Hints and Tips and Personal Approaches, Oh My!

Once again I turned to the experts for help and asked them just how
do they do what they do. And here's what they said:

Error 404 - Cult of the Stage Monkey

Never think anything is too stupid or insane to do on stage. Don't be corny. Lay off the subjects that are being made fun of in media (no Clinton stuff, it gets no laughs). Don't try to "one-up" your improv partners. Try to get them to one-up you instead if you want to get crazier, this way both people are comfortable with the way the scene is going. At least this is all the stuff I write on the back of my hand before every show.

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Anita - Comedy Helper (Denver, Colorado)

My personal approach to improv is to find a group of people who I can trust - who won't let me look stupid on stage. Then I remember that they are trusting me to do the same for them, so I try not to suck. And I try to play along with whatever the others hand me. It's when I can do that well that the show has magic.

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Matthew R. Krevat -Raleigh's Village Idiots

Don't plan anything. Don't expect anything. Just be in the moment, and be with your fellow players. Performing a scene is like knitting a quilt. Every stitch counts, and you can't ignore what anyone else is doing. If you all work together, you'll make art.

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Randy Tennison - Funny Outfit

Try not to suck. I spent about a year playing keyboards for Funny Outfit, and did not get a lot of stage time. So, now that I am getting back on stage, my skills are very rusty. I am having to look at a scene in a whole new way. During the year, I looked to the emotion of the scene, and found fitting music for it. Now, I have to look at the characters, emotion, plot, etc. It's alot harder.

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Stu - The Brothers Grinn

Have fun with it. Enjoy it. And surround yourself with a good people (notice I didn't say "good improvisers").

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R. Kevin Doyle - Loose Screws (Honolulu, HI)

I let go of everything. One of the biggest influences on my performing is the book Zen and the Art of Archery. In this book, the writer discusses how the arrow, the target, the archer, the bow, the air between the archer and the target, etc, are all part of a system, not discreet objects. Thus, the archer does not shoot the arrow, the event of the arrow shooting just happens. The best archers allow themselves to be part of the system without trying to control the system. However, I believe in order to achieve this level of mastery, the archer needs to learn the basics of archery. This zen goal of becoming part of a system is the ultimate goal of every archer, though not every archer reaches it. My ultimate goal as an improviser is to become part of the system, to serve the story or the scene, effortlessly.

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Jared "Shaggy" Brustad - Funny Outfit

I try not to drink a lot of coffee before a show.

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Trish Berrong - Funny Outfit

Keep it smart. Listen. Share. Don't take it too seriously, but treat it like art. And do whatever it takes to keep it from turning into work.

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D. Denton Turley - Funny Outfit

Play it real and the comedy will follow. Don't force things. There is a timing in improv (as is in life) that if you try to do something too fast it won't work, and this is part of the discipline of improv. Improvisation is like a martial art, a performer learns skills doing short form that may not make sense to them at the time, but when they learn long form it all becomes clear how these "skills" help them in serve the piece better.

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Bob Kennedy

..."You're not really in the water unless you're in over your head!"

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Shaun Landry - Oui Be Negroes

Pull down your pants and slide down the ice. Just make sure you apply that with basic theatre skills (being heard, being seen, etc).

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Matt Chiappardi - Mixed Signals

I learned improv as a theatrical art form in college. I was taught by a guy named Neal Newman to do improv from the Keith Johnstone point of view. Then I attended a week-long workshop with Keith Johnstone outside Philadelphia. So I approach it from the Keith Johnstone point of view. Basing things in truth and reality in a subtle creative childlike way. However, I don't think I've nearly gotten close to getting it down yet.

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Roger Winn - Comedy Helper (Denver, Colorado - "Where everything is funny because there's no oxygen.")

To me improv is acting. Improvisers are actors (some may not want to admit it, and some "legit" actors may not want to admit it, either.) When we audition for our group, the people who consistently get high marks are those whose resumes also include a smattering of 'formal' theatre. Of course there are those who do well without any of that theatre stuff, but they are in the minority.

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Paul Killam

• Story first.
  
• Any opportunity for it not to be funny should be savored.
  
• Bring your experience to bear on the scene.
  
• Go man, go!
  

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"Devil" Andrew Currie - Improv Heaven and H*ll

Over time improvisers find a starting point to their work, that first thing they think of when the lights go down before a scene. My starting point is emotion.

For those starting out, I'd say take all the classes you can, but supplement that with an equal amount of stage time in front of an audience. Experience is as important as instruction.

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Colin Mochrie - Whose Line is it Anyway?

My tip to improvisers is to do it as much as you can. It really is a muscle that constantly needs toning. You get rusty very quickly. . . . just go out there and playoff what the other improvisers are doing. Also see as much improv as you can. See what works and what doesn't and why.

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Brad Sherwood - Whose Line is it Anyway?

Listen, listen, listen!

React to what is going on around you. Don't ignore your partner and get caught up in your head trying to think of something funny. Improv is the comedy of watching people react and adjust to what they've just heard.

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Wayne Brady
(right, with fellow improviser Greg Proops) - Whose Line is it Anyway?

My advice is to be open to everything in a scene. Learn to tell a story before you go for the gag. The laughter is icing. Always accept offers when they are given to you and then top them. And have fun and be playful. You can't take it too seriously.

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