Shana Merlin's Improv Blog

Merlin Works on Fox 7 News

2008-08-23T08:05:00.004-05:00

James Irby did an awesome job with this news story. It features Merlin Works team building and corporate training services.

Check it out.

Improv 101 Party Picks

2008-08-21T15:36:00.002-05:00

We just had our last night of Improv 101 yesterday and we got some cute class photos.

Yay!

OOB 2008 Recommendations

2008-08-14T15:56:00.001-05:00

Out of Bounds Improv Festival and Miniature Golf Tournament is almost here!

It's the highlight of the improv year as troupes come in from around the country to perform. There are shows, classes, panel discussions, parties, and of course mini golf. Every year I give my recommendations of shows, since there's so much going on. I tend to favor out of town performances, since it's a once a year opportunity.

Must See
Sunday 7:30 pm at Esther's Follies
Girls Girls Girls (Austin)
The Groundlings (Los Angeles)

Highly Recommended
Sunday 9:30pm at Esther's Follies
Available Cupholders (Austin/LA/Chicago)
The Trans4merz (Los Angeles)
Pimprov (Chicago, IL)

Friday at at Salvage Vanguard Theater
10 pm
Get Up (Austin)
Nerdvana (Los Angeles)

Saturday at Salvage Vanguard Theater
8 pm
Parallelogramophonograph (Austin)
VAROOM

You Won't Regret It
Thursday at Salvage Vanguard Theater
8 pm
The 3 Actorteers
Grandma June's Sewing Circle (Chicago)

Thursday at Salvage Vanguard Theater
10 pm
Quaint Little Coffee Shop (Camden, NJ)
Rue Brutalia (New York)

Friday at at Salvage Vanguard Theater
10 pm
Junk (Austin)
pHrenzy! (Chicago)

San Francisco Improv Festival Wrap Up

2008-08-12T15:55:00.001-05:00

Get Up went to San Francisco August 6 - 10 to perform at the San Francisco Improv Festival. We had a great time. Great weather, great shows, great houses, and great friends.

Even though I've been to San Francisco many times before (my brother lived there and my sister went to UC Santa Cruz) I still ended up filling each day with things to see and do. To be honest, I probably burned the candle at both ends a little too much, walking around all day and then freshening up and going out and doing shows at night.

We also had a great time getting to know Shaun, Hans, Clay and the other San Francisco Improvisers as well as the guys from Jet City Improv in Seattle. One of the things that is different about SFIF is that it runs 7 weeks long and each weekend features 2 improv troupes, who perform a double bill for 3 nights. So you meet less people and see less shows, but you get more quality performance and hang out time with the people there.

Here's a little more play by play.

Thursday August 7th
Yummo. Every little restaurant seemed to be so yummy and cool. Here's me, in my new Get Up shirt, pretending to read the paper at breakfast in the Sir Frances Drake Hotel.

After breakfast, I went for a run (more like interval training with all the stoplights) and then we met up with William Hall, who took us to The Dog Patch, a up and coming part of town I'd never been to. We sat out near the water and talked improv and teaching. William is an accomplished improviser and a true devotee of all things improv.

Sara

William

The one thing I had forgotten to pack was my makeup! Aye! So we spent the afternoon at Sephora getting makeovers for the show.

That night we did a folktale kind of show--a little bit of small town magical realism for this town that was once slow, but is now fast, but then gets slow again. It was a fun show and it was a big honor to have Tim Orr from 3 For All in the audience. There was a great photographer and videographer on staff, so we got some great pics.

Here's some highlights.

Friday August 8th
We went to Berkeley, one of my favorite places in the country. Great weather, perfect level of density and liberalism, and a great college campus. We met Sara's friend Bruce there and got laughed out of Alice Water's restaurant, Chez Panisse, when we asked for a table for 3 without a reservation. So I took this picture outside the restaurant as if I was so full from all the good food.

