From the people who brought you Survivor and So You Think You Can Dance comes the next hit reality-TV competition show, Earth’s Next Top Improv Group (ENTIG).
Twenty-four singers will be flown to beautiful Skellig Michael off the coast of Ireland. Contestants will be challenged to sing improvisationally, individually and in groups, in a variety of environments and on a broad range of topics. They will be judged on the wildness of their individuality, on how completely they can subsume that individuality into the collective of singers, and on how authentically and meaningfully they can respond to interruptions such as foghorns, whale pods, and lightsaber battles.
Every week, two “losing” singers will be voted off the island and flown to a hip flat in NYC for the remainder of the show; they’ll get the chance to explore the rich improv-vocal opportunities of the city (which will make great B-roll). The final six contestants will be the “winners,” and will form a vocal improv super-group. They’ll be awarded a 1-year residency busking on the corner of Østergade and Amaliegade in Aarhaus, Denmark, and a generous $2,500 stipend (each!).
Celebrity judges include Reggie Watts, “Weird Al” Yankovich, and David Lee Roth. Guy Fieri will provide color commentary and serve as private chef for the contestants during the competition.
The Society for Spontaneous Singing is proud to offer you this exclusive opportunity to audition for ENTIG. Don’t delay! Send in your audition tapes today! (And Guy asks that you specify any dietary restrictions.)
Your Prompt: Pretend that the above casting call is NOT an April Fool’s Day Joke, and create a recording that would serve as an audition tape for such a show. You may audition as sincerely or as silly as you like; sincerely demonstrate the wildness of your individuality and authenticity of your responses to interruptions, or get silly towards those who would make a contest of collaborative improvisation. It’s time for some foolin’ about, in honor of the pranksterism associated with April 1st.
Options
It’s good to have options. Here are ways to perhaps make the prompt a bit easier, or ways to go a bit further with it.
Option A: The Weirder, The Better – for an easier stretch, let’s pretend that this show’s organizers are only concerned about how far-out and weird you can improvise a song and still make some degree of sense. Without concerning yourself overmuch with whether you’re being authentic or meaningful, give yourself permission to make outrageous sounds, and then try to make a bit of music out of it (whatever that means to you).
Option B: Make the Most of Interruptions – for a deeper stretch, let’s work with the serendipitous. One definition of music is “organized sounds and silences.” What’s the difference between noise and music? The music is organized. By whom? By youm. Find a noise-rich, distraction-rich environment, and impress the judges with your ability to add your voice to the noise in such a way that it becomes your orchestra, and the resultant sound your symphony.
To Contribute
The steps are as follows:
- Step 0: Sign up for a free SoundCloud account here. Join the SSS group.
- Step 1: Record yourself singing your “audition” song.
- Step 2: Upload to SoundCloud and post the track to the SSS group.
- Step 3: Listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow singers. (Play nice!)
Deadline: Your tracks should be uploaded by midnight wherever you are on Tuesday, April 5th, 2016.
Length: The length of your finished work should be about 2 to 5 minutes, or however long you need to sing your song.
Description: It would be awesome to include a short description of where and when you sang your piece—and how it felt.
Title/Tag: When uploading to SoundCloud, put “[sss-audition]” in the title of your track. Also include the term “sss-audition” as a tag. This will help us find it.
Group: Once the track is uploaded, click on the “Add to group” button below the waveform and make sure to select the Society for Spontaneous Singing group. (This option will only appear if you have already joined the group! So do that now.)
Linking: You are welcome to include this info in your description:
This track is a reply to “Prompt 62: Casting Call!” More on the Society for Spontaneous Singing at http://singthis.org. You can join the SSS at https://soundcloud.com/groups/society-for-spontaneous-singing
Thank you, sweet singers!