The Rehearsal Process Part II: Warm Ups
Maybe it’s the weather changing—I don’t know—but people have warm-ups on the brain. I’ve had three email exchanges in the past few weeks talking about how to pick the right warm-ups, and how to connect your warm-up to the rest of your rehearsal.
So, first of all, let’s divide the warm-up into component parts. Just as I take my cue from sports for the rehearsal process overall, I like to think about how improv warm-ups, like athletic warm-ups, prepare us for the work ahead. I see warm-ups—sports and improv—as one part ritual, one part direct preparation for the work ahead.
The ritual piece usually comes at the beginning, and it’s that first act you do to come together as a team. It’s predictable and mindless; you can do it in your sleep. For most improv teams, it’s usually a Shake Out. Why? Because that’s what improv teams have been doing for thousands of years. In high school softball, it was doing three laps around the field and stretching in a circle. It’s whatever your team does to get physically on the same page and ready to connect, and it’s the same every time. It’s not related specifically to the work of the day, but to the concept of coming together as a team. In fact, before a show, the ritual of the warm-up is actually more important than the preparation of skills, because right before a show is not the time to prepare to isolate skills the way you do in rehearsal. Before the show is a time to shake off your day, connect with your team, and get ready to play together.
But back to rehearsals. Next comes the direct preparation portion of the warm-up. What’s going to happen in rehearsal today, and how do you need to get those muscles ready? For example, if we were going to be doing a lot of base running in practice, coach would warm us up by making us stand in a line at home plate and run through first, one at a time; then first and second; first, second, third; around the bases. Now we’re ready to do some base running drills with actual game-specific scenarios.
Even though when we think about it, this makes total sense, it’s amazing how many of us improv coaches will get ourselves stuck in a warm-up rut and, even when we see that there’s a disconnect between the warm-up and the practice, not know how to bridge the gap.
The key: work backwards. Ask yourself: what’s the skill set we’re working on today? (You do have a specific skill set you’re working on, don’t you?) Is it tag-out runs? Then you want to do a warm-up with some quick-thinking and even agility to it (like Musical Hot Spot maybe). Are you going to be working on “yes, anding”? Go around the circle line-by-line building a group story (and don’t be afraid to call out when people don’t play by the rules—rehearsal starts the moment you circle up, not after you’re warm). Do you want to work grounded, relationship-based two person scenes? Why not just do a warm-up run of scenes (after the ritual portion of the warm-up) and then talk through some things you’re seeing and what you want to work on today? Scenes aren’t a “warm-up”? Why the hell not?! They are if you treat them like one. And treating something like a warm-up means keeping it quick and loose, and acknowledging how it is preparing you for the work ahead.
That’s why I actually tell my classes and teams what skill set we’re working on that day before warm-ups, and then tell them how each warm-up is moving us toward preparedness for that skill set. It’s not a whole monologue; it takes 30 seconds, but it allows the players to know—and therefore be conscious of—how the warm-up is getting them ready to play.
It can be hard to work backwards. You might have a clear vision for a rehearsal skill but think to yourself, “How do you distill that down into a warm-up?” and not come up with a good answer. In that case, asking your fellow coaches is always worth a try. They might have a great idea, or it might leave them stumped, too, but give both of you something to think about for next time. And, when in doubt, it’s always okay to fall back on the ritual power of the warm-up and do some old team stand-bys. Because, really, a little Shake Out, Zip Zap Zop, and Pattern Game never hurt anybody.
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