The next generation of cosplay skit challenges has arrived! In Improvise This!, teams of two to four cosplayers compete to see who can put together the best four-minute skit in less than an hour based on rules they won’t know until the day of the competition. Contestants will be given one theme (say, adventure or comedy), one requirement (maybe they’ll have to incorporate a stuffed penguin plush into their skits), and one forbidden action (perhaps points off for not entering and exiting the stage backwards). Then they’ll have less than 60 minutes to write and rehearse the best cosplay skit of their lives and wow our panel of four judges with their awesome skills of improvisation and entertainment.

Oh, and did we mention: one of the four judges is the viewing audience?

So come witness convention history as some of the best cosplayers around battle it out for amazing prizes and eternal glory, and cheer your favorites on to victory!

Improvise This!
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Live Two
1pm - 3pm

How to be a Contestant

• Apply to be a Contestant
• Contestant Selection
• Check In
• Orientation and Performances
• The Judges
• The Scoring
• The Standard Rules
• The Special Rules
• The Prizes
• Tips For Improving Your Performance and Maximizing Your Score
• Questions?

Apply to be a Contestant

***ALL SPOTS ARE FILLED!*** Please check in at 1pm in Live Two on Katsucon Saturday for any openings that become available.

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Contestant Selection

We only have time for about eight teams to participate, so get your entries in early. Once your entry is received and processed, you'll receive an e-mail confirming your slot. We'll also keep a list of alternate teams in case any of the first eight are no-shows. Open spots, if any, will be available for sign-ups at the start of the show.

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Check In

Improvise This! will take place on Katsucon Saturday, from 1pm until 3pm, in Live Two. Teams must show up on time and check in with the host by 1:10pm. At 1:10pm, any teams that haven't checked in will be disqualified and their slots will be released to alternate teams.

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Orientation and Performances

Contestant orientation will begin at 1:15pm and last just 5 or 10 minutes. We'll introduce the judges, review the rules, and go over the scoring.

Orientation is also where we'll announce the "special rules" that won't be revealed ahead of time.

Following orientation, you'll have a set amount of time to write and rehearse your skits--probably no more than 45 minutes depending on how quickly orientation goes. You're free to remain in the room to write and rehearse, or you can find somewhere else to do it. You're also free to leave and come back, but make sure you're back at the appointed time because teams will be called to perform in random order.

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The Judges

Three judges (to be announced) will be watching your every move and scoring you based on your team's creativity, performance talent, and improvisation skills.

The fourth judge is the viewing audience whose applause and cheers at the end of your performance will dictate part of your score.

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The Scoring

Each judge will grade your performance on the following criteria:

• Creativity. How is your performance different from every other cosplay skit the judges have seen? How creatively does your skit fulfill the theme and special requirement?
• Execution. Normally you'd have hours or days to rehearse. With under an hour to put the whole thing together, the judges will be looking to see how well you execute the final product under pressure.
• Showmanship. How entertaining and appealing is your performance to the judges and the audience?

A "perfect" performance would receive 100 points. Here's the breakdown of how points are distributed by judge and scoring criteria:

	Judge #1	Judge #2	Judge #3	Audience
Creativity	__ / 10	__ / 10	__ / 10	__ / 10 based on audience applause
Execution	__ / 10	__ / 10	__ / 10
Showmanship	__ / 10	__ / 10	__ / 10

Any penalties assessed against your performance (for violating a standard or special rule) will be taken off your total score after summing all of the judges' individual scores.

Ties for first place will be decided by a second audience vote.

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The Standard Rules

1. Be on time or be disqualified!
2. The judges' and host's decisions are final.
3. Important: All contestants must be in costume. A sign on your back that says "Naruto" makes you a loser, not Naruto. Generic costumes (e.g. ninja, ballerina, monkey) are fine, as are original characters that are clearly costumes.
4. All team members must perform. No dedicated stage hands, sound effect artists, or tech crew.
5. Each team's performance is limited to four minutes total. Practice your timing, because each second you go over four minutes costs your team a point off of your total score, up to a maximum of 30 points off. If your performance runs over by more than 30 seconds, you will be cut off! You don't need to use the whole four minutes; your performance could be three minutes or one minute or even thirty seconds!
6. Your performance starts when the first of your team members or props sets foot on the stage and finishes when the last of them exits. Make sure the stage is clear when you finish or the timer will keep ticking!
7. Keep your performance PG or below, please! Swearing, excessive violence, and offensive or adult material will disqualify your performance.

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The Special Rules

During the contestant orientation, we'll reveal three special rules you'll need to keep in mind while preparing your skit: one theme, one requirement, and one forbidden action.

The Theme. Part of your creativity and execution scores will be based on how well you meet the theme. There's no point in preparing a skit before the show because this theme could be anything, such as:

• Horror
• Action
• Comedy
• Something else!

The Requirement. Another part of your creativity scores will depend on how your team decides to fulfill a very specialized requirement that won't be revealed until the orientation. It could be anything, maybe even:

• You must make use of the host's favorite stuffed bunny in your performance.
• Someone must say "That's hot" during your performance.
• You must include a shameless product promotion in your performance.
• Something else!

The Forbidden Action. These won't figure into your score, but if we catch your team committing this forbidden action during your performance, you'll lose a point off the top of your score each time it happens. The forbidden action could be anything. For example, we might say you can't...

• ...exit the stage unless you're moonwalking.
• ...say the word "because" during your entire performance.
• ...raise your hands above your head.
• Something else!

Of course we won't pick any of the examples above for the real show... or will we?

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The Prizes

The team that scores the most points will walk away with the highly coveted Improvise This! trophies, one for each team member. The team that scores the fewest points will be fed to our hungry judges.

Other prizes may be awarded at the whim of the judges and the host. (Caution: Watch for flying Pocky.)

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Tips For Improving Your Performance and Maximizing Your Score

• The audience score will probably decide who finishes first and who just slips into second. Try to make sure your performance appeals to a wide variety of otaku. This doesn't mean you can't cosplay characters from less popular series, but you'll need to make sure that you still entertain everyone.
• If you want sound for your performance, bring a portable, battery operated CD player and plan to operate it yourself. No need to pre-record your speech; the event is held in Live Two, so people will be able to hear you if you speak loudly.
• You can bring and use your own props.
• While there's not much you can do to prepare ahead of the orientation, you'll want to make sure you have a plan for what to do once orientation finishes. You might want to bring some paper and pens or a laptop to scrawl out some scripts.

Questions?

Please contact programming@katsucon.org with any questions about Improvise This! Include "Improvise This!" in your e-mail's subject line.

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