Billy Merrit 3/6/06 Part 2
J: What makes a good improviser?
B: Listening. Listening is not just with your ears. Of course that’s the start, but listening is a state of being onstage, of truly understanding and seeing everything onstage and being affected by it. If you listen hard enough, you’ll be affected by the words that are told to you. You’ll be affected by the things that are going on. Listening with your eyes, and seeing everybody onstage and seeing what they’re doing. There’s a stage comfortablity that you see. You know who the good listeners are onstage. They’re the most comfortable onstage. They’re not worried about what’s going on. They know truly what’s going on.
J: What advice do you have to people who are just starting to improvise?
B: Relax. Don’t expect immediate results, and don’t get frustrated by it. So many people rush their improv experience, and try to get to it as quick as they can. Some people get it quicker than others. It took me a while to get game compared to other people. Once I got it, I couldn’t get rid of it.
I see a lot of people get on teams or whatever, and think ‘well, that’s it. I’ve got to get to this level. Now I’ve got to start telling these kind of jokes.’ Patience is key. Number one patience. Number two like I said about reading and ingesting as much information as you can, study all improv. Study with all teachers. Study as much as you can, so you can develop your own idea about what improv should be. Because until you’re comfortable with what you think improv is, you can’t do what you think other people is. Does that make sense?
J: Yeah.
B: Ok. Good.
J: What advice would you have to more experienced improvisers?
B: More experienced than me?
J: People like around eight years in or so.
B: Oh. Watch your ruts. Watch your bag of tricks. And going to them. Know that you can do new characters. You can find new ways to play. Get used to throwing some of your go-to’s away, so that you keep growing. Don’t get lazy. Keep learning. I’m not watching as many movies as I used to. I need to get back into that for myself. Always, reload. Sometimes you get so caught in it you forget [that you’re making a basic mistake]. For me, it was almost a year in until I realized that I kept asking questions in scenes. Recognize what you’re doing.
J: What makes a good improv director?
B: In my opinion, a good improv director has a vision and is willing to alter that vision, especially an improv director as opposed to a sketch director or any kind of other director. A good improv director has to direct improvisationally, and has to see what do these people want in the show and has to see where it goes, while keeping that under a gentle guideline of a vision.
I was just going over my notes for the ‘Third Degree,’ which is a courtroom drama, because I’d love to play around with that again. I worked with the people for a good six weeks, before even thinking about putting it onstage, developing an improvised world that they can live in. And see what they can do with it, and let them do it. Because you have no material without the players themselves, so it’s important that you direct the players, not the material.
That means you have to go every now and then ‘I don’t know. What do you guys think?’ Because if you don’t, I’ve found that if I strictly throw down a vision, or say this is how it’s going to happen, [it doesn’t work.] Like in ‘B-roll,’ [an improvised documentary], we’re always dealing with the ending. And everybody’s afraid to say something, and just figure ‘well, this must be the way it is.’ Well, that’s not going to work. People have to decide it. It’s Socialist. The people have to decide how they can best play that out. So, it’s interesting. I think improv directing is directing people more than it is directing a show.
J: What makes a good initiation?
B: I initiate differently as much as possible. I think initiating the same way all the time is a horrible way to do it. Sometimes you go strong premise. Sometimes you’re going to sit back and listen, [and go] off what your scene partner says and support the hell out of it. Sometimes the two of you are going to look at each other, and feel what the vibe is between the two of you and that’s what the scene is going to be about. Sometimes you’re going to attack it like Mamet, fast and furious. Sometimes you’re going to slow it down a little bit, be more observational or something like that.
Good initiations, just like good improv have to have texture, have to be different every time. You don’t want to attack a scene the same way every time, not over your fifteen year career. It’s not going to help you.
J: How has acting influenced you as an improviser?
B: I have to go back and re-think that every now and then. I’ll re-read the same book every three months, Michael Shertloff’s ‘Audition’ book. And I go ‘oh, that’s what he’s saying. How does that apply to improv?’ So, it’s a huge [influence].
I don’t think I’m that good of an actor. I play a big actor game, but I don’t think I’m that good of an actor. But I appreciate the artform, and I think it’s all about …acting is listening. Acting is a sense of being. So, once you’ve got structure and game, and you know how to do improv, it’s just acting. That’s what it is. Acting is the art of imitating life. It’s not imitating life. There’s an art form to it. And that’s what’s fun.
