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Improv!

The document discusses the topic of improvisation, including what it is, examples of improv in different domains like music, theater and comedy. It covers styles of improv theater like shortform and longform, pioneers in the field like Viola Spolin and Keith Johnstone, as well as popular improv theaters and troupes like The Second City, ComedySportz and The Groundlings.

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Katie Whelan
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222 views30 pages

Improv!

The document discusses the topic of improvisation, including what it is, examples of improv in different domains like music, theater and comedy. It covers styles of improv theater like shortform and longform, pioneers in the field like Viola Spolin and Keith Johnstone, as well as popular improv theaters and troupes like The Second City, ComedySportz and The Groundlings.

Uploaded by

Katie Whelan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Improvisation!

What is Improvisation?
To make something up or invent it as one goes
on; to proceed by guess rather than by a
careful plan. To invent or create something
quickly or without a plan; to wing it.
What can you Improvise?
Music!
Jazz musicians use improvisation in
their songs and solos.

Food!
Lots of great foods and recipes were
improvised by their creators, like
chocolate chip cookies.

Theatre!
Improvised Theatre
Improvised theatre, also known as improv, is when a
group of performers create original scenes and
characters on the spot.

The actors use new information or suggestions as the


basis of their sketches, which is provided by the
audience or another member of the group.

There are two main types of improv, shortform or


longform.
Shortform and Longform Improv
Shortform improv is made of short scenes around a
predetermined structure or game that are driven by
audience involvement.

Longform improv is a whole show of short scenes with


related characters, stories, or themes.
Examples of Improv
Whose Line is it Anyway? is a great example of
shortform improv. Some of their best know
skits include:
Scenes from a Hat
Irish Drinking Song
Party Quirks
Props
Where did Improv come from?
Improv draws from the theatrical traditions of
commedia dell’arte and clowning, and the ideal of
“living in the moment.” Improvisation was a large
part of Stanislavski’s system of acting training and
rehearsals.
However, improv as we know it today mainly comes
from teachers Viola Spolin and Keith Johnstone, who
transferred their theatre games from the classroom to
the public stage.
Spolin believed that every person can
learn to act and express creatively.
Spolin developed acting exercises or "games"
that unleashed creativity, adapting focused
"play" to unlock the individual's capacity for
creative self-expression.

Viola Spolin's use of recreational games in


theater came from her background with the
Works Progress Administration during the
Great Depression. -Wikipedia
Viola Spolin initially trained to be a settlement worker (from
1924–1927), studying at Neva Boyd's Group Work School in
Chicago.

Boyd's innovative teaching in the areas of group leadership, recreation,


and social group work strongly influenced Spolin, as did the use of
traditional game structures to affect social behavior in inner-city and
immigrant children.

While serving as drama supervisor for the Chicago branch of the Works
Progress Administration's Recreational Project (1939–1941), Spolin
perceived a need to create within the WPA drama program an easily
grasped system of theater training that could cross the cultural and ethnic
barriers of the immigrant children with whom she worked.
In 1946, Spolin founded the Young Actors Company in Hollywood.
Children six years of age and older were trained, through the medium of
the still developing Theater Games system, to perform in productions.

This company continued until 1955. Spolin returned to Chicago in 1955


to direct for the Playwright's Theater Club and, subsequently, to conduct
games workshops with the Compass Players, the country's first
professional improvisational acting company.

The Compass Players made theater history in America. It began in the


backroom of a bar near the University of Chicago campus in the summer
of 1955 and out of this group was born a new form: improvisational
theater. They are said to have created a radically new kind of comedy.
"They did not plan to be funny or to change the course of comedy", writes
Janet Coleman. "But that is what happened."
From 1960 to 1965, still in Chicago, she worked with her
son Paul Sills as workshop director for the Second City
Company and continued to teach and develop Theater
Games theory and practice.

