Improv Advent #21

21 - Short Form is Hard Work

I have no idea if that whole short-form vs long-form thing is really a thing. Maybe in our little hamlet it's not as big of a deal, given the strong history of short-form shows here.

But having just done a show with short form games, with little preparation it has reminded me:

 Doing short-form right ain't easy. 

I think the same skills that make for good long form, largely translate to short-form (agreement, engagement, commitment), but there's definitely stuff that exists exclusively in the short-form. Like...you have to work to make the game theatrically interesting... you have to really understand the constraints and how to play off them in a way that lets you do good scenework in addition to fulfilling the writ of the rules... you might just have to damn practice an idiosyncratic skill like rhyming couplets in order to even do it without looking like an idiot.... etc &c.

 Lazy short form, like lazy anything, is terrible. But when you see pros do short-form right, there's no denying that it can be really good improv.

Plus! Switching it up and playing some short-form, or even practicing it, might just stretch and strengthen the muscles you need for your long-form work.

That said.

I still hate Party Quirks.