J: How do you get in an improv mindset before a show?
B: I used to read a magazine, in the old days. Just get some information brewing in my head. Because information will breed more information. You always think in patterns. So that’s one way to go.
The big thing with the Swarm and Stepfathers has always been, without saying it, having a conversation. Having that group and having no one else but that group sit and just talk to each other. By doing that, because communication is competition, you hear a story and you want to top that story, so you start to listen to each other. You start to get into a rhythm of conversation with each other and you can take that rhythm onstage. Really, it’s a lot of this ‘yeah, I hear you man, but listen to this.’ And just topping each other. And you start doing your bits and you start warming up from that.
And the other thing we did in Swarm shows is a game of good ol’-fashion water toss. This is a secret. I shouldn’t tell anybody. You take a half-empty bottle of Poland Spring water and throw it toward each other and you catch it. Best warm-up in the world. …I’m going to get in trouble for that.
J: I can get edit it out. …When you and the rest of the Harold team committee are forming a Harold team, do you look for certain people to play certain roles?
B: Well, the committee’s not there anymore. I don’t know what it is. It’s amorphous. Whatever it is. There’s a secret …whatever. I don’t know.
You want variation. You don’t want all the same kind of people. There’s lots of different things. You want an aggressive player that’s going to get out there. You also want that straight person that’s going to help ground a lot of the scenes. That’s kind of the two things you want. You want high-energy, aggressive, can-do people, not people who will push people away, but people who go ‘yeah, can-do!’ Mixed with the same amount of people who ground the scene and will go ‘uh-huh,’ and hear you. And help justify. So you need a good mix there.
As far as saying, you need to have 6 guys, and 2 girls or whatever. It just ends up that way. It really isn’t [planned.] It doesn’t work that way. I’ve been with troupes that have said ‘you have to have a big guy and a little guy. An ethnic [person].’ And all that stuff, but it doesn’t really work that way. Honestly, we try to get as many of the best players out there as possible.
J: Where do you see improv going in the future, artistically and commercially?
B: Artistically, new and different ways of doing improv. Not doing it the same old way. Always striving to do something unique and different. For me, last year it was a lot of fun to do the ‘Sunshine Gang’ with Gethard, Huskey and Chad Carter, because it was a new way to attack improv, going back in time and doing it then. That’s what’s exciting.
Commercially, shows that are a little bit freer, shows like ‘Reno 911,’ shows like ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm.’ I really hope that is the way it goes. For me personally, for my own career, it’s obviously going to help. I’m getting more auditions now than I have before because of that. But, I don’t know, I think there’s a ceiling though to how far it can go. Right now there’s a ceiling. The networks aren’t very crazy about it. But you see shows like ‘the Office’ get that chance. So hopefully that ceiling will be broken.
There’s a thing commercially, just the experiences that I’ve had, there are a lot of people who aren’t in the writing or acting or creative aspect of it who have jobs, jobs they have to keep. To do that they have to affect what’s being done onstage or done on camera. They have to put their thumbprint on it to keep their job. That’s how you get shows like ‘Joey.’ They start out one way, but then they turn out this way. I think that versus improv is what’s going to go-head-to head. All those higher-ups, all those producers that have to touch the show, all those [people] that should be worried about the budget of the show, but want to be on the creative end, they’ll have to be able to let it go. You can’t edit good improv. You have to just let it go.
J: Do you have anything that you want to say to the improv community that we didn’t get out?
B: Relax. I think we are relaxing now as it grows, as UCB turns into the monster it is. The growing pains are starting to smooth themselves out. …It’s all good. I would love to within the next few years see the improv scene be not as isolationist. That happens with a lot of improv. It becomes very territorial. I’d like to see the scene grow, become a little more all-encompassing. There’s UCB which is the juggernaut, but there’s some good stuff over at the Magnet, the P.I.T. not so much. They suck. [meant as a joke] Gotham’s a joke. [another joke] You know what I’m saying. But the idea is let’s be more all-encompassing. If you’re doing improv, there should be no reason to say ‘no’ to anything. You’ve just got to take it all in and make your own opinion. It’s all good. Except for the P.I.T. [a final joke]
B: Listening. Listening is not just with your ears. Of course that’s the start, but listening is a state of being onstage, of truly understanding and seeing everything onstage and being affected by it. If you listen hard enough, you’ll be affected by the words that are told to you. You’ll be affected by the things that are going on. Listening with your eyes, and seeing everybody onstage and seeing what they’re doing. There’s a stage comfortablity that you see. You know who the good listeners are onstage. They’re the most comfortable onstage. They’re not worried about what’s going on. They know truly what’s going on.