We ended up at a lovely South American restaurant and then walked around campus, ending up laying in the sun on the quad. Oh, college days! Here was the view from my spot of lawn.

That night's show was probably my favorite of the three. It was set in the ancient middle east and involved allegory, women's lib, and dancing. Some of my favorite things. Here's a highlight reel:

Saturday August 9th

In the morning we went to the Farmer's Market at the Embarcadero and it was totally awesome. Tons of booths and unlike Austin, it wasn't just soap and cheese and knitting. You could really do your weekly grocery shopping there, staples and all. I had this awesome huge peach and a pastry that was kinda like a little pizza with goat cheese, peach and prosciutto.

Can you see how much I'm loving this?

Then we met up with Shannon, Lacey, Emmit and their friends at Golden Gate park.

We went inside the Conservatory of Flowers and saw some cool butterflies and orchids in the greenhouse.

Then we went to the de Young museum, the new modern art museum in the park. The architecture was really interesting and there was a lookout where you could go up and see a panorama of the city. This is me being Modern Art.

I'm pointing to Texas on this painting

We ate a late lunch, and then hauled it back to Union Square to get ready for the show. The show that night was a French Revolution seductive political intrigue story, kind of like Dangerous Liasons. One more round of highlight photos:

A big thanks to everyone in Get Up and the festival making it all so funzies.

Real Simple Article on Improv

2008-08-01T15:54:00.000-05:00

I have to give my Mom props. She was the first one to email me this article about improv in the August issue of Real Simple Magazine. I went out and bought one but now the whole thing is online.

It's a pretty good intro to improv article. The reporter took some classes at Upright's Citizen Brigade in New York and wrote about her experience and what she learned. The best part is that she recommends taking an improv class at your local theater. Something I recommend as well ;)

Austin Chronicle Science Fiction Issue

2008-07-27T15:53:00.000-05:00

The Austin Chronicle was looking for people you wouldn't normally associate with science fiction to give a statement about how a work of science fiction has effected them for their science fiction issue. They asked me contribute and I wrote this piece that was featured in the July 25th 2008 issue.

Shana Merlin

Improviser, member of Get Up and Girls Girls Girls, head of Merlin Works

I was shocked and embarrassed to be crying in the movie theatre after the line, "Number 5 is alive!" But despite the cheesiness of the special effects and Steve Guttenberg's acting, I was sobbing at the movie Short Circuit. This was my first experience of many to follow – from Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation to WALL-E – robots in science fiction touch my heart like nothing else. Robots capture what is most advanced about our society but also what is most innocent. Like Number 5 and Ally Sheedy dancing a duet to the Bee Gees' "More Than a Woman." What could be more innocent? It gets me every time.

Lubbock Area Foundation Show

2008-07-26T14:16:00.000-05:00

Merlin Works took a team of top improvisers to Lubbock, Texas to perform at a fundraiser for the Young Leader's Fund of the Lubbock Area Foundation.

Our hosts were so gracious, taking care of us every step of the way. We got to perform at a converted factory in the warehouse/arts district. And we had top notch sound and tech crews which made it easy to work. I even got to wear those tiny clear microphones that wrap around your ear. Fun.

The cast before the show from L to R: Shana, Les, Megan, Michael, Shannon

The audiences were really grateful and said there's nothing quite like what we do in Lubbock. Apparently there's a lot of entertainment for the college crowd, but not a lot for the 30-somethings.

The audience before the show

And it says something about this summer in Austin that I stepped out of the airport in Lubbock and it was a dry 95 degrees in the middle of the afternoon and I thought it was downright pleasant.

TCIF: Twin Cities Improv Festival

2008-07-01T11:09:00.005-05:00

This festival was SUPER FUN. The Girls were getting along great. The weather was amazing. The stage was really creative. The theaters were full of audiences. The shows were really high quality. And we made lots of new friends. Here are some photo highlights.

