{"id":1868,"date":"2018-06-06T16:39:12","date_gmt":"2018-06-06T15:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/?post_type=resource&p=1868"},"modified":"2020-02-10T15:29:52","modified_gmt":"2020-02-10T15:29:52","slug":"about-improv","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/about-improv-comedy.html","title":{"rendered":"About Improv"},"content":{"rendered":"

Improv<\/a> (also known as Impro, Improvised Comedy or Improvisation) is the art of spontaneously acting and reacting to the other actor in the moment to create comedy or theatre from scratch.<\/p>\n

In the theatre improv usually takes the form of actors turning audience suggestions into totally spontaneous and unrehearsed scenes, games, stories and sketches.<\/p>\n

The result of improvisation is sometimes serious but usually comic. The actors don’t have to be clever or funny, which seems counter-intuitive when compared to the result. It is more important to be present in the moment and to listen to the other actors so that the comedy and entertainment happens as side effect of collaboration and spontaneity.<\/p>\n

Improvisation is the ultimate team game, with actors working together, listening to each other and building on each other\u2019s ideas to create whole new stories and scenes in the moment.<\/p>\n

It offers a chance to relax and drop your defenses in a safe and positive environment and to really be yourself on stage.<\/p>\n

We improvise all the time in real life; we don’t plan every conversation and interaction that is going to happen to us over the day. Many of the best bits of life are totally spontaneous, and this is what we try to recreate on stage.<\/p>\n

There are hundreds of different games, formats, styles and\u00a0techniques and it’s exciting to explore as many of these as possible.<\/p>\n

\n

Foundations of Impro<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n

There are many different techniques in impro but we\u2019ve found it\u2019s best to always bring it back to the following simple points, which we first learnt from John Cremer from The Maydays:<\/span><\/p>\n

Listen:<\/strong>\u00a0listening and seeing others on stage instead of trying to plan too much in advance or control the scene.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Say Yes:<\/strong>\u00a0accepting and building on the ideas and offers of other actors and letting things happen.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Commit:\u00a0<\/strong>going for it, going for the first idea, the most obvious idea and letting yourself be free and spontaneous.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This all helps to create an environment in which actors can be themselves in the present moment and spontaneously do the first thing that comes to their head.<\/span><\/p>\n

Together actors can then define a platform of where they are, who they are and what they are doing, create new characters and relationships, and build on each offer line by line to expand a scene, escalate the action and behaviour, and reincorporate details to tell a complete story. Mistakes are justified and woven in as if they belonged there all along. In fact, there are no mistakes because everything is accepted.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a very fun and playful form of acting with lots of laughs!<\/span><\/p>\n

We first teach these skills in our Level 1 Beginners Improv Course<\/a> and their practice continues through all levels all the way into performing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Additional Improv Skills<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n

In addition to the foundations of improv above it can also be helpful to learn things like Character, Storytelling, Game of the Scene, Emotions, Relationships, Being Obvious, Status, Platforms, Justification and more.<\/span><\/p>\n

Also things like Clowning, Sketch Writing, Voice, Movement and general acting skills can be very helpful for impro.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Types of Impro<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n

There are many different types of impro performance, and many actors perform more than one style. So there is a cross-over and you don\u2019t have to limit yourself to one style. At our London improv theatre<\/a>\u00a0we try to showcase a range of different improv styles each night.<\/span><\/p>\n

Short Form:\u00a0<\/strong>A performance of shorter games and scenes based on multiple audience suggestions, similar in style to the TV show \u2018Whose Line is it Anyway?\u2019. Quite a common place to start performing impro and lots of fun. We teach this in our Level 2 Performance Course<\/a> where you get to perform for the first time.
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Scenes: <\/strong>Actors improvising self-contained scenes and sketches that don\u2019t necessarily form part of an overall narrative. We teach these throughout all levels at Hoopla as scenes are the foundation of all improv, but we especially teach them in our Level 3 Scenes Course<\/a>.
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Long Form:\u00a0<\/strong>Actors improvising multiple scenes from just one suggestion or from a longer opening, sometimes using structures like The Harold, Deconstruction, Cat\u2019s Cradle, Armando, Assscat or Montage. The scenes may connect together to form ongoing patterns and themes, but they don\u2019t have to. We first teach this in our Level 4 Long-Form Course<\/a> and then various long-form formats in our Level 5<\/a> courses.
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Narrative Impro: <\/strong>Improvising multiple scenes that form one ongoing story, sometimes using a narrative structure like The Hero\u2019s Journey or The Story Spine. This style of show results in an improvised play or improvised movie. Sometimes they use a narrator, sometimes not. We teach this in our Improvised Narrative Course<\/a>.
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Improvised Theatre: <\/strong>Actors improvise a full length play where the story is found emotional by pursuing and deepening relationships on stage. We teach this in our Improvised Theatre Course<\/a>.<\/p>\n

TheatreSports:\u00a0<\/strong>Teams perform scenes in friendly competition. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Musical Impro: <\/strong>Actors improvising an entire musical based on audience suggestions, like narrative impro with singing.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Playback:\u00a0<\/strong>A director takes truthful, genuine stories from the audience and sometimes interviews them in depth, and the actors perform these stories back to the audience. These shows can sometimes be more serious than other impro and are often used in drama therapy.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Solo: <\/strong>There are a growing number of solo performers improvising, although the shows aren\u2019t necessarily called impro shows. Jinni Lyons, Rob Broderick and Jonathan Kay are good examples.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

There are also loads of other formats popping up all the time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Improv can be anything you want. There are no set styles or formats for improvising, it\u2019s a highly experimental and rapidly changing art form.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hoopla Improv’<\/a>s next improv classes<\/a> are starting next month and we have shows every night of the week at our improv theatre<\/a>.
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