J: What advice do you have to people who are just starting to improvise?
B: Relax. Don’t expect immediate results, and don’t get frustrated by it. So many people rush their improv experience, and try to get to it as quick as they can. Some people get it quicker than others. It took me a while to get game compared to other people. Once I got it, I couldn’t get rid of it.
I see a lot of people get on teams or whatever, and think ‘well, that’s it. I’ve got to get to this level. Now I’ve got to start telling these kind of jokes.’ Patience is key. Number one patience. Number two like I said about reading and ingesting as much information as you can, study all improv. Study with all teachers. Study as much as you can, so you can develop your own idea about what improv should be. Because until you’re comfortable with what you think improv is, you can’t do what you think other people is. Does that make sense?
J: Yeah.
B: Ok. Good.
J: What advice would you have to more experienced improvisers?
B: More experienced than me?
J: People like around eight years in or so.
B: Oh. Watch your ruts. Watch your bag of tricks. And going to them. Know that you can do new characters. You can find new ways to play. Get used to throwing some of your go-to’s away, so that you keep growing. Don’t get lazy. Keep learning. I’m not watching as many movies as I used to. I need to get back into that for myself. Always, reload. Sometimes you get so caught in it you forget [that you’re making a basic mistake]. For me, it was almost a year in until I realized that I kept asking questions in scenes. Recognize what you’re doing.
J: What makes a good improv director?
B: In my opinion, a good improv director has a vision and is willing to alter that vision, especially an improv director as opposed to a sketch director or any kind of other director. A good improv director has to direct improvisationally, and has to see what do these people want in the show and has to see where it goes, while keeping that under a gentle guideline of a vision.
I was just going over my notes for the ‘Third Degree,’ which is a courtroom drama, because I’d love to play around with that again. I worked with the people for a good six weeks, before even thinking about putting it onstage, developing an improvised world that they can live in. And see what they can do with it, and let them do it. Because you have no material without the players themselves, so it’s important that you direct the players, not the material.
That means you have to go every now and then ‘I don’t know. What do you guys think?’ Because if you don’t, I’ve found that if I strictly throw down a vision, or say this is how it’s going to happen, [it doesn’t work.] Like in ‘B-roll,’ [an improvised documentary], we’re always dealing with the ending. And everybody’s afraid to say something, and just figure ‘well, this must be the way it is.’ Well, that’s not going to work. People have to decide it. It’s Socialist. The people have to decide how they can best play that out. So, it’s interesting. I think improv directing is directing people more than it is directing a show.
J: What makes a good initiation?
B: I initiate differently as much as possible. I think initiating the same way all the time is a horrible way to do it. Sometimes you go strong premise. Sometimes you’re going to sit back and listen, [and go] off what your scene partner says and support the hell out of it. Sometimes the two of you are going to look at each other, and feel what the vibe is between the two of you and that’s what the scene is going to be about. Sometimes you’re going to attack it like Mamet, fast and furious. Sometimes you’re going to slow it down a little bit, be more observational or something like that.
Good initiations, just like good improv have to have texture, have to be different every time. You don’t want to attack a scene the same way every time, not over your fifteen year career. It’s not going to help you.
J: How has acting influenced you as an improviser?
B: I have to go back and re-think that every now and then. I’ll re-read the same book every three months, Michael Shertloff’s ‘Audition’ book. And I go ‘oh, that’s what he’s saying. How does that apply to improv?’ So, it’s a huge [influence].
I don’t think I’m that good of an actor. I play a big actor game, but I don’t think I’m that good of an actor. But I appreciate the artform, and I think it’s all about …acting is listening. Acting is a sense of being. So, once you’ve got structure and game, and you know how to do improv, it’s just acting. That’s what it is. Acting is the art of imitating life. It’s not imitating life. There’s an art form to it. And that’s what’s fun.