At the Lego exhibit in Mall of America

At the Walker Art Museum, Being Super Models

In front of a famous Minneapolis Sculpture

On the docks at Lake Calhoun

In front of the theater on Show night.

In the green room in the basement right before we went on stage.

Microsoft Game Studios

2008-06-26T18:51:00.002-05:00

I went to Seattle June 10 - 13th to lead a team works training for a group of employees at Microsoft Games Studios.

We had a great time. My clients were wonderful hosts and very hospitable. The group, who work long hours under pressing deadlines, took time out to bond with each other as a team. The responses from the participants were great and I'm hoping to be able to come back and work with some other groups there.

The offices themselves were pretty cool. I got to have a tour, but they keep pretty tight security there. I did get to snap this picture with a figure in the lobby.

While in Seattle, I got to see their famous library,

the space needle

and the Science Fiction Museum too. This was the sign on the door of the women's restroom.

OOB West: Out of Bounds Improv Festival and Minature Golf Tournament

2008-06-04T11:52:00.002-05:00

Get Up and Girls Girls Girls Improvised Musicals rocked the Out of Bounds Improv Festival an Miniature Golf Tournament in Los Angeles. I was very impressed by performances from The Groundlings, Mission Improvable, B. Heilbron's R. Kelly's Trapped in the Closet LIVE and the always amazing Impro Theater, who did Improvised Tennessee Williams this time. I also returned home as a champion--my team won the Miniature Golf Tournament and I received and honorary dog tags with the word "Pimp" inscribed on them.

Here are some fun photos from the trip:

The Westside Eclectic, the theater in Santa Monica where all the shows were.

GGG outside the hotel, ready for that night's show.

Shannon and me (of Get Up) hangin' out before the putt putt tournament

New Austinite Topping Haggerty teeing off

Me victorious with my pimp cup, dog tags, and friends.

Girls Girls Girls Improvised Musicals featured in Venus Zine

2008-05-23T12:29:00.003-05:00

Girls Girls Girls and the LAFF: Ladies Are Funny Festival will be featured in the summer issue of the national magazine, Venus Zine. The issue should hit stands this June.

One step closer to world domination . . .venus36upfront.pdf

New Video

2008-05-05T12:05:00.003-05:00

Jordyn Ginnity, a student at UT, chose me as the focus of a video story for a class. He followed me around for a day and then some and got some great footage. I think he did a wonderful job in putting it all together.

https://webspace.utexas.edu/cs32459/fourthwall/shanaimprov.html

LAFF Was Awesome

2008-04-29T13:55:00.003-05:00

LAFF was just great this past weekend. Great audiences, full houses, super performers of all different styles, and lots of amazing women.

We got some great press:

Brenner gave us a great writeup in The Chronicle

The XLent gave us a recommendation

And our ad looked sweet in the Onion.

Here is a picture of GGG before our headlining show. You can see our groovy pink and black set.

My Debut in The Intergalactic Nemesis

2008-04-06T14:59:00.004-05:00

Last night was my first performance in the touring show of The Intergalactic Nemesis, a 1930's style science fiction radio play. I play Molly Sloan, Pulitzer Prize winning reporter and daughter of the millionaire William Randolph Sloan.

Our show was at the Cultural Arts Center in Temple, a beautiful big stage with great sound and lights. I had a lot of fun, if not a lot of time getting rehearsing the show with the cast mixed of veterans (the show's been running 10 years) and newcomers.

Here is a pic of me backstage:

GGG in Bust Magazine

2008-04-01T12:51:00.003-05:00

Girls Girls Girls and our festival LAFF: Ladies Are Funny Festival got a mention in Bust magazine, a national magazine for women who have something to get off their chest. Yay!

