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This week's focus: group scenes.

* Group scenes should be fun, dynamic, a scene
* Grounded things I can make unusual
* Come out 1 at a time.
* Get everyone in the same room in a group scene.
* Pattern is the most important thing.
* Don't think too much, or you lose the play of it.
* Why does someone have a really bad show--they were trying to impress Mom.
* React, don't be in your head, your move depends on what they just said.
* Commit to showing us all the fun things
* You can do anything, including push people out of the scene
* Jump into something and not knowing what you're jumping into
* Do things instead of talking about them
* Stop and start while playing animals: don't do animal actions while making a hit, then go back to doing the action.
* Nobody gives a beep if three are grounded in the scene if it's a scene they all played together.

Games:
5 things game--name 5 things you'd find at a particular location.

Today's practice: get a word as an idea for your group scene, or do mini-monologues.

Group 1 asked for a favorite utensil, and two people called out "spatula!" at the same time. Brian told them to go with it, because "Whatever you say now is never going to be as a interesting as that true moment." They ended up doing a group scene on comms where everyone was named Roger.

Group 2: someone did a monologue on nitpicking gelato scoops, which turned into nitpicking cleanliness. Also there was a Last Supper reference--"My blood doesn't look like this!" Brian was all, "Stick to things that are wrong with the Last Supper."

Group 3: I have the notes "gorilla words to coconuts," and have no idea what that means now when I type this up over a week later. But somehow that turned into a counterfeit tribal dance with surprise solos in which people were called on to dance like a teacher, cop, gangster, pirate, and astronaut.

Group 4: story about someone being slept on in an airplane turns into "This flight cannot get any worse." Other remarks: "Where's my tiny vodka?" and "I have half a headphone."

Group 5: dude told a story about trying to do a magic trick in which he ripped up a dollar bill and then blew it. This turned into a group scene about fish in bowls at a carnival taunting each other. I got hit with a ball and had to leave (and got "Bye Felicia" yelled at me), which made Brian go all, don't kick someone out of a scene like that. Then it got revised into a scene about bad magicians, and I got set on fire.

Group 6: a guy told a story about how his crazy Aunt
Jane was addicted to gold panning in Alaska, which turned into.... "Once you stick gold up your butthole, there's nowhere else to go from there." Then it turned into a scene about going to Alaskaland, where you can ride a moose and an iceberg comes in every day at 3:30. "This one time, in Alaskaland...."

Group 7: after a girl told a strange story about wearing a shirt as pants, everyone did a scene about (a) Voltron assembling, and (b) bad Halloween costumes where clothes are on the wrong body parts. I particularly liked the pants on over the head. Brian: "Always cut when it looks like Nick's sucking a d----"

Group 8: After someone did a monologue on wearing sweats and different work uniforms, we did a scene about wearing hand me downs on the first day of school. I tripped in wearing bell bottoms, others wore a wedding dress or RenFaire outfit.

Group 9: after someone did a monologue about vomiting up an Icee after surgery, this turned into a scene about weird foods people wanted to eat before they died. Didn't really get this one, but it was stuff like mint ice cream with nachos.

Group 10: I think the story was about bugs? The scene was about ants building a wall to keep the Mexican ants out.

Group 11
: Gladys told a story about her house, which led to a scene about woodland animals sneaking into her house to pull pranks. "Gladys left the window open again, let's f--- her s--- up."

Group 12: I forget the monologue idea, but the scene was some cheesy tourist "seven wonders of the world" exhibit. It wasn't set up super well, but when I hopped out to play a pyramid and started waving at the tourists, that made things go well, with the Hanging Gardens being all, "'sup?" and the Great Wall reminding someone of their dad just being there doing nothing. Brian said "it was really smart" that I set the pattern like that. Yay!

Group 13: A story about an elevator opening on its own led to a scene about a haunted elevator scaring people and taking them to the thirteenth floor.
Group 13: A story about scuba diving turned into a scene about people seeing things they don't normally see at home. That's the ocean and I'm from Missouri, I'm from this town (I live in flatlands) and there's a mountain. It ended in tree hugging.

Random Mention Section: Brian told the story of a the time he went to see the last Harry Potter movie and some guy was trying to sneak in all subtle-like and was just climbing over some guy's leg and then farted loudly, right when Harry Potter died.

As for Improv Jam after class: I hopped into a scene involving a TMI news show, announcing a wart. Guess where.

Other fun things that night: someone starting out a monologue with,
"I've never told anyone this story before." Everyone cheered. Another guy told a story of having diarrhea and people started chanting his name in support. Oh, funny people, you're awesome.

I must also mention the monologue in which a girl was in class and was told she spelled the word come in "the Latin way" and got an unpleasant reaction when she tried asking what that meant at home. To force her mom to answer, the girl decided to ask her mother in front of her Gentleman Caller. "Penis stuff comes out!" Mom yelled.

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