J: How do you get in an improv mindset before a show?
B: I used to read a magazine, in the old days. Just get some information brewing in my head. Because information will breed more information. You always think in patterns. So that’s one way to go.
The big thing with the Swarm and Stepfathers has always been, without saying it, having a conversation. Having that group and having no one else but that group sit and just talk to each other. By doing that, because communication is competition, you hear a story and you want to top that story, so you start to listen to each other. You start to get into a rhythm of conversation with each other and you can take that rhythm onstage. Really, it’s a lot of this ‘yeah, I hear you man, but listen to this.’ And just topping each other. And you start doing your bits and you start warming up from that.
And the other thing we did in Swarm shows is a game of good ol’-fashion water toss. This is a secret. I shouldn’t tell anybody. You take a half-empty bottle of Poland Spring water and throw it toward each other and you catch it. Best warm-up in the world. …I’m going to get in trouble for that.
J: I can get edit it out. …When you and the rest of the Harold team committee are forming a Harold team, do you look for certain people to play certain roles?
B: Well, the committee’s not there anymore. I don’t know what it is. It’s amorphous. Whatever it is. There’s a secret …whatever. I don’t know.
You want variation. You don’t want all the same kind of people. There’s lots of different things. You want an aggressive player that’s going to get out there. You also want that straight person that’s going to help ground a lot of the scenes. That’s kind of the two things you want. You want high-energy, aggressive, can-do people, not people who will push people away, but people who go ‘yeah, can-do!’ Mixed with the same amount of people who ground the scene and will go ‘uh-huh,’ and hear you. And help justify. So you need a good mix there.
As far as saying, you need to have 6 guys, and 2 girls or whatever. It just ends up that way. It really isn’t [planned.] It doesn’t work that way. I’ve been with troupes that have said ‘you have to have a big guy and a little guy. An ethnic [person].’ And all that stuff, but it doesn’t really work that way. Honestly, we try to get as many of the best players out there as possible.
J: Where do you see improv going in the future, artistically and commercially?
B: Artistically, new and different ways of doing improv. Not doing it the same old way. Always striving to do something unique and different. For me, last year it was a lot of fun to do the ‘Sunshine Gang’ with Gethard, Huskey and Chad Carter, because it was a new way to attack improv, going back in time and doing it then. That’s what’s exciting.
Commercially, shows that are a little bit freer, shows like ‘Reno 911,’ shows like ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm.’ I really hope that is the way it goes. For me personally, for my own career, it’s obviously going to help. I’m getting more auditions now than I have before because of that. But, I don’t know, I think there’s a ceiling though to how far it can go. Right now there’s a ceiling. The networks aren’t very crazy about it. But you see shows like ‘the Office’ get that chance. So hopefully that ceiling will be broken.
There’s a thing commercially, just the experiences that I’ve had, there are a lot of people who aren’t in the writing or acting or creative aspect of it who have jobs, jobs they have to keep. To do that they have to affect what’s being done onstage or done on camera. They have to put their thumbprint on it to keep their job. That’s how you get shows like ‘Joey.’ They start out one way, but then they turn out this way. I think that versus improv is what’s going to go-head-to head. All those higher-ups, all those producers that have to touch the show, all those [people] that should be worried about the budget of the show, but want to be on the creative end, they’ll have to be able to let it go. You can’t edit good improv. You have to just let it go.
J: Do you have anything that you want to say to the improv community that we didn’t get out?
B: Relax. I think we are relaxing now as it grows, as UCB turns into the monster it is. The growing pains are starting to smooth themselves out. …It’s all good. I would love to within the next few years see the improv scene be not as isolationist. That happens with a lot of improv. It becomes very territorial. I’d like to see the scene grow, become a little more all-encompassing. There’s UCB which is the juggernaut, but there’s some good stuff over at the Magnet, the P.I.T. not so much. They suck. [meant as a joke] Gotham’s a joke. [another joke] You know what I’m saying. But the idea is let’s be more all-encompassing. If you’re doing improv, there should be no reason to say ‘no’ to anything. You’ve just got to take it all in and make your own opinion. It’s all good. Except for the P.I.T. [a final joke]
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