Performance

Matt on October 4, 2012

You can read the following in latin that the top of my Improv Certificate: “If this unusual thing is true, then what will happen next?” I’ve finished my basic improv training from the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre, but this nugget of truth, for me, is a tough skill to master.  What they are saying to […]

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Matt on August 23, 2012

I did it.  I went up on stage and told a story at the Moth.  When I saw the theme, in this case it was “Yin Yang,” I had little trouble coming up with a story, which surprised me.  I usually hem and haw over the story then chicken out. But not this time. This time […]

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Matt on July 28, 2012

Below is a digital story I created called “Learning to Listen.”  On the surface, I decided to tell it because I could use it as an example of the kind of story that my future students would create. But personally, I decided on this story because the moment, when my colleague John gave me the compliment “Your […]

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Matt on June 12, 2012

I follow Joe Bill Teaches on Facebook,  He’s a founder of the Annoyance Theatre in Chicago, IL.  If you are an improviser and you don’t know Joe Bill, shame on you!  I didn’t know what it meant to be a director or even an improv coach until I met him. Anyway, he posted this on his […]

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Matt on May 4, 2012

Overview Imagine stepping onto a stage with a group of 7 people and you have nothing planned, nothing scripted.  The audience expects to be entertained for the next 20 to 30 minutes. A single performer steps forward and asks the audience for a one-word suggestion. From this one word the group builds a series of […]

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Matt on February 10, 2012

I’ve watched this TED talk by Derek Sivers a few times and think it makes such a complex idea so creatively simple.  Just like the base tenent of improv “Yes, and”. Derek says, if you are the lone nut, the shirtless dancing guy all alone, it is VITAL to nurture your first follower. He goes […]

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Matt on January 24, 2012

It started with just one night a week, sometimes two.  But now I’m at a constant three nights a week sometimes four!  Rudo has a show this thursday (1/26/12) and MRR every friday at 7pm. RIP

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Matt on December 6, 2011

A group of Mercy College colleagues and I went to UMass for a NERCOMP Special Interest Group (SIG) conference on Digital Storytelling.  My piece consisted of telling the story of how a few people at the college that were interested in storytelling championed a major project across almost every school at the college.  It was a real […]

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Matt on June 29, 2011

  Over a 9-week period I participated in a storytelling workshop. The culminating experience on the 9th week was a live performance. I stood in front of about 30 people to tell a 10 minute story I wrote and developed in the weeks prior. I loved making people laugh. I love d the energy of […]

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Matt on May 2, 2011

Heard this TED talk today and kept thinking about how this relates to performing improv.  Answering “Why” isn’t just a business/organizational need but also an improvisational MUST!  In improv terms the “What” is often a silly premise, but people only chuckle at this.  When you make sense by answering why it’s happening in this silly […]

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In Dec. 2011, I did a presentation telling the story or ‘Evolution’ of digital storytelling at Mercy College.  But about 8 months prior, I had a chance to practice telling this story at the NERCOMP annual meeting in Providence, RI.  I was going to be on a panel moderated by none other than Bryan Alexander, […]

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Matt on October 1, 2010

In 2010, I did a 3-day workshop with the CDS.  It was fun, terrible, awesome, rewarding, and touching all at once.  To 8 strangers, I told a story that I would not have dared to share.  But because of the supportive nature of the group I was able to handle it.  The story is called “That Soft […]

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