05x05 - A Game Most Changed

[bunniefuu]

[upbeat music]

- Something I've learned that
I can do with "Game Changer",

if not Dropout in general,

is use it as a forum
to expose great improv,

which thanks to Hollywood's firm stance

that improv doesn't work in taped form,

a lot of improv just hasn't
seen the light of day.

- When Sam came to us and said that

he wanted to bring the
Improvised Shakespeare folks

to our set, there was immediate excitement

because similar to
Official Cast Recording,

we knew that we were going
to level up our improv game.

- It was very clear from the start

that this episode was kind
of Sam's like pride and joy.

He had expressed to us just how much

he loved the Improvised Shakespeare troop.

- I think it's the best
improv in the world.

I am not convinced it gets
better than what they do.

I am a high school dropout,

I think most people know that about me,

I nonetheless studied
a lot of Shakespeare,

which, for a 16 year old, is
like an incredible privilege.

Like, you know, most of
us, not until college,

if we get the privilege to go to college,

get to choose what we learn,

and Shakespeare was one
of my three electives

and for a year, I studied
nothing but Hamlet, the play.

and for a year, I studied
nothing but Hamlet, the play.

It was one of the most enriching

like academic experiences I'd ever had,

and I deeply, deeply love Shakespeare

and being able to channel him

even a little was a real hedonic pleasure.

Let's begin is how I start off every show,

my suit adorned, my microphone in tow.

I pretend like I'm a little boss man

and a little media mogul,

but in my heart, I'm a poet.

And so, I relished the opportunity

to write this prologue, basically.

I remember when my dad
was trying to convince me

not to go into the arts for a living,

as any parent has an
obligation to tell their child.

He was like, "Sam, you're
so good at so many things.

Why acting?

Why does it have to be acting

that do you wanna do for a living?"

I was like, "Well, I'm
also really into poetry."

He said, "Acting sounds good,
let's stick with the acting."

- It's astounding, it
really is astounding.

The Improvised Shakespeare episode

also lent itself to our
production designer, Chloe,

to add some really cool art elements.

- We just had these old podiums, you know,

we've been using 'em for many seasons,

so we decided to scenic them,

we made them marble,

so they were like outdoor
Shakespeare theater

and we had them match the pillars

and the cherubs in the back,

and then we brought in
flowers, because, why not?

- We had a scenic painter

do like this marble design on our podiums.

We had those marble
columns custom painted,

just bought a ton of fake
wisteria to hang everywhere.

- It was really, really satisfying

to see the set completely transformed.

- When I first came on set that morning

after we'd swapped the podiums out,

I legitimately thought that

we had purchased a marble
"Game Changer" podium,

that's how good of a job they did,

and it's always exciting
when you can have an episode

that lends itself to
not just great content

from our players, but also
great content from our crew.

- We use music intermittently
throughout "Game Changer",

often with entrances and exits

to pepper like a particularly
high stakes moment.

Here, you know, we wanted music

that would actually feel
like it elevated the scene

'cause I wanted stuff that lended itself

to the legitimacy of the scenes,
to their emotional impact.

What we specifically didn't do

is go looking for like Elizabethan music.

We found this one track

for the beginning and the end of the show

that I really like,

it's like these lilting strings

that repeat over and over again

and make you feel almost
like you're in a time warp.

♪ We bid you, be no stranger ♪

♪ Though love is ever moving ♪

♪ For love is a Game Changer ♪

♪ For love is a Game Changer ♪

- My God!

And then TJ, our brilliant
sound mixer composer,

went in and laid in his own
music under The Bard's songs

to match what our troop was singing.

They're singing acapella,

who knows if they're on tune?

And TJ's just matching them.

- I had never seen them perform before

and I didn't really fully know
what they were capable of.

All I knew was that they

improvised Shakespearean style plays.

I think the biggest compliment
you can give an improviser

is to say to them that

I don't believe that that was improvised.

And I, as an improviser myself,

I know that it's actually improvised.

But after that episode,

having full knowledge of everything

that went into that episode,

even I was like, there's no
way that wasn't scripted.

I mean, obviously it wasn't.

I was so blown away by that

to see how effortlessly
they weave in the challenges

that Sam threw their way.

All of us were in awe, in absolute awe.

- When you get improvisers on stage

who are so good at doing their own thing,

you don't wanna interfere too much.

The question is like,

how can you add your light interference

such that it makes their
jobs a little harder?

Game Shows is actually simple enough,

simple enough that they
started to do it intuitively

and then it felt very full circle,

by the time I asked them
to do it at the end,

and by the time we got
to Sitcom Catchphrases,

I thought to myself
like, this is hard now,

this is like straight up hard.

My points of references,

"Full House", "Family Matters",
basically it. [laughs]