Michael Brockman
Michael Brockman is an improv musician and improv-singing teacher.
Summary
Michael started in musical improv somewhere around 2005 after seeing an article on the Austin improv scene in the Austin Chronicle followed shortly by an ad for an improv musician on Craigslist. See? Serendipity. He's taken a few acting improv classes but is considerably more comfortable hiding behind an instrument (or two). He has also co-taught improv singing with Merlin Works and the Hideout Theatre.
Note: all credits in Troupes and Shows are for improvised accompaniment, except those marked "(composer)", which are productions he instead wrote the music for.
History
A post from him about the first improv show he ever saw:
The first improv show I saw I was actually in. It was with GGG at LAFF some 3 or 4 years ago. I had no idea what I was doing and if I saw it on tape now I'd probably be yelling at myself through the screen. I do remember I felt that I'd overplayed, and so at my second show I made a point of hanging back. I got more criticism for that strategy than I did for my first show so I quickly abandoned that approach. It really wasn't until I'd amassed a little more knowledge about the process and the quirks and strengths of the ladies themselves that I began to get a bit comfortable.
Troupes
Out-of-Town Troupes
Brockman has accompanied a number of visiting acts, and accompanied acts while on tour himself:
- Delilah Dix (w/ Amy Albert)
- Drum Machine (w/ Jill Bernard)
- Lounge-a-saurus Rex (w/ Tom Reed)
- The Mayfly (w/Todd Stashwick)
- Three Falling (w/ Muli Shulman & Inbal Lori)
Shows
- The Big Bash
- Boys of Summer
- Campfire Songs
- Crack
- The Fancy-Pants Mashup
- Gorilla Improv (w/ Greg Proops, Jill Bernard, Jeremy Lamb & Shana Merlin)
- Hitchcocked!
- Hurly Burly
- Jukebox Heroes (w/ Laura Hall)
- The Last Freak Show
- Louder Than Words
- Love Is a Funny Thing
- Maestro
- Process
- Puppet Katamari (composer)
- Racket (performer)
- Revlis
- Rock (co-director)
- Same Year's Eve
- Start Trekkin'
- Theatresports
- The Trouble with Terry (composer)
Festivals
Local Festivals
- Fronterafest
- The Hideout Improv Marathon
- The Ladies are Funny Festival
- The Out of Bounds Comedy Festival
- Wafflefest
Out-of-Town Festivals
- Black Box Festival (Atlanta)
- Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Edinburgh, Scotland)
- Seattle Festival of Improv Theater (Seattle)
- Twin Cities Improv Festival (Minneapolis)
More Information
- Michael Brockman's blog.
- A series of posts from Mr. Brockman about how to perform improvised accompaniment:
