In this episode, we pay homage to classic summer camp movies, like the Meatballs movie with Bill Murray or the Poison Ivy movie (the one with Micheal J. Fox, not the one with Drew Barrymore…)

We attempt the difficult task of juggling a cast of characters in this ensemble style movie homage and, overall, it went pretty well. Five main kid campers, one good counselor, one bad rival camper, one bad rival counselor, and a few additional characters. A challenge, but lots of fun!

Meatballs movie on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meatballs_(film)

Poison Ivy movie on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_Ivy_(1985_film)

Segment 1 - Discussion the Genre Tropes: 05:00

Segment 2 - Creating the Movie Outline: 11:53

Segment 3 - Picking the Improv Comedy Games: 19:04

Start of show: 26:33

Improv Game - Movie Trailer: 26:39 

Improv Game - Cocktail Party: 28:10

Improv Game - Ding: 38:13

Improv Game - A to Z Story: 48:08

Improv Game - Cutting Room: 57:08

End of show, into announcements: 1:10:36

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Avish’s site: www.AvishParashar.com 

Mike’s site: www.MikeWorthMusic.com/

 

Avish Parashar: Alright, so first what we are going to do is we're going to spend five minutes talking about the cliches and tropes of the genre and commonalities so Mike I know you said you haven't seen a.

Michael Worth: One of these in a while.

Avish Parashar: But what do you think of when you think of your camp a movie.

Michael Worth: Well, usually it's kind of a bit of a fish out of water kind of thing, so what happens usually is is the hero is usually a semi normal person. That goes to this camp, the camp is, of course, run by a bunch of oddball misfits and there's this kind of very caricature people so that's, the first thing I think of is that. The main character is kind of the voice of the audience or the eyes of the audience and they're just basically experiencing this really bizarre off the wall loony environment.

Avish Parashar: that's kind of one yeah and I feel like there's always two sort of storylines. One is like the counselors and one is the kids. And they obviously overlap, but you know I think you're like main character you're kind of normal one is the counselor usually um and then there's always like there's always a kid who's like shy or introverted. Who's like that the main kid character yep and they sort of become the hero, in the end, somehow.

Michael Worth: Right or they have a heroic moment one of their specific skill sets kind of thing that's a very classic thing right there their skill set.

Avish Parashar: Just yeah because. These movies always build up to something usually a competition, like a a with both meatballs and poison Ivy have like the color war, the competition with the other camp. Yeah and that's where the that's The thing that all misfits like even if they're cool there's always like a nerdy Karen nerdy camp kid there's usually like an overweight camp kid that there was making fat jokes about.

Michael Worth: yeah yeah. jock there's a there is a romance that often bruise and uh it's usually, let's let's focus on the kids for Saturday we'll get to the counselors usually the romance blooms between um well usually the main character um. And he usually has to grow or do something to kind of convert the love interest from looking at him in one way to look at him in another way right you don't mean like he has overcome some sort of that character flawed character limitation.

Avish Parashar: yeah, although I will say that I find that more of the counselors I feel like the kids are little young to get to like too much of.

Michael Worth: That as a counselor yeah yeah maybe that is the cows would be like the team counselors right they're not like adults but uh. Oh yeah the counselor there's like a boy or a male or female counselor and you know.

Avish Parashar: yeah usually it's you know. guys trying to impress the girl who's either got a boyfriend or isn't interested and he kind of has to like grow and overcome and show her that he's actually not just a goofball.

Michael Worth: Now, who are the bad guys in these kind of things, is it usually a rival camp.

Avish Parashar: there's yeah I would say there's two ways of going there's the rival camp um, although I think the only see the rival camp at the actual competitions rival camp. But then I think within the camp itself there's there's like the bullish so you know in camps you generally have like your cabin right your cabin mates and they're all kind of. Cool, but then it's like another cabin that maybe has more of a bully or the Council who's like the the head counselor who's like dominating and doesn't like or maybe it's a rival for their romances interest.

Michael Worth: yeah yeah so, so this is actually a pretty deep movie thinking about what we've got is we've got. The kid that comes to Camp right um he's gonna be like one of the main characters he's surrounded by these misfits to be so kind of become one with there's a there's a rival cabin full of jerks. At the Council level there's the cool counselor who's who's peripherally involved with the with the with the good guy kids. But then there's usually an evil head counselor or an evil rival counselor that is. But the rabbit had cancer is kind of like incumbent he kind of like he doesn't really make life miserable for the good counselor because good counselor is like bill Murray, he just kind of skates through just like everything's.

Avish Parashar: Dallas over much rule following like this is the way things have to be done. yeah and the Council is more like bonding like the main character Council more bonding with the kids and things to help them come out of their shells and grow.

