Virtual programming across an ocean

 I was positively chuffed to bits to spend an hour and a half playing and laughing with my old cohort (and some new faces!) at the Stoughton Public Library this past Saturday. 

I worked with Cynthia, the Adult/Teen Services extraordinaire in Stoughton, for nine months during my Teen Services internship. She and I keep in touch with library and life news, and when she suggested several months ago that we might do a virtual program together, I eagerly agreed. My time working in Stoughton features some of my very fondest memories, and I miss both the youth and adults that I got to know during my time there. We called it 'Rise & Shine Improv' since 10 am on a Saturday morning isn't a usual teen programming slot, but Cynthia was graciously accomodating for the time difference between Stoughton and the UK. 

One of the ongoing programs I ran during my time in Stoughton was a biweekly Improv Club. The sessions focused on building performance skills such as supporting your partner, characterization, scene building, and confidence. 

For this virtual session, I borrowed some of the in-person activities and games we played and translated them to a Zoom context. Happily, I've been following a number of groups of theater educators doing distance learning since last March, and was able to find some great tips and tricks to moving improv into a virtual setting. 

Games we played for 'Rise & Shine Improv':

Big Booty:

This is a super silly warm up game that I love to do in person, but wouldn't do again virtually. Video and audio lag made it difficult to keep a consistent rhythm, and what was meant to get people loose actually slowed us down to start off. But here's an explanation of how the game works, for reference.

Props:

Start with a "scavenger hunt" prompt for each participant to find an object from around the house in a certain time limit. Each player must use it in a way that is different from the object's intended use. Go back and forth between two players until one person runs out of ideas.

For example:

A water bottle can be picked up, brought up to the eye while the player says with a pirate accent, “I spy the island with the treasure.” This turns the water bottle into a telescope. The audience calls out or writes in the chat what they think the object is being used for, i.e "telescope!"

Three Line Scene:

A story is told between two partners in only 3 sentences. Participant A makes a statement, Participant B replies, and Participant A ties everything up. The goal is to include the Who, What, and Where of the scene in these three lines. 

Example:

A: Doctor, I need your help, my tooth has been killing me.

B: Stacey, we talked about this at your last appointment, you have to stop eating so much sugar.

A: *pretending to unwrap a candy* Then you shouldn't have those mints in the bowl on the way in to this office!

Improvised Ted Talk

I found this idea through the Distance Theatre Educators Facebook group and adapted it from this presentation by Kayla Nicole in Nevada. The premise is that two partners are presenting a Ted talk using slides the facilitator provides, with one catch: they don't know their topic ahead of time, and they have never seen their slides before! The partners go back and forth speaking on the designated topic, doing whatever they can to tie in the content from the slides and make it flow. This game was a favorite! Highly recommend.

Tips:

• One of my favorite tips I found was to have each participant add a number to the start of their Zoom name. This allows the facilitator to easily reference each participant and can help in mimicking a circle, for games that are played using a set order.
  
  
• In general, I was more authoritative as a facilitator than I would be in an in-persion program. I decided partners and didn't always wait for volunteers in order to keep the flow and momentum going. 
  
  
• I kept my energy really high, and made my own enjoyment really visible. Performing for an audience is hard enough, it's even harder when you don't get any feedback. Provide your participants with a lot of positive reinforcement! Or in other words, have fun. 

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