This four-week long workshop is all about music in improv: singing and the interplay between music and acting. The course was compiled, developed and first held by Alex Seeholzer as part of The Catalyst’s weekly drop-in improv classes, with help from the amazing improv-pianist Samuel Muscinelli.

Classes marked by asterisks below (*) will involve singing – this does not mean that you have to be able to sing well, so don’t be afraid to attend. In fact, bad singing in comedy improv can sometimes be more fun to watch than perfect pitch! The only thing that matters is your dedication 🙂

Week 2: Musical Short-forms*

Warm-ups

General warm-up

1. Stretch!
2. Musical name game
3. Spice girls circle (“Tell us what you want!”)

Voice warm-up

1. Posture: grounded, imagine a string from head/temple
2. Breathing is important! Don’t forget to breathe while you speak/sing !
   1. Hiss with lips: as long as possible on one breath
   2. Take a deep breath, try again
   3. Now firm up core muscles, control the air that goes out!
3. Face: Big face, small face
4. Throat: Haaaa: arms up and “sigghhh”, while breathing outwards
5. Lips: Ba, ba, ba, Blow raspberries (lips)
6. Tongue: La la la la, RRRRRRRRRRRR
7. Speech:
   1. Fingers in your mouth, speak clearly
   2. Tongue Twisters
      • Peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers
      • How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.
      • She sells seashells by the seashore.
      • Black background, brown background.
8. Singing
   • Siren: Weeeee—ooooooooowwww
   • Sing Scales

Warm-up exercises

1. Castle game:
   1. Ogre: i’m hungry [back of throat/stomach/low]: hohoho, booo hooo
   2. Knight: heyy theeere [back of throat/chest/low]: ha ha ha ha, baaaa haaa haaa
   3. Naughty princess: ‘iits miiiine” [nasal voice] [yaaawning, lift palate, tongue down]: he he he he, meee heee heee hee
   4. Bird [direct head voice]: huuu huuu huu
2. Song circle

Short-form games

A Do Ron Ron Song

http://learnimprov.com/do-ron-ron-song

Irish drinking song

http://improvencyclopedia.org/games/Irish_Drinking_Song.html

I love you (simple song invention)

http://improvencyclopedia.org/games//I_Love_You.html

Musical Fairy Tale

http://improvencyclopedia.org/games//Musical_Fairy_Tale.html

Musical styles were: Reggae, Jazz, National Anthem, Waltz, Medieval, Opera

Fairy tales were: Hansel & Gretel, Snow white

Week 3: Music in drama

Warm-ups

1. Stretch!
2. Gestures name game
3. He, Ha, Ho = Samurai variation
4. Bibbity Bibbity Bop

Exercises

Walk around

• Think of “your neighbor”
• Make up a name
• How does he walk? How does he talk?
• Walking with varying music, explore how this changes his walk, his emotions

Silent scene (3 players)

Play a silent scene, emotions are controlled by the music

Walk around

• How does he talk? Talk to yourself.
• Walking with varying music, explore how his mood/voice changes with different music

4 Line scenes (2 rows, 2 players per scene)

1 line each to set up a scene, then music is played. 1 line each to continue the scene. Let the music influence your emotion, the way you speak and react to questions. Later: let the music inspire something external that happens to the players in the scene.

Musical short-forms

Looking in the eyes game (2 players)

Using the characters developed earlier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocLf_KOgJVg

The bartender (4 people Short-Longform)

Barkeep sets up a bar. 3 people come in one after the other, introduce themselves. Start telling what a hard day they had. Music interrupts this and queues a flashback to that point of the day, which is acted out and continued by other players. Music queues transition back to the bar, where the story is continued from where the scene was left. Back and forth a few times, then next person comes into the bar.

Film scene repeat (3 players)

• Make up a short film scene!
• Replay the scene: music comes on let the music change EMOTION
• Replay the scene: music comes on let the music change THE FILM GENRE

Film Noir (2 players)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uan1b8l3Zjc

Musical freeze-tag

Week 4: Musical Long-forms*

Warm-ups

General warm-up

1. Stretch!
2. Singing name game
3. Spice girls circle (“Tell us what you want!”)

Voice warm-up

1. Posture: grounded, imagine a string from head/temple
2. Breathing is important! Don’t forget to breathe while you speak/sing !
   1. Hiss with lips: as long as possible on one breath
   2. Take a deep breath, try again
   3. Now firm up core muscles, control the air that goes out!
3. Face: Big face, small face
4. Throat: Haaaa: arms up and “sigghhh”, while breathing outwards
5. Lips: Ba, ba, ba, Blow raspberries (lips)
6. Tongue: La la la la, RRRRRRRRRRRR
7. Speech: Fingers in your mouth, speak clearly
8. Singing: Siren

Warm-up exercises

1. Chivalrous Couples

Short-form games

A Do Ron Ron Song

http://learnimprov.com/do-ron-ron-song, first in line, then with random pointing

Blues line

Make up a blues song about a suggestion, every 2 bars the next person takes over

Greatest Hits (with fixed list of genres)

http://improvencyclopedia.org/games//Greatest_Hits.html

Long form games

The “sounds like a song” bartender (4 people short-longform)

Barkeep sets up a bar. 3 people come in one after the other, introduce themselves. Start telling what a hard day they had. Music interrupts this and queues a flashback to that point of the day, which is acted out and continued by other players. Music queues transition back to the bar, where the story is continued from where the scene was left. Back and forth a few times, then next person comes into the bar.

At any point, “Sounds like a song!” can be requested, upon which the last person to speak sings a song (with piano giving the genre) about what was last said (very similar to the short-form version: http://improvencyclopedia.org/games//Sounds_Like_a_Song.html)

Follow the leaver

1 minute Monologue to inspire the long form. During scenes people can walk off (= the “leaver”), upon which we cut to (= “follow”) a new scene with the leaver at the place wherever s/he walked off to. After every such cut, the new scene starts immediately starts with a song by the “leaver”. Songs could be: reflecting on internal emotional state, the plot that has progressed during the cut, progressing the plot in-song.