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
Sunday Feb 04, 2024
Sunday Feb 04, 2024
John Mistele, Miranda Johnson, and Will Gutzman join the podcast to put on a special Shakespeare show full of hats, shipwrecks, and gnomes! I won't spoiler the ending but boy are there surprises in store....
Sunday Jan 28, 2024
Sunday Jan 28, 2024
You know the drill if you have been here for the Hero's Journey, but before we can do our epic show for you, there has to be an even-more-epic practice run! In these practice run Hal and Julian play all the characters and in keeping with our tradition, accidentally ran a little over time... it is okay though because every minute is GREAT!
Monday Jan 22, 2024
Monday Jan 22, 2024
The GIGASPINE is back with JOHN MISTELE! These Gigaspine episodes in which we talk through how to build a whole show are my favorite thing that we do on the podcast and this one lives up to the high standards set by the Anna Wang in Hero's Journey 07! If you want to get a better narrative intuition, there is really no better way than hearing first hand how we actually solve the problems of what comes next: where and when should you Tenuki?
Monday Jan 15, 2024
Monday Jan 15, 2024
Hal is the “guest” this week to explain how they created their patented Shakespearean Narrative Flowchart™. We kind of get into the weeds on this one and pull back the directorial curtain on how you can boil down existing scripts into improvisable narrative structures. Once the sausage is made you get this simple flowchart: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19399esYCwajyfkgl6sbIS4FiAPQ2i0iL7yRp3NdPgzo/edit?usp=sharing
Link to a New Play night four: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5lApi_65io
Monday Jan 08, 2024
Monday Jan 08, 2024
Every show has to start somewhere, but on this episode Julian and Hal break down how some real Shakespearian Comedies begin and how that unsettles some of the usual heuristics for evaluating the openings of narrative improv shows! The Statistical side of Mu gets some love in this one :).
I am going to leave off the flow chart till the next episode!
Monday Jan 01, 2024
Monday Jan 01, 2024
Jayda Alvarez joins the pod to talk about dramatic irony! Put the comedy in your comedies by turning out to the audience and saying your inner thoughts!
Monday Dec 25, 2023
Monday Dec 25, 2023
Happy Holidays! The Shakespeare train keeps on chugging, so turn out to the audience and let out a guttural cry and a stream of inner thoughts!
Monday Dec 18, 2023
Monday Dec 18, 2023
We dive into the Elizabethan language and grammar!
For the grammar rules you can follow along with this page:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1teSwA7-5kqL7FJa6J-FU9DyITS1Y19zDumy75gRgufg/edit
Sunday Dec 10, 2023
Sunday Dec 10, 2023
What a treat to have THE Lisa Rowland on to kick off our Shakespeare series! She is truly the Shakespeare GOAT and no one would be better to give the overview of what this format will be like!
Stay tuned! Over the next nine episodes we will be teaching you everything you need to know to put on your very own totally-improvised, Shakespeare Play! I hope this episode gets you pumped up and ready to dive into the language next week!
Monday Dec 04, 2023
Monday Dec 04, 2023
Anna Mistele joins the podcast to talk about stage intimacy and how to safely practice intimacy and touch in an improvised setting! Adding intimacy to your practice plan can really help people feel secure and confident with finding their own boundaries and learning each others!
To see this work in action check out:
Example one: Skip to 20:03 if you want to see your hosts do a grounded intimate scene on ice ;)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y_G9zNJv3Q
Example two: see 21:10 to see your hosts do some... dance combat intimacy?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2T5TXUkEEQ