Workshop it Out

So, I told my Improv Spring-breakers that I'd post a little info about the Whitemud Crossing workshop. Even if you didn't take the workshop, you might find something interesting in the process, so please, join us.

We started off with a little round of "Whoosh!", or whatever you call it... Heck, it's the improv world, so it probably has some nutty name like "Barbra-Ann" or "Mitzy", but for the sake of memory, let's call it Whoosh. Mostly just an energy warm-up, I find it also brings the spontaneous side of the brain alive. By that, I mean it's a good starting point for doing things without thinking too much about consequences and if what you are doing is "good" or "acceptable"... This lead into "Pass the Anything", where we started to accept creative offers of others by receiving an imaginary item the same way it was passed to us. We then turned it into something entirely new. It's always been one of my favorites.

We moved on to "Yes, Lets!", a game where the only rule is that we must accept enthusiastically the suggestions of others and do the activity suggested with full commitment. I like using this early on because of all the fundamentals it has in it: Spontaneity (shouting a random activity without premeditating it), accepting (always saying yes, which is important to the beginner improv artist), commitment (doing every activity to the fullest) and not questioning each other (making the other improviser look good by committing to the task they suggested). I'm sure there's even more good in this game.

Next up: "What are you Doing?", an activity where two improvisers make constant offers to each other, making both create a reality based on a simple activity. This game can be used to help reinforce how the mundane is a great place to start in a scene. We don't have to be blasting off to outer space. We could be tying a shoe. An extra challenge to add to this is to say a platform must be set up; Each suggestion should have a Who, What and Where. For example:

A: "What are you doing?"
B: "I'm eating breakfast in the kitchen before my high school midterm".

Person B doesn't have to say "I'm a student eating breakfast in the kitchen", they can allow us to figure who they are by just being clear. We did not attempt this version of "What are you doing" for the workshop, but it's worth a try if you have a chance.

We took a little break. When we came back, I took out the pool noodles. I use them for something called "This is my...", in which participants take turns imagining the pool noodle as anything but. They announce what it is, and then they must use it as that item. Really good for developing the creative and imaginative side in my opinion.

It was then time for some character work. I love the fact that characters allow freedom to the actor, in that they are no longer confined to what they personally would do, it's now all about what the character does. I showed everyone a little trick in which you lead yourself with various parts of the body to change your posture and frame of mind: those who were there know what I mean. We played a fast and furious version of "Hitchhiker", in which the actors come up with characters on the spot and are driven to destinations, allowing for some conversation along the way. It's an interesting way to lead into relationships, but for the most part, the meetings in "Hitchhiker" are between strangers... which can certainly develop a relationship, but I save that for the next little item...

"Fairy tale in a Minute". Finally, a story. Some might wonder why this game. I use it because we have a simple story that everyone should have a basic understanding of, and we put a time constraint on it so that we start seeing the game side of improv as well as making sure all dialog is to-the-point. Also, the relationships and status in these stories are mostly already understood, so there doesn't tend to be battles among improvisers for attention or importance. It also makes for a clear beginning, middle and end, so is a good beginner narrative tool. People can totally argue this stuff with me, but that's what I've found about this game in my experience. We chose Cinderella, and honestly, I have never done a workshop where the group didn't choose Cinderella. Can't explain that, other than maybe it has a Fairy in it, and that subconsciously influences folks to suggest it. Just before we did our "Cinderella in a Minute", we did a little story-from-scratch stuff by doing a tap-out monologue and a conducted story... We also touched on some popular ask-for's/suggestions from the audience, like asking for:

- an occupation
- a non-geographical location
- what is in my hand (the improviser holding an imaginary, un-formed object)
- a relationship between two people
- an emotion

et cetera, etc. etc.

It wrapped up well. The improvisers shared the stage, weren't selfish, and worked like a team. All around, the smoothest workshop I've been a part of yet. Thanks, if you all came by to read.

Any senior/junior/beginner improviser/person can certainly discuss the validity of any of the games and activities if they would like in the comments section or they can e-mail me at:

spallier@hotmail.com

Links of Non-Sausage & Boxing

Before you read, check out my new links. Yeah, you get to read of the misadventures of Trish, Ang, and Jeff. It'll be fun.

I decided on a new feature. It goes a little something like this: I throw my hand into a shoebox full of Atari games, and whatever one I pull out, I have a little chat about what I remember about it. Today, I have picked:

BOXING: Realsports Series

This was a game initally intended for the Atari 2600, but lucky me, the Atari 7800 is 2600 compatible. So I was able to enjoy minutes upon minutes of fun, helping a black guy beat up a white guy, or vice versa. It seemed to be the old Atari formula: White man versus Black man. I guess it was just easier to make the distinction... However, on the cover, it actually shows a Black guy socking it to a less-Black guy, so maybe my memory is a little hazy...

I do certainly remember that 5 people watch the match, well, 5 peg-like people who pulsate up and down if the action grows. The sound gets louder the more of a pounding you lay into each other. You can punch for the head or the breadbasket. That's it.

