I regularly participate in Thursday night workshops for an improvisation group in Las Vegas. Improv is a form of on-stage comedic acting where the scenes are made up on the spot in response to a suggestion from the audience. Although the group I go to is “clean burning,” meaning the language is suitable for all ages, it’s optional with each group whether to follow those rules or not.
Improv requires quick thinking and a sense of humor. On average, the people who come to these workshops tend to be both smart and a smart aleck. These are my kind of people! I enjoy the group.
I first became fascinated with improv while seeing some “Second City” performances on cruise ships. Second City is a group that started almost 60 years ago and is probably the best-known improv troupe in the world. On cruise ships, most of their shows are family-friendly, but sometimes they’ll have a late-night “adults only” show where the language and gestures are raunchier.
In addition to the Thursday-night workshops, once a month we have a showcase where the better performers in the workshop get invited to perform for audiences who pay $10 to watch. I like the idea of being onstage and so am trying to get invited to perform. There are more wannabe performers than open positions and selecting the actors to perform is a subjective enterprise. Sometimes I get invited and sometimes I don’t. I expect to be invited for the February 16th showcase, but we’ll see.
There are a variety of games that are played during these workshops and showcases. I am best at the ones that involve rhyming. As a writer, I’m sort of a “word nerd” and rhyming comes easier to me than it does to others.
Plus, I study.
In addition to a few games where you have to compose songs on the spot, there are two different games require using words that rhyme with one-syllable first names, so I have prepared a list of words that rhyme with John, Stan, Kate, Pete, and about 30 other relatively common first names.
For a name like Jack the others in the group can “spur of the moment” come up with rhymes like back, black, crack, hack, rack, sack, stack, track, and whack. My list includes such words as amnesiac, Adirondack, Antonin Dvorak, Honoré de Balzac, cognac, almanac, Amtrak, insomniac, anorak and a bunch of others that are a bit outside of the mainstream. I have such lists for 35 names that I review periodically, “in case.” If one of these names is suggested by the audience, I tend to shine, which I am hoping increases my chances of being invited to perform in the monthly showcase. It’s an unpaid gig but being onstage is a type of high for certain of us.
Almost six months ago, on August 21, 2018, I wrote in this column about a buddy and his two kids. One of them, “Jack,” a twelve-year-old boy, also participates in the improv workshop along with his father. The vocabulary of a twelve-year-old is quite a bit less than that of most adults — and especially smart adults of the type who show up in the workshop.
To help compensate for this, I’ve sent Jack a few lists of rhymes and other material. When Bonnie and I join their family for dinner once a week or so, we frequently play one of the improv rhyming games. As a result, Jack continues to improve and is now a better rhymer than some of the adults in the group who don’t practice. I have enjoyed watching his improvement over the past few months.
I’ve attempted to enlist Jack as an ally in my goal of being called to participate in the monthly showcases. I’ve provided him with a short list of rhyming names where I think I’m better than average. If I’m onstage and we’re going to be playing one of these games, I want him to call out one of these names from the audience that the group onstage will attempt to rhyme. Since I’ll be prepared, I’ll tend to do better than average.
Somehow, either I haven’t explained this well enough to Jack or he is unclear on what it means to be an ally. The last time the opportunity to call out a rhyming name came up when I was onstage, he came up with “Cole,” which is a name for which I was not prepared.
Spur of the moment, I came up with mole, foal, goal, and dole — but since I hadn’t studied this word, words like patrol, parole, rock-and-roll, español, shoal, skoal, and Superbowl, among many others, were not at the tip of my tongue. (They are now. After a name is used in the group, they tend to be re-used.) I had an opportunity to shine, with my helper in the right place at the right time, and he threw me a curve ball.
When I asked him why afterwards, he said he didn’t remember the words on the list I gave him plus he figured I was smart enough to figure it out on the fly. I’m not sure whether his “smart enough” comment was meant as a compliment or a dig. I’m betting on the latter.
While it is true that I could do better at that word than Jack could (assuming he had not extensively prepared for it), or better than many others in the group could do on the fly, I want to shine. I want to be a LOT better at these games than the others. I have only limited opportunities to impress the decision-makers with the fact that I deserve to be in the showcase. I want to be successful when these opportunities come.
So, I’m now asking Jack to review out loud the words I’ve sent him while he and his father drive in to the workshop every week. If Jack and his father, who’s also in the workshop, are both reminded of what’s on my list just before the workshop, perhaps one of them will “come through” for me. I’ve told them both that if they provide me with a list of the words they think are best for them, I’ll try to call one of them out at the appropriate time. I’m willing to be their ally whether or not they return the favor, but I strongly prefer that it be a two-way street. (Jack’s father is definitely an ally of mine — in many ways. Jack is so far a bit unclear on the concept. But he’ll learn!)
