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Sunday, September 20, 2009

ComedySportz 20th Anniversary

This weekend, September 24th-September 26th, is ComedySportz-Twin Cities' 20th Anniversary. I'll be playing in all five shows - Thursday 8PM, Friday & Saturday 8PM & 10:30PM. All shows feature retired players returning, including Victor Varnado a stand-up comedian and actor who’s appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Premium Blend; Rich Kronfeld of the television show Let’s Bowl and the film Trekkies; Todd Price, accompanist to local pageant queen of comedy Miss Richfield 1981 and Brian Kelly of Triple Espresso, as well as fan favorites Jason Laflin, Mikey Heinrich, Kevin Gilbertson, and Nancy McBride. Thursday is “ComedySportz Day in Minneapolis,” show at 8:00pm. Saturday at 8:00pm ComedySportz founder Dick Chudnow will visit.

Please come, I would love to see your smiling faces. Details here: http://www.comedysportztc.com/

Thanks!

Monday, August 24, 2009

Celebrate 20 Years of ComedySportz Twin Cities!

Celebrate 20 Years of ComedySportz Twin Cities!

Mayor R.T. Rybak names "ComedySportz Day" in Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - The City of Minneapolis and Mayor R.T. Rybak will honor ComedySportz Twin Cities this year by proclaiming September 24th "ComedySportz Day" in Minneapolis. This proclamation recognizes its years of making the metro area laugh, and it comes the same year that ComedySportz is celebrating a major milestone – 20 years of laughter!

ComedySportz began its Minneapolis run in 1989 at the Nankin Restaurant in downtown Minneapolis. After bouncing around to different performance spaces for a few years, ComedySportz finally moved to its first permanent home at 1414 West 28^th Street in the trendy Uptown neighborhood in 1992. In 2003, ComedySportz moved again; this time just a few blocks south to a beautiful 230-seat theater inside Calhoun Square. ComedySportz has performed more than 6000 shows and produced countless comedy professionals – including comedy writer Colton Dunn (MadTV) and actor, writer, producer Nick Swardson (Reno 911, Grandma’s Boy).

While performing is central to ComedySportz, it's also known for educating students all over the metro – young and old. Through the ComedySportz High School League, our performers are able to visit schools and to help young people develop skills – listening, team work, risk-taking, creativity - that are both essential to improv and life. ComedySportz also holds improv classes for adults at our theater and provides workshops for local businesses and corporations throughout the year.

ComedySportz has long been a fixture of the Twin Cities nightlife and now its relationship with the area is being recognized. To celebrate, we are holding a weekend of special shows September 24^th – 26^th in honor of the first ever "ComedySportz Day" in Minneapolis and our 20 year anniversary! Past and present performers will bring laughter to our theater in ComedySportz matches, with cake at intermission. We invite you to help us celebrate!

A trip to ComedySportz is fun for the whole family. Based on audience suggestions, two teams of actors create original comedy scenes and games. Audience members can even volunteer to come onstage and be part of the show.

ComedySportz was founded in 1984 by Dick Chudnow in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Since then it has grown to over 20 cities in the U.S. and Europe. ComedySportz Twin Cities is located on the 2^nd floor of Calhoun Square in Uptown Minneapolis. Performances happen weekly on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 8:00 PM, as well as Saturday nights at 10:30 PM. ComedySportz, Twin Cities is owned and managed by Mary Strutzel and Doug Ocar.

www.comedysportztc.com

For more information, images, or to schedule cast appearances/interviews, please contact Doug Neithercott at 612-870-1230, or info@comedysportztc.com. Show images are also available for viewing/download http: tinyurl.com/comedysportztc caption: Mike Hadley, James Moore and Mary Strutzel sing their hearts out to win points and laughs in ComedySportz, the competitive improv show.

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LISTINGS SUMMARY:

ComedySportz 20^th Anniversary

Where: ComedySportz, 3001 Hennepin Ave S in Calhoun Square, Uptown, Minneapolis

When: Ongoing, Thursday at 8:00pm, Friday and Saturday at 8:00pm and 10:30pm. All shows Sept 24^th-26^th feature retired players returning. Thursday Sept 24 is “ComedySportz Day in Minneapolis” show at 8:00pm. Saturday at 8:00pm ComedySportz founder Dick Chudnow will visit.

