DEEP COVER, ASSET CONDITIONING and FIELD SITREP –

As with all Challenger Training methods, Repetition and Muscle Memory are key.  Offers and Aim are drilled extensively in all Circle and two line Warm-ups and are side-coached as a necessity for any two person drill or scene.  Cadets are asked to use Full Expressive Potential in ALL interactions.  Eyes and Hands are primary tools, as well as vocalizations and simple “Naming” gimmicks.  The more people and places and objects that are named and “real,” the easier it is to receive OFFERS from and AIM offers to those elements.

BASIC TRAINING FOR ALL FIELD OPERATIVES –

OFFERS and AIM are used in virtually every exercise and game, and should be side-coached often.  These exercises will speed the plow…

• On stage and off stage.  This is straight from Agent Spolin and Points of Focus.  First day stuff. If you have mostly greenhorn Cadets, most of them tend to think that Improv is just getting on stage and being funny.  The Cadets who already think they are funny, will do just that, while the Cadets who don’t will assume there is nothing they can possibly do if thrown on stage.  Spolin split her Cadets in half with half on stage and half in the audience.  She gave NO instructions other than BE on stage and LOOK at the ones on stage.  Let that happen for as long as everyone can stand it.  Mission Commanders should OBSERVE and note what they see, but try not to comment in any way.  When it has played out as long as it can.  Toss some marbles or playing cards onto the stage and ask the Cadets to catch them, or ask them to count the ceiling panels or floor tiles or anything like that, OBSERVE and NOTE, but say nothing other than “Switch.” Repeat the whole thing, except give a slightly different task at the end.  When both groups are done, lead a discussion.  How did they FEEL before the task?  After?  How did they LOOK before the task?  After?  Usually, Cadets will get the point that Improv is not just BEING on stage… it is being on stage with a PURPOSE, a POINT OF FOCUS, an AIM.  This activity, when well side-coached (THIS Mission Commander has botched it a few times… saying too much.  Leading the discussion too much, etc.), is an excellent tool in the UNDERSTANDING of OFFERS and AIM, and the nature of Improv as a whole.

• Passing ANYTHING across a circle.  Whether it’s a Stick, or a “Yes,” or an invisible Shuriken, passing it ACROSS a circle to a very SPECIFIC recipient using your FULL body and voice is a great way to drill the skill of Aiming using more than just a name.

• Two Line Scenes! Just sending wave after wave of “OFFER” / “ACCEPT” with one line offering ONE LINE and the other line ACCEPTING that AIMED OFFER with just ONE LINE, then go with the next two in line. This is a rapid fire activity that can get kids on stage and offering dozens of times in a very short amount of time. Good stuff!

BLACK BAG ACQUISITIONS FOR DOG AND PONY SHOWS –

Any Performance game CAN and SHOULD use OFFERS and AIM for everything from the initial motivation to do ANYTHING, but also for making sure that fellow Agents, as well as the audience, always knows exactly where the “Force” of a scene is and where it is going.  Still, Challenger H.Q. has determined after years of Covert experimentation (We did a lot of staring at goats), that large cast scenes and pointing games tend to increase the need and accuracy of solid OFFERS and AIM in Performing Agents.  Therefore…

• Gauntlet.  Just having to point and move down the line with back and forth lines does a great job of drilling Aim.

• Story Story Die.  Again, lots of pointing and eye-contact.

• Adding and Subtracting.  This is a very Challenging game, but it allows agents to slowly build up to dealing with a large cast.  It starts as a one person scene, then someone freezes that scene with “Add One!” and joins the scene and creates a two person scene based on the physical pose of the first Agent.  They play a two person scene till “Add One!”  Then it’s a three person scene, and so on.  Good Agents can handle seven or eight in a scene without losing the ability to AIM forces in a way that ALL can follow, but there is no shame in capping it at five.  There will need to be a predetermined cap since the last agent will need to MOTIVATE an exit and all Agents will have to return to the previous scene and JUSTIFY any changes in their location or appearance, then back down to the One person scene.  Challenges in OFFERS and AIM are joined by challenges in just remembering which scene you were in as you Subtract.  Fun Game.

• Any of the thousands of variations of “Killer.”  Aim is put to the test when you have to “Kill” someone in a group just by a wink or some other “Force” without being seen.  There are a few ways to play this in Performance, but the key is always communicating directly with your victim amid many distractions.

• Pantomime Games.  Pantomime is a great way to drill OFFERS and AIM without voice.  Challenger H.Q.’s favorites are Chainsaw and Madame Zelda.  Chainsaw is a Murder mystery, Telephone, line game where Agents face the back wall and fingers are stuck in ears as the first Agent gets a Person, Place, and Object from the audience, then claps for the second agent to turn around, then the first Agent pantomimes the person, the place, and the object.  The second Agent claps twice as soon as they “think” they know the Person (clap clap), the Place (clap clap), and the Object (clap clap), then murders the first agent with all the stuff, then claps (once) for the next Agent in line.  When all agents have been murdered but the last, they pop back up and announce who they were, where they were and what they used, starting with the last Agent and moving to the first.  Usually, the last agent is WAY off and it gets closer as they go back.  Madame Zelda is a variation of You’re Fired where an Agent comes in to get their fortune told (Three fortunes from the Audience).  Madame Zelda enters the room with no idea of the fortunes and employs two or three silent “Spirits” to pantomime the fortunes, which he or she interprets.

The key, again, for all Performance Games is to play the reality of the scene in a way that can be easily followed by both fellow Agents AND the Audience.  OFFERS and AIM!