Improvised Dialogues: Emergence and Creativity in Conversation

Cover......Page 1
Improvised Dialogues......Page 4
 Contents......Page 6
 Foreword......Page 8
 Acknowledgments......Page 12
 Chapter 1  Introduction......Page 14
  IMPROVISED DIALOGUES AND EVERYDAY CONVERSATION......Page 19
  INDIVIDUAL CREATIVITY AND COLLABORATION......Page 21
  OVERVIEW OF THE BOOK......Page 22
  NOTES......Page 24
 Chapter 2  Don’t Shoot the Piano Player......Page 26
  THE EUROPEAN ROOTS OF CHICAGO IMPROV......Page 28
   Konstantin Stanislavsky......Page 29
   J.L.Moreno......Page 30
   Jacques Copeau......Page 32
   Commedia dell’Arte......Page 33
   German Cabaret Theater......Page 34
  THE FIRST CHICAGO IMPROV THEATER: THE COMPASS......Page 35
  THE AUDIENCE......Page 37
  MODERN CHICAGO IMPROVISATION......Page 39
   Freeze Games......Page 40
   Short Games......Page 41
   Scene Improv......Page 43
   Long-Form Improvisation......Page 44
    Giant Wall of Plot Twists......Page 45
    Genred Improvisation......Page 46
    Structured Improvisation......Page 48
    Jazz Freddy......Page 49
    The Movie......Page 50
  CONCLUSION: STRUCTURE AND IMPROVISATION......Page 51
  NOTES......Page 53
 Chapter 3  What Improvised Dialogue Creates......Page 54
   Conversation Analysis......Page 60
   The Ethnography of Speaking......Page 65
  THE COLLABORATIVE EMERGENCE OF THE FRAME......Page 69
   Unpredictability......Page 71
   Processual Intersubjectivity......Page 72
   Social Causation......Page 75
   Metapragmatics in Improvised Dialogue......Page 76
  NOTES......Page 77
 Chapter 4  How Improvised Dialogues Create......Page 80
  THE OFFER......Page 82
  THE RESPONSE......Page 84
  CAUSAL RELATIONS IN IMPROVISED DIALOGUE: METAPRAGMATICS, COLLABORATIVE EMERGENCE, AND DOWNWARD CAUSATION......Page 85
   Type 1. Pair-Part Relations:The Interactional Power of Metapragmatic Strategies......Page 87
    Where the Offer Is Addressed......Page 89
    The Footing of the Speaker......Page 90
    The Denotational Explicitness of the Offer......Page 91
    Type 1 Predictions......Page 92
   Type 2. Collaborative Emergence: The Emergence of the Interactional Frame......Page 93
    1. As the Performance Progresses, Collaborative Emergence Will Result in the Increasing Elaboration and Complexity of the Interactional Frame......Page 95
    2. More Powerful Metapragmatic Strategies Should Result in a More Rapid Emergence of the Interactional Frame......Page 96
   Type 3. Downward Causation: The Interactional Power of the Interactional Frame......Page 97
    1. As the Complexity of the Frame Increases, the Interactional Power of the Emergent Frame Also Increases, Reducing the Range of Possible Acts Available to the Next Speaker......Page 100
    3. A More Complex Frame Enables New Creative Possibilities......Page 101
  NOTES......Page 102
 Chapter 5  What Actors Know......Page 104
  PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE IMPROVISATION......Page 106
   Yes, and…......Page 107
   No Denial......Page 109
   The Problem with Individual Creativity......Page 112
   Endowing......Page 115
   Listen to the Group Mind......Page 118
   Don’t Cross the Fourth Wall......Page 120
   Show, Don’t Tell......Page 122
   Don’t Make Jokes......Page 123
  BUILDING THE EMERGENT FRAME......Page 124
   Characters......Page 125
   Relationships......Page 128
   Beats: The Rule of Three......Page 129
   Dramatic Trajectories: Divergent and Convergent Creative Processes......Page 130
  WHERE DID THE RULES ORIGINATE?......Page 133
  EMPHASIZING COLLABORATIVE EMERGENCE: THE PREFERENCE FOR WEAK METAPRAGMATIC STRATEGIES......Page 135
  CONCLUSION......Page 137
  NOTES......Page 138