If you win, you bounce off the 4 ropes repeatedly, walking on top of your opponent as you go. Your opponent will lay diagonally, knees crooked, motionless. And the 10-count is hideously fast. It is however, a technological breakthrough that the part of the body you hit actually matters in this 1988 classic. It will move appropriately when your stick-like arms strike. The sound, however, regardless of what you hit, sounds like a ping-pong ball being shot at a steel plate in a hermetically sealed room.

I actually played this game (and many others) against a regular reader. So what do you say, Al? Time for me to hook up the old dinosaur so we can go another few rounds?

Cover Your Heads: The Conclusion

The show is now complete. Things went smooth, except for the fact that my playlist said we were going to spin Social Distortion, not Johnny Cash, but hey, whatever. These things happen.

Here's useless information for my last 4 songs on my "Top 20" list. You now know that 3 of these 4 were chosen. Here we go:

17. METISYAHU - Message in a Bottle
Original artists The Police seem to be back together, so doest this mean the end of Klark Kent? Although apparently, Stewart Copeland has never admitted to being Klark Kent, or, at times, Klerk Kant, it's definitely him. The only song under this alter ego to get any airplay was "Away from Home".

18. RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE - Renegades of Funk
This one comes from the man who brought us "Planet Rock". Afrika Bambaataa has been hiding his age since day one. He has yet to reveal his exact date of birth... Although, if my sources are correct, he's going to be 50 years old as of April.

19. FOO FIGHTERS - Baker Street
The original artist of Baker Street was Gerry Rafferty, and most people know him better as the lead singer for Stealers Wheel, that band that did "Stuck in the Middle". Guitar replacing saxophone in this update? Much, much better.

20. RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS - Love Rollercoaster
Initially recorded by the Ohio Players, a band that was once part of a scandal over this very song: An urban legend states that the model from the cover of the album was murdered in the studio when she complained about the honey burns she received from the photo session. Fans were led to believe that either the manager of the band killed her, or some random intruder did when she came to complain... You can hear her screams right on the track, listeners state. Hee hee.

Hope you liked the show, if you listened. If not, I love you anyway.

Cover Your Heads Part IV

Okay, so tomorrow's the big day. And only one of the songs on today's list will be played... Can YOU guess which one? First right answer gets my shares in Microsoft (seeing that I don't have any, but what a generous offer if I did).

13. NIRVANA - The Man Who Sold the World
Initially by David Bowie, and everyone knows that guy has been everything from an Androgynous Alien to a Plastic Soulster, but not everyone knows that he was once living in a Buddhist Monastery. He was also a mime in the early days, perhaps explaining his penchant for makeup.

14. COWBOY JUNKIES - Sweet Jane
I was always far more familiar with the Cowboy Junkies version than the Velvet Underground one, so I was super-depressed to discover that 54-40's "Crossing a Canyon, one of my favorite songs, is a tissue paper-thin near exact copy of the original. Listen for yourself someday.

15. 5,6,7,8's - Woo Hoo
To complicate things, there are two bands called the Rock-a-Teens (this song's first performers), and I'm talking about the 1950's band, just for the record. It's a total mess in books and websites trying to get info on this classic primitive band. Fans of the Movie "Pecker" would have heard the initial cut of this song already, and realized that not every all-girl Japanese band has an amazing talent for writing their own brand of rockabilly... or any music at all, for that matter.

16. CAPTAIN TRACTOR - London Calling
Chart success came late in America for original artists, The Clash. Not only did it come late at first, it also came very late when in 1991 "Should I Stay or Should I Go?", a former Modern Rock Door song, hit high after being used in a Levi's Commercial...

So blow the dust off your radios, friends. Tune into your friendly neighborhood Shawn tomorrow, and if you're not in Edmonton, listen on:
radiosonic.fm

Cover Your Heads Part III

4 of the next 4 songs will hit SONiC this Thursday at 10 pm...

9. CAKE - I Will Survive
Original artist Gloria Gaynor was more that just another disco queen, she was a pioneer. She made one of the first ever "you-are-supposed-to-dance-to-this" albums (in other words, dance music). She even did a performance for Pope John Paul II... Like Johnny, she was a born-again Christian, so that kind of helped her not die of drug abuse and such.

10. THE CLASH - I Fought The Law
First performed by Buddy Holly's Band "The Crickets" in 1960, the famous cover is by the Bobby Fuller Four in 1966. Bobby Fuller's death is still the subject of controversy, as he was found with a stomach full of gasoline and was beaten badly. The police ruled suicide.. That means that practically nobody that has a famous version of this song is alive... creepy.

11. U2/GREEN DAY - The Saints are Coming
Member of the original artists for this song (The Skids), guitarist Stuart Adamson, was a punk rocker, but he went on to perform with the decidedly un-punk Big Country. He took his own life in 2001 just before the band was to open for Bryan Adams.

