic Wand at Joe)
Expecto Waito.

JOE
(laughs)
Do you think that'll actually work?

STEVE
What number do you have?

(Joe looks at his numbered ticket.)

JOE
Forty Two.

(Steve looks at his numbered ticket.)

STEVE
Seems to be working for me.

TANNOY (OS)
Number seventeen. Number seventeen to Room D, please.

STEVE
(standing)
I've got Seventeen.

(Steve exits.)

JOE
(shakes head and goes back to
reading Newspaper.)
Idiot.

(BLACKOUT.)

Hope that you enjoyed it.

Comments are welcome.

Catch you all next time.

Matt.

So what's this week's image?

Well, unless you've never visited this blog before (and if you haven't, shame on you), you will have noticed that I'm more than a little obsessed with improv.

And this week's image is related to that. So if you don't want to know what it is, click away now (I won't be offended).

Are they gone?

Good. I didn't like them anyway.

So here for the rest of you, is the image:

That's right. I'm doing the Intermediate Workshop with ComedySportz again.

For the 5th time.

To some, that would mean that I'm no good at it, to others I go back because I enjoy it. Only when you see me perform will you truly get the answer.

It is looking like a good batch of workshops, in that a lot of those topics I haven't done before, including:

Week 3: Complete the Platform (with Kate McCabe).

Week 4: Animal, Vegetable Or Mineral (with Sam Al-Hamdani).

Week 5: Oh, you shouldn't have (with Chris Tavner).

Week 6: Getting rid of the 'tics (with Rob Hudson).

So here's to the next 6 weeks.

And remember, if you fancy a go at this improv lark in the Manchester area, you can find out more information here.

And what's so special about May the first? I hear you ask.

Well, in the event that you failed to notice the title of this blog post (or you happen to be viewing this in IE9 where the title does appear briefly for a second before going blank), I guess I'll tell you in the body of this blog post.

Saturday May 1st, 2010 was the date that I took my very first improv workshop with ComedySportz. I gained a lot of confidence in the first year of doing improv, so much so, I wrote about it here.

What better way to celebrate my 2nd Anniversary of Improv, and to burn off another Wednesday blog post, than to talk about what I have accomplished during the past year?

There are many things that are better, but until they master the art of getting drunk via the Internet (via the medium of licking your Computer monitor), you'll just have to stick with this one for now.

In the past year:

1. I've been to New York City on my own to study improv in August. (The first time I'd ever actually taken a solo holiday.) I had an amazing time at Upright Citizen's Brigade. Met some really great people in my Improv 101 class, and got to see some really great improv and sketch shows at night hanging out at the Theatre on West 26th Street between 8th and 9th Avenue. The sad thing about it was, I'm not in New York all the time. I'd have loved to carry on with the 201, 301, and 401 improv levels (and taken the sketch writing course, too) but I can't afford to stay in NYC for that long. Curse you, American women, and your lack of interest in marrying me.
2. I got a "Cut for Time" email from Newsjack, which meant that my writing was noticed enough to be recorded, but not quite there to make the final edit of the show back in September 2011.
3. Made more friends via the medium of ComedySportz.
4. I got invited to (and went) to my first ever non-work related / non family related Christmas party. I enjoyed it, but I do need to get more comfortable talking to people in a purely social situation.
5. I returned to my former job in the Midlands after the all around disaster that was Preston. I should never have left in the first place, and returning to the area has allowed me to attend improv workshops on a regular basis that aren't run by ComedySportz, which gives me another insight into the technique. Since January 2012, I've been a regular attendee at drop in sessions run by Wow Impro (Monday evenings in Bedworth) and with Box Of Frogs (Tuesday nights in Birmingham). These extra sessions have allowed me to have more practice than just at the weekends with the Intermediate workshop run by ComedySportz.
6. I did stand up for the second time in front of an audience in February 2012. (The first time in front of a paying audience.) I sucked all the joy out of the room and died on my arse, but I didn't care. Unless I come up with something that I really want to perform, I doubt I'll try stand up again, as I didn't enjoy standing up on stage by myself.
7. I went to London for the first time since 2004, and did a Saturday improv workshop with Hoopla Impro. (You maybe able to see a pattern developing here). It was really good fun. Got to meet a new group of people. Fun stuff. And while I was in London I met up with a friend (whom I first met on the Internet) the first time ever. I was as awkward as you'd imagine me to be, but in the evening I took her to see Comedy Store Players as her first Improv show. (I think she was impressed.)
8. I performed in my first ever improv gig to a paying audience. (With the members of Wow Impro.) After only doing showcases for ComedySportz in the past, it was nerve racking to be up there. But I did it. Got one or two laughs in the bargain, too.
9. I got my first ever BBC writing credit for a radio show on BBC Radio 4 Extra. (Internet Radio!). It took me 24 submissions over 4 series over 2 years but on the final episode of Series 6 (Episode 6) in March 2012 I managed to get a single joke on. (My first submission was Series 3 Episode 1 back in June 2010.)
10. I did my first ever long form improv gig at the start of April, thanks to ComedySportz letting their workshoppers do a Sunday evening free gig in their place.
11. I got invited to (and went) to the evening do of the Wedding Of The Century. Again I really enjoyed it, but I should try and be more talkative in these sorts of situations. (Though I doubt I'll be invited to another wedding any time soon as I know of no one else on the verge of getting married.)
12. Boosted by my radio success, I'm writing some sketches for submission to Cofilmic's Sketch And The City New Writing Showcase that happens each month. Hopefully, I'll get one of my sketches picked and it might lead somewhere with my writing.