 Chapter 6  The Freeze Games......Page 140
  THE PERFORMANCES......Page 141
   Freeze Tag......Page 142
   Event Freeze......Page 145
  HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO CREATE A FRAME?......Page 148
  WHAT’S IN A FRAME?......Page 150
   The Relationship......Page 151
   The Activity......Page 152
   What Aspects of the Frame Are Defined?......Page 153
  WHEN IS THE FRAME DEFINED?......Page 156
   Offers Per Turn......Page 157
  HOW IS THE FRAME DEFINED? METAPRAGMATIC STRATEGY USAGE......Page 158
   Double-Voiced Strategies......Page 159
   Direct Strategies......Page 161
  DOWNWARD CAUSATION OF THE CUMULATIVE FRAME......Page 163
   Trends in Scene Length......Page 165
   Building the Frame......Page 167
  CONCLUSION......Page 169
  NOTE......Page 170
 Chapter 7  Improv Games......Page 172
  DUBBING......Page 173
  CONSCIENCE......Page 176
  DUELING NARRATIVES......Page 177
  THE SCRIPT GAME......Page 179
  GENRE DEATH......Page 182
  GENRE FAIRY TALE......Page 186
  BIRTHDAY PARTY......Page 187
  ENTRANCES AND EXITS......Page 190
  AUDIENCE SUGGESTIONS......Page 192
   Taking Suggestions in Advance......Page 193
   Negotiating Suggestions with the Audience......Page 195
   The Constraining Power of the Suggestion......Page 198
  CONCLUSION......Page 199
   Future Study......Page 200
  NOTES......Page 201
 Chapter 8  Collaborative Emergence in Long-Form Improvisation......Page 202
  JAZZ FREDDY......Page 204
    Convent Plot......Page 205
    Plot Merge......Page 206
  THE MOVIE......Page 209
    16:08: Plots 1 and 2 (Medieval subplot)......Page 210
    45:42: Plots 1, 2, 3, and 4......Page 211
   1A. In the Movie, Director Talk that Targets a Specific Actor Will Be Followed by a Shorter Pause than Director Talk that Does Not Target a Specific Actor......Page 215
   1C. In the Movie, Pauses before a Turn of Director Talk Will Be Shorter than Pauses before Enacted Dialogue......Page 217
   1D. Pauses Preceding Enacted Dialogue in the Movie Will Be Shorter than in Jazz Freddy......Page 218
   Summary: Type 1 Predictions......Page 219
  TYPE 2 PREDICTIONS: COLLABORATIVE EMERGENCE......Page 220
   2B. The Movie Will Merge Plots More Effectively......Page 222
   2C. The Jazz Freddy Frame Will Contain More Developed Characters than the Movie Frame......Page 223
   Summary: Type 2 Predictions......Page 225
  TYPE 3 PREDICTIONS: THE DOWNWARD CAUSAL POWER OF THE EMERGENT FRAME......Page 226
   3A. In Both Groups, Pause Should Decline over the Performance......Page 227
   3B. In Both Groups, Scene Length Should Decline over the Performance......Page 229
   3C. In the Movie, There Will Be More Dialogue, Relative to Director Talk, Toward the End of the Play......Page 230
   3D. In Jazz Freddy, Edits Should Invoke Characters and Relationships More Often than the Movie, and More Frequently as the Play Progresses......Page 231
   3E. As Both Performances Progress, Scenes Will Function in Multiple Plots, and This Pattern Will Be More Pronounced for the Movie......Page 233
   3F. Plot Merges Will Use the Dramatic Frame......Page 234
   Summary: Type 3 Predictions......Page 235
  CONCLUSION......Page 236
  NOTES......Page 239
 Chapter 9  Conclusion......Page 242
  INTERACTIONAL POWER AND METAPRAGMATIC STRATEGIES......Page 243
  THE EMERGENCE OF THE FRAME......Page 246
   Collaborative Emergence: Why Methodological Individualism Fails......Page 247
   Downward Causation: Why Interpretivism Fails......Page 249
  FUNCTIONALISM AND MULTIPLE REALIZABILITY......Page 251
  INDIVIDUAL CREATIVITY AND IMPROVISED DIALOGUES......Page 253
  SUMMARY......Page 254
  NOTES......Page 255
 References......Page 256
 Index......Page 268
 About the Author......Page 276