Students will apply their understanding of showing in improv by participating in \u201cParty Quirks\u201d and reflecting on their experience.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Party Quirks character list:
\u2022 Justin Bieber just released from having his appendix removed.
\u2022 Window washer that is afraid of heights
\u2022 Celebrity who takes any moment to practice their Oscar speech
\u2022 Michael Jackson suffering from short term memory loss
\u2022 A clown that just got fired from the circus
\u2022 Star wars geek with no social skills
\u2022 Lady Gaga trying to warn everyone the world is ending
\u2022 Lebron James trying to apply for a job at McDonalds
\u2022 Johnny Depp getting his drivers\u2019 license picture taken
\u2022 Taylor Swift with a multiple personality disorder
\u2022 Simon Cowell judging a high school talent contest
\u2022 Uptight English teacher obsessed with correcting everyone\u2019s grammar, even if it isn\u2019t wrong
\u2022 Over protective mother ready to break up the party if there is any funny business
\u2022 Jimmer trying to hide his identity from paparazzi
\u2022 Girl at prom who realizes her date left with another girl<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
(10 minutes): Have four volunteers come to the front: one eye-witness and three detectives trying to solve a murder case. The detectives are sent out of the room beyond hearing range. Together the class decides on three things: a place, an occupation of the victim, and a murder weapon. The first detective is called in into the room to interrogate the witness as to the murder, however the eye-witness is mute. The eye-witness, without words, must convey the events of the murder to the first detective. They may do each part one at a time or all at once. When the detective thinks they understand what happened, they say \u201caha!\u201d Without saying what they think the things are, the next detective is brought in. The first detective now pantomimes what they think the things are (for a harder challenge tell the first detective they cannot use the exact same pantomime as the eye-witness!). The second detective says \u201caha!\u201d when they think they know the three things and then pantomimes for the third detective. Once the third detective knows all of the three things he shouts \u201caha!\u201d and tells the story (dramatically) of what occurred for the murder. Play this about 2 or 3 times.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Step 1(3 minutes): Ask the students, \u201cWhat was your experience like, communicating without words?\u201d \u201cWhat made it difficult?\u201d \u201cWhat could you have done to communicate more clearly?\u201d Ask the students, \u201cHow does this activity relate to improv?\u201d \u201cWhy is it important to show and not tell?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Step 2 (2 minutes): Explain to the students that improv is much more interesting when we are able to show the audience the environment we are in or show who we are. Explain that instead of coming onto the stage and saying, \u201cWow, this beach is amazing!\u201d I could walk in, breathe in the salty air and begin walking in the sand, showing that it is hot or dipping my toes in the cold water. Demonstrate this for the students. Ask the students, \u201cWhy is showing better than telling?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Step 3 (3 minutes): Explain that we are going to explore this idea further. Have the students sit in a circle and explain that you have a gift in this box and that you are going to show them what it is, instead of telling them. Explain that this box has a gift in it for each of them. Give an example of a snorkel mask- instead of saying, \u201cI always wanted a snorkel mask\u201d I could say, \u201cIt\u2019s just what I wanted\u201d and then demonstrate using the mask. Demonstrate this for the students. Then pass the box to the student on your right and continue the activity.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Step 4 (2 minutes): Ask the students, \u201cWhat were the different gifts we received?\u201d \u201cWhat was the most difficult part of the activity?\u201d \u201cCould you have done anything different to make your object clearer?\u201d \u201cWhat are you starting to learn about improv?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Step 5 (15 minutes): Have the students get into groups of 3 or 4. Explain that as a group they are to come up with a who, where, what. For example, each person in the group will choose a character that would be at a playground in the afternoon. Some characters could include a child playing at the playground, a parent, a person walking their dog, etc. Explain that as a group we will be guessing what the situation and characters are. Explain that they are to pantomime this, without words. Give the students about 2 minutes to decide with their group who their characters will be and where they are and the situation. Then ask for a volunteer group to go first. Let each group perform.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Step 6 (30 minutes): Inform the students that they are now going to play party quirks. In this game, we have a host for a party. Then there will be three guests. The guests will be given identities to perform and the host must guess who the party guests are. Once a guest\u2019s identity has been discovered, they are to leave the party. Play this enough times for every student to participate. See supplements for identities.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Step 7 (5 minutes): For the last 5 minutes, bring the group back together and ask them to reflect on what they have learned today. Ask, \u201cWhy is it important to show and not tell?\u201d \u201cHow does this help you in improv?\u201d \u201cHow might this help you in a play, scene or monologue?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u00b7 More time? Gibberish. One student leaves the room with two or three others are given a very specific location, action and problem. Actors are only supposed to speak in gibberish. The student who left enters the scene and while also speaking in gibberish gets incorporated into the scene and will eventually guess all that is going on. Encourage the students to show, not tell.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Students will apply their knowledge of showing in improv by participating in \u201cParty Quirks\u201d and reflecting on their experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Objective Students will apply their understanding of showing in improv by participating in \u201cParty Quirks\u201d and reflecting on their experience. Materials Needed Party Quirks character list: \u2022 Justin Bieber just released from having his appendix removed. \u2022 Window washer that is afraid of heights\u2022 Celebrity who takes any moment to practice their Oscar speech\u2022 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tedb-old.byu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2577"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tedb-old.byu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tedb-old.byu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tedb-old.byu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tedb-old.byu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2577"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/tedb-old.byu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2962,"href":"https:\/\/tedb-old.byu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2577\/revisions\/2962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tedb-old.byu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tedb-old.byu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tedb-old.byu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}