Lyndsay Hailey-isms

There is no doubt my time with Lyndsay will influence and enhance my improv forevermore. Here is but a list of her special sauce. I hope I got most of this down correctly. I definitely interview Lyndsay in order to clarify all these points:

MAINTAIN EYE CONTACT 

   Holy shit. So simple, right? I cannot over-emphasize how important this tip is to good improv. Watch TJ & Dave. They almost never take their eyes off each other. There is the obvious benefit to eye contact, that if you're looking at someone you won't miss anything they do or say, but then there is a deeper level to not just looking at but seeing your scene partners. Employ this technique and your improvising will improve instantly. Fucking magic.

DIG DEEPER IN THE SAME DITCH

Lyndsay

  To limit the amount of narrative created and to focus your scenework, be true to what you have created in the first ten seconds of your scene. Lyndsay says, "You make a promise to the audience at the top of the scene, and you must honor it." There is a fear that one small topic - say lobsters - can't be explored for 25 minutes, but it can. We can spend 25 minutes, in fact, exploring the head of the lobster in the opening and another 25 minutes on a first date scene in which the guy is scared of boiling the lobster but doesn't want to let on to his date. "Dig deeper in the same ditch" means that you don't have to cast about to add more details and more narrative to your scene. Keep exploring what is right there - what you've created already - and you'll be amazed.

BRICK BY BRICK
   While we are Digging Deeper in the Same Ditch, we're also building a scene Brick by Brick. (Who knew there would be so much manual labor in improv?) By this bon mots, Lyndsay instructs us to add small details to the scenes that build directly off the last thing said. Small bricks, people. Small bricks. As David Pasquesi said about the TJ & Dave process in our interview, "we were just trying to let some unknown thing unfold one tiny moment at a time. No plans. No great scene ideas or stories. Just the next little, tiny thing."


THE LAST THING SAID IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING
   This good'un relates to the points above and speaks directly to the Brick by Brick concept.   Oh, yes, we listen. But we need to hear  with our whole selves, and yes-and that bad boy. Listen to what your scene partner is saying at that moment and react to it. This tenet involves a willingness to alter or entirely discard whatever narrative your busy brain may have been churning up. Again, we're aiming for discovery, not invention, my friends. Listen. Hear! Pause. Agree.

SHOOT THE GRANDMA
  Ah, one of my favorites. I never did find out the derivation of this motto, but it means that we shouldn't be afraid to call out the "deal" of the scene near the top of the scene, even if it feels a little artificial. "Mom, you always worry I'm going to get hit by a bus, and I never do." (Spoiler alert: That character must get hit by a bus.) Or, I suppose, better yet, "Mom, you're such a worrywart." Call it out. Don't beat around the bush. Shoot the fucking grandma.

TIP THE HAT
  Tipping the Hat is related to Shooting the Grandma, but it seems to be directed to one's troupemates. It's making a statement that calls out what the scene is about in order to make sure your teammates know we're all on the same page.

3-7-10
  This relates to energy and can be applied to many different levels of scenework, both within a scene and over the course of a story's arc throughout a series of scenes. On a 1-10 scale, the first beat of an opening or an individual scene or Harold could be played at a "3," the second at a "7," and then heighten it to a "10."

CHARACTER CAN LIVE ANYWHERE. PLOT CANNOT.
  We can't lead in plot, according to Lyndsay. We can only lead in character or emotion. Your plot ideas ("I am using a machete in my hunt for Big Foot!") can be destroyed unintentionally by your scene partner before you even utter a word in the scene when she says, "Hi, Dad! How's your golf game going?" But if you come on with a character with an emotion ("I'm a banker in jail for embezzlement"), you can play that person no matter what your scene partner throws at you. So instead of having to chuck out your whole Big Foot scenario and being stranded with nothing, you can play the guilty banker with whatever your scene partner brings to you. Boom, your son is visiting you in jail. Boom, your son is with you in jail. Boom, you're having an outwardly banal conversation with your wife over brunch at the club, but you're burning up with guilt inside. Your character can live anywhere. Plot? Notsomuch.

SPECIFICITY KILLS AMBIGUITY
  This one is self-explanatory and you improvisers have heard it a million times. God lives in the details. The more improv I watch out there, the more I want to strengthen this muscle. "I want a bear claw" is a funnier than "I want a donut" every fucking time. Specificity is a free laugh just ripe for the gleaning. 


HYPER-COMMIT TO EMOTION AND CONNECTION
  When in doubt, double down on your emotional relationship. This is why "I love you" works so well in a scene. It's intense emotion. You can take care of your scene partner by endowing relationship and emotional connection, then heightening the emotion. Don't forget to maintain eye contact and make physical contact. (Lyndsay using the example of tucking someone's hair behind their ear. See that? Instantly there is a whole bunch of information, relationship and emotional connection created.) Eye contact also will help you from going to Koo Koo Town. 3-7-10 your emotional state - not by yelling your head off about stupid shit. A "10" on the dial is not the same thing as volume. Even quietly playing three notes on a piano over and over can be heightened to a 10 very powerfully. The audience will connect the dots and endow your scene with more depth and you will discover lovely subtext if you hyper-commit to your emotion.