Let me explain. I have a great EXCUSE!

I dropped out. Yes I know… What a loser?!?!?

However, it was with a great deal of anguish. My improvements were not coming fast enough and I was not very happy with my performances. Through no fault of my amazing trainers at Dallas Comedy House.

It has more to do with my high expectations. Very unrealistic expectations I am sure. Yet, I knew I had to change something.

So I decided to drop and focus on a couple of other things that I was also working on learning. It has been almost 6 months since I left and will be back before the end of the year.

Improv has not seen the last of me and I will be back. My intention is still to be great and be a regular in the Dallas Improv Comedy scene.

Maybe not the greatest I will be. But I will be consistently awesome. Is that too much to ask of myself? Of course not! Thank you for agreeing.

Stay tuned for my next blog post soon where I discuss a certain up and coming improv superstar, Carley Stewart! She was writing for this little site for a little bit but has moved on, much to my dismay.

In her absence she has come into her own as an improvisational actor in Dallas and I am so proud to have been there in the beginning. All I have to say is remember where you saw her first… or better yet, go see her perform live with her improv troupe, Sweater Off Dead at the best Dallas Improv Training company!

Can you tell I love my improv family???

I am super excited on the way over to Deep Ellum, carpooling with the ladies Kim and Theresa. We’re all sharing the excitement of having four join and being reunited with our original class. So, there we were after waiting from not having class for two weeks, chatting it up with Clay and Amanda.
After a while I’m wondering where everyone is! It’s only Theresa, Kim, Teevee, Lashaunda and I who have shown up. BUMMER!

This was my dilemma. For most of this class I was so distracted by the fact that five out of eleven of us had shown up that I wasn’t as focused as I should have been. Which is totally my fault. I had just been so pumped about there being eleven of us, that when five of us were there I was just really disappointed. But guess what? I have NOT learned my lesson, now I am anticipating next Sunday even more to play with everyone!! Can’t wait, everybody!

What I came away with on Sunday was the understanding that recognizing patterns will come easier the more we play with them and watch them develop. Patterns are SO much fun, big or small. Especially watching other people who are good at bringing them back every single opportunity that they can. I totally appreciate the feedback from Clay after our scenes, because I always get to see the potential my scenes had. (haha!) He points things out that would have helped heighten the scene as well as things that we could have run with easily.

So what are patterns? Patterns are things that got laughs brought out over and over again! Whether it’s checking the time after someone insults you or accidently laughing at your last name. If it got a laugh, bring it back! It’s a lot like juggling as Clay said it. I found that it was important to pay attention (sorry, my bad). There was a lot to keep up with! We had to remember how to start a scene (didn’t think I’d have to hold onto that…) With primal truths, relationships, basically whowhatwhenwherewhy! LISTEN not just to your partner in the scene but to the laughs.

I’m trying to think this out as I type, I’m sure I’ll have a better understanding the further along we get in Level 3 (Holla!)

peace & blessings ghetto friends

Improv is life, Life is Improv -Del Close

I am very critical of myself, but despite that I have made some obvious improvements. Our team has grown a ton! We trust each other despite some ill advised choices at times.

Trust is huge in improv(trust is huge in life). Anything said by one of our teammates is the most brilliant thing said in the history of mankind. Seriously!

In one of our last practice sessions, Carley was in a scene with Kim that seemed normal enough. Apparently Carley had somehow stolen M&Ms from the White House. Oh-oh….

Kim did a marvelous job of agreeing and making it the most brilliant scene ever! Within 5 minutes, I had been given the gift of being Obama and I(Obama) was declaring war on China for stealing the M&Ms. The brilliance of that moment and feeling the group mind was what some may call orgasmic.

Next year will be incredible. It will be filled with many moments of personal disgust for not being better. All the while improving ever so slightly.

So first  let me tell you a bit about myself.    Ready…Set…Go!

The name’s Carley, as I said. I’m  seventeen, I love comedy, I’m a pastor’s  daughter, I’ll be attending El Centro  community college next year!

People who inspire me as far as comedy goes are Eugene Mirman, Will Farrell, loving everyone on SNL right now, Daniel Tosh, Kathy Griffin – HAULT! Let me explain. I love the way she talks to her audience. She does her stand-up in such a way that it’s like she’s having a conversation with friends, I love it. – Michael McDonald (MAD tv), and Mo Collins (also MAD tv).

My dream is to be on SNL, but I’m just going to keep that in the back of my head. Why Saturday Night Live? Because it’s probably the most watched sketch comedy show on t.v. and they’ve continued for 35 seasons to cast very talented people. I think it would be a huge accomplishment to be a cast member, not to mention I would have a blast.

