When Michael Pollock asked me to tackle the subject of common mistakes to avoid in musical improv, hundreds popped up, so I waited four months or so. Once I’d paid off my Christmas mistakes and had gotten used to the world’s cutest puppy, I finally had some time to just sit with the laptop. So I posted a bunch of high school pictures on Facebook. After that, I dawdled, did some shows and ate a pizza. Finally, I got off my ass and focused on good sir Michael’s request and came up with this:
Around the city of Los Angeles, there
Continue reading Five Conceptual Mistakes
Many long-form musicals suffer from a common illness – they get off to a great start, and then lose their way. The audience may still be entertained if the actors maintain wit and good cheer throughout, but no spectator will have that reaction we yearn for – the delighted, giddy sense of having seen a MIRACLE. It’s a tall order, I know. Poor me, I always feel regretful about a performance that doesn’t really “win the game.” Winning means creating a musical that holds together like the real thing, top to bottom. The most expert improvisation of solos, duets, trios
Continue reading Defeating a Big Bad Problem with Improvised Musicals
Plenty of musical variety is easily built in when you accompany a group that enjoys the “potpourri” approach, a la Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. This is a wonderful opportunity to be thematic, and cleverly introduce stability to the crazy array of styles.
In Musical Improv Comedy I once wrote:
“Theme, Thematic, Thematicism. These terms refer to anything that becomes memorable as a result of repetition. It doesn’t have to be brilliant, it just has to happen more than once. Or even more effectively: again and again and again and again.”
That’s it. My thematic strategy consists of playing several, simple musical ideas a bunch of times throughout a performance. These ideas find their
Continue reading Improv Musicals: Interesting and Cohesive Accompaniment
When do you “cue a song?” Well, anytime a character experiences a moment of is a good time for them to sing. Also, listen for emphatic statements that can be expanded upon in song, for example, “You and me are the sleaziest cops in town,” or “There’s a lotta ways to make money in New York, my friend!” And here’s one more: “Come on everybody, we’re gonna throw the best barbecue ever!” You’re looking for bold proclamations of feelings and points of view – perfect moments for actors to exploit by
Continue reading Tips for Accompanists: “Cueing a Song” in a Long-Form Musical
Here’s a track you can use for rehearsal and/or performance of a 12-bar blues song, plus a chart in case you have a live accompanist on keyboard or guitar! It’s from the CD that comes with the book, “Musical Direction for Improv and Sketch Comedy.” The 12-bar blues is a great platform for improvising both the singing and the accompaniment – lots of room for vocal and instrumental fun, using a framework that is so easy to
Continue reading The Twelve-Bar Blues – Including an Audio Track and a Chart
