the media collective

RSS Monologue

What you will need: A computer or RSS enabled device

Directions:

1. Load a news RSS service in your favorite RSS reader (Firefox will work nicely and there are several listed below)
2. Increase the font size so you can read it while standing
3. Set your computer to autoscroll (video in full post)

Start up monologues based off of the title and opening sentence of the news stories that are scrolling over your screen. You should make sure that your screen is scrolling slow enough so you can say a few lines for each article.

Variations

Have two people or an entire ensemble use the news stories to start scenes.

RSS news Services and the limit of the results in the RSS feed

Google News Top Stories (100)
Google News World News (100)
Google News USA News (100)
Yahoo! World News (10)
Yahoo! USA News (10)
Yahoo! Top News (10)
Reuters Top News (10)
Reuters USA News (10)
Reuters World News (10)
Reuters Political News (10)
Reuters BusinessNews (10)

Digg Labs also has some good tools for this exercise:

Big Spy
Pics

And there is also twistori, a twitter news feed based on emotions.

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We will be starting a free summer Improv Workshop for those of you that are in the area over the summer. The call outs (we’re having multiple) are May 21st (Thursday) and May 23rd (Saturday). We are meeting on the main floor of the Union, above the food courts.

Contact us if you are planning on attending so we have an idea of how many to expect.

We will populate our improv workshop page with more information as well.

Fall 2009 – Early Troupe Workshops

Our current meeting schedule is 9/9:30 until Midnight in the Union after the Purdue Improv Club’s Friday Open Forum. These workshops are open to anyone who wishes to try their hand at improv in a fun, safe, and nurturing environment.

No matter what level you are, if you have a sincere interest in joining an improv troupe, please contact us or come to a workshop. Once we have a group of dedicated players (~8), we will close these workshops to only those players.

Fall 2009 – New Troupe Callout

With a new crop of students coming back for Boiler Goldrush, we figured now would be a good time to advertise for the new troupe we are forming this Fall. Be on the lookout for this poster.

Our advertised meeting time is 3PM Saturday, August 22nd, in the Purdue Memorial Union. We will meet in the Union, near the model of Purdue on the main floor. Once everyone has arrived, we will either find a room inside or go outside depending on the weather.

If you are interested or want more information, please contact us using our contact form.

Summer 2009 – Workshop

We had a successful first round of callouts for the Summer Improv Workshop! There will be a new poster going up around campus with the new time, Fridays from 6:30-Whenever.

If you are interested in joining this free workshop, please write us at improv [at] themediacollective.org or use the contact form. Contacting us before hand is not mandatory, however, it does give us an idea of who is attending.

Summer 2008 – Workshop Information

There will be more information here, but currently all we have is a copy of the poster/flyer we posted around campus, links to some improv resources on the Internet, an e-mail address and this text.

Improv References

Game/Exercise/Structure Repositories

1. The Improv Encyclopedia – Games, ideas, thoughts, concepts—an encyclopedia of improv!
2. ImprovWiki – Another reference, in wiki format
3. LearnImprov.com – Generate workshops and performance sets, plus a random game player.
4. Without Annette – A listing of games by this Improv Troupe.

Communities

1. Chicago Improv Network – Bulletin Board
2. Improv Resource Center – Bulletin Board
3. Improv Resource Center Wiki

Blogs/Podcasts

1. StoryRobot – Home of the cartoon I used
2. The Fracas! Improv Podcast
3. Chicago Improv Associates – Zenprov Podcast

Local Lafayette/West Lafayette Troupes

1. One Size Fits All
2. The Crazy Monkeys
3. The Ship of Fools

Videos

1. Improv Videos at ExpertVillage
2. College Comedy Championship 2007 [1] [2] [3]- Held in Chicago. Watch college troupes perform. Always something to learn.
3. Chicago College Improv Tournament 2008: East Coast, Midwest (Third Coast) Regionals, and West Coast Regionals. Same as above, but from 2008. The finals will be posted sometime after November 15, 2008.
4. Comedy Sportz Chicago – Musical 505 class show
5. See You Next Tuesday Improv Show – The Second City – Chicago
6. Whiskey Rebellion’s 1-Year Anniversary Show @ iO Chicago

Tips/Notes

1. Applied Improv – Del Close class notes
2. How to be a better improviser

Misc. References that Are Useful

1. Genre Guru’s List of Genre Games
2. IMDb’s Listing of Movie Genres