Buffalo Improv house Guide to the armando

The Armando is a popular format for improv comedy where a series of scenes are inspired by a real-life monologue given by a monologist. This monologist can be a guest or can be a member of the group. The ideal monologue is rich with details that can be used to inspire a number of improv scenes.

While listening to the monologue, each player should be on the lookout for at least two details or premises that they could use to inspire a scene.

The monologue

The ideal monologue is true story or anecdote that is full of details and specifics. It is crucial that the monologue be true. The monologist should feel free to give their opinions and point-of-view whenever it comes up, but there’s no need to try to be funny – it’s not a stand-up routine. The fact that the story is interesting enough to remember means that it will keep the audience engaged.

The suggested way to begin a monologue based on a one-word suggestion is “[suggestion] makes me think of _______” so that the audience can see the connection between the suggestion and the monologue.

Example: “Racecar makes me think of my dad, who used to sit on the couch literally all weekend and watch the most boring sports like Golf and Bowling and Nascar…”

After making this connection, the monologist is free to tell the first interesting story or anecdote that comes to mind. In the given example, the monologist connected racecar to their dad. From there, the monologist could tell any story involving their dad, not just one involving race cars.

Here is an example of how this monologue might continue

Racecar makes me think of my dad, because he used to sit on the couch literally all weekend and watch the most boring sports like Golf and Bowling and Nascar. He was a corporate lawyer, but you would never guess it by looking at him or hanging out with him. He drank Red Dog beer until they stopped making it and had a bunch of tattoos. He’d come home from work and immediately switch from his JC Penney suit and tie into his JC Penney flannel shirt and sweatpants and turn on the Golf channel or something like that. Picture a lumberjack, but like a basic one. One time we went to get tattoos together – we thought it would be a good bonding experience. We decided to get our name, Chirino, tattooed on our arm, but we wanted it to look the same upside down and rightside up. Don’t ask me why. We hired a tattoo artist to design it and he came up with something kind of cool, but it definitely doesn’t look like Chirino. Look at this! (shows tattoo.) Does this look like Chirino to you? No, it’s kind of like Onisiho but even then, that’s a stretch. We didn’t say anything to the tattoo artist though. That guy was a giant. Anyway, people are always asking me “What’s Onisho?” and I have to explain “oh it’s Chirino but it is the same upside down and rightside up.” Annoying. My dad hated having to explain the tattoo so much that he eventually covered it up with a tattoo of a tree. That was a lot more his style, anyway.

Pulling Details from a monologue

That example has a lot of good details and potential premise ideas that an improv team could use throughout a show. A few of them include:

  • Getting a tattoo that ends up being annoying

  • Red Dog Beer

  • A giant

  • A bonding activity with a parent

Look over the monologue and see what other details and premise ideas you could get from that monologue.

Initiating based on a monologue

There are four basic ways to initiate scenes in this improv form. All of these are valid, and it’s good to have a mix of them in a show. For the following explanations, we will focus on the tattoo-getting portion of the monologue.

A to A   (NAIL-ON THE HEAD): Initiating with a premise directly from the monologue/interview

You could initiate a scene in that tattoo parlor, as that tattoo artist, giving that tattoo.

A to B   (ONE STEP BEYOND): A premise that keeps some details but with a new setting/characters/etc.

You could initiate as a tattoo instructor teaching a “confusing tattoos” class

A to C   (ANALOGOUS PREMISE): Taking a core idea and bringing it to a completely different situation

You could take the idea of “making a regrettable, permanent decision” and initiate a scene at City Hall, where a person is trying to change their name to something that is clearly not going to be a good idea.

Organic (NO PREMISE): Using a detail to inspire a scene unrelated to the monologue / interview

You could take the detail “that guy was a giant” and use the idea of “giant” to initiate a scene involving basketball players or pro wrestlers that is otherwise not connected to the details or ideas from the monologue.

Look over the Monologue again and find another detail or anecdote that sticks out to you. To practice, try to come up with one of each type of initiation based on that detail or anecdote.