How to improv comedy?

Actors working together (Wix)

Responding to the internet’s most common improv question!

No, I’m not in a rush and I haven’t forgotten to use spell check. This round’s blog post is on ‘how to improv comedy’. Because, apparently people want to know.

‘How to improv comedy’ is one of the most common questions asked about improv on the world-wide webs.

And this is where I paused on answering. Because what I think is being asked for is a rule book, a hack, a secret. I am 100% sure that some improvisers have things they think of as rules or the secret to good improv. But I don’t. I think that thinking improv has rules in fact can hamper our development as improvisers, mostly because it puts us in our heads as well as defaulting us to judgement.

So what ideas can help us in our improv journeys?

Renewed purpose

Constantly being in our heads judging our ideas can take us away from our partner and finding fun in improvising. But approaching our improv with a learning mindset is important too. How can we balance those two things? To relish the fact that each scene is for one time only! Enjoy the creation, imperfections and all! Once a scene is over, reflect on what you want to work on and use that in the challenge for the next one!

Tools not rules

When you first try improv comedy, the games are simpler, and the exercises often focus on a specific skill so that you build confidence in those areas. I suppose these could be seen as rules or guides. However, if you try to only do scenes following those areas and judging ourselves based on those measures, we will never have fun and the audience probably wont enjoy it as much either. Instead see the ideas given in class as tools. Sometimes a concept might perfectly fit into a scene, and sometimes using a shoe as a hammer does the same job. Some scenes flow well without us focussing on a to-do list in our heads.

Listening

If there is one idea that more often than not helps our improv scenes it is the idea of listening. Seeing what is happening in the moment and how you/your scene partner/ the characters react. Thinking ahead often takes us away from the moment, and characters being in the moment is the most captivating moment for audiences to watch. Don’t judge or worry- by paying attention to what is happening right now, we bring the audience into discovery with us!

Make your partner look good

Related to listening, a certain magic happens when the ideas are not all from one person. If you build on the ideas of your scene partner and they do the same to you, the scene looks crafted. Focussing on this while in the scene will build a more beautiful scene than one you thought of in your head.

Find the fun

And finally, when we feel that there is a measure of good or bad, we are constantly judging everything we and our scene partners are doing. That is the quickest way to resent improv. Yes we are learning, and yes some choices give us funny places to take the scene, but judging does not easily coexist with playing. Choose to find the fun and have it.