clever improv directors...

I can't stan 'em.

had my first second city class again today. i had to start over in the conservatory program after having dropped my first class for the whole china thing. so i had my first class today with a new teacher. i was actually bored almost the entire class. he did nothing. he would briefly give little advice or tips after a scene if he even said anything at all.
but worst of all, he's a clever director. in improv, there are times when there is a director; an off-stage coach-type person who speaks up every once in a while to give direction just like as if it was a rehearsal.
Some directors are very good at hinting at things. Like if a scene needs a big confession or a confrontation of some kind, the director might say, "Dave, the next thing you say is going to really affect Tom." Now that's a pretty vague direction, but the audience is expecting something big and important. The beauty is that as long as Tom gives a big reaction, what Dave said really was huge. Good directors can control the scene without injecting their own specific ideas. Instead of something open ended and inspiring where the improviser gets to create along with the director, a creative director will say something like, "Your hair is suddenly on fire" or, "Tell her about the albino penguin." Really annoying stuff like that.
My second city teacher would direct during scenes, although it was rare, because he was usually just letting things crash and burn. His directions were really interesting and not necessarily good for the scene. It was as if he was performing for the class; showing us how he would have done it had he been on stage. Aren't I funny? Here's a great idea for something to happen in this scene. Ooh, ooh...
The only positive effect it has on the class environment is that it breeds respect for the teacher which is essential. We all have to trust our teachers and that usually comes from being impressed with their skills. That's maybe what's missing from a lot of grade school and college classes. And it has been a problem for me out on the road in some instances where students haven't yet seen me perform. No one has a clue who this person teaching is. Why should they listen to someone who they don't know; someone they may consider has lees talent or knowledge than them. And maybe this is the problem I'm having with my new second city guy. Sure he's clever, but I need to know that he cares about the work that's being done in class and that he cares about our growth as students at the "greatest comedy theatre in the world" as they have dubbed themselves.
I'm not sure he gives a damn. And as a paying student, that pisses me off. I didn't pay $250 dollars to take a thirty minute break in the middle of a three hour class. I would prefer no break at all, but that's another gripe. we'll see how it all pans out. I'm stuck with him for the next 7 weeks. we shall see.

on a sidenote, i met with my new incubator teammates. they all seem really cool and i'm looking forward to proving with all of them. none of them give me the willies like a lot of the auditioners did. and from what i remember of their stuff in the audition, they all seem to have good, chill and take your time type styles which i dig.
i do have a gripe and as per usual it's about money. i have to pony up thirty dollars to become part of the improv cooperative that is "the playground." and even more annoying, i have to pay five dollars a rehearsal to our coach. not that i oppose having a coach and i trust in his skills because i know he's got them. i just get annoyed with the money systems in place in this town with improv. you can't perform anywhere without paying. and because the playground is a co-op theatre we're not going to get any proceeds from the door. the money we make on the shows should go to pay the coach. instead, the performers who are keeping the venue running are paying to do so. all over the world (it's epidemic) improvisers get taken advantage of. they volunteer in a sense to perform for other people who are making money off of them. i did it for years with 'we could be heroes' in austin. i received little more than a thanks for years of essentially building a theatre and becoming one of the main attractions in the weekly shows for someone who was reaping all the benefits. in most of the country people are volunteering to perform for these types of ventures. in chicago, they are paying fees to them.
this is not to say that the owners of the playground are seeing huge profits and quiting their day jobs because they aren't. the playground is not a successful project in that way. it is successful in several others. i'm just cheesed that they can't work it so that they're bringing in sizable audiences to cover these stupid fees. i went to an 8 o'clock show at the playground last saturday that featured two of their best known groups and the audience was a bustling fifteen people. The show was good. it was highly entertaining and i was impressed with the skill of the players. maybe it was the ten dollar admission charge that is scaring away folks. this is something i have repeatedly complained about. people think you have to charge $10 around here to make rent.
it scares me away because i'm poor and cheap, a deadly combination. if it scares me away there's a chance it scares others away considering my affinity/obsession with improv. i only went to the show because I got a 2 for 1 coupon earlier the same day at the audition. funny how that works. how many times have i payed them? how many times will i have payed them by the time it's all said and done. too many, frackers.

well, i have something else juicy to write about but i'm just too tired. a sort of racial joke happened in class today and everyone froze. it was wierd and warrants discussion. well not really discussion, more like one sided banter in the form of rambling monologues.
must be off to bed. i have to be at my laundry delivery job at 7:30 tomorrow so i can sit around in a van while somebody drives me around chicago playing bad pop music too loud.

sweet dreams are made of cheese,
b