Muprov Musings: Exceptionally Average Improv
Muprov Musings: Exceptionally Average Improv, is a podcast that teaches Long-form, Narrative, Theatrical, Improvisation, or as we call it: Muprov. The hosts, Hal Munger and Julian Bernado are experienced and innovative Muprovisors, who are excited to spread the word about their favorite ways of doing their favorite activity. On the show they provided practice plans that you can use for your ensemble, teach fun formats, and chat with guests who bring a wide variety of perspectives! Intro Music By Sebastian Blue Hochman
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Why Mu?
1) Mu is the greek root of words like muse and music. Ancient poets would invoke the Muses before telling an Epic story. Like an Epic, our shows are long and follow a continuous narrative.
2) Mu is a statistical symbol that represents the population average. We come from a lineage of students of Patricia Ryan Madson, who teaches the improv maxim: Be Average.
3) Mu is an important word in Zen Buddhism, meaning nothing or no. While most improv centers Yes, we believe that sometimes the best was to say Yes is to say No. Our practice involves emptying our minds to that we can be present and react our stage partner.
A NEW PLAY
Our 90-minute improvised stage play, The set, costumes, props, music, lights, and sound are all created on the spot!
Episodes
Monday Jan 13, 2025
Sunday Dec 29, 2024
Sunday Dec 29, 2024
This show is fantastic! Improv people always warn you not to do transaction scenes but they don't give you the gory details about can happen if you don't follow their advice ;). The show starts out as a sort of normal silly improv show about pickles and arcs into something intense and amazing! Hal and Julian both think that it is the best audio show that we have done so far and if you make it to the end you will see why. A great lesson in breaking the form and the perfect finale to our Slasher season!
Tuesday Dec 24, 2024
Tuesday Dec 24, 2024
Happy Holidays! A few days late but just in time to put our latest slasher into your Christmas Stocking. Gather round the fire and listen to our radio play, Azurite.
Sunday Dec 15, 2024
Sunday Dec 15, 2024
Full slasher example #1. This one paced like the movies that we have been watching so it is a little longer than our normal shows! Gets pretty crazy once the action starts... We will have another full show next week!
Sunday Dec 08, 2024
Sunday Dec 08, 2024
Our GIGAspine episodes talk though all the thought processes that go into the narrative choices of a complete show! We think that this is one of the best ways to get insights into how you and you teammates actually make decisions, and to build up that skill separately from the actual improv.
Monday Dec 02, 2024
Monday Dec 02, 2024
New slasher episode on when/how to break the form in improv. Julian sings a song in this one!
Sunday Nov 24, 2024
Sunday Nov 24, 2024
On this episode we break down the plots of five slasher movies to create heat maps of the kills, and strengthen our understanding of narrative timing!
We learned a lot making this and are excited to begin experimenting with the new principles!
Monday Nov 18, 2024
Monday Nov 18, 2024
In order to do a Slasher you must first learn to be a Slasher! I think that the second half of this episode when we talk about the slasher ordeal is really useful if you want to skip ahead to it!
Wednesday Nov 13, 2024
Wednesday Nov 13, 2024
What are some tropes that start to make your show feel like it is in the slasher genre? How do you engage with tropes in improv? Should you lean into them or play against them?
Sorry for the late post, I am editing them further in advance now and just forgot to post it Sunday night!
Sunday Nov 03, 2024
Sunday Nov 03, 2024
You have two days left to cast your ballot in the 2024 US election!!! AAAAHHHHH!!!!
How do you depict and feel fear onstage? How can you scare your audience and stage partners? Is it okay to to actually feel afraid as the player?
What an awesome episode! Like really this one has so much great stuff in it... So dang useful :) :| :0 80
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eV4aiAFsK4 (Video of the recent Thorn and Petalstick Tragedy)