So, finally, what does this have to do with video poker? I am a very strong player and so some people conclude that I can play any video poker game in the world competently. Those people are incorrect – big time. There are a number of games I play at the professional level, but there are several dozens of games a casino could offer, along with a good promotion and slot club, at which I’m not currently competent. I can get good fairly quickly, of course, but it’s a process I must go through each time.
Right now, for example, I don’t play 9-5 Super Double Bonus competently. I used to know it well, but it’s not offered at casinos I frequent, for stakes I’m interested in playing, during the right promotions. So, the exact rules for the correct play when you have an ace along with a suited jack-ten are not front and center in my mind. I know sometimes you hold the ace by itself, sometimes you hold AJ, and sometimes you hold JT. Just knowing those things puts me ahead of most other players, but I want to be perfect at these decisions.
When I started playing Jacks or Better Multi Strike recently after a hiatus of a few years, I spent several hours getting up to speed and learning all the fine points. Now, I’m competent at this game, and so now is when I’ll go into the casino to play it during the right promotion. If I take another break from the game, I’ll need to relearn it one more time. Each time I relearn it takes a little bit less time than previously, as I certainly remember much of the strategy even after not playing for a while. But the fine points don’t stick with me as well as they did when I was younger.
The secret to my success, such as it is, is preparing extensively before I compete. This is true in video poker, improv, and many other things. I like to “stack the deck,” as it were, so that I’m only competing when I’m prepared. Competing in things where I’m not prepared to succeed is not as attractive to me.
Obviously, none of us can be good at everything, and sometimes you must participate in things where your skills are less than average. I’m less than average at far more things than those things at which I’m better than average. But if I’m required to participate in something over and over again, I usually find it is worth the effort to get good at it. If I can’t get good at it, I’ll usually stop doing it if possible.
Author’s note: If you live in Las Vegas or are in the Vegas area on a Thursday night and are interested in checking out improv, look at //www.lvimprov.com. It will also provide you with information on our monthly showcases, where you are likely to find me, either onstage or in the audience.
bob d ,do you happen to know the variance of multi strike 9 6 job??I know its around 99.79% with correct pay. if u don’t know the exact variance an estimate will suffice. thanks a lot in advance !!
I do not know the variance — but it is much higher than regular Jacks or Better for two reasons.
First, for whatever stakes you’re playing, you’re betting 20 coins, not five. That in and of itself will increase the absolute variance.
Second, on any given day, how well you do on the 4x and 8x lines will determine how your score is. If you do poorly on these lines, you’ll lose a lot. If you do well, you’ll win.
Flashing back here to the old Worldcom and Enron message boards on the deactivated MSN stock pages.
Did someone force you to read it?
Glennis, are you off your medication again. If not have your therapist prescribe a stronger dose.
Lov ya posts, B-)
Getting someone to yell out buzz words you have already worked on is no way to impress people to let you join the showcase. Improv is just that, completely random thoughts and acts to amuse. If you need to cheat to do it you aren’t doing it right.
But remember this is Bob Dancer. So let’s just call it “Improv with an Edge”
You are correct in that most Improv is made up on the spot — but not all. If you go to Second City shows on cruise ships, you’ll find they occasionally play Doo Run Run — which is a rhyming game. Since they play it every week, those players get good at it — and you can tell the ones who have studied and ones who haven’t.
Your “improv with an edge” assessment is probably fair. The difference is that I do not consider it cheating any more than studying a video poker strategy before I go play — or working out before a race (for me that was years ago), or practicing a speech before I deliver it.
Having a “plant” lob softballs at a performer so the performer can hit it out of the park is done in many
contexts. Perhaps you’re not a fan of that technique, but it can be effective.
There are many things in improv that you cannot practice beforehand — but there are still ways to get better at the “art.” I’m working on many of those as well, but doing that didn’t inspire a column this time.
CORRECTION: The French author is Honoré de Balzac, not Honoré du Balzac. (“de” instead of “du”)
You are correct. Thank you. I have edited the original piece to reflect the correct spelling.
Bob reminds me of the just retired golf announcer Johnny Miller. He “tells it like it is” knowing some people may be offended others may think he is bragging. The point is that no matter your talents, hard work is necessary for success.
Perhaps “Jack” does understand the situation but perhaps, even at a tender age, has decided to have higher ethical standards.
I do not understand why you consider what I asked Jack to do was in any way unethical. (In actual fact, Jack regularly deletes all old texts and didn’t remember what I had sent him. He has learned and now has the re-text from me saved.)
