Who Needs a Right Fielder, Anyway?

Improv is a team sport. Last night, the H2G Long Form class was way low on peeps because a bunch of players were out with various ailments. But we have a show coming up, so the 6 of us who were there pulled together and gave it our all.

And here's what we learned about doing a long form show with a really small group:

• you have to put your neck on the line even more because there's not a crowd for you to get lost in
• you have to listen extremely well and be ready to jump on everything that happens, because there's not the luxury of leaving it for someone else - because there is no one else
• there is no room for prima donnas looking for individual glory - the show will only work if everyone is working together for the good of the team
• well-differentiated characters are critical because with only a few people, it would be very easy for the audience to get confused about who's who

The all-for-one-and-one-for-all aspect of improv is even more pronounced in long form, so it's a little disconcerting to be missing 1/3 of the team! Try playing a baseball game with no third baseman, no catcher and no right fielder. Um, awkward.

Luckily, it's still a couple weeks until Snow Globes & Shotgun Weddings, and by then everyone should be all better. So go ahead and get your tickets now - they are going fast and when they're gone, they're gone.

By Sonnjea Blackwell

Trixie Cares!

By Sonnjea Blackwell

We have an improv show in Long Beach coming up in a little over a week, in case you've somehow managed to miss my oh-so-subtle self promotions. It's called Held2gether presents: Trixie Keeps the Books and it's our newest long form extravaganza.

For those of you who haven't seen us do the long form thing, it goes like this: we do three short scenes based on your suggestions, and then we all jump in and out of the stories that those scenes have set up, going forward and backward in time and creating a whole cast of supporting characters to tell a big, intertwined 1/2-hour story. It's like a play with no script. And then... we do a whole second set! Whew!

If you think it sounds hard, you're right. It requires focus, memory, attention to details and the ability to keep the big picture in mind while focused on the minutiae. Oh, and a sense of humor. That's all.

Luckily, those are all skills that Darren Held teaches in Held2gether's Intro to Improv and Improv Level 2 classes. But he's sneaky - you learn all those things without realizing it because you think you're just playing hilarious games for a couple of hours a week. And then all of a sudden, you realize you've learned stuff. And whether you choose to apply your newfound ability to focus, remember stuff, pay attention to details and laugh your ass off to mundane things like getting everything you meant to get at Trader Joe's or calling your kids by their right names or even doing long form improv, at least you'll have the skills to fall back on. And Trixie would be pleased.

A Little Booze, a Little Cash

A few people (you know who you are) wanted easy access to this video. You know I'm nothing if not easy, so here you go. The video quality is poor because it's shot in the dark in a giant warehouse space, and the camera died 1/2 way through the show. That might've been a good thing, I'm not sure...

I'm hoping to upload Over Easy Like Sunday Morning here tomorrow, too.

Jim Beam and A Hundred Dollars