Initiating a Scene

I thought I would create a topic since the boardroom has been silent for awhile, and to please my own curiosity.

How do YOU initiate a scene? How do you start?

Is it a clean slate? Do you chirp out a line? Do you create a character? Do you make eye contact with a scene partner and go from there? I know that each scene can be different from time to time in initiation, but I do know that generally people develop their own ways to set up premise/relationship at the top to get the improv rollin' and that seems to be their go to. Some people drive to the bucket, others pull up for the jumpshot. How do you roll?

My take is dictated by source material, like a suggestion or an interviewed guest (the latter being my personal favorite) the information provided can spark an idea of a first line, or character generally for me. It is funny how the last weekend I was up in Dallas I did two shows with P-dogs, and in both shows I played a dog. The friday show was just plane jane dog, the Saturday show was a personified dog, that was really more a kid that had doglike behavior. I know it's improv you had to be there. If there is no suggestion, I always make eye contact and look for a spark in another player's eyes. If I don't see a spark I make a direct statement to someone else to create some emotional connection and go from there.

Anyhoo, Share your methodology and you may help others out.

i do all of those really. most of the time it seems i just run out there to fill the stage and keep it from being empty so i have to start with an action or line. i prefer to start a scene with someone though. making eye contact. i can pull more from that then i can trying to imagine and object to interact with on the stage.

dan, my son still says that dog you did saturday night was the funniest thing he's ever seen.

I think I tend toward creating a character, although I'm not sure I've done it as much in performance as in rehearsal. It seems the further away I get from myself, the more freedom I feel to play in the scene. I've also been told I front-load the scenes with too much information in my initiations. I'm still finding/building a methodology that works.

In my mind the two main types of initiations are premise based and organic. The premise based are the ones where you have already made a choice outside of the scene...typically for a specific reason. Like in an armando, or a harold, or any other format where you're making decisions in the wings about how to initiate. Organic initiations are those that are found in the moment. A feeling that a look is giving you is spoken to, and things just sort of fall into place. Which type of initiation I prefer depends on the type of show I'm doing. If I'm deconstructing information I often find that a harder initiation (premise based) is the most appropriate...or if I'm executing a tag out, I want to make sure to be clear about my idea.

I think it is important to be able to do both.