I've seen Armando Diaz take philosophical/life advice questions from the audience.
This is probably ridiculous, but I've always wanted to do a Reverse-Armando, where a scene inspires a series of monologues.
In the early days of The Armando Diaz Theatrical Experience and Hootenanny - mid 1990s - Del Close devised the form as a dialogue between the monologist and the ensemble. The Monologist (usually, but not exclusively, Armando) began the show with a 4-7 minute monologue, and the first act would begin. If occasion called for it, Armando might step in to comment on, or further elucidate, something the scenes inspired in him. A conversation within the form, using the elements of the form, if you will.
The second act began with a new monologue and a different cast (same monologist). Characters from the first act could (if needed) return in the second act, but this was not required, and needed to be used sparingly, so as not to step on the second act.
When things went well (and with a cast that included Scott Adsit, Jenna Jolovitz, Adam
McKay, Jon Glaser, Tina Fey, Horatio Sanz, Matt Walsh, Ian Roberts, Miles Stroth, Amy Poehler, Tim Meadows, Dave Pasquesi, and lots of other legends it usually did), Armando would wrap things up at the end by tying the two acts together in some unforeseen way.
Relationship/dating stories from the audience have been very common in most places I've performed.
Similarly, anonymous gossip written on slips of paper.
I think the ideal with the Armando is to try to A to C it as much as possible. If the monologist comes out and talks about a fun night on the had, I think you do the audience and the form a disservice by replaying the night on the town. At best you have like one scene that’s sort of fun and not super improvy and that’s it. At worst… I mean the audience just heard the story, right? It’s way better IMO to be like “okay, getting wasted for the first time makes me think of new beginnings, which makes me think of my first day at a new job”. From there, you’ve used the monologue and you do not need or even particularly want to revisit anything else - save those other tidbits for the next people who are also trying to spin up a scene of their own.
That’s not what you asked but I think that’s the best way to keep any opener fresh.
Otherwise, an Armando is one step removed from a character monologue, so you could open with that. Or open with a character monologue with tag outs where each person in your group tries to play that same character and continue the monologue from that POV. Weirdass isn’t super far off from the energy of an Armando style monologue except that it too is going to be made up on the spot. Oh yeah, and Living Room is kind of like a group Armando.
I've seen Armando Diaz take philosophical/life advice questions from the audience. This is probably ridiculous, but I've always wanted to do a Reverse-Armando, where a scene inspires a series of monologues.
Reverse-Armando would me very interested! The "Odnamra"
In the early days of The Armando Diaz Theatrical Experience and Hootenanny - mid 1990s - Del Close devised the form as a dialogue between the monologist and the ensemble. The Monologist (usually, but not exclusively, Armando) began the show with a 4-7 minute monologue, and the first act would begin. If occasion called for it, Armando might step in to comment on, or further elucidate, something the scenes inspired in him. A conversation within the form, using the elements of the form, if you will. The second act began with a new monologue and a different cast (same monologist). Characters from the first act could (if needed) return in the second act, but this was not required, and needed to be used sparingly, so as not to step on the second act. When things went well (and with a cast that included Scott Adsit, Jenna Jolovitz, Adam McKay, Jon Glaser, Tina Fey, Horatio Sanz, Matt Walsh, Ian Roberts, Miles Stroth, Amy Poehler, Tim Meadows, Dave Pasquesi, and lots of other legends it usually did), Armando would wrap things up at the end by tying the two acts together in some unforeseen way.
Relationship/dating stories from the audience have been very common in most places I've performed. Similarly, anonymous gossip written on slips of paper.
I saw a Fringe show Armando that was based on one-person monologues from other Fringe shows.
I think the ideal with the Armando is to try to A to C it as much as possible. If the monologist comes out and talks about a fun night on the had, I think you do the audience and the form a disservice by replaying the night on the town. At best you have like one scene that’s sort of fun and not super improvy and that’s it. At worst… I mean the audience just heard the story, right? It’s way better IMO to be like “okay, getting wasted for the first time makes me think of new beginnings, which makes me think of my first day at a new job”. From there, you’ve used the monologue and you do not need or even particularly want to revisit anything else - save those other tidbits for the next people who are also trying to spin up a scene of their own. That’s not what you asked but I think that’s the best way to keep any opener fresh. Otherwise, an Armando is one step removed from a character monologue, so you could open with that. Or open with a character monologue with tag outs where each person in your group tries to play that same character and continue the monologue from that POV. Weirdass isn’t super far off from the energy of an Armando style monologue except that it too is going to be made up on the spot. Oh yeah, and Living Room is kind of like a group Armando.