FOR IMPROV SHOWS, REHEARSALS AND WORKSHOPS
Plan it so you can wing it.
On show night, Sidewing runs everything around the scenes: what's on, what's next, what the audience suggested and what's on the big screen. The scenes are yours.
Nothing for your audience to download.
Projector screen
Tested at real shows with Awkward Actors, Oxford
Show night, the usual way
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“Who's free on the 17th?” is forty messages deep.
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The set list is three versions further down the same thread.
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The suggestions are on torn-up paper in somebody's hat.
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Someone's squinting at a list in the dark to see what's next.
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And a month later, nobody remembers what you played.
Sidewing puts it all in one place, so your eyes can stay on the stage.
SHOW NIGHT
Run the show from the wings
Your set list becomes the show. One person moves it on from the wings, or the host runs it from the stage, and everyone else gets on with the scenes.
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From the wings or from the stage
A producer's view for the wings and a host's view for the stage. Either can take control, and the other can say they're ready to move on.
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Any screens, in any mix
The producer on an iPad, the host on a phone, the big screen on a laptop. Nothing to install.
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A clock that tells the truth
How long this game's been going, and whether the night's running late or ahead.
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Ready for curtain up?
A checklist before the doors open, and a test run that keeps nothing.
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Helpers get a link, not a login
Send your moderator a link. It lasts 60 days, and you can switch it off any time.
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What's on, and what's next
The game, who's in it and how it's running for time, with a heads-up for who's on next.
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Nothing moves on by accident
After Next, the button waits three seconds, so a double tap can't skip a game. Back undoes a move for a minute.
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The big screen in your hand
See what the room sees. Tap a tile to draw again, or add one alongside. Check a draw on your phone first, if you like.
THE AUDIENCE
Bring the audience in
Put the QR code on the screen or on the tables. The audience sends suggestions from their phones, with no app and no sign-up.
See how audience suggestions work-
The audience sends it
Scan, type, send. Your audience is in the show in ten seconds.
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You check it
Approve or reject from the wings. Anything that looks dodgy is flagged for you.
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The room sees it
Draw one when the scene needs it and it lands on the big screen.
AROUND THE NIGHT
From the group chat to the curtain call
Show night is where Sidewing earns its keep. Here's everything around it.
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TWO WEEKS OUT
Who's in
One link asks the troupe: can you make it? Yes, Maybe or No from any phone, with no account. See everyone's answers in one place, then choose the cast.
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THE WEEK BEFORE
What's on
Build the set list on the date, from your own games and a shared library of over 300. Each game knows what to ask the audience for, so the night's suggestion boxes set themselves up.
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REHEARSAL
Play
Play now draws a game, a suggestion or both, for warm-ups and practice. What you practised is kept too.
Try Play now -
SHOW NIGHT
The night
The set list becomes the show, and the audience joins in.
Back to show night -
THE MORNING AFTER
What happened
What you played, the suggestions, how long each part ran and who was on. Copy it to the group chat. The approved suggestions are kept for next time.
Next month's show starts from this one.
Built for the stage and the studio
TRY IT NOW
Need a game or a suggestion right now?
Play now draws a game, a suggestion, or both. This is a small taste, with a few games from Sidewing's library.
PLAY NOW
Ready when you are
A small taste: twelve games and a few dozen suggestions. Some of the suggestions were generated, then reviewed by improvisers. They're labelled.
GAME ASK FOR PICK ONE Generated, reviewedWHERE IT'S HEADING
Early days, and plenty to come
Sidewing is in early testing with Awkward Actors in Oxford. Everything above works today. This is what's coming.
- Next
Your shows in your own calendar. The dates you're cast in, in the calendar on your phone, kept up to date.
- Later
Suggestions that know your town. The local pub, the bus that never comes, the roundabout everyone hates.
- Later
Secret cards dealt to phones. For games where each player needs to know something nobody else does.
- Later
More on the big screen. Polls, timers, and who's arrived.
- Later
Sound from the wings. Stings and music you can play without losing your place in the show.
- Later
Apps for iPhone, iPad and Android. Sidewing runs in the browser on any phone, tablet or computer today. Dedicated apps follow.
We only call a feature ready when it works on a real night.
MADE IN THE ROOM
Tested at real shows, not in a meeting room
Sidewing is built with Awkward Actors, an improv troupe in Oxford, at their shows and in their workshops. Every feature has to earn its place on a real night.
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suggestions from 17 phones in one night at Flo's Cafe
PLAYED AND TESTED AT
- Flo's Cafe
- The Library, Cowley Road
- The Tipsy Mercer, Abingdon
Want to try it with your troupe?
Sidewing is in early testing, so troupes join one at a time. Tell us a bit about yours.