//------------------------------// // Improv // Story: Twilight Tries... // by Peni Parker //------------------------------// Thanks, Applejack. You can put that stuff over there. Hmmm. . Pinkie, can you please move the props trunk over there? . . Over there. . . Over there, where I’m pointing! . . Thank you! *SIGH* I love you, Pinkie, but your short attention span worries me sometimes. . Wait, is my camera recording right now? . Yep, it is. So we’re back to having this problem again, huh? Oh well. Ahem. Hi, everypony, and welcome to another episode of Twilight Tries! In today’s episode, I’m going to try…improvisational theatre! Otherwise known as ‘improv’ for short. Now I should note, I’m no stranger to theatre in general. I’ve been in a production of the annual Hearth’s Warming Eve pageant and directed a play I created to commemorate Princess Celestia’s 1111th anniversary of raising the sun, but there are certain aspects of the theatre that I’ve never experienced before. One of them being improv theatre. For those who may not know, improv is a type of theatre in which the majority – if not all - of what’s performed on-stage is unplanned or unscripted and created spontaneously by the actors. And from what I learned while doing extensive research on the subject, typically the way improv works is that the performers are given suggestions for dramatic elements such as theme or character from their audience and then they use those suggestions to construct a story. Or something that just loosely resembles a story. However, improv isn’t something that’s just used within a performance setting. It’s also something that can be used as a learning tool for aspiring actors. One of the few general rules of improv is something called ‘yes, and’, and what that means is that an improviser should always accept what another improviser has stated or prompted them and then expand along that line of thought. So for example, a pony I’m doing improv with could say to me, um…‘I hate that we’re lost in this forest’, and an appropriate response from me could be something like, let’s see…‘Yes, and to make matters worse the sun is already starting to set’. Hey, I just did some improv with myself right there! Wait, can one do improv with one’s self? . Anywhoo, this learning tool-style of improv is the kind that I’ll be trying today, so apologies if you were expecting to see me do improv in front of a live audience. Though don’t be too disappointed if that is what you were expecting, because I might try doing an improv performance sometime in the future if all goes well today. And if I could actually get enough ponies to show up for something like that. . . Okay, Applejack, just a moment! It looks like we’re just about ready to get started, but before we do I just want to quickly say that Applejack and Pinkie Pie aren’t just helping me get things ready for this episode. They’re also going to be joining me in doing some improv, because apparently both of them have some previous improv experience from playing charades with their families when they were younger. Though honestly I’m not entirely sure if playing charades constitutes having improv experience, but whatever. So with all that said, let’s get started and do some improv! . Okay, girls, who wants to lead things off? . . All right, all right, Pinkie, you can set the scene! Just please put your hoof down. You’re stretching it so much it looks like you might dislocate something. . . Ooh, interesting. Yes, and I love working in this haberdashery with you too. It really is great that we not only get to work together here but also that we get to meet so many different kinds of ponies that come in here for things like buttons and threads. Oh, and speaking of such ponies, I think I see a rather interesting-looking customer coming in right now. Hello, ma’am. How can we help you today? . Um, what is Applejack doing right now? . . U-Uh, I think the reason our customer isn’t speaking, Pinkie, is because she’s…a mime! Yeah, she’s a mime! . . Oh, yeah, you might be right about that. Applejack is probably drawing on her charades experience right now. But let’s not forget one of the most important things when it comes to improv: ‘yes, and’. If this is the direction Applejack wants to go with her character, then we have to go along with it. All right then, um…Ms. Mime. What can we do for you? . Uh-huh. One word. . Wait, not one word? . I’m sorry, ma’am, but you’re only holding up one hoof so it appears that you’re indicating that whatever you need is only one word. . Oh, she’s