Improv Olympix 2015

Requirements, Rules, and Games

How does IO Work?

First 35 teams who register may participate.

Each school may submit 1 team of 3-5 team members.

Teams need to consist of at least 1 member of the opposite gender

All team members must be initiated Thespians (numbers submitted at registration)

How IO works (continued)Teams should look at the rules for the 6 potential games (posted on-line and emailed to captain) and practice/be familiar with all of them.

Teams will play 1 Head-to-Head game on Thursday night (late night activity) and 2 Scene games on Saturday.

Teams that receive full Superior Ratings may be asked to perform at the IE showcase on Saturday.

Ratings

Teams are rated in the following areas

The ability to work together

The ability to understand and follow the rules to the games

Complete structure

CORE (Character, Objective, Relationship, Environment)

NO denial or brownbagging

TEAMS ARE NOT COMPETING AGAINST EACH OTHER

Conference Schedule

Thursday night – 3-5 teams will play on of the Head-to-Head games. The goal is to entertain the audience. The host will get audience suggestions and call ‘scene’.

Saturday morning – Teams will go into their scheduled room 1 at a time and play on of the Scene games. Once in the room they should stay and be audience members for the rest of the teams. The host will get audience suggestions but teams are responsible for calling ‘scene’ on their own scene (host will call if team has gone over time).

Start Packet

Make sure you look at the Start Packet on line for more details and general tips for improv.

Gripe Concerto (Head-to-Head Thursday night)

Players from the teams playing in that round will mix themselves up in a line like so:

ABCABCABCABCThe host/conductor will get suggestions for things each of the players hate.

As the conductor points to a player they complain about their object/subject.

Tips to Gripes

Make sure you pay attention to the conductor – they will determine how long and how big (or small) you should be complaining.

Since Environment is not really an important aspect to the game, it is important that players use their facial expressions and gestures to help create interest in their complaining

Post-It Pronto(Head-to-Head Thursday night)

Locations, occupations, and objects will be written down on Post-it notes (Thursday during the conference).

They are then stuck to the walls, stage, other items on the stage.

Two players from opposing sides hope in, pick up the closest post-it to them, read the suggestion aloud, and then play a short (30-45 second) scene.

Repeat until all players have gone.

Tips to Post-It Pronto

Practice 3 Line Scene Drill – it’ll really help you with this game.

Scenes need to be short and sweet

Yes Anding is very important

Don’t deny – it’ll only hurt you in this game

Aesop’s Fables (Scene game Saturday morning)

Each player is given a different animal to portray and the team pulls a question (created during the conference on Friday) for the fable.

The scene begins when the narrator (one of the players) starts with “When the Earth was young…”

The ‘animals’ self-narrate throughout the action

Tips for Aesop’s Fables

Character and Relationship need to be established 1st – then explore Objective.

Give and Take is also very important in this game.

This game allows for exploration of Environment and Objective

Creation Myth (Scene game Saturday morning)

Players will act out the story of how some ordinary object (suggested by the audience) was created.

The story is played out in 3 stages: life before the object, creation of the object, and after the object.

One player provides narration between the 3 scenes.

Tips for Creation Myth

Don’t forget your time limit of 6 minutes

Strong Environment is helpful in this scene game.

The narrator needs to be someone who is good at helping with transitions and gifting.

Dire Consquences(Scene game Saturday morning)

The audience provides a mundane action and a cataclysmic event.

The players then need to play a scene that starts with the mundane action and eventually leads to the cataclysmic event.

Tips for Dire Consequences

Yes anding is very important – players need to agree in order to build a scene that leads to the final event.

Environment is also important – use it to your advantage.

Themed Restaurant(Scene game Saturday morning)

Two players enter as ‘diners’ of a restaurant based on a theme given by the audience.

The other player(s) enter in and out of the scene as the wait staff.

Environment is given as 2 chairs and a table.

Tips to Themed Restaurant

Establish CORE quickly

Exploit the ‘theme as much as possible

Restaurant customers should not forget to create characters as well (why would they pick a themed restaurant like this?)