It would be a great way for me to make people laugh! I am all about making people laugh. Laughter is absolutely the best thing in the world, it helps people forget about their problems and laugh at themselves as well as all of the ridiculous things that would normally irritate us. My goal in improv, stand-up, sketch comedy, and whatever else I try out in the next few years will be to say what’s on everyone’s minds and talk about it! (The things that not everyone is open about, but not inappropriate or weird stuff.)

Our Level 3 class with begin January 3rd; I’m totally having withdrawl right now from not being in class. So now we’ve reached the part in my note where I brag on Dallas Comedy House a bit. -NOW- The staff is wonderful! Amanda Austin, Clay Barton, Raymond Fischer, Kyle Austin, and Cody Dearing are all informative coaches.

These guys are super friendly, super hilarious, great Great GREAT teachers. They have snagged their own building in Deep Ellum recently and are currently fixing it up and a grand opening is expected in January! I look forward to watching it grow and bring Deep Ellum back like I know it will.

So I’ve always loved comedy, I would say that my dad has had a big part in making me fall in love with it. He’s always encouraged me and brought out the best in me, he’s the greatest Father in the world. I hit the jackpot! So why improv? I wish I could remember. I’ve been involved in theatre throughout Junior High and High School.

I knew I wanted to do stand-up in the future, and I figured improv classes would help! So I’m looking, I’m looking- not finding anything that cool on the internet. Then, eureka! I found the Dallas Comedy House and now it’s my home away from home. I plan on taking every class they have to offer.

That’s enough for now, I don’t know how you managed to get through all that! Look forward to seeing Theresa, Kim, Teevee, Joe, Daniel and Kristen on the 3rd! Oh and not to mention the others!

They’ve actually combined two level 2 classes to make one big eleven person level 3 class! So I will be seeing Joshua, Nick, LaShaunda, and Stacey then too! Teevee and I will keep everyone posted on the details of our next showcase which will be at the new Dallas Comedy House fo sho! 2645 Commerce St. in Dallas, TX!

Love,

Carley

It’s funny, but now that I am older time sure seems to fly. I could have sworn I just turned 25 last week, and I could have sworn that we just had our Level 1 Showcase last week too.

Yet actually, I turned 34 a couple of months ago and my Level 1 showcase was almost 6 weeks ago!

So what are my excuses? I should have plenty of them, and I do. I won’t bore you with them though. I apologize to ALL my loyal fans who have been dying to know how my progress has gone. I promise to do better and start recording videos again. If all goes well, I hope to be putting together some sketches with some of my playmates soon, bit that’s down the line a bit though.

FOCUS teevee! Yes!

Tonight is our Level 2 showcase. During this level we have basically abandoned all the “game” aspect of what we learned in Level 1. We began to work more on long form improv. Every week we focused on a specific improv device that we could use during our scenes.

Some of the devices I can remember right now(pop quiz) are:

• Status
• Emotion
• Straight and absurd
• Ahhh….. maybe I should have taken more notes!

Our team has grown stronger and more critical than ever. Our expectations for ourselves has risen tremendously, while improving a ton in the last several weeks.

Where we once ran over each other and would not let each other share; well, we still do that. However, not as much and are very aware of it when we do it. We have begun to slow down and not feel the urge to fill every second of time with our words.

As a team we have got stronger at recognizing the game within the scene. Our next phase in progression will be to elevate the game each time it is called back up.

We now edit our own scenes and also can do walk-ons, tag-outs, split scenes, and so much more. The way I see it, we have begun to add more dimensions to our scenes that make them more like…. 4D! (3D is so 1980s)

Our team is extremely passionate about improv (it’s addictive) and have attended almost every show and workshop since that Dallas Comedy House puts together.

After watching another Level 2 Showcase a few weeks ago we felt like we were not ready. So we scheduled a time outside of class to work together. I hope to do more of this, since the reality remains that the only way we are going to make tremendous progress is making tremendous efforts.

Enough lessons and time to put this on stage. See you tonight! Yes, you!

I am still at a loss. About 2 months ago I walked into the Dallas Comedy House and saw the crew perform by myself. You know the story by now, I was hooked and committed to get back into it.

I did, as you already know.

And today at Ozona’s Grill and Bar I am part of the group that has sold that joint out! Sucka!

The place will be rocking!

For those that were not able to make it… look for future shows. They are coming.

And one last thing… I LOVE YOU GUYS!

I must develop a deeper pool of default emotions and characters.

“Fall in love with the plateau” – George Leonard