GRIFF: Oh damn that one felt good. That was by far the best show we’ve had. We said beforehand that we would do whatever kind of show we did and not dictate any parameters. We ended up doing one long twenty minute scene! Felt great to play one character the whole time because while it was grounded. There were definitely plenty of games and bits in there as well. It’s funny when you have a good show because afterwards everyone recognizes that something was different yet cannot seem to name it. I don’t want to get too ahead of myself on this one though. It feels so good to have done a solid show, but there was definitely room for improvement. Lots of things were thrown out and dropped and we didn’t go deep enough into who the characters were. Also, I pretty much just stood in place and dried out money for the entire show, so I could have been way more physical.
DUGAN: Tonight was great. This was actually the first show that we've done that was just the two of us. Rather than putting any kind of restriction on what we were going to do form-wise, we just said let's do what feels right. Apparently what feels right is a one-scene show in which we basically play ourselves. DID WE JUST FIGURE OUT IMPROV? We played two guys that just robbed a bank (to the tune of nine billion dollars), and were hiding out waiting for the heat to die down. And while that is a pretty un-grounded set up, I think we did a good job of not getting too caught up in the crazy circumstances, and just relating to each other in a comfortable and real way. One of my only issues with the scene was that we spent the entire time in a single room and we never really set up anything else in the room besides the chair I was sitting in, and the stack of money next to Griff. If we had done some more object work, we might have found some other fun things to play with, but I'm not complaining because I think we did a lot of things right tonight and LET'S NOT SPOIL THAT.
HOW DO YOU FEEL/WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT IMPROV?
GRIFF: It pays to relax, but it pays just as much to have fun and surprise yourself. You gotta balance them and be quiet and then loud. The Pixies got it. Back when they were actually the Pixies and not this carcass of a band Frank Black is dragging across America like the family in As I Lay Dying. Heather know what I mean. Also, you should work out or be active every day. I think it gets your mind going in the right way.
DUGAN: This has been my experience, I don't know if anyone else has felt this way: The first time that you try a new form, and do it well, it feels great. It's new and it's fresh and you're amazed at the things that you can do with it. Then you try to do it again, and for some reason it just doesn't work as well. The spontenaity isn't there, and you're just trying to recapture what you did before. This is what I was worried about happening tonight. We had a good show last week doing a mono-scene, but then were pretty lukewarm about it when we tried to do it again on Tuesday, and it ultimately became a scenic montage. So tonight, we didn't put any stipulations on what we were going to do. That left my brain free to think about the scene at hand, rather than what needed to come next. KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid! But also kiss other dudes in improv. The audience loves it.
WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT JAMES/GRIFF
GRIFF: Jams is really good at calling things out and defining them, almost to a fault. There were a few times where he flat out said “boy you sure are terrible with metaphors” or some other character trait about me that sounded too blunt and heavy handed to me. But (I want to be clear this isn’t a note for Jams), if he hadn’t just called something out, I probably would have kept rambling on until I picked my own game or confused the whole damned thing by never choosing. I remember being in class with Jason Shotts and he said something to the effect of “I don’t give a shit how awkward it sounds. Just say what you are thinking or call something out and then move on”. Jams is great at making sure we are playing on the same page. While calling things out may bring the audience right up alongside you (rather than trailing a little behind in understanding what’s happening) I would always rather have that than seeing them ahead of me or plain not caring at all. That being said it was a little too “Sean Pricey” for me. You guys know what I mean?
DUGAN: I work with Griffin, so we see a good amount of each other in our every day lives. I've seen him do and say some real weird things to get a laugh out of people. He kind of plays a characterization of himself. It was great to see that side of him onstage tonight. He seemed relaxed, in control, and totally comfortable with who he was. All I had to do was play the straight man to his character, and let the good times roll.
WHO IS THE GREATEST LIVING AUTHOR?
GRIFF: Cormac McCarthy. Fuck you for even considering someone else. Unless we are talking lyrics. Then it is Caleb Followill. Check out his song “Joe’s Head”. Holy shit he tells a whole southern gothic short story! Actually, new pick for greatest author all around: Caleb Followill.
DUGAN: If you can find me an author that has a more consistent and chilling body of work than R.L. Stine, then I'll give you my camera that shows you the future.
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