As an outgrowth of this work, she published


Improvisation for the Theater, consisting of
approximately 220 games and exercises. It has become a
classic reference text for teachers of acting, as well as for
educators in other fields.
Spolin's Theater Games transform the teaching of
acting skills and techniques into exercises that are in
game forms.
•Each Theater Game is structured to give the players
a specific focus or technical problem to keep in mind
during the game, like keeping your eye on the ball in
a ball game.
•These simple, operational structures teach
complicated theater conventions and techniques.
•By playing the game the players learn the skill,
keeping their attention on the focus of the game,
rather than falling into self-consciousness or trying to
think up good ideas, from an intellectual source.
• The intention of giving the actor something on
which to focus is to help them to be in the present
moment, like a mantra in meditation. In this playful,
active state the player gets flashes of intuitive,
inspired choices that come spontaneously.

• The focus of the game keeps the mind busy in the


moment of creating or playing, rather than being in
the mind pre-planning, comparing or judging their
choices in the improvisation. The exercises are, as
one critic has written, "structures designed to almost
fool spontaneity into being."
Spolin’s games free us from
mechanical stilted behavior and
stimulate creative expression.

Five minute video background on Viola Spolin and her technique


http://www.spolin.com/

http://www.spolingamesonline.org/portfolio-items/viola-spolin-discusses-her-early-work/
6 minute video of Spolin discussing her early work
What are the rules?
There are no real formal rules to improv, but
here are some good tips to make sure that your
sketch will be great!

???????????
Guidelines for Improv
1. Never say ‘no’.
When you say ‘no,’ you shut down the whole scene by
denying the world you’re trying to create.

If your partner says “It certainly is a nice day to build a


sandcastle on the beach!” and you follow with “No, we
certainly picked the wrong day to fight aliens in space,”
the scene has no where to go.

Instead, you should say “Yes, and…” to continue the


scene and add more details.
Guidelines for Improv
2. Don’t try to “be funny.”
If you try to play funny to the audience, they will
know that you’re only looking for laughs and are
not invested in your scene.
If you concentrate on your
scene, trust your instincts,
and listen to your partners
the funny will come!
Guidelines for Improv
3. Always establish a location and include
lots of specific details!
By adding lots of concrete details to your scene,
you become invested in the scenarios and create
interesting characters and situations.

If you’re walking an out-of-control dog in the city


park, the situation will be a lot different if you are
in charge of a hot pink Chihuahua versus a lime
green Great Dane!
Where can I do Improv?
Improv can be done
anywhere if there is an
open space and willing
people!

But there are also


numerous theatres
which specialize in
improv throughout the
nation.
The Second City
The Second City is an improv
theatre located in Chicago,
Illinois.

The theatre was founded in


December 1959 by a group
of actors.

The Second City training


center began in the 1980s,
as the demand for classes in
all forms of comedy
increased.
The Second City
Besides the Chicago location, the Second City
has outposts in Hollywood and Toronto, as
well as a touring group.
Here are some great examples of Second City
Sketches:
Dr. Know-It-All
Sassy Gay Friend
Ricardo Montalban School of Fine Acting
Perma-Laque Hair Spray
ComedySportz
ComedySportz [CSz] is an organized network of
improv theatres throughout the nation. In 1984, CSz
was founded by a group of comedians in Milwaukee
Wisconsin.

Instead of presenting skits and sketches, CSz’s shows


are created by two teams of Actletes who compete in
games and scenes for audience approval. Just like real
sports, there are points and fouls awarded by the
referee who runs the game.
ComedySportz - Fouls

1. The Brown Bag


If an Actlete [or audience member] uses foul
language or crude references, they must wear
a brown bag over their head for the remainder
of the scene.
ComedySportz - Fouls

2. The Groaner
If an Actlete uses a joke bad enough to make the
audience groan, they loose one point unless they
can make a heartfelt apology to the audience.
ComedySportz - Fouls

3. Delay-of-Game
If the scene becomes uninteresting, a Delay-of-
Game foul is called. The Actletes are then given
15 seconds to make the scene interesting again,
or face ejection and point deduction.
ComedySportz
ComedySportz has groups in New York, Philadelphia,
Washington DC, Texas, Los Angeles, and even in
Manchester UK and Berlin Germany!

Here are some great examples of some CSz games:


185 Game
Five Things
Blind Freeze
The Groundlings
The Groundlings are an improv troupe based out of Los Angeles,
CA. The group has been active since it was founded in 1974.

The Groundlings School of Improvisation was founded in 1979,


teaching improv, sketch comedy, and comedy writing.
Now that you have the tools…
Ready?

Set?

Go Improvise!

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