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Canadian Improv Games

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Deddish (talk | contribs) at 18:15, 14 January 2008 (it was out of date and needed expanding? Also I love What's in the Box, it needs to go up.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Canadian Improv Games (CIG) is an education based format of Improvisational theatre for Canadian high schools. Schools form teams of up to 8 players, and these teams compete in regional tournaments. The winning team from each region goes to the National Festival and Tournament held in Ottawa. The National Arts Centre is a major sponsor of Games, and this is where the National Festival and Ottawa Tournament are held. The Games were created by Willie Wyllie and Howard Jerome, based upon an idea originated by David Shepherd and Howard Jerome. David Shepherd was the producer of North America's first professional improvisational theater The Compass Players in Chicago, which was the forerunner of the Second City.

The CIG is a unique organisation and currently has no similar counterpart in America or any other country.

Format

The teams consist of no more than eight members performing, but they may have 2 alternates; teams are reccommended to have no less than five players.

There are 5 events: Life, Character, Style, Story and Theme. Teams must perform 4 out of these 5 events, including mandatory Theme and Life scenes. The players will have an ask-for such as an object which they will ask the audience for, and build their scene as much as possible around that suggestion. Scenes may last up to 4 minutes, and teams are penalized for going over but not under the time limit. Before performing a scene, the players may 'huddle' for up to 15 seconds to talk about what they are going to do in that scene. Timecalls change and vary depending on location but one minute and thirty second timecalls will be implemented in the 2008 season.

Judges watch the scene and will rate it out of a possible 50 points. A great scene will only get at most 44 as the judges are allowed to award up to 6 bonus points for amazing work. They look for both technical and entertaining factors and follow a rubric. Some of the factors they score on are acceptance of offers, risk, and staging, while others are skill of the event, interest, and use of suggestion. Most scenes also incorporate the "five elements": location, relationship and characters, conflict, raising of the stakes, and resolution.

Show Format

Each performance is divided into four rounds. The show starts with the introduction of the officials (one referee, one timekeeper, and usually, but not always, one linesman), who explain the basics of the show to the audience. The teams are then introduced, and the first round of play begins. In a single round, each team performs one scene; the order of teams and events are unknown to all but the officials before play begins. At the end of the second round, the Intermission begins; after the third and fourth rounds, the scores are announced, and the show is over. Most shows are participated in by about five teams, though this changes according to region and season phase.

Season Format

The format of the season varies from region to region. Most start with an exhibition round, which is unscored. After this, the elimination rounds begin: the sum of each team's score on each of their four scenes is their score for that phase, and the teams with the highest scores graduate to the next phase. (For example, in the British Columbia Lower Mainland tournament, the twenty highest-scoring teams advance from the quarter-finals to the semi-finals.) Before starting the regional final round, which takes place in a single show, many regions stage a "Wildcard" round, in which the fifth to ninth highest-scoring teams compete for the fifth spot in Finals. Each region has a predetermined number of spots at the National Tournament in Ottawa (generally one from the smaller regions); the highest-scoring team(s) in the finals are the ones who fill these spots and represent their region.

At the Nationals, there are a total of twenty teams. Each team performs once in an elimination round that lasts four nights; on the fifth and final night, the five highest-scoring teams compete for the top places in the country.

Regions

The winners of each region go to Ottawa for The National Tournament.

Events

Before every scene, the team has the option to have a fifteen-second huddle among themselves in order to discuss the suggestion and brainstorm ideas. Also if the team is given any suggestion that they do not understand they are allowed to ask for definition before they start to clear up any confusion.

Life

In the Life event the team must present an improvised scene "honestly and sincerely." This can include "moments" in peoples lives. They can be large-scale ones like a first date or parents getting divorced, or simple ones such as the car not starting in the morning. This event is not meant to be funny, but the entertainment is usually found in the irony of how this is or how easily it relates to someone's average day. A common ask for in this event is "a crisis in a teenager's life." Past versions of the Life game have included a mandatory ask-for of "a pivotal moment in a teenager's life."

