Jeff Griggs final workshop countdown

Today was interesting. We broke up into three groups of four and we all worked on different forms we could possibly put up as our Laughtrack show finale.

We did three rounds.

The first round involved making hybrids of forms that we’ve learned in the class. Two groups  did hybrids of The Bruise and Close Quarters, forms were called Squiggly dot and 8 Quarters aka 2 dollars. And, yes, they were completely the same in concept. It involved doing 5 snapshots of scenes and then in the 5th scene creating the time stamp and event stamp of the Close Quarter’s form. After the 5th scene we count down the scenes back to 1 but in replaying the scene snapshots in order we have to play them out more to figure out how (and make sure) these scenes fit into the world that was created in that 5th scene. In essence they had to have taken place within a 15 feet radius and go no further then 15 minutes in the future or 15 minutes into pre-5th scene time. The last group made a hybrid of Close Quarters called the Omelette and made the snapshots all scenes in close quarters to the source scene.

Round two involved doing the opposite of the forms we had created. Group one did a form called Cause and Effect. It was essentially loose scenes with an action in the predecessor’s scenes that influenced the scene that was done right after. (E.g. Couple complaining about the neighbors making too much noise and the wife calls the cops, next scene – two police operators complaining about stupid 911 calls and about work in general.)

Group three did a loose form. It was called Stop 14 and centered around one character waiting at a bus stop and the various types of people that would walk by or also take the bus – it was very living room-esque – scenes were explored in every other encounter. (E.g. – a woman is going on a date and talking to the man at the bus stop about her clothing and if she looked okay. (scene edit) The girl’s parents are concerned about whether or not the date will go well and have opposing ideas on the daughters chances.)

Group two’s form was called Frittata and did another Close Quarters related form. They did a different opening that involved scene painting and they all played different recurring characters around that location.

Round three involved group two splitting and being added to groups one and three. We then tried to find ways to create openings for the Cause and Effect form. The two openings that came from it were the bus scene where we hear mini-monologues from each of the travelers on the bus. The idea is that we would create one scene from these random snippets and that scene would be the beginning of our cause and effect scenario. The second opening created was the popcorning idea. They took the suggestion and did word association popcorning off of it.

Verdict –

1) Cause and Effect is our form of choice to put up as our Laughtrack finale.

2) We need to find a better name than Cause and Effect for the form.

3) We need to work on an opening to set this up for us.

4) Our brains worked really hard today.

One post a day . . .

I’m trying to get into the habit of posting something at least once a day. Wish me luck. But head’s up – it could mean more randomness on my part. So I’ll try to focus.

Huh.

Having a Zen moment, my head is empty and I have nothing to grasp on to thought-wise. Funny how zen works, you try to think of something and nothing comes. But when you are actually trying for zen your mind is filled with thoughts. Maybe I should try to zen instead and then I’ll have an epiphany.

Board update

Woohoo, we have the board count that we need, plus one. They recommend keeping the numbers odd though, so we might need to hold out for one more. So far I have to admit that our board is female-heavy. Not that it’s bad, but where are the guys?

Next step to worry about, what does the board have to do? As we’ve said before this board’s purpose is to specifically help with organizing the start up needed for a pre-non profit. Our board will be helping with the preliminary needs so we can live up to our non-profit hopes and dreams, aka – the mission.

So far, the site Suite101.com has been pretty helpful on basic information for boards. I’ll probably be passing it on . . . .

Non-profit Board Responsibilities

Overview of Non-profit Board Governance

© Estela Kennen

A non profit’s board of directors has several important responsibilities to fulfill. This article reviews basic non-profit board governance.

A board of directors is the governing body of a non-profit organization. It has many serious responsibilities, which can be loosely categorized as follows:

1. Setting the policy for the organization. This is done by:

  • Creating or updating the mission and vision statements.
  • Determining the organization’s programs and services.
  • Approving the strategic plan.

2. Monitoring the organization’s operations:

  • Hiring and periodically evaluating the organization’s executive director.
  • Working with and providing support to the executive.
  • Approving the annual budget, annual report, etc.
  • Approving major contracts and grants.
  • Soliciting and reviewing program evaluations.
  • Troubleshooting as necessary.

