Pulling Premise: An Example
Simple phrases can really jumpstart a scene
Sometimes I hear improvisers talk about difficulties they have in pulling premises. I find that this skill comes fairly easily to me, especially in an Armando-style show. I wanted to share an example of how this works for me.
A couple of weeks ago, I took part in Improvscape, a show regularly on the Highwire calendar. Co-founder Barry Wright III uses the show as a way to bring together visual art and improv.
Barry could not make this show, but new Highwire board member Jess Robey stepped in to do the interview with artist Nadiia Poliakova Bravo (who is also a Highwire student currently in the Level 3 class I am teaching). In her first answer, Nadiia provided a short statement that I immediately knew I would pull, The video shows the interview segment and the beginning of my scene.
A few notes on my process:
“Puberty hit” provided such a simple and rich line. I am glad I caught it because that is literally the first minute of the interview, and I could have easily not locked in.
Watching myself when she says the line, you can see my “tell” for when I have an idea. My head stays back after I laugh just a little longer than usual, then my head goes down. Head up = I need to remember that. Head down = How can I use that
I wanted to initiate immediately after the interview ended, but two other folks beat me to it with other scenes. That actually worked out because I had some time to process my thoughts. I played in the scene right before this so I also didn’t have time to overthink it.
Honestly, the hardest part for me was deciding the activity that we would do before “puberty hit.” I knew the whole time I wanted to have a convulsion, say puberty hit and grab a beer. Setting that base reality didn’t stymie me, but I had to think for a moment.
I’m proud of my beer chug because I can’t do that in real life.
I only showed the beginning because - to me at least - the rest of the scene doesn’t matter. I love all of the people on stage and knew they would take my idea and make it better. The hard part can come at finding that idea and turning it into a clear and simple initiation.
Listen hard, find a small thing and turn it into simple situations. If you find premise hard, try and take those three things to the stage to make your scenes richer.