Get Up on ABC News.com

2008-03-10T12:58:00.001-05:00

Props to my BFF Lauren Zinn for including us in this story about SXSW.

http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/BusinessTravel/Story?id=4402173&page=4

Graduation Show Last Night

2008-03-10T11:08:00.003-05:00

I directed the graduation show for the Level 3 class at the Hideout last night. The group did a great job. They were playful, listened well, took risks, and had fun. They were so sweet and gave me some beautiful flowers at the end of the show when they had their graduation ceremony. We went out with friends and family to the Stephen F Austin Terrace to celebrate.

Here are some photos: (Thanks, Aisha!)

Sir Ian McKellen Explains Acting

2008-03-07T11:50:00.002-06:00

This is so brilliant, I don't even know what to say. I've watched it about 6 times so far.

Ricky Gervais's character, Andy Milman, in hopes of bringing some credibility to his acting career, comes to audition for a new stage play that Ian McKellen is directing. This scene starts right as Andy sits down to meet with him.

Putting Some Fun Back Into 9 to 5

2008-03-06T12:09:00.003-06:00

These articles keep coming, more and more. And I just see them in the NYtimes. Who knows where they are in other publications.

This article is about all the research pointing to the benefits of having fun in the workplace and part of corporate culture. How great leaders cultivate fun at work.

Some of the benefits:

"Being fun gets you hired! A study of 737 chief executives of major corporations found that 98 percent would hire an applicant with a good sense of humor over one who seemed to lack one.
Having fun makes people loyal! According to a survey of 1,000 workers conducted for the authors by the research firm Ipsos, employees who laugh at work tend to stay. Those who rated their manager’s sense of humor “above average” also said there was a 90 percent chance they would stay in their job for more than a year. If they worked for a boss whose sense of humor they describe as “average” or below, the employee’s chances of staying dropped to 77 percent.
Amusing people go far! According to a study in the Harvard Business Review, executives described by co-workers as having a good sense of humor “climb the corporate ladder more quickly, and earn more money than their peers.”
A good laugh is good for your health! A study from the University of Maryland showed that while stress decreased blood flow, humor increased it.
By 22 percent."

I was talking to my friends at a start up about how they have video games, flat screen tv's, couches and games, but no one touches them at work because it's not accepted in the culture. The boss has made a financial investment in these "fun items" at work, but if he's not modeling and encouraging fun and play, it just goes unused and wasted. I think improv training, even just a day of it, can help turn the tide and create a culture of fun and play.

It's a new thing I've been thinking about Improv Training as a tool for Company Culture Creation. Like, Who's in charge of your company culture? The admin who arranges the happy hour? Why not put the professionals in charge of culture to see results on the bottom line.

Merlin Works In the Austinist

2008-03-05T17:37:00.002-06:00

I just got a great write up from Eric Seufert in the Austinist. Go ahead and click through to the article and recommend it. Or make a comment!

March 5, 2008

The Merlin Works Institute Opens its Doors

Merlin Works

Austin’s newest improv training center, the Merlin Works Institute for Improvisation, launched its first series of classes at the recently-opened Salvage Vanguard Theater this past Saturday.

Merlin Works, helmed by Shana Merlin of local improv troupes Get Up and Girls, Girls, Girls, has existed since 2003 as a school that not only offers long-form classes for hobbyists and aspiring comedians but also applied improv workshops for corporate clients. In its new home, The Merlin Works Institute for Improvisation offers two tracks of classes for would-be improvisers: three levels of short-form (think Whose Line is it Anyway) workshops, and three levels of long-form (think…well, pretty much everything else) workshops.

Shana Merlin/Girls, Girls, Girls

In addition to these tracks, Merlin Works also offers a Performance for Business curriculum. From the press release:

We'll draw from the brilliant treasury of enjoyable improvisational theatre games, not to learn how to perform, but rather to help you discover the secrets that improvisers already know about working effectively as a team that needs to produce quality work without all the time, resources, or information they need.

Graduates of the long-form series will be given a run of shows upon graduation and guided through the process of forming a troupe: selecting a name, choosing a coach, and ultimately pitching a doomed-from-the-start sitcom to network executives.

