Guiding Principles

Keep It Real – Try to stick with recognizable human behavior and situations; avoid the fantastic or ‘funny’ premise. Susan Messing, of the ImprovOlympic says, “Do it because it’s fun, not funny”. Even in a silly cartoonish scene, the behavior should be motivated, consistent and real within its context. Believe you are your character (not caricature) and the audience will believe in you – then they’re interested and invested in the scene, so you don’t have to hold their attention with a joke, prat fall or profanity every 5 seconds.

Keep It Smart – Avoid going blue, selling out for a joke, or pandering to the audience. The late and great Del Close of Second City once said, “Don’t deny your partner’s reality. Accept and build on what your partner initiates. Don’t become mired in storytelling. Play at the top of your intelligence”. Anyone can do this. Bring yourself to the work – your own uniqueness, experiences, opinions and knowledge; your own perspective. Play to the top of your intelligence at all times.. Frank Borst says, “Do not try to become part of their world. Invite them instead, to become a part of yours”.

Work as a Group – Utilize the talents of your teammates and enjoy sharing the spotlight with them. Find your role. Individual brilliance only takes you so far…the sight of a number of people working toward a common goal is, sharing a group mind, giving and taking, making each other look good is exhilarating to the audience. Doug Diefenbach says, “Improv demonstrates how teamwork, trust and support can make something wonderful out of absolutely nothing”.

Within the Scene

Observe and Listen – The most basic and most neglected skill. Don’t miss a thing and remember what you experience. Listen for intention, inflection, subtext and emotion. Ben Jonson says, “Weigh the meaning and look not at the words”.

Get Out of Your Head – The scene consists of what the audience experiences not what you were trying to do in your head. Be prepared to drop or change ideas, premise, catch lines the second a scene evolves.

Have an Objective – A character needs a driving force that is related to other scene partners. Hang on to your want until you are forced to change. Peter Gwynn of ImprovOlympic says, “Be specific and take everything personally on stage. Stick to your want”.

Avoid Negativity – It’s unpleasant to watch a group that has problems with each other. Show us characters that want to be together or at least resigned to their situations. Let animosity be a subtext. If there is a conflict, the stakes must be huge. Be passionate, not passive aggressive. If there is conflict do not waste time trying to solve it – make it worse. Raise the stakes.

Right Here, Right Now – Be in the present not in the theoretical, philosophical, past or future.

Busy Be – Have a consistent activity that is active. Avoid ‘talking heads’ scenes. Show us don’t tell us.

Location, Location, Location – The ‘where’ is the most neglected of the Three Spheres (Who What, Where). Show us where the scene takes place. Location will help you communicate clearly to your partners and the audience.

What’s My Motivation? – Convey your message through activity. If you are mad it’s clearer to be mad as you are flipping burgers. Emotion is shown in how you do something rather than purely directed towards an individual. Motive is the soda, activity is the straw.

Who Are You? – Have a PED (Physicality, Emotion and Desire) before you enter a scene and then be prepared to drop it if/when your partner bestows you with a persona. This state is your grounding and tells you how to respond.

Presenting Gifts – Tell your partner definitive information about their character or situation. Susan Messing of ImprovOlympic says, “Specificity kills ambiguity”. Accept what is presented to you. The facts always remain the same.

Initiation

Contact! – Make sure your partner can see and hear you.

Definition - Avoid pronouns.

KISS – Keep It So Simple – Lay down a building block and believe your partner will respond with another.

Find The Game

You Make The Rules – The game is what you and your partner agree upon while you are creating a scene. Mistakes or perceived errors are huge gifts that become the rules of a scene. If a player stutters that may become the game within the scene. Miles Davis, the famous jazz musician said, “Do not fear mistakes. There are none”. A pattern starts as an activity that is replicated, repeated and then broken. When in doubt, do it again.

Theme

The Big Picture - Vision is great and gets easier the more you play. Simplify is you tend to plan too much – get out of your head and into the moment. Remember there are NO ABSOLUTES just guiding principles. J.C. Aevaliotis says, “All improvisational theatre is based on envisioning new possibilities”. Once the principles are mastered they can be broken…not before.

Have An Attitude – Always plan on having fun and do whatever it takes to create that type of environment for your partners. It’s not your director’s charge to entertain or even motivate you. You must take responsibility for yourself. No excuses.

Paul Bellos of www.ideaprov.com compiled these notes from Craig Kackowski and a variety of improv gurus across North America. For more on theatrical or leadership development, go to their web site.