Impro Thought of the Day: "Funny" doesn't mean "good improv."

Something to aim for accent-wise

Impro Thought of the Day: Listen!

Photo by Annelies van Dam

I've never heard of an impro scene going wrong because a player was listening too much. But not listening enough, breaks them all the time.

The Devil is in the Detail

Peter and Trista. Photo by Rick vd Meiden

When adding details in order to paint a scene, there are two ways to do it. One is to add lots of surface detail, the other is to add less but to go into more detail about them. The latter is by far the more interesting, especially when combined with adding personal information.

For example, Kurt has been taken into Herbert's library, and is being shown around...

"Here is a book on King Arthur; there's one here on throwing stones; another on the history of inside leg measurement; Mr Brown's Turnip Catalogue; Golf for Loose Women; and How I Ate a Panda for Breakfast."

This is all very delightfully free associative (if that's the expression) and quite amusing, but is it as interesting as...

"This book is 'Gardening Amongst the Gnomes.' It has a date on the first page and a tear on the corner near the back."

This is more interesting, and makes this book seem important, compared to all the ones merely listed above. The importance becomes monumental when when the details are made personal...

"This is my favourite book: 'Gardening Amongst the Gnomes.' This was the first book my father gave to me. It has a date on the first page – my 10th birthday – and tear on the corner near the back from a fight with my brother."

Now we know acres about Herbert. Obviously, we don't want this scene to be about the father or brother, but they were clearly important in Herbert's life and even if we don't see them later, they are embodied in this book. This information and this object will surely affect the scene and the relationship between the Herbert and Kurt. It certainly affects the relationship between Herbert and the book, and the library.

My point is that it is more interesting to paint in one detail than to lightly sketch the whole location. And if it's personal, well that's downright fascinating.

Whose Agreement is it Anyway?

When we learn improv we are taught to over-accept everything, even the smallest thing. We are taught to say "yes" to everything the other players say.

Very soon in our training we realise "saying 'yes'" is merely a convenient shorthand for "agreeing with the other player" and that occasionally to say "no" is the correct way to accept an offer.

"We're always arguing."
"No, we're not."

"Stop disobeying my orders and get off this ship."
"No!"

Often when "no" is the acceptance of an offer, it is due to the way the offer was made. Frequently, because it was in the form of a question expecting a negative answer.

"You've packed. Are you going to stay?"
"No, I'm leaving. That's why I packed."

This is another reason why a statement is better for passing information and making offers than a question.

Photo by Rick van der Meiden

Often it takes a while for it to really sink into an improviser's improv brain that the agreement is between the actors, not the characters. The characters can have different opinions and, in the hands of skilful improvisers, argue. But the actors should agree on what's going on. The "yes and" we talk about is not so much about the response to what the character says, as to what the actor wants.

Much of the confusion comes when improvisers play characters which are pretty much themselves, and the line between the words of the character and the wants of the actor is blurred.

The practical lessons from this aren't radical – avoid questions, play characters – but what it does remind us is that agreement in improv is not at the surface, i.e. at the verbal level, but deeper, between the actors. The core of any scene – the foundation upon which the magic of improv is it built – is that the players must agree as to what is going on.

Possible Venue for Edinburgh Fringe show

The Old Old Tavern, Doomton, Edinburgh

Your Improv Star Signs

Vaguarius the Vague Man	Something will happen to you at some point in the future. It will involve a loved-one, or someone you don’t know and involve an unspecified common house-hold object.
Nobuttie the Denier	Something wonderful will happen to your love life. No it won’t.
Cashproblemus the Shop Arguer	You will go into a shop but not have the correct change. You will get into an argument. The incident will end by you leaving having stolen the object you were trying to buy.
Dothis the Teacher	Someone you do not know will start doing everything you tell them. You keep telling, they keep doing. They can never get it right.
Lugless the Man With No Ears	Next week… Where are my horses?... Someone will… There they are.
The Nameless Man	You will meet someone you do not know. You will never know his or her name. And he or she will never know yours.
Pimpdaddius the Pimp	You will meet a man. he will make you sing and dance and recite poetry and try to stand on one leg and pretend to strip.
Didthat the Student	Someone you do not know will start telling you to do things. You will do them. They keep telling, you keep doing. You can never get it right.
Noway the Gagger	You will come into some money. No that’s not money, that’s cheese.