Both the Short Form and Long Form Series classes are $150 for the semester (and, as of February 29th, are sold out); the Performance for Business series is $200. For more information, visit the Merlin Works website.

By ESeufert in Arts and Entertainment , News | Link | Comments (0) | Recommend this! |

The Best Movies Are Meant to Be Memorized

2008-03-04T20:14:00.002-06:00

There is something about improv in this article, but I don't know what it is exactly.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/magazine/02wwln-medium-t.html?ex=1362027600&en=364a6d295a1964d6&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Something about movies before VHS, when you would see them only once or at least only in the theater. And how there would be so much repetition in the movies, esp great ones, like Tootsie.

Applied Improv in the New York Times

2008-03-02T13:00:00.002-06:00

My friends Gary Hirsch and Patricia Ryan Madsen from The Applied Improv Network are featured in an article in the Sunday New York Times Business Section about the value of Improv Training for Businesses.

Can Executives Learn to Ignore the Script?

Letter to the Chronicle Editor Published

2008-02-29T21:43:00.000-06:00

Date Received: Sun., Feb. 24, 11:27AM
IMPROV THANKS
Dear Editor,
I wanted to thank Avimaan Syam, Robert Faires, and The Austin Chronicle for the excellent piece on the grand opening of the Merlin Works Institute for Improvisation and Gnap! Theater Projects Improv Season [“Merlin Works Institute and Gnap! Theater Season,” Arts, Feb. 22]. It was well-timed, well-written, and gave a clear, accurate description of the event. Thankfully, the Chronicle gives equal exposure to improv and puts it where it belongs – in the Arts section. Improv in Austin is booming, and the Chronicle has helped immensely with that success.

Shana Merlin

It Was . . . Well . . .GRAND!

2008-02-24T11:14:00.005-06:00

The Grand Opening of the Merlin Works Institute for Improvisation and Gnap! Theater Projects Improv Season was this past Friday night. And it exceeded my expectations in almost every way.

It's been a lot of work, a lot of meetings, a lot of planning, a lot of rehearsing, a lot of running around town, and a lot of promotions. But it all seemed to pay off on Friday.

I was running around all day getting ready for the event, so I was worried I would not be able to get out of "producer mode" and be able to have fun. But once I started to greet all the people in the gallery picking up their tickets for an almost sold out show, I began to relax and let the nervousness turn to excitement. And there were so many great volunteers, McGill on lights, Suzannah in the box office, my husband on sound, family on party duty, I was able to focus on my job--rocking the improv stage.

At our curtain speech we got to announce all our plans for the future of Merlin Works and Gnap! We thanked all the people that were helping us and brought out Parallelogramaphonagraph to open up the show. Then Get Up followed them with a strong set.

Our suggestion was USO Dance and we got to do a World War II themed show. Shannon was Jim Clark, a young recruit from Iowa shipping off in a few days. I was Fontaine, a half American-half French woman in a red Satin dress that he met at the dance. I gave him the silk flower in my hair and asked him to kill some Nazis, throw some of the petals of the flower on their dead bodies, and then return to me with the flower. Then we followed Jim on the transport ship on it's way to England, where he befriended another private, Drake, a talkative chap from Tennessee. A deck below we met the men who made up the USO band, heading over to entertain the troupes. Back home Fontaine was fighting off the advances of a Russian spy named Gregor. Then the ship came under attack by German Uboats and the pilot had to steer out of trouble. "When life gives you lemons, you make Nazi stew." And he steered the boat all the way to Normandy! This surprise landing in Normandy require all the men on the ship--event the band--to take up arms and fight the Nazi's. Their battle was successful and led to a new spirit of integration in the Army and America. Jim Clark returned to Fontaine at the end, flower in hand, in an All-American ending.

