by Gary Schwartz | Nov 21, 2014 | Blog
Spolin’s pathway to the Unknown The [Spolin’s Theater Games] exercises are artifices against artificiality, structures designed to almost fool spontaneity into being–or perhaps a frame carefully built to keep out interferences in which the player waits. Important in...
by Gary Schwartz | Nov 21, 2014 | Blog
What if…? “What if I can’t do it?” That’s where it starts for me. I get afraid. “Afraid of what?” “Not being able to do it? Then people will laugh at me?” “Hey! I’m in an Improv class, isn’t that what I want?” the voice in my head is having a discussion with another...
by Gary Schwartz | Nov 18, 2014 | Blog, Creativity, Games, Improvisation for the Theater, Theory
The most subtle and essential element in Spolin Games is sidecoaching. The sidecoach is at once a fellow player, a grounded teacher and a canny director. Sidecoaching is as much a skill as it is an art. It therefore requires the same intuitive ability evoked by...
by Gary Schwartz | May 29, 2014 | Blog
When you don’t see where you are, all you can do is talk about it. You get a suggestion for a scene: Who – A husband and wife. Where – at Disneyland. What – waiting to get on a ride. Most players will begin the scene with dialogue something like this. Husband: Well,...
by Gary Schwartz | May 3, 2014 | Blog
My First Encounter with the Mother of Improvisation I was living in Hollywood, tending bar, performing comedy and mime in local cafes and trying to break into show business like thousands of other hopefuls from all over the country. A dear friend of mine called from...