But that's not all, a group of the ComedySportz Intermediate Workshoppers have set up a Indie Improv group, Starship Improvise, and we will be performing our first gig in June:

(Poster courtesy of Kage.)

So hopefully my third year of doing improv will lead to a lot more gigs (with Starship Improvise, Wow Impro and hopefully other groups too), and learning a lot by doing improv in front of an audience. (i.e. to be more relaxed around an audience when they are staring at me.)

So here's to the third year of confidence. Who knows, one day I might actually have the confidence of someone my actual age.

So thank you to everyone who's helped me become the person I am this past year. You're awesome, especially you.

Let's see what magic is in store this upcoming year.

Matt.

I can't hear you! (Mainly because this blog post was written in the past.)

But what an exciting week it's been.

I feel like after all these weeks that we know each other well enough now that I can let you in on a little known secret that's been happening this past week. not many people know about it, and those that do, have been pretty quiet about it.

It's been raining.

So I got to work early last Wednesday morning and, as I drove towards the building at top speed, I figured that, with the light hitting the building just so, it was the best time to take a photo. Soon there would be too much water on the screen for me to see through it, so there was no time like last Wednesday morning at 6.45am. I haven't had the car long, so I hadn't figured out where the control for the windscreen wipers was.

The problem was, once I had come to a complete stop, it was still raining.

Handily, I had to wait in the wreckage a while until help arrived. Unfortunately, when I was pulled from the car, it was still raining. While the falling precipitation was cool enough to soothe my burns, it totally messed up my hair.

Needless to say, I was less than pleased and as soon as I was released from hospital, I booked myself another premium appointment with Anonio, Venice's foremost Canal based hair stylist.*

(*All or none of these things may have actually happened.)

Thank you.

And you've given it to me 5,000 more times in just ten and a half months since I posted this little ode to 5,000 hits.

Amazing stuff!

I've had a lot of lows and a couple of highs over the past 10 months, and at least they are proving interesting enough reading.

The best thing to happen to me over the last 10 months has certainly been, in order, going to New York and doing improv 101 at UCB, going to London for the first time since 2004 to meet a friend and do an improv workshop, getting my first ever proper improv gig with the fine people of Wow Impro, getting my first BBC writing credit, and actually getting an invite to to the Wedding of the Century. The awesomeness of the event was conveyed on everyone's face:

L-R: Me, Bron (The Bride) and Stefania.

