Adam Dalliance

Hey, look, I am doing an improv show. You could even come see me on stage! What about that for an idea.

It's on Tuesday the 17th November at 8:00pm, finishing after interval by - 9:30.

Then we'll be in the bar for a bit if you wanna chat after.

Upstairs at the Miller in London Bridge.

https://www.ticketsource.com/hooplaimpro/t-yzgnjky

The team will also enter a couple of mixers, December 5th and 11th, but there's no link for that yet.

#improv #show #london

With the eight week improv course ending last week, I timed it well to start a new group with a new set of eight sessions this week.

The Free Association seem more serious than Hoopla. They have 50% longer classes for a start. Three hours rather than two.

More instruction and notes rather than just positive encouragement. Clearer aim even from the early levels. More like a classroom than a playground.

First couple of sets of eight at Hoopla are just aimed at getting you to lose your decorum and allow yourself to be free and spontaneous. All really short form games, lightning rounds. Parlor games rather than theater.

But the Free Association's aim from the start is to get you building scenes and then stories. Their first set of lessons is titled "intro to long form". This one "Scene work".

Not so much the one minute parlor games, more focus on acting and characters and drama.

In vague terms at early stages that is. I mean, they have more in common than different. Plenty of short games in warm-up at FA and I just finished a whole set on drama and story with Hoopla.

Three hours is pretty long though. Starts half an hour earlier, ends half an hour later. Good thing it's also much much closer for me. Ten minute walk instead of 40 minutes on the bus.

We did lots and lots of first-scene head-to-head, mostly concentrating on trying to get specific. Check that after two minutes the audience knows where you are and who you are and how you know each other and what you're doing and none of the players are unsure either. Make it all specific as soon as possible, ambiguity is the enemy.

And everyone got that and exercised it pretty much flawlessly right away. So good group.

#theFreeAssociation #improv #london

Back to doing some improv, with a 8 week course on the mechanics and structure of story.

Seem to be a nice bunch. Everyone with the right energy and fearlessness. Nice diverse range of people.

Steve Roe leading the course. Him and his friend co-founded Hoopla 20 years ago and now its the biggest improv training school in the UK. Seems like a good teacher as you'd expect.

There will be a show on 19th of March. That'll be about the fifth one I've done. Its nice because you get to do some acting type stuff without having to learn any lines 😆

#improv #london #hooplaImpro

Performed in an improv show in Shoreditch.

Good times.

Everyone seemed to think the show went well, and it featured repeated themes of fish taking over the entire world in a giant conspira-sea.

The venue downstairs at Shoreditch Balls is tight and dark and small but so were our audience. Thanks for coming everyone. 😆

Where does the group go from here? Dunno. Hard to find a venue for rehearsal in London really. Everywhere is either booked up or closed down. Makes you wonder why the closed down ones had to close given the apparent demand.

Fingers crossed we find somewhere 🤞

#london #improv #liveShow

Do you want to see me perform in an Improv show?

You can you know. You can do it this Sunday in Shoreditch in London in the UK on Sunday.

Dunno what the show will be about, obviously. Some short games, couple of longer stories. But we need YOU there to tell us what it's about.

What else in London is free? Nothing, that's what.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/improv-show-tickets-1362713214909

#improv #liveShow #london

Did another improv show this week. Long form with Hoopla. Mostly what is known as an Armando, in which a performer will riff on the audience suggestion telling a story from their life and then the rest do sketches based on the story.

I'm not mad keen on the Armando to be honest. It seems to result in a series of mostly disconnected sketches based on a theme rather than a story with a coherent narrative and satisfying beginning, middle, and end. Plus, without explaining the format I think it leaves the audience confused as to what's going on, and if you do explain it then, well, explicit audience explaining isn't entertaining in itself.

Did a life and times skit after that though, which I find more satisfying. The story of Jim, and his quest to remove the chocolate from Maltesers. Pretty chaotic with 14 performers all at once.

#improv #hoopla #london

Enjoying the new round of sessions at the improv group. Finally concentrating on more long-form activities.

Getting to make up some actual stories rather than just snippets and scenes and parlor games.

I find playing with and inventing narrative structure more interesting engaging and memorable than the short-form stuff. More room for story flow and slow build than the previous sessions.

Nice to have some of the folks from the previous sessions and the new players seem good and fun too.

I'm not really at my best at the moment for health reasons, but you barely notice that in the group situation anyway. Everyone supporting each other with the whole being more than the sum of it's parts.

#improv #london #hoopla

Did another improv show, at the Bell in East London. It's smaller and more grim than the Miller in London Bridge. One of those pubs that somehow still seems smokey even though nobody is allowed to smoke any more. Upstairs in the show-room is more crowded and squashed.

Fun shows though. The group works well together and performers and audience all laughing heartily.

Break from that till next year now. Glad to find more of the group will be at the next set of practice sessions than I expected even though it's a different day in a different place.

#hooplaImprov #improv #london