Over the past year of watching their performances, talking with them about their craft, and even seeing them practice (one member is my roommate), I've learned a lot about the art of improv. I can honestly say there is much more to it than the average observer thinks. Tonight, I went to one of their shows. After the show we all went out to grab some food and Suzanne taught me a new improv term. It's called 'where work.' It refers to the practice of using your actions to illustrate the space and objects in the scene you are acting out. At first, I made the leap to say that where work is like miming, but my roommate Elisa explained that it's more than basic miming, because it involves using your actions to show objects AND the entire space around you. For example, if the scene is about cooking, where work would include the player (actor) using their actions to show the objects they use (the oven, a plate, etc) AND the space they are using (the kitchen). So you might see the actor walking around the imagined kitchen and demonstrating through their actions that the oven is not in the same place as the kitchen sink, and the plates are in a cabinet above their head.
Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of tonight's improv show, so I made Elisa so a little home-based improv for my picture. Our friend Abbie was visiting, do she joined in the fun. Can you tell what they are doing?
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