Bovine Metropolis Theater

When we talk about editing in improv, too often what is heard is we must get rid of the old scene and get a new scene.   “This scene is sucking.  I’ll start a new one!”  This does get rid of the old scene, but it does not improve it or fix it, it just eliminates it.  Nothing is learned or improved upon.  The result is a bunch of well started scenes which never come to fruition, but instead peter out. Scenes should end with a bang! To have that bang we need to have the tension build until it snaps.  We can’t do that when scenes are edited too soon.

Usually we end scenes as they are just getting going. It gets a laugh and we sweep.  Laughs usually mean a connection with the audience.  If the laugh comes from the scene (and not from a joke at the expense of the scene) then we have found something that resonates with the audience.  We should explore that connection on stage and with the audience.

We are doing is Improvisational Theater.  Theater is more than just a series of failed scenes.  Playwrights look at the scenes they write and think things like “What does this scene need to build the tension?” and “What do I need to add to the scene or take away from the scene to make it pop?”  We as Improvisational Actors are the playwrights, directors and actors. I like to think of edits as a playwrights tool.  We always must serve the scene to improve it.

Sometimes we don’t know how to make a scene pop and then, like a playwright, we must scrap it and throw it in the recycle bin.  However, there are more ways to fix a scene than there are to scrap it.  How do we add tension, dimension to a scene?  First, we have to have an idea of what is wrong.  Edits can fix these things, but edits are like dental tools; if you don’t know where the problems are and how to fix them all the tools in the world aren’t going to help you.

Here is a quick and incomplete lists of some common problems scenes can have and one way you can fix it. (There are many ways to fix problems, too many to list them all here.)
Problem: Talking about the past or future

Fix: Time Jump/Tap Out to the moment you are talking about.  Or look at the other player and bring whatever emotion you are talking about here and now and heighten it.
Problem: Talking about what you are doing.

Fix: Monologue about the other person and your relationship.  Or say something that breaks the status-quo of the relationship.
Problem: Talking about someone or something off stage.

Fix: Enter/Tap Out/Split Scene to the thing you are talking about.
Problem: Transaction/Occupational/Teaching/First Day scene

Fix: Know them.  Say their first name, recognize them, seduction, envy, etc.  Anything that gets it out of the transaction and into the relationship.  The scene is always between the two characters.
Problem: The bad 3 person scene.

Fix: Have a unique relationship with both of the other players on stage. 2 against 1 = 1 relationship.  If you find yourself in a two against one scene or worse, a 3 way buddy scene, exit.  Leave.  Let the other people develop a unique relationship and then if needed come back into the scene.  The 3 person scene is easy if you remember to make each relationship different.  My Mom and I have a different relationship than my wife and I and subsequently, my wife and mom have a unique relationship too.  So Exit!  Let them develop their relationship and then come back into the scene.  That’s what the playwright would do to fix the scene.