Think improv is about thinking fast? Think again!

When I tell people that I improvise, the response is often "wow, I could never do that - I'm not fast enough" or "you must be able to think really fast on your feet."

Actually, I find that success and enjoyment in improv is the exact opposite.
It's about slowing down and listening.

When you are really and actually in the moment you can really and actually listen.
Then the moment that you are in gets brighter and the next move becomes obvious and joyful.

Instead of thinking fast about what to do next... choose a real emotion (C.A.R.E.) and slow down. Be there. What comes next will be organic and have folks marvelling about how fast you seem to think.

It's been an awesome and challenging year! 

In 2017 I've performed improv in Vancouver, New York, Seattle, Rome, Dublin, and Melbourne. 

I've made new friends and connected with treasured old ones. 

I'm minding my mind and working to "drop the rope" that leads to a negative brain feedback loop. I'm surfing the moment whenever and wherever I can. 

I wish all my friends, family, and followers a very happy new year and all the best in 2018. 

Hope we see each other at a show, in a classroom, or somewhere unexpected! 

My heart continues to be bold,

Dan

DJS Production Team - Dan, Jamie, Sarah Dawn
 Thanks to these amazing improvisors who help make my world a better place.
Catch our next show! 

5 Tips for Improvising as a Roving Character

When you are improvising as a roving character at an event, here are 5 tips that I've picked up to help make your time successful.

I've been doing roving characters at events for nine years - I started by playing Captain Morgan in the bars of British Columbia's lower mainland. Since then, I've been all over the world playing over 50 characters that make people laugh and create fun memories at events. These pics are from my gig last month in Switzerland helping to host a week long event. 

1. Have a good costume. It's the worst when your costume is shoddy. First impression has to make the audience want to look at you. Details are key. Try to get a NAME TAG that shows you're with the group. Interactive elements, props, and little gifts to give out make your job easier.

2. Have a good vibe. If you're having a good relaxed time, that joy will spread. 

3. Have a few start up lines or puns. This initiates contact with the crowd and lets you assess if they're cool with improvising a little with you. 

4. Create in the moment. Based on the reactions you get, let the relationship with the audience member unfold and play for as long as they're enjoying it. 

5. Know when to roam. Not everyone loves a roaming character. Be ready to say a quick joke or make an impression and gracefully make a fast retreat. Sometimes being part of the background like standing at a doorway is the best way to entertain and not annoy. 

I wish you all the best improvising as a roving character!

Dream It, Do it!

Moving to New York, I knew that I wanted to start an improv show here. It was a dream as soon as Jonathan and I found out that we'd be living in the big apple.

And now it's happening... My New York City improv show is about to debut this Saturday night!

Dirty Little Secrets Improv Show

Link for the event HERE

This is the first time I've produced an improv show on my own. In Vancouver, it was always with Queer Prov, The Fictionals, or The Vancouver TheaterSports League (or my secret show with Sarah Dawn Pledge, but that's even more secret than this show). I'm feeling really good about dreaming of this show and now doing it. From concept to booking the venue, it's been seven months.

I'm presenting an evening of short and long form improv around the theme of secrets. It's a limitless resource really -we've all got so many.

The admission to the show is five bucks + a secret that audience members write and submit as they enter. I'll use the secrets to inspire the improv in the show. We'll keep the owners of the secrets hush hush - so there will be relative anonymity as the dirty little tidbits are revealed and explored.

One of my best friends Stephen Sheffer is in the cast and we came up with the concept together, inspired by the first venue that we weren't allowed to publicly advertise. Our cast had been practicing in that secret space and we thought it was a perfect fit. Then life happened and we lost the venue. It was a tough blow, but I held onto the dream and found a new home for the show.  I'm glad that I can now tell the world where this show is - especially since it's in my hood, 30 steps from my apartment in the East Village in our favourite Mexican restaurant.

Nothing is off the table for my amazing cast of improvisors. Stephen and I have met all these talented folks since I arrived and I love all five of them. In the first half I'll host short-form games, and I'll join the players in the second half for a long-form piece, all inspired by secrets from the crowd.

My mom loves the idea and said she'd really be into seeing something like this. Secrets have been a big part of her life. We had a few secrets revealed in my family in 1994 that led to finding a whole other branches of our family tree. I'll have to do one when she visits for Christmas.

The summer was about planting roots and surviving the heat and now we're into my favourite season - autumn. When dreams come true!
Hope you can make it if you're in NYC this weekend.

Here's a look at some photo highlights since I last blogged:

Took an intensive at Annoyance Theatre in Brooklyn and am now performing in their Blind Tiger League!

Hosted improv legend Colin Mochrie in Vancouver

Played with improv legend Joe Bill in Vancouver

Helped close Throne and Games in Vancouver

Hosted a Canadian Thanksgiving in NYC with Jon! 

Hosting in the moment

In my last blog post I promised to write more about how to be in the moment as a host. Here it is!

Hosting is a tough tight rope act.

Why? Because at the same instant, you're thinking of what just happened, watching what is happening currently, planning what happens next, and announcing it.

Hosting Improv Against Humanity in my Seersucker Suit

Like the video game Tetris: you're carefully placing a piece and at the same time planning where to put the next piece that will fall, all in your big game plan of clearing the board.

You can be in the moment as a host when you trust enough in the future (your sense of timing and your plan) to let it go from your mind and enjoy the now, enjoy this moment with the audience.

The more you host, the more you can rely on trusting the moment when you're calling the shots as they happen and saying what you sense needs to be said. It takes practice to get in to this zone and to develop an awareness of the shape and flow of a show.

Sometimes hosts can get "in their head" or they "make it all about them" or  they "don't connect with the crowd" - which causes stuttering, sounding insincere or rehearsed, or talking at the crowd instead of with them ... I see this happening because these hosts have fallen out of the moment. They've forgotten their job of connecting with the audience,  they're analyzing what just happened, or they're planning for what happens next.

As you open and close the show and intro each of the components of the performance, you've got to be in the moment yourself to engage the audience. Great hosts connect to the audience in a charming way as they present the show. This means having a rough idea of what you're going to say - and then being open to inspiration based on what you're getting from the crowd and what the show needs.

To get in the moment as a host, allow yourself to stand still and take breath. Take it in. Smile. Then say one thing to the audience and pause to watch them react. Tell them what is about to happen. Ask them to support the show. Then, enjoy!

Happy Hosting!

D

One of the best posters for a show I've hosted - I got cartooned!

Awesome hosts "frame" a show

This golden frame is like an awesome improv host because it

is beautiful in a complimentary way to the main attraction. 

It classes up and features the art.

It defines the boundaries of the piece - the beginning and end.

I aim to be like the golden frame when I host shows.

Great hosts react to the performance and to the crowd. They are of the crowd and of the show at the same time. That means framing and then enjoying the moments of the show. I'll write more about being in the moment as a host in my next post.

Happy Framing! 

My Mona Lisa hands help me frame