Improv
A mystical art for goofy people.
Many skills are involved.
Knox College has an Improv Club. Come visit on Fridays from 4-6pm in the CFA!
Contents
Improv Skills
having energy
dare to take risks
adding new beats
and more.
Improv Tips & Tricks
If you are an improvisor, feel free to give us some of your tips or tricks!
Miscellaneous Tips & Tricks:
- Always come to improv with the highest energy level you can while still being as calm as possible.
- Committing to everything you say or do is approximately 25 times funnier than trying to make jokes.
- Don't just make jokes. Making a joke that doesn't advance the scene is called "gagging" because people focus more on your gags than the scene. It's about as appealing as it sounds. "Gagging".
Saving a Dying Scene
Coming soon-ish.
Here are some excellent tips from a site called the Green Light Improv Wiki (which no longer exists, unfortunately):
"Trust your imagination without doubt or question"
This is one of the best tips I have ever heard. When in doubt, always commit to the first thing that you can imagine. As an improvisor, always trust that you are brilliant and don't be afraid to make strong choices based on what is in your head. If you are given something that you don't know how to handle, your job is still to take it and run. Here's a quote: "Ignorance is okay, knowledge is okay, incompetence is okay. As soon as you get scared on stage, the audience gets scared."[1] Even if you have no idea what something is, the audience will love you for taking the first thing that you can imagine it might be and committing to that right away. It will stun them with how quick you are and they will love that you are so willing to jump right in to something you don't even understand just for their entertainment. Fake it until you make it.
"Treat everything your scene partner says as a gift -- especially -- if it's not what you would say"
In improv, not only do you have to remember that you are brilliant but also that your scene partners are brilliant. A good improvisor always makes their scene partner look like a genius. Their ideas are excellent and should be looked at as such; the audience will love you and your scene partners for supporting each other on stage.[2]
"Dare to suck big"
This is not a dick joke. Just put that out of your mind. This quote means that you should chill out and not worry about being "good" all the time. Always be excited to experiment in improv, even (maybe even especially) if it means you might be risking a big mistake. The only really good improvisors are the ones that are not afraid to embarrass themselves. Committing 100% to whatever you say or do is your armor onstage; as long as you are all-in you have already done more than any non-improvisor dares.
The Philosophy of Improv
Also coming soon.
Resources for Improvisors
Never stop reading this over and over: [3]
This guy has a great improv blog where you can learn a ton: [4]
Here are some improv podcasts by Matt Besser, who is a professional improvisor, and other guest improvisors. These may not be the best examples of improv (some of their scenes are not very good), but they occasionally end up doing some cool stuff: [5]
Buy Truth in Comedy and read it. This is considered to be the improv bible.
