This week was all about working towards the next set we have in a couple of weeks but most importantly discussing the ins and outs of last weeks big show. We managed to film half of the show which meant that it was really good to watch it back to see what worked well and what we could improve on.

We went over each of the games in depth and what ones we think worked really well and the ones that did not and then started to discuss what we can do with them to improve their comedy on stage.

Once we had started to talk about the big show that happened last week, we then went onto discuss the future of games. Just because we have a good show does not mean we want to keep the same games for every show that we do and like bringing new things to the table. We wrote on the board all the games that we haven’t had a chance to play as of yet and went through them as to what ones we want to play for our set in June but also what ones we want to use for the big shows in the future.

The great thing about this is that we don’t always stick to the rules, we will discuss games and then from that we will then develop and come up with new ideas and this is exactly what happened this week. We were discussing other games and then came up a new game based on original ideas. We tried out the games that we had developed and lied it so much that we are now playing it as part of our set in June.

It was a really fun week and whilst I was at rehearsals in between two night shifts for work and i was absolutely shattered, the guys making me laugh made it all worth while.

Case Study – Piotr Mirowski, Human Machine Improv 

The first time I met Piotr was at a Launch Pad evening at Hoopla Impro in London Bridge, I remember seeing this guy in a checkered shirt and a tie i think with a lot of laptop based things and a tripod. I remember being fascinated by the fact that he was going to film his set. I didn’t really think much of it at the time I just thought he was a whizz kid that loved lots a tech, he came across like that, a very clever man.

I watched his set and with my degree in Interactive Media I was really intrigued by his set as Human Machine where he had coded a whole database with thousands of sayings so that it would ‘improvise’ answers back to him on stage. Even in the early stages of this show, it was a very clever concept and very unique.

I haven’t had a chance to see Human Machine perform since but I have interviewed him many times for this site and from what i am hearing it is going so well and has developed a hell of a lot since the last time i saw him.

When we were heading into our show last week, I wanted photos of it that we could use on social media and was trying to get one of my friends or fellow improvisers to take photos for us. When I got thinking about it I thought it would make more sense to get them to film it so that I could screenshot the photos that I wanted so that we had more choice.

When I got the camera back the boys of Punders asked me to upload it so that they could watch it. I put it on an unlisted YouTube link so that they could and didn’t really think anything of it. However in hindsight it made ALOT of sense to film the show. I didn’t really see the benefits until after I watched it through and that we started to use it as a reference point to what worked well and what didn’t.

I took me straight back to the moment I met Piotr and I totally got it – I remember thinking to myself why doesnt he just balance the camera somewhere or ask someone to film it but by having it on a tripod meant that it was undisturbed and a really good source for analysing a show. So thank you in some ways to Piotr for i suppose ingesting it into my minds and ideology without realising.