If you wish to expand on your cryptic comment, the floor is yours.
Glennis,
I will explain (again) as simply as I can. You obviously have issues with Bob and that is between you two. It should not poison what you post here. I come to this site for new information on casinos and gambling, not someone’s bitch fest about one of the bloggers.
Let’s go through it one more time. Bob posted that appearance in a casino might be scrutinized by casino personnel. Other smart players who post here have made similar statements. Nothing ear shattering there. Maybe walking quickly is a give away about a player and maybe it isn’t. But it is worth considering. Then you read way too much into the post and get snotty and condescending.
Brown noser? Hardy. You obviously don’t know me at all. Since your posts are just whiney attacks on people, with no gambling content, I’m going to ignore them going forward. And maybe GWB has a point.
thank you bob dancer ,it seems a lot higher than regular job by my play at Borgata.i would think a good bit of that return is depending on the 8000 royal at the top end.thanks again bob dancer !!
Hopefully this story is just made up for dramatic effect. Why try to enlist a pre-teen into your scheme? Because you think someone older or an adult wouldn’t go for it? Are you trying to get on Dr. Phil? The purpose of Improv class is to learn improv, if you were working on expanding your memory of rhyming words, that would be in the general idea of things. But learning a small subset in the hope of getting pitched a softball by a pre-teen no less just to get stage time? First off, my advice would be to be extremely careful around minors, hopefully you understand that the law is quite a bit different when it comes to adult-minor interaction. Second, if you just want stage time, why not make youtube videos, or go to open mic or do karaoke?
The story is true, other than Jack’s name. He is the son of a friend (who also attends the workshop as a father-son activity) and we discussed it first. The father and mother consider Bonnie and me to be positive influences on Jack and his 10-year-old sister. So do I. Other than sexual matters (of which there has been none and will be none) and some general common sense, I’m not entirely aware of adult-minor laws — but I’m not worried about it. My intentions are good and the parents believe that.
The father is not college educated (although he’s a very bright winning gambler in both poker and video poker), and both parents want the kids challenged intellectually. If the kids learn how to think strategically (a la gambling with an edge which is different than just plain book smart), so much the better.
As an example, the six of us are cruising together in mid-June. The kids get out of school in late May. the 10-year old will be given the book “The Wild Robot” by Peter Brown and Jack will be given “Theodore Boone Kid Lawyer” by John Grisham. They will be told that they have to read their book and give me a book report before we play games together on the cruise. (I haven’t read either book yet. I will.) They will have 3 weeks before the oral book report is due. I’m guessing they want me as a playmate on the cruise and will comply — moaning and groaning all the way. It’s hard to get kids to read these days. I’m doing the best i can. (The parents know of the plan and give it a big thumbs up.)
Open mic comedy and karaoke are totally different activities from the quick-thinking interaction of improv. They do not interest me. Improv does.
Thinking quickly on your feet is a skill I am trying to improve. I’m hoping that translates into being a better interviewer on the podcast. And as my 72nd birthday approaches this month, I’m seeking ways to keep my mind sharp.
And when I am in the showcase (which has happened three of the last four times they had one — and the time I missed I was on a cruise with Bonnie and told them I would not be available), yes I’m in whatever rhyming game they have but there are other skits as well which include more traditional improv games. (each performer is in from 5-7 games in each showcase.) Playing the rhyming game well increased my chances of being asked to join the showcase — but being reasonably competent at other improv skills was also part of the equation. I also asked to be invited — which I consider “basic strategy” towards getting what you want. I would not be able to keep getting invited if my other skills were completely lacking. There are a number of other “regulars” in the workshop who are not getting invited — at least yet. I have not received an invitation yet for the February 16 showcase, but they will probably come out Monday or Tuesday of next week. I am optimistic and figure my odds of being selected are far better than 50-50, but I don’t know all of the details of the selection so I can’t handicap it any better than that.
I am happy in my own skin. Whether the rest of you agree with me or not.
So there is life in Vegas beyond gambling. I’ll have to remember that.
I think the decision as to whether Bob’s “angle” is ethical or not should lie with those in the improv workshop–or with the improv community in general. Obviously, Jack’s parents don’t have a problem with their son helping out so, to me, that part of the debate is settled. However, if Bob qualifies for a disproportionate number of showcases and the main reason is his being a bit “too prepared,” then his fellow workshop-mates might feel he’s cheating.
Sounds like Jack may be a Rage against the machine fan. His favorite song may be Killing in the name!
“the Simpsons” did that improv bit years ago. If I remember correctly, Lisa refused to feed her father lines, Homer should have asked Bart.