12. PEARL JAM - Last Kiss
Originally written and performed by Wayne Cochran, the version everyone knows is J. Frank Wilson's. You have to see Wayne Cochran to believe him. He once had a pompadour which doesn't seem possible, and it is platinum blond. He screamed his voice into oblivion by the mid 1960's. Screamo bands, let that be a warning to you.

Cover Your Heads Part II

I should point out, only 12 of the 20 songs I talk about will actually be on "Hey Ma! I'm on Sonic" at 10 pm on Thursday, March 8th, but I'll write about all of them, like they were my little song children.

5. JOHNNY CASH - Hurt
Trent Reznor, founding and frequently only member of Nine Inch Nails rented the Charles Manson Murder House, and that's where the original "Hurt" and the whole "Downward Spiral" album was recorded. He claims he didn't know it at the time, but...
Other Cover versions performed by: Dead Rites, Christy Moore, Razor Skyline, Ark Sano, Tin Electric

6. GNARLS BARKLEY - Gone Daddy Gone
Legend has it the Violent Femmes, original artists of this track, were signed following a busking stint entertaining the line for a Pretenders concert... And that makes sense, considering the late James Honeyman-Scott of that band once laid claim to their discovery.
Other Cover versions performed by: Codebreaker, Reach Around Rodeo Clowns

7. WHITE STRIPES - Walking With a Ghost
Interestingly, the writers and first performers of this song, Tegan and Sara, had a different name when they started: "Sara and Tegan". I guess it just didn't sound natural enough, so they reversed it. If you're lucky, you have a copy of the album with that original name, because it didn't last long... It was reprinted quite quickly with the names the "right" way around.
Other Cover versions performed by: Nobody that I know of, so let me know if you've heard one.

8. SOCIAL DISTORTION - Ring of Fire
You've probably now heard every story possible about Johnny Cash, but I'm pretty sure the movie didn't say much about his 1982 album with Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins (the original artist of "Blue Suede Shoes"). It was called "The Survivors", and it was live. Not a shocker that it was mostly gospel songs- Johnny was still in his "fundamental Christian" stage... Glad he snapped out of that, for artistic reasons at least.
Other Cover versions performed by: Wall of Voodoo, Def Leppard, Blondie, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Tom Jones, Frank Zappa, and countless, countless others

Four more songs tomorrow...

"Cover" Your Heads

Here comes a bombardment of useful information.

I want to get a little in depth on the covers that made my top 20 list, so here's the first 4:

1. GOB - Paint It Black

Originally a 1966 hit for The Rolling Stones, this gem has been covered countless times, but SONiC likes the version by Vancouver's Gob... The Rolling Stones are the kings of debauchery; From being involved with all sorts of young girls and models to being found dead at Pooh Corner, these guys ARE rock n' roll, and I'm pretty sure you knew that already.
Other Cover versions performed by: The Animals, Deep Purple, Echo and the Bunnymen, U2, The Tea Party and... uh, Vanessa Carlton?... and many many more.

2. SOCIAL CODE - Whisper to a Scream (Birds Fly)

First known as "Birds Fly (Whisper to a Scream) in 1984, it's now been reversed. The Icicle Works (later known as simply Icicle Works) came together in Liverpool. The self-titled debut that this track comes from is critically acclaimed, but that line that most people measure themselves up to, North American Success, eluded them outside of a few die-hard fans (props to Christine)... But most people have still heard this original. Edmonton's own Social Code should get a hell of a lot of cred for picking a cover that hasn't been beaten to death.
Other Cover versions performed by: Soho (for the "Scream" soundtrack, and I'm not sure of any others).

3. OUT OF YOUR MOUTH - Music

What's there left to be said about Madonna? My third Canadian act on the list, Calgary's Out of Your Mouth, give this tune the ol' "let's make it dark and heavy" treatment... which actually could be argued about the other two songs on this list... Nah. The other two are the whole "let's give it the Me First and the Gimme Gimmesque" treatment. Anywhoo, point being, Madonna jumped on the Mr. DJ bandwagon and made us dance. Out of Your Mouth made us thrash. And SONiC DJ Graham Scott gets snooty cred for not knowing this song was originally by Madonna.
Other Cover versions performed by: Adam Marano, The Mysterious Girl (although these first two are copies more than covers), Jackass (not the movie, the band, this cover is rockabilly-fied).

GARY JULES w/Michael Anderson - Mad World

Yep. That creepy song from the video game commercial & Donnie Darko was a Tears for Fears dancefloor classic in a previous life. Gary Jules sings on this Michael Anderson re-arrangement done for the aforementioned movie, and it's absolutely chilling... Tears for Fears is my "Geek Love". I've been into them since I was in Elementary School. After over a decade of stalling, they did make another album in 2004 together, and they seem to still be together.
Other Cover versions performed by: Jan Wayne, Alex Parks, Wise Guys

Come back tomorrow for 4 more songs.

Hey Ma! I'm (Gonna be) on Sonic!

And I'm pleased as punch.