Here's to the next set of exciting adventures that await me.

And remember, the faster you click, the less i'll have done, so the shorter the 15K milestone blog post will be.

Until next time,

Matt.

I was already 12 behind and I don't have much spare time this week, so I wouldn't be able to catch up, and next weekend is looking pretty full, too.

This is the first year that I won't reach the finish line. I'm kinda sad about that. No certificate of personal achievement for me this year. I usually need it, because it is 1 of 2 things that I achieve in the given calendar year. (The other being NaNoWriMo in November).

But this year's effort hasn't been totally wasted. I've been writing comedy sketches. And I think that I've reached the point in my writing that I need to concentrate on writing one good one rather than thirty crap ones. I have loads of crappy sketches that were abandoned at first draft.

So that's what I'm focusing on. I'm going to make a sketch or two the best that I am capable of and then submit them to a Manchester based sketch competition in time for consideration in next month's show.

Best of luck to all the Screnzy-ers still in the fight this year. If I get a decent idea for next year I might rejoin y'all.

Until then I'll be cheering you on from the sidelines.

Matt.
(Script Frenzy Winner: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 | Script Frenzy Failure: 2012)

It's Mundane Monday once again.

Last Friday I slept with Rachel Dratch. After a thorough session, I finished her off and then gently rested her on the pillow. But obviously during the night there was movement. And when I awoke the next morning, she was lying next to me:

Great book. I really enjoyed it.

Read it if you get the chance as i t doesn't just appeal to an SNL nerd like myself.

Until next time,

Matt.

Date : Sunday 8th April, 2012.

Company : Comedy Unplugged.

Players : ComedySportz Intermediate Workshoppers Class of March 2012.

Location : Fuel Cafe Bar, 448 Wilmslow Rd, Manchester, M20 3BW.

Start time : 8pm.

Duration : 2 hours (ish).

On Easter Sunday evening I returned to the stage for the second time in just under a month after my first gig with Wow Impro back on the 12th March. This time I was performing with ComedySportz Intermediate Workshoppers Class of March 2012 in our first non showcase gig as we took over the Comedy Unplugged event for the night.

Unlike my first gig where I performed in short form games, this time I was performing longform. There were 2 large groups of workshoppers, and we each decided to do something different. The group that I was part of decided to perform a format called La Ronde, while the other group decided upon an Armando.

As there were 11 people in our group, and the La Ronde is better suited to a smaller group we sub divided into 2 teams. 6 People on the first team (Adam, Ben, Kage, Sally, Tim & myself) and 5 on the second team (Ash, Cat, Cath, Kate & Ste). Because of the relative short running time of these (circa 25 minutes each) versus the Armando, which was to be run as one block (1 hour), we book ended the evening with the 2 La Ronde Teams.

My team was up first. I'll be honest and say that my team called the first spot, because that way we could just sit back and enjoy the night. As we were up first, it was up to one of us to introduce the night. That honour fell to me, and I'll be honest I don't remember me doing too well at the introductions. (Tripping over my words, and just getting really nervous and then blanking on one of my team mate's name. Sorry Sally.) The improv section of my time on stage seemed to go much better from what I recall.

Sitting back and watching the rest of the night was awesome. The Armando from the other group went great, and the 2nd La Ronde was a fab way to cap the evening.

And that's not all, if you couldn't be there, and you feel that the above vague description wasn't enough, you can see the entire show courtesy of Judgement Dave's YouTube Channel.

As for my own performance, I wasn't brilliant, and there were still some hesitations, but I'm improving all the time, and that'll only come with more practice and more gigs.

The night seemed to go well enough that the workshoppers from the next Intermediate course (class of June 2012, which I'm signed up for) will be performing a gig here on July 8th, 2012. In addition to that, a group of us that performed at this gig will be performing our own stand alone improv gig, one Thursday evening in June, which I'm really excited about. (Details to follow, once we've got everything figured out).

So, more gigs, and more fun ahead.

Yay.