Trust Us This Is All Made Up Review

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(More customer reviews)I saw this film in a screening. I've been a TJ and Dave fan for a long time, so my primary concern was that the film would faithfully capture the magic of this remarkable team. It does.
Without prior consultation, the guys (both Second City alumni) start a dialogue as soon as the lights go up. As they play, they discover who they are and what the story is. For those who know improvisation, this is work on a high level. The swiftness and subtlety of their agreement is breathtaking, and the observations of human behavior are unclouded by improv cliche. While nothing can replace the thrill of seeing these guys live, being able to go back and watch how they build this particular performance step-by-step offers lessons in craftsmanship that students of acting and writing will profit from. Combine this with Scott Silberstein's SECOND TO NONE, and you have the best representation of improvisation on video that I know of.

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25 Years of Improv Comedy: Live From the Chicago Theatre (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)This DVD didn't even have a chance to be good. It was recorded at a large theater with a massive audience instead of at the two stages at iO. Instead of mic-ing the stage... they've decided to litter the stage with stand up microphones and mic stands. That leads to scenes where acting/stagework isn't even attempted, or it leads to scenes where people run around in the background until they have a funny thing to say, which they do by walking up towards the front of the stage and saying it into the mic like some weird spelling bee. It's not very condusive for the stage or improv. And its perplexing seeing as this is a night that is supposed to be celebrating and demonstrating improv from people who are masters at the craft.
It's a trainwreck of an evening with maybe a handful of amusing moments. If you want to see improv on DVD, this isn't it, I think the only thing available is ASSSSCAT. If you're a huge fan of improv and are absolutely too curious to stay away, please do yourself a favor and netflix it... and even then you'll be disappointed with how the evening went and how there are zero special features, no bonus performances set in the actual io theater, no small documentary about iO, how it was formed or anything. There's some fluff interviews with the stars interspersed throughout the evenings footage, but its more of a wedding video like montage with no real information, just people saying 'congrats' into the camera.
Seriously, don't be tricked into thinking this is even close to what it should be.

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Breakthrough to Improv:The Secrets of Improvisation Review

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(More customer reviews)Dave Frank uses the blues medium in this DVD to illustrate the building blocks of creative improv. The range of concepts covered is very wide, but explained with easy to understand examples. I am studying jazz piano with Dave, and the concepts covered in this DVD are recurring themes even in jazz improv.
The structure is very organized. It starts off with easy to grasp concepts like quarter note blues scales, working up to mixtures of triples and swing eights, you get the idea. Each lesson has an exercise that you can practice, but they are quite concise. Which is a little deceiving because each of the concepts are actually quite significant, and takes a lot of practice to understand. So the exercises are there just to illustrate the concept.
Verdict: This DVD will not automatically make you a genius improviser. But it will teach you the concepts that you can piece together to play articulate, clear solos that communicate distinct and complete concepts. The material also doesn't get unnecessarily detailed or technical, so it may be a good way for non musicians to understand how this stuff works.

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