3. Serving as a public figure for the organization

  • Fundraising, by directly donating to the non-profit and soliciting donations from others.
  • Advocating for the organization.

4. Fulfilling other board responsibilities

  • Documenting policies and decisions to create an organizational memory.
  • Preparing for and attending board meetings.
  • Researching and discussing issues before decisions are made.
  • Replacing and orienting board members when a vacancy arises.

A board of directors also has certain legal obligations, known as duties. While the details may vary from state to state, here are some common legal responsibilities for members of non-profit boards to:

  • Take reasonable care when making decisions for the organization (called “duty of care”)
  • Act in the best interest of the organization (called “duty of loyalty”)
  • Act in accordance with the organization’s mission (called “duty of obedience”)
  • Stand aside when there is a conflict of interest (called “recusal”)

While there a board has many responsibilities, there are also things it should avoid. Basically, board members should avoid being over- or under-involved. More specifically, the board of directors should not:

  • Concern itself with the day-to-day management of the organization. That is the executive director’s job.
  • Rubber stamp decisions. While the board should take the recommendations of the organization’s director, staff, and members into consideration, the board needs to be an independent decision-making body.

Read more: http://non-profit-governance.suite101.com/article.cfm/nonprofit_board_responsibilities#ixzz0W0m4SSLi

“Hulk” talk

So the game we’ve been laughing about in our minds involves the Hulk having to be the Hulk in every day situations. Loose Scene based – game/short form. The Hulk would be put into an every day boring situation. He would have to preface every sentence with the word “Hulk,” essentially creating a situation where Hulk talks in 3rd person. The climax of the scene would be when Hulk gets angry/frustrated and says, “Hulk Smash!”

Example:

Every day situation – doing homework

Mother: Hulk, hurry up and finish your homework.

Hulk: Hulk tired.

Mother: If you want to go out and play before the sun goes down you need to finish your homework.

Hulk: Hulk play, finish later.

Mother: No, Hulk. You need to do your homework first.

Hulk: Hulk hate homework. Hulk Smash!

(scene)

It’s silly but depending on the Hulk character, it could be fun, it is in my mind.

Sites to help you form non-profits

The Foundation Group offered a September pro bono special to help wannabe non-profits fill out their paperwork to get to the non-profit 501c3 point. The costs after that are pretty high but they would be doing all the heavy lifting. Currently we’re trying to get them to help us with the paperwork up to that point – pro bono only. We just want to get things moving. All we need now is to get the board situation taken care of. The board needs to have at least 5 because the majority of the board members need to be un-related (familial or through marriage), which means if we have two people married to each other (which there are) the other three need to not be related.

Improv Hobby and non-profit status

Improv Hobby is looking at gaining it’s non-profit status. First step is formation in the State, Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, EIN, and Board Members.

The board that we’re developing is what I’m calling a formation board. It is to fulfill the needs of the non-profit entity with members that are interested in dealing with the organizations formation. We are looking for people in Hawaii, interested in the arts but may not be tied directly to it, in fact it would be preferable if they were a little bit more left brained about the whole process.

the quick laugh

Please tell me someone else understands the problem with a quick laugh. It’s quick right. The most logical thing to do after it is to edit. Show me a scene that has a quick laugh and goes somewhere after.

In a past show, one of the other performers I was on stage with asked me to wipe a topical cream on his butt. I did so and he ended up getting a laugh but no edit was forthcoming. So here I am, thinking at this point, why would I have wiped his butt? 1) I had a relationship already 2) I must be interested in ending  the aforementioned relationship 3) I want to start a relationship with this guy. Why else would I be touching his butt. I must care.

So there I am and he is lost.

Hello world!

Aloha from Hawaii.

Times are changing and challenges abound. The reason behind Improv Hobby is based on the definition that hobbies are an activity or interest pursued outside one’s regular occupation and engaged in primarily for pleasure.

That’s us. As a side note, there is also a great deal of time and energy placed into most peoples hobbies. Hobbies are taken quite seriously and hobbyist’s are very faithful!