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Improv Sound FX

triggered by "high-tech" gloves
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The idea came when I was thinking of how to improve the improv experience;) It's simple: improv actors wear special gloves which are connected (wirelessly) to a computer that plays back sound fx when a button is triggered in the actor's palm. Now the details: The gloves come with a software you install on a computer (laptop owned by the improv team or a desktop owned by the hosting theatre). You get a basic bank of sound fx, but it can easily be expanded by downloading or recording new sounds. The computer's sound card is connected to the theater's sound system. Actors trigger the sound effects by pressing a large hidden button in the palm of the glove(btw: each actor only has one). The gloves have some kind of transimtter (blue tooth comes to mind, since it's expected to become a standard -like usb) that send the info on to the computer. What info? Well, the gloves are also equipped with a set of 8 other buttons found on the back of the hand. Prior to the improv match(where I come from, improv matches have two teams competing by playing games separately)each actor assignes a sound effect to every button on his glove. So when acting he can discreetly select a sound effect and trigger it by sqeezing his palm. Damn. I can't write online. Was I clear? if not: Example : Meet John, he's an improv actor. Before the game he puts on his glove(glove #4). He goes to the computer. He doesn't know what he's going to act in tonight, but he is more of a physical actor on stage, so he fills his glove configuration on the computer like so: Button 1: window breaking and writes on the glove under the button "window" Button 2: dog barking writes it down... Button 3: machin gun shooting Button 4: explosion .... you get the picture. 20 min later: His team started a scene in an office. John needs to enter. He presses button1. A little diode lights up meaning the "window" is selected. As he jumps covering his face not to cut himself he sqeezes his palm and a loud window shatter is heard. He discreetly presses button3 while getting up. He gets a submachinegun out of his coat and sqeezes his palm again, killing the two police officers in the room freeing his fellow organised-crime-person. blah blah blah... Was that clear? hope it was:)
Ptah, Aug 02 2002

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       The very best improv comedians don't need technology for their sound FX - Victor Borge, for example, or Ryan Stiles on Whose Line Is It Anyway?   

       However, why use a glove when devices that can fit in the palm of your hand are readily available in novelty shops?
DrCurry, Aug 03 2002
  

       I didn't mean to pervert the art of improv by adding sound fx. I just thought that this could be used on stage, because it brings another dimension to theatre. As for improv on TV, it's funny but it's not the real thing. It's very pro, but the commercialisation and the atmosphere make half as good as the real thing. Comming back to the gloves, which are the real issue here... It could be a glove, coz of the selection buttons on the back, and minimal hardware that needs to be integrated(blue tooth, batteries and other circuits)... I'm not quite sure what you mean by the novelty shop items.
Ptah, Aug 03 2002
  

       The pre-programmed gloves take the improv out of the improv
thumbwax, Aug 03 2002
  
      
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