Improvisation What is Improvisation To make something up

Improvisation!

What is Improvisation? To make something up or invent it as one goes on; to proceed by guess rather than by a careful plan. To invent or create something quickly or without a plan; to wing it.

What can you Improvise? Music! Jazz musicians use improvisation in their songs and solos. Food! Lots of great foods and recipes were improvised by their creators, like chocolate chip cookies. Theatre!

Improvised Theatre Improvised theatre, also known as improv, is when a group of performers create original scenes and characters on the spot. The actors use new information or suggestions as the basis of their sketches, which is provided by the audience or another member of the group. There are two main types of improv, shortform or longform.

Shortform and Longform Improv Shortform improv is made of short scenes around a predetermined structure or game that are driven by audience involvement. Longform improv is a whole show of short scenes with related characters, stories, or themes.

Examples of Improv Whose Line is it Anyway? is a great example of shortform improv. Some of their best know skits include: Scenes from a Hat Irish Drinking Song Party Quirks Props

Where did Improv come from? Improv draws from theatrical traditions of commedia dell’arte and clowning, and the ideal of “living in the moment. ” Improvisation was a large part of Stanislavski’s system of acting training and rehearsals. However, improv as we know it today mainly comes from teachers Viola Spolin and Keith Johnstone, who transferred their theatre games from the classroom to the public stage.

Spolin believed that every person can learn to act and express creatively.

Spolin developed acting exercises or "games" that unleashed creativity, adapting focused "play" to unlock the individual's capacity for creative selfexpression. Viola Spolin's use of recreational games in theater came from her background with the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression. -Wikipedia

Viola Spolin initially trained to be a settlement worker (from 1924– 1927), studying at Neva Boyd's Group Work School in Chicago. Boyd's innovative teaching in the areas of group leadership, recreation, and social group work strongly influenced Spolin, as did the use of traditional game structures to affect social behavior in inner-city and immigrant children. While serving as drama supervisor for the Chicago branch of the Works Progress Administration's Recreational Project (1939– 1941), Spolin perceived a need to create within the WPA drama program an easily grasped system of theater training that could cross the cultural and ethnic barriers of the immigrant children with whom she worked.

In 1946, Spolin founded the Young Actors Company in Hollywood. Children six years of age and older were trained, through the medium of the still developing Theater Games system, to perform in productions. This company continued until 1955. Spolin returned to Chicago in 1955 to direct for the Playwright's Theater Club and, subsequently, to conduct games workshops with the Compass Players, the country's first professional improvisational acting company. The Compass Players made theater history in America. It began in the backroom of a bar near the University of Chicago campus in the summer of 1955 and out of this group was born a new form: improvisational theater. They are said to have created a radically new kind of comedy. "They did not plan to be funny or to change the course of comedy", writes Janet Coleman. "But that is what happened. "

From 1960 to 1965, still in Chicago, she worked with her son Paul Sills as workshop director for the Second City Company and continued to teach and develop Theater Games theory and practice. As an outgrowth of this work, she published Improvisation for the Theater, consisting of approximately 220 games and exercises. It has become a classic reference text for teachers of acting, as well as for educators in other fields.

Spolin's Theater Games transform the teaching of acting skills and techniques into exercises that are in game forms. • Each Theater Game is structured to give the players a specific focus or technical problem to keep in mind during the game, like keeping your eye on the ball in a ball game. • These simple, operational structures teach complicated theater conventions and techniques. • By playing the game the players learn the skill, keeping their attention on the focus of the game, rather than falling into selfconsciousness or trying to think up good ideas, from an intellectual source.

• The intention of giving the actor something on which to focus is to help them to be in the present moment, like a mantra in meditation. In this playful, active state the player gets flashes of intuitive, inspired choices that come spontaneously. • The focus of the game keeps the mind busy in the moment of creating or playing, rather than being in the mind pre-planning, comparing or judging their choices in the improvisation. The exercises are, as one critic has written, "structures designed to almost fool spontaneity into being. "

Spolin’s games free us from mechanical stilted behavior and stimulate creative expression.

What are the rules? There are no real formal rules to improv, but here are some good tips to make sure that your sketch will be great! ? ? ?

Guidelines for Improv 1. Never say ‘no’. When you say ‘no, ’ you shut down the whole scene by denying the world you’re trying to create. If your partner says “It certainly is a nice day to build a sandcastle on the beach!” and you follow with “No, we certainly picked the wrong day to fight aliens in space, ” the scene has no where to go. Instead, you should say “Yes, and…” to continue the scene and add more details.

Guidelines for Improv 2. Don’t try to “be funny. ” If you try to play funny to the audience, they will know that you’re only looking for laughs and are not invested in your scene. If you concentrate on your scene, trust your instincts, and listen to your partners the funny will come!

Guidelines for Improv 3. Always establish a location and include lots of specific details! By adding lots of concrete details to your scene, you become invested in the scenarios and create interesting characters and situations. If you’re walking an out-of-control dog in the city park, the situation will be a lot different if you are in charge of a hot pink Chihuahua versus a lime green Great Dane!

Where can I do Improv? Improv can be done anywhere if there is an open space and willing people! But there also numerous theatres which specialize in improv throughout the nation.

The Second City is an improv theatre located in Chicago, Illinois. The theatre was founded in December 1959 by a group of actors. The Second City training center began in the 1980 s, as the demand for classes in all forms of comedy increased.

The Second City Besides the Chicago location, the Second City has outposts in Hollywood and Toronto, as well as a touring group. Here are some great examples of Second City Sketches: Dr. Know-It-All Sassy Gay Friend Ricardo Montalban School of Fine Acting Perma-Laque Hair Spray

Comedy. Sportz [CSz] is an organized network of improv theatres throughout the nation. In 1984, CSz was founded by a group of comedians in Milwaukee Wisconsin. Instead of presenting skits and sketches, CSz’s shows are created by two teams of Actletes who compete in games and scenes for audience approval. Just like real sports, there are points and fouls awarded by the referee who runs the game.

Comedy. Sportz - Fouls 1. The Brown Bag If an Actlete [or audience member] uses foul language or crude references, they must wear a brown bag over their head for the remainder of the scene.

Comedy. Sportz - Fouls 2. The Groaner If an Actlete uses a joke bad enough to make the audience groan, they loose one point unless they can make a heartfelt apology to the audience.

Comedy. Sportz - Fouls 3. Delay-of-Game If the scene becomes uninteresting, a Delayof-Game foul is called. The Actletes are then given 15 seconds to make the scene interesting again, or face ejection and point deduction.

Comedy. Sportz has groups in New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Texas, Los Angeles, and even in Manchester UK and Berlin Germany! Here are some great examples of some CSz games: 185 Game Five Things Blind Freeze

The Groundlings are an improv troupe based out of Los Angeles, CA. The group has been active since it was founded in 1974. The Groundlings School of Improvisation was founded in 1979, teaching improv, sketch comedy, and comedy writing.

Now that you have the tools…

Ready? Set? Go Improvise!