I’m performing and teaching at the Denver Improv Festival

I received word a few days ago from the producers of the Denver Improv Festival (DIF) that I’ve been invited to perform my solo improv showcase, The Uncle Ukulele Show, and teach a youth-oriented improv workshop in the mile-high city this November. This marks my ninth improv festival appearance overall, my fifth performing The Uncle Ukulele Show, and my second appearance at DIF.

For The Uncle Ukulele Show, I’ve been working on a few new song structures and have challenged myself to premiere at least one of them at the festival. After this summer’s tour performing at SFIF, SCIF, and MSIF, I’ve found I have an hour’s worth of structures and games to draw from, and I like the prospect of cultivating even more. This is important to me as a performer, as getting stagnant isn’t something I’m interested in. That said, I’m hoping to find some ensemble improv work soon, too, as one can only do the solo thing so long. In the meantime, I’ll keep practicing and creating at home on the uke.

As for the youth workshop, I have some original and some borrowed exercises which I think can help performers get to the focus of a scene as soon as possible without compromising patience. This way, performers can make what the scene’s about upfront and prominent rather than take the first few minutes trying to figure out what’s happening. I’ll probably post more about the workshop soon, and maybe even try out a few things over the next few weeks with the youth performance team I’m coaching at the Brave New Workshop these days (their first FREE show is on November 2 at 4:00pm, dear reader).

My plan right now is to blog during the entire Denver Improv Festival, November 6-8. Stay tuned.

-nm

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