raising her hoof more than once. I think I get it now. What you want is two words? . Okay, good. What’s the first word? . Sounds like…um, tea pot? Or just pot? . No. Um…kettle? . Yes! Let’s see now, what sounds like kettle? Is it…settle? . No. How about…petal? . No. . . Ooh, good guess, Pinkie. Is it metal? . All right! First word is metal! Now what’s the second word? . Um…coat? Jacket? . Why is she doing an up-and-down motion with her hoof? Oh, oh, I think I’ve got it! Is it a zipper?! . You’re looking for a metal zipper?! . Whoo-ho! Finally got it! Okay then, let me go get you a metal zipper, ma’am. . . Wait, no, Pinkie! Don’t ask her what size and color zipper she wants! . Oy vey. I think it’s best we stop recording for a bit. This seems like it’s going to take a while. Yep, that definitely took a while, and was filled with a surprising amount of pantomime gestures by Applejack that were highly…suggestive in nature. So, yeah, it’s probably best that I stopped recording when I did. Honestly, how did she expect us to guess the color mauve by doing – nope, nope. I probably shouldn’t even describe what it was she was doing. But anyways, all of that’s over now and Applejack has exited stage left – as well as the building - leaving Pinkie and I alone to continue the scene. Ahem. Now then, fellow haberdashery employee, since the mime has left with her metal medium-sized mauve zipper shall we get back to minding the shop? . . What? Um, y-yes, we can start baking some cupcakes. Because that’s something we do here. We bake cupcakes inside the shop and give them out to our customers for free. Phew. I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to roll with that one for a second. Okay, why don’t you go turn on the oven while I gather all the ingredients we’ll need? . . Great. Be back in a moment! . Doo doo doo ~. Just grabbing some flour, eggs, and other stuff ~. *DING* Huh? What was that noise just now? Hey, Pinkie, did you hear a dinging sound just – what?! H-How do you have a batch of freshly-made cupcakes?! . . B-But there isn’t an actual oven in here! And even if there was there’s no way you could’ve made those cupcakes in such a short amount of time! . . What do you mean we have to go give the cupcakes to the Horned King so that he won’t destroy our haberdashery?! What in the name of Celestia is going on right now?! . . I’m not forgetting about ‘yes, and’, Pinkie! The problem here isn’t that I’m not accepting what you’ve prompted me, it’s that you’ve inexplicably conjured up a batch of cupcakes out of thin air! And given that you did inexplicably conjure up a batch of cupcakes I’m now afraid that the rest of what you said is true and we do have to give them to some horrible being somewhere in order to appease him! I mean, are we even doing improv anymore?! Is this real life or is this just fantasy?! I feel like I’m caught in a landslide and there’s no escape from – . . Wait. You want me to open my eyes and look up at the sky, Pinkie? Um, my eyes are clearly already open, and we’re indoors so I can’t look up at the sky. . . Uh-huh. . . Uh…huh. . . Okay, I think Pinkie is under the impression that my extreme confusion is still just part of our improv - at least I hope that’s the case. And if that is the case, there’s only one thing to do. Aaand, scene! All right, Pinkie, good job! . . Phew. Pinkie’s back to normal now. Well, what constitutes normal for Pinkie anyways. . . Sure, Pinkie, we can go share your cupcakes with all of our friends if you want. Just give me a minute to finish filming my vlog episode and I’ll meet you outside. . Well, everypony it looks like we’ve reached the end of this episode, and I feel like I need to apologize to you all for how little improv there was in it. Honestly, when I decided to do this episode I hadn’t expected half of it to be just a game of charades and the other half me struggling with my sanity. Though, in all fairness, I probably should have somewhat expected the struggling with my sanity part given that Pinkie was involved. But anywhoo, the parts of this episode where I was actually able to do some improv were fun and I hope that you enjoyed watching them. Maybe after a few more tries at this style of improv I really will give doing an actual performance of it a go someday. But until then, thanks for watching, everypony, and I’ll see you next time on Twilight Tries! . Okay, Pinkie, I’m ready to go now. . . Oh, thank you! . Mmm. Wow, good cupcakes. I’d like to ask Pinkie where she got them, but I’m a little afraid of how she’d respond.