Performing VR Improv: The Early Shows
Introduction to our Troupe!
Our troupe of veteran NYC actors include an array of professional improvisors who perform regularly between The PIT (Peoples Improv Theater) and UCB (Upright Citizens Brigade). These amazing live actors embodying these virtual avatars are (in no particular order, but alphabetical): Ray Cordova, Katie Hartman, Jake Keefe, Tracy Mull, Sarah Nowak, Mark Stetson and Keisha Zollar.
Kevin Laibson — my co-director takes on a few roles depending on the event; doubling at times as a performer and most critically, hosting as emcee for our productions. If you hear a sarcastic robot in the wings of the theater, you can be assured it’s Kevin.
Performing in FUTVRELANDS
Our team was thrilled to participate in the first-ever VR festival held entirely in VR in High Fidelity’s FUTVRE LANDS. This VR festival took place inside an original world designed to host music acts (Thomas Dolby), a fashion stage for the Best Avatar contest, games, and a stage for live performance. Our improvisers Mark Stetson and Kevin Laibson took the stage to do a short set.
The Rehearsal
We ran some physical activities both in headset and out of headset to get ready for the show. The primary game Mark and Kevin ran was “What Are You Doing” where an actor begins an activity and the other actor asks the question “what are you doing?” The job of the first actor is to name any other activity besides what they are doing. Then the second actor does that activity and the game ensues.
The Discovery
The High Fidelity audience was great. They were patient and respectful while we remedied our technical challenges moving actors and setups around. The audience enthusiastically engaged in conversation until we were able to take the stage. They engaged with our actors and offered letters when our actors asked for suggestions. Just the mere engagement with the live audience was a nice discovery; the audience was listening, responsive, and respectful. We even heard a few laughs!
On Stage Audience Engagement
To take this challenge to the next level, our improvisors asked for letters from the audience and began their activities always with the set of letters. They then increased the challenge moving from 2 letters up to 3. Even with the technical challenges we faced, the High Fidelity audience got involved pitching letters and our actors faced every challenge with passion and humor.
Design: Black Box Theater
For the location of our improv show and workshop, we designed a custom black box theater and created special lighting to use the entire space, all the way into the audience’s seats. Each member of our Improv troupe was assigned a different game to teach.
We gathered the audience onto the stage and we ran through a series of games. Some games games included: Dirty Hand Randy, Gift Giving, and the classic “Yes, And.” With patience and thoughtfulness, actor Keisha Zollar led everyone through “Yes, And” (which she has probably taught over 1,000 times to live performers in the real world).
Teaching Improv to Avatars
Our second public event was an improv class in VR to a class full of unique avatars. We invited all levels of experience, and we encouraged everyone to attend in their unique avatars (robots and dynamic costumes were all welcome).
EXERCISE: YES, AND —
Yes, And is a cornerstone of Improv. This game is an oldie but a goodie.
Keisha Zollar led the class through several rounds before they got to “Yes, And.” Those rounds were: “No, But”, “Yes, But” and finally “Yes, And.”
She asked everyone to find a partner and then to find their own place in the theater. The class spread out into the audience and we brought the house lights up. Keish introduced an imaginary scenario. She said “Imagine you are planning a party with your friend.” One partner began by sharing an idea for the party The second partner replied with the words “No, but…” and shared their idea. Then, returning to the first actor, they responded with “No, but” and added a new idea. The pair alternated ideas for a few minutes.
In the second round the partners changed their statement to begin with “Yes, but” while they add new ideas. In the final round the actors change their statement to begin with “Yes, and.”
You could hear the ideas grow and the enthusiasm in the class build as everyone shifted towards “yes, and” — accepting, building a bigger idea together.
This simple shift in intention grows the game into a collaborative exercise. Teamwork, imagination, and communication — these are critical to good Improv.
The Class Discovery
Something really special about the High Fidelity audience we learned is how international and intelligent their user base is. Everyone brought a different perspective to the class environment. Every class has a different kind of energy and either people have a “yes, and” attitude to join the activity or they hold back with hesitation. The class’ willingness to participate in group games and to pair off and meet new people was refreshing.
The Full Improv Show
We led a full hour of an improvised show. We set an ambitious plan to include many short form games, to try some new experimental games modified for VR and to switch our actors frequently. Some of these games included: Good Advice, Bad Advice; Bartender, Fresh Choice and the classic Freeze and Justify.
The Design of Show
For ongoing performances we created a black box theater. We wanted something that would feel neutral. We created a set of neutral avatars (avatars costumed in jeans and t-shirts and basic sneakers and flats) and paired them with each actor. To set the energy we made a playlist of upbeat music which we played as the audience arrived. We designed a simple set of lighting cues: an opening cue, house lights, some special spotlights for our Emcee, and of course a blackout. Ironically, this blackout feels very real, as it would in a real theater and we noticed in rehearsals when running through our lighting cues the actors would request we “turn the lights back on.”
The Discovery
In rehearsals we began to experiment with scale. We encouraged our actors to pull this into their games and scenes when it felt natural. In the final game “Freeze and Justify” the actors played a lot with scale, growing enormous into giant creatures and shrinking down to tiny avatars. As they traded between the frozen position they also passed the size they had been in to each other — and while this took a moment to achieve technically, the audience seemed to appreciate this watching the actors transform in size. As our actor Ray shrunk down to a tiny baby size, he utilized flying and actor Tracy lifted him in the air — in the real world, this would have been impossible to pull off without putting the actors in harnesses and creating many perceptual magic tricks. But we were able to do this within seconds.
We leave you with Ray’s baby GIF captured by Angel Say in our audience.
Next up: SXSW 2019 baby!
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