Story

In the Story event, the teams must present "an original story in an improvised setting, including an aspect of narration." One of the most popular approaches is to have narration from one or multiple narrators in the team, though this is not required. Also character choices are more noticeable in this event. This does not have to be based on reality in any way and can be taken to the fantastical level. This is another event where the team will ask the audience for a suggestion or inspiration before they begin. The most important element of the Story event is that the scenes in the Story event must have a clearly defined beginning, middle and end. It is of utmost importance that these three sections are obvious to the audience, because it is those elements that define the scene as a story.

Character

The Character event does not have to be a scene but it usually ends up being one, as the main purpose for this event is to show how well the team can develop and use a character that they create usually based on audience suggestion. It is usually best when a character trait is blown out of proportion or if the character is placed in a situation that would make them stand out. Anyone on the team can use a trait given by the audience, sometimes creating two characters on the same trait, or one on the original trait, and another on its antithesis. The team will usually ask for a character trait to use in their about-to-be-developed character(s) before they begin and some teams will even ask for other suggestions as well that they can use for inspiration, although teams may also ask for something like a location from which to derive their characteristic(s)- i.e. a haunted house would be 'creepy'. Players should be careful, however that the Character Event does not become the "Character Trait" event. The purpose of this event is not to show forty-seven ways to be greedy. The purpose is to create a character; a character trait is only a small (but still prominent) part of that character. The improviser should have an idea of what that character is like in all facets; not just a trait, but for example, what kind of friends that character has, what activities the character might enjoy, even a small sampling of some past experiences that character might have had. The character must be fully-formed and plausible. (Can be wacky, and over the top, but they cannot be downright impossible to believe). A good Character scene is when other members are continuously endowing the character and giving him/her chances to show off the character trait.

Theme

In the Theme event, the teams are "given a theme which they must explore in one or more scenes." Theme is quite unique and different from the other games as unlike the other events where the inspiration and suggestion comes from the audience, theme suggestions can come in various ways and is usually given to the team by the host. However, if the team wishes, they are allowed to ask for another suggestion from the audience. For example, this could be a location in which to explore the theme in. Suggestions could be fortune cookie sayings, haikus or just a single word. Once given their theme suggestion teams must explore that theme in as many ways as possible. This may be done as one scene or as a series of vignettes (the overwhelmingly most popular approach, also known as the Herald style). The connection to the theme may be literal or figurative.

Style

Style showcases the team's ability to portray a certain genre of media, usually from film, theatre or television. Mime, cheesy horror film, sports presenter, Disney musicals, Shakespeare and infomercial are examples of different styles that have been seen in performances. Teams may put a lot of research into the style. They are not meant to parody a genre but actually produce an example of that genre.

Tradition

Oath

Before every show begins, everyone must rise and place their right hand over their heart, and their left hand on the body of someone next to them. A referree will begin reciting the Oath as the audience and players repeat it:

We have come together, In the spirit of loving competition, To celebrate the Canadian Improv Games.

We promise to uphold the ideals of improvisation, To co-operate with one another, To learn from each other, To commit ourselves to the moment,

And above all… To Have A Good Time.

Warm-up

Teams generally meet up about an hour before the show to warm-up altogether with the referees. The overall feeling of the game is really meant to be a "loving competition", so a joint warm-up helps with this feeling of camaraderie.

=What's. In. The box?

(C'est quoi dans la boite? Je ne sais pas!) "What's in the box" is a popular Improv fundraiser in which the hosts gather a variety of prizes, put them in a box, and sell of raffle tickets for various prices. The many mystery prizes within the box will be revealed and usually tied to a theme by the presentors as drawn out of the box. Often a "real" prize will also be offered for selection (such as chocolates, CDs and gift cards), in which case two raffle winners are selected and often have to participate in a small competition to see who gets to choose their prize first.

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