EXiT 185 Improv Comedy

Ken Ferguson - EXiT 185 Improv Comedy

There is a surge in improv all over the country and rightly so.  It seems that improv is a way to slip artistic creativity “under the door” without pretension and intimidation.

Here are 5 simple reasons why you should take a class!

1.  There are “no rules” in improv.

This is a big one and comes with some debate.  Are there guidelines to increase the quality of improvisation?  Yes, but since you start with usually nothing more than a suggestion of some sort, you are limited only by your imagination.  You can’t break improv.  What a relief!

You are encouraged to be spontaneous without logic.

Say the first, second, or maybe third thing that comes to mind without judgment.  You are not crazy and it is a safe environment since everyone agrees there are no rules.

You are not alone.

Improv is not stand up. You don’t have to be “funny”.  You have other classmates that you create with and because there is no script you simply add your part “brick by brick”. 

You get to play and have fun.

Is there a valley girl dying to get out of you?  Ever want to be a grumpy old man who walked to school in the snow uphill, both ways?  The exercises and games that come with taking a class provide a way to explore some of the characters you have inside you. Come on, you CAN do it.

You practice active listening in a creative way.

Remember the mention of “no script”? Well, since there isn’t a script you are encouraged to listen to your classmates and they in turn listen to you.  Listening skills are so essential yet we don’t seem to have a steady practice of it in our regular lives; at least not without some sort of agenda. 

Improv has become more and more accessible and there are many dedicated and knowledgeable instructors out there ready to get you started.  If you are in my neck of the woods, give me a holler…or just post a comment.

I am an eighth grade English teacher. In the past year, I attended two different conferences on two different subjects in which the presenter recommended the book Mindset by Carol Dweck. It was available at my local library, so I thought I’d give it a try.

I started reading with an educator’s eye, but the further I got, the more my mind started drawing comparisons to my interest in improvisation. The author explains that there are two basic mindsets—fixed and growth. If you have a fixed mindset, you see your skills and intelligence as things you can’t change. If you have a growth mindset, you believe you can improve your skills and intelligence, and you see criticism is an opportunity to better yourself.

How does this apply to improv? I completed a four-course improvisational theater program through The Torch Theatre in Phoenix. After graduation I joined several troupes, with whom I rehearse and perform regularly. I’ve had some awful shows and some great ones, but I feel that ever since I took my final Torch class my skills have steadily declined. I need feedback to know that I am learning and growing as an improviser.

Will there ever be a point at which I can’t learn anything more from an improv class? Maybe, but I have a growth mindset, so the more classes I take and the more feedback I get, the more I learn about life. Taking these classes improved my acting, public speaking, and job skills; how can I ever have too much of that?

My suggestions to you are: One, read this book. Two, take an(other) improv class. At the very least, you’ll learn some things about yourself. At the most, you’ll fall in love with it and become a life-long student of improv.