Michael Worth: Exactly so he's got a mentor he becomes kind of a bit of a mentor figure um you know, in a comedic way and then yeah culminates with you some big competition. And you know what for this maybe we'll just keep it within the camp where it's like the cab there's an intro cabin competition, and so the misfits like revenge of the nerds there's somebody that can be similar to that right.

Avish Parashar: Well yeah I mean it's not exactly camp, but I mean college is basically camp for 18 year olds.

Michael Worth: camp with booze basically.

Avish Parashar: yeah yeah it's a similar type thing, though, builds off of the outcasts they have their strengths, they got bullies and then they have the final competition.

Michael Worth: yeah definitely definitely the second tier characters are character matures like there's like very little character depth to any of the buddies in the good guy there.

Avish Parashar: yeah they've got their role like.

Michael Worth: It yeah right there there there Arc types right there dork.

Avish Parashar: The job or.

Michael Worth: The awakened uh.

Avish Parashar: it's like sometimes like a sex crazed one.

Michael Worth: yeah yeah yeah what is obsessed with those sneaking over to the girls locker room and see stuff. yeah there is. I don't care.I didn't care there's the token Asian there's always this and it's usually the nerdy.

Avish Parashar: 180s movie definitely.

Michael Worth: I don't care if you want to race with whatever dude that we're we're we're supposed to.

Avish Parashar: Be token Asian character, I don't know if we're gonna put on the effective.

Michael Worth: Asian accent for do I can't do that no.

Avish Parashar: we're right now we're just talking about the tropes there's yes. they're all tokens right there's like a token black kid of the token Asian kid yep. If we're talking about an 80s cat movie then like you know the token Asian kids going to be the nerd of the gadget kid you know, like data from from the goonies.

Michael Worth: yeah exactly oh short round.

Avish Parashar: All right, well, that was our timer so that brings us to the end of our. Discussing the genre tropes.

Michael Worth: yeah it's actually surprisingly fluid genre.

Avish Parashar: yeah it's it's pretty straightforward but there's a lot of like moving parts that may or may not find the ways yeah.

Avish Parashar: Alright, so now we are going to spend five minutes talking about the outline Mike and I are going to hash out. Our outline we use a for act structure if you're familiar with the three act structure there's that's the standard storytelling when we just break act to into two parts. So he's a for extra just works better with the improv and kind of helping define the story what happens at the end is when we go to perform it we may not stick completely to this outline just because the nature of improv but. This is going to be our starting point, so our five minutes starts now. Okay alright. So first do we want, we start with a trailer or a prologue. I feel for this it's probably makes more sense to a trailer I don't know the prologue really.

Michael Worth: yeah um I think the trailer might make more sense actually so we'll do that we'll we'll do some sort of trailer.

Avish Parashar: OK.

Michael Worth: that'd be easy F1 a pretty easy, which is a main a kid character or main camera character.

Avish Parashar: yeah it's kind of like day one at the camp right like.

Michael Worth: yeah arrives at Camp yeah.

Avish Parashar: They want arrive you kind of meet the misfits you meet the counselor you sort of meet everyone.

Michael Worth: meet the misfits meet. uncle good guy counselor right.

Avish Parashar: yeah.

Michael Worth: All right, uh let me think at women can browse the camps, do we meet the yeah we meet the bullies at this point.

Avish Parashar: yeah and I think i'm. So this is kind of a meeting type thing or you're doing a lot of establishing and then something needs to happen at the end of act one i'm probably something that. You know, puts either the main counselor or the main kid into some kind of situation where they need to succeed. you've got like some kind of twist like oh.

Michael Worth: All right.

Avish Parashar: A lot of these movies it's like the first act is almost like them going to camp and then act one is like. Act two is like them savage again, but I think that'd be a little too long.

Michael Worth: So yeah so aqua at the end of act one a the glove is thrown down that's what's going to happen, something happens where I the main camp or or the main camper and his cabin. The challenges issue it's usually probably going to be like you know, the end of the summer get the color war or the cabin war.

Avish Parashar: yeah they kind of meet the right it's almost like the the first interaction with the real bullies happens at the end of act one.

Michael Worth: yeah again going back to one crazy summer right when they when they at the end, they have the great yacht race, this is another very used to that.  yeah.

Avish Parashar: Like building up to that.

Michael Worth: With a young JEREMY piven.

Avish Parashar: yeah and it's not camp, but in a lot of ways Harry Potter almost is like that right they go to the school they get set up at the school. Is over the year and then it culminates in.

Michael Worth: Right.

Avish Parashar: Right right whatever at the end zone.

Michael Worth: So at two.

Avish Parashar: All right, no act one basically just meeting everyone and then kind of having some interaction. With the rival slash bully.

