On Base Reality - Part 1

Ambitious to call this Part 1, but I thought I'm pretty sure I'll have other things to say about base reality eventually.

Start > Base Reality + Yes, And > First Unusual Thing > Game (If, Then) — UCB Improv Manual (Besser et al., 2013) Illustration by Dyna Moe https://ucbcomedy.com/store/ucb-manual/

I recently heard, at least in Alberta, that some people call "Base Reality" "Platform," which I think is such a great way of putting it. It emphasizes the BASE part of Base Reality. This is a foundation. The who, what, and where of the scene. When I started doing improv, I quickly realized that being funny wasn't the goal, but without laughter, I wasn't sure what true north on my compass should be. The north star is the base reality. If some improvisers are too concerned with being funny, I think other improvisers don't care enough about whether audiences can follow their scenes. It's good advice to do scenes that you enjoy doing, mostly. Billy Merritt advises students to go and have a grounded, specific scene and conversation, because even if it's not funny, it'll be entertaining. Not that he, or anyone else, needs me to say it, but I think this is good advice.

A Base Reality can exist without a Game, but a Game can't exist without a Base Reality. One of the dark patterns I struggle with in improv right now is the rush to a game. I'm on a conservatory team for the Baltimore Improv Group, which means I do a Pattern Game/Harold twice a month. Both the pattern game and the Harold teach you to find a base reality and an unusual thing, a premise, fast. Speed doesn't usually mean quality, so getting out a who, what, where, and an unusual thing quickly can sometimes mean I'm shortchanging something.

A Jim Woodsism is that the game is a parasite on the scene, so we need a healthy, continually refreshed scene to keep the game and the scene in symbiosis. It's common to talk about "resting the game," but it's really feeding the scene. Feeding the scene is a set of active choices. Feeding the scene can be done in just a few notes of lived-in character moments: fixing a tie, playing with a cup, shaving with a straight razor. All of these things sustain and strengthen a scene as a platform for a game.

A human covered in a sheet with eye holes, universally considered to be a ghost, sits next to a car missing all its tires. The ghost seems to have been hit upon the hear

Unusual Things - Part 1

If Improv is a fire, the base reality is the fuel: The tinder, kindling, sticks, branches, and logs. The game is oxygen. The first unusual thing is the spark, the source of ignition. One interesting exercise is that unusual things can be found by yes, anding within the base reality.

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Unusual Things - Part 1

Your note is my trauma

On Coaching and Asking Will Hines Questions

On Stopping