For Tickets: call 612-870-1230.

Thursday, 8pm: $10/$8 students and kids

Friday, 8pm: $12/$8 kids

Friday, 10:30pm: $12/$10 student

Saturday, 8pm: $12

Saturday, 10:30pm: $12/$10 student/$8 kids

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Thursday, June 18, 2009

Jill Bernard's TCIF schedule

There is so much good stuff at the Twin Cities Improv Festival next
weekend - every group is hand-picked to seriusly rock. Here's when
you can see me personally (tickets at
http://tickets.bravenewworkshop.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=70&c=&spg=1#abc
)

FRIDAY JUNE 26th
8:30 pm - ComedySportz and ImprovAbilities from Kansas City
11:30 pm - After the Party and Dirty Water from Chicago
12:30 am (technically Saturday) - Huge with Beatbox - THE MUST-SEE
GROUP OF THE FESTIVAL

SATURDAY JUNE 27th
10:00 pm - Drum Machine/Girls, Girls, Girls

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

How To Make A Tightrope

The truth is, it feels like we've always played this way and it's hard for me to recreate how we got here. But! I have just saved some notes from the shredder. I shall write what I can recreate:

January
Jam
Yay Boo
Happy Fixation
Animal Evolve
Same Character Scenes
Same Character Mobs
Guy on a Walk (what did that mean?)
Transformations in and out of words
Moving Tableaus - create a swarm of bees, ocean, flock of sheep, forest, graveyard, snowfall, crazy cat lady house, airport, fireworks display, old west scene, locusts attacking crops
Throwing Focus - with a ball, without a ball, sidecoached ("focus on Josh!")
Mirroring - pairs, groups, all
Follow The Leader
Character Switch - body focused
Dance Party Freeze

February
Round 1 - Pairs Morph into Scenes
Round 2 - Invent Constrast (deliberately step out)
Round 3 - Full Scenes that pop from morph back into morph
Playing With Shape - sidecoach soft/hard/angled/floppy/body parts
Ralph
New Orleans Game
Instant Beckett
Meditation w/ Object of Focus
Pass Morph like a Taffy Pull
Pure Morph (w/out scenes)
Taking Words Soft Walk

March
1 Hour of Silence
(12 minute meditation, space exploration)
Pure Morph
Walk in the Dark
Atlantis Quartet sat in with us.

[we have developed a rehearsal routine of meditation, to space exploration, to morph, to Beast]

April
Guest Instructor: Galen Truer on contact improv

May
Guest Instructor: Jason Ballweber on physicality
Monster Training
Amnesiac Game: Come in the room and you don't know anything but we like you.
The Best Trick In the World
Run/Stop Blankly
States Of Motion: Asleep, laid back, robot, blank, wait??, there's a bomb!, bomb's about to go off! Almost Kiss Game
Blob Game (break through to me)
Mirror Lead
Far Away/Close

June
Pounce Walk
Energies of Each Others

Principles We've Learned Along The Way
--> Hit it or quit it
--> Let go of the words, become them.
--> Give in to the morph
--> Experience the space
--> Take care of each other
--> There is always more
--> Noise makes it true
--> Be heroic
--> Name the elephant in the room, call it out
--> Use your soft clown baby brain

Notes from Stashwick on being comfortable with the morph
"Trust. See more, show more. To me it's about the connection to space. Feeling space push back. Shaping space. Shapes in space.

Abstraction only exists to get to the concrete...but abstraction is always interesting if it's not indulgent. It's taking the art for a walk with no particular place to go. Trust that it will get to a scene but allow yourself to be surprised by the destination by the use of abstraction. It truly makes it a group discovery.

Shape space, have that shape resonate, let it push back against your hand, face, leg whatever....the shape becomes an object, the object exists in a place, what place? Let it become concrete, discover who lives in that environment and holds that object. Be that person. Have relationships with the environment and other characters that inhabit. This can take fractions of a second or a half hour. Boom, a scene begins. Essentially it's the same principles that apply when freeze tag is played correctly and not for laughs.

Tell them to be in love with "not knowing". Tell them they can always get to a scene but to let go more in between."Fingerpaint" a bit. Audiences will be thrilled to watch things materialize out of the ether."