Afterwards the party was great. More people kept showing up. The dance floor got filled up. Food was eaten, drinks were drunk, and we even had a Champagne toast. Everyone was having a great time and there was a great spirit in the air. I heard the story that one friend was trying to get a ride to meet up with her boyfriend (she had come on her bike) but couldn't get anyone to leave the party and take her home. That's always a good sign. Plus, during the party, I had two more people sign up for Improv 101 class!

By the end of the night, I was happy, relieved and exhausted. The classes are almost full and I'm looking forward to teaching a whole new crop of improvisers.

Here's the first picture I've gotten from the show.

Check out more Get Up show photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/austinimprov/sets/72157603999488094/
and here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/austinimprov/sets/72157604004178983/

And Grand Opening Party Pics at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/austinimprov/sets/72157604003595299/

Grand Opening in the Chronicle

2008-02-21T08:20:00.001-06:00

I'm really happy with this write up in the Chronicle. Avi did a great job!

Merlin Works Institute and Gnap! Theater Season: Making the improv pie higher

BY AVIMAAN SYAM

With two venues catering almost full-time to improv, three festivals on the calendar that spotlight improvisers, and three local troupes being selected to perform in the 2008 FronteraFest's Best of the Fest, the improv scene has never been stronger in our fair city. And luckily for Austin, it's about to get even stronger. This week sees the grand opening of the Merlin Works Institute for Improvisation and Gnap! Theater Projects Improv Season, giving Austin a third training center and performance space for the improvisatory arts.

The Merlin Works Institute and the Gnap! Theater Season are the brainchildren of veteran improvisers Shana Merlin and Shannon McCormick, who regularly perform together as the improv duo Get Up. The two companies will work in tandem, not unlike a music producer and a record label: Merlin, voted Best Improv Teacher by the Austin Improv Collective, will mold students and troupes at her school, while McCormick, who has previously produced No Shame Theatre and co-produced the Out of Bounds Improv Festival and Miniature Golf Tournament, will showcase the groups and style that the pair would like to promote.

The Austin improv scene has seen significant growth and change in the past few years, most notably from the arrival of ColdTowne from New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. In less than two years, ColdTowne established its own theatre and began offering classes. Is Austin ready for a third improv school? Neither Merlin nor McCormick see any problem with the competition or overlap that another school adds. "As George W. Bush would say, 'We're trying to make the pie higher,'" McCormick explains. "We're trying to do things inside the community that other people aren't doing."

While offering short-form and applied improv classes, Merlin Works is hoping to corner the market on narrative long form, the specialty and focus of Get Up. Narrative long forms are akin to unscripted plays with structured stories linked by characters or themes. "People have a lot of misconceptions about what improv is," McCormick says. "Their only touchstone is Whose Line Is It Anyway? or some sort of bar improv, playing to the lowest common denominator."

"We've really been examining what we want improv to be," Merlin adds. "And we've made this curriculum up from scratch." The launch of Merlin Works and Gnap! Theater Projects allows Merlin and McCormick to teach their preferred style of improv, spotlight some of their favorite troupes, and influence new generations of Austin improvisers.

The Gnap! Theater Projects Improv Season really gets going Saturday, March 8, and will take place every second and fourth Saturday late-night at Salvage Vanguard Theater. McCormick and Merlin hope to highlight many of the local groups they love, such as Junk, the Frank Mills, the Knuckleball Now, and Girls Girls Girls. For the grand opening, Merlin and McCormick will perform as Get Up and will be backed by Parallelogramophonograph. That night, Merlin Works will offer special deals to register for classes, including Improv 101 classes, which start March 1.

Merlin and McCormick are hopeful about taking the next step for Austin's improv scene. "We're taking it slow," Merlin cautions. "But we're adding shows, classes are filling up, and eventually we'd love to be able to offer classes and shows every night."

The grand opening of the Merlin Works Institute and Gnap! Theater Season will take place Friday, Feb. 22, 8pm at Salvage Vanguard Theater, 2803 Manor Rd. For more information, call 657-3005 or visit gnapmerlinlaunch.eventbrite.com.