Michael Worth: Yes, a Act two is the misfits trying to do activities.

Avish Parashar: And I think. This one's yeah and I think what happens in Act two is that they're all kind of doing the activities.

Michael Worth: And then let's let's say for this this one that it's like a score all summer so as a whole but there's there's a vestige.

Avish Parashar: cumulative score yeah.

Michael Worth: yeah cuz then it's vested in them to be like Kevin, we have to build this Derby car, we have to like build this canoe or whatever or.

Avish Parashar: Here I would say some, if not all of the kids but definitely the main kid I think is a reluctant participant they're not trying to get away or avoid they're not giving it all the teams are the groups not come together, like they're all sort of.

Michael Worth: Like you're not fooling each other but they're not they're. Not clicking.

Avish Parashar: yeah they're not clicking there the card sort of like still feeling each other out.

Michael Worth: Right and and. It OK and OK, and they might even be getting also sabotage by know as an x three x because we sabotage. So that was the two ends.

Avish Parashar: were some event that brings the team together like you know. yeah they they bond over something the bullies do something, but then they all kind of bond together so they kind of a bonding moment and act to.

Michael Worth: yeah yeah exactly and that could be also driven. By the counselor the cool counselor like he may be like we're all going to go out and go to a party or something and they all like they all work together to solve a problem or some like that, and then you know, can they kind of.

Avish Parashar: yeah like in poison Ivy which I just watched a.

Michael Worth: yeah you got to be the expert on ax to sort of ends where.

Avish Parashar: i'm the one kid tries to run away but there's some kids would snuck off the the main camp and when the kid gets caught he doesn't. reveal who the other kids were who gave away, and so this the kid who is shy and not bond with anyone, but everyone like suddenly. appreciates him and respects him for not reading them out like that sort of thing happens where they they bond they have some shared experience that makes them bond a little bit.

Michael Worth: yeah yeah yeah exactly yeah exactly so now at three the misfits start gaining. Because they started doing really well, and now the bad guys start sabotaging them that was I was gonna say happened before, but like not an act to what happens in that three because the bad guys are like oh man we're started lose points and blah blah blah right.

Avish Parashar: yeah and so yeah they do well, but then the bullies bad guys sabotage so from this outline, it seems like, and I think it makes sense for an improv thing is our focus is going to be on the kids I think the counter is going to be, I think, trying to run two parallel stories in this format.

Michael Worth: yeah that I wish more people and that's a lot of brainpower man.

Avish Parashar: yeah so then for right now we'll keep the focus on the the kid so yeah the bullies sabotage and do things.

Avish Parashar: So the kids are doing well and they seem like they might have a chance of winning but then the bullies sabotage and it often ends, I would say, with a disaster or a betrayal so.

Michael Worth: Well, I was thinking yeah that's right we're taking extra minute.

Avish Parashar: Yes, remember.

Michael Worth: The trail like maybe, for example, a bad guy counselor like who's playing by the rules like invalidates them or something like that, like like you know remember overrule he again he's not gonna be a big part of it, but he could be the deus ex makana for the for the betrayal.

Avish Parashar: You know, he could invalidate he could come up with some loophole or some fake rule as to why they don't get their points. But betrayal sometimes is like the one of the kids was like forced into sabotaging his own team.

Michael Worth: yeah like.

Michael Worth: hijacking the thing that they're building or something like that.

Avish Parashar: yeah yeah or yeah or someone gets hurt.

Michael Worth: This fit black DM blackmailed.

Avish Parashar: Like it does like like and meatballs I think like the best runner got injured arm, which is why, like the kid who's like the main character had to run in her place so like there's some kind of disaster at the end of act three.

Michael Worth: yeah and now for X four X four is going to be usually there's a final challenge, and this is where it comes down to like because of all the machinations a final challenge.

Michael Worth: misfits have to win right and here's where. Look, the creativity of it somehow. Whoever is the the recipient of the Act three issue. comes back like he gets healed or.

Avish Parashar: yeah or if he was the betray or he comes back and like steps up. And usually. that's usually not the main kid who's kind of more of a loner and that main kid usually steps up and does something to help them win.

Michael Worth: yeah be trey are redeemed himself. yeah and then main character. steps up demonstrates character growth to win the day And become you know the little.

Avish Parashar: Like a little heroes last.

Michael Worth: Year of the misfits yeah yeah.

Avish Parashar: The rudy of that moment.

Michael Worth: uh yeah yeah and and, by the way the betrayal, as we said before right is not done by the main character.

Avish Parashar: yeah I would say the main character is not the one who does the betraying yeah.

Michael Worth: i'm already like okay so who's gonna be shot asked it today, because this is literally going to be a shot.

Avish Parashar: Right nothing wrong with a pretty good outline, I think.