There was only one thing I wanted at all times, and insisted on: that you go ahead and talk in the most natural way, in your situations. Don’t give me puns. Don’t give me jokes. No wisecracks.

Life is too serious to do farce comedy.

- Buster Keaton

I’m not here to pass judgment on comedians, quick-witted, or fast-paced improv, one-liners that bring the house down. That would be like a painter that looked down on drawing, watercolors, and sculpting for not being painting.

Whether you are doing scenes or playing improv “games” you can tell a story. Honoring and holding to the truth of that world and characters can produce comedy, drama, and any nuance in between. I love the magic that comes from this kind of shared storytelling. In this style of the art of improvisation gagging – puns, jokes, and wisecracks just shatter the reality and kill the story. It’s like throwing clay onto the canvas of the painter. (Mixed-medium artists – please forgive the analogy).

My favorite moments are the ones when the actors don’t know the moments are funny until after they happen because they are simply doing the next obvious thing in their world.

What are your thoughts? Share them in a comment blow.

An artist who knows what he wants to do never said, ‘I want to express myself.’ He wants to do what he loves. For years that may mean imitation. Then, one day, it is like a door opening, and a new thought comes in. Why not try this instead. Suddenly he is doing something original, almost in spite of himself. Even at this point he does not give up being influenced by what he loves, by the music that has made him a musician. Rather, he uses it in the light of his recent discovery. He makes it his own. This is a wonderful English expression that exists in no other language I know: ‘to make something one’s own.

I’ve never heard of someone saying to himself, ‘I want to write a letter, but to whom should I write? What should I write?

With improvisation we begin with learning exercises and games from someone. Then you repeat them in various forms and then find small changes along the way as we play them. Eventually the day comes when you invent, combine, mix, mash-up, reduce, expand or in some way change a game by intention or my accident and discover something new.

Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds,bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent.

And don’t bother concealing your thievery–celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: ‘It’s not where you take things from–it’s where you take them.’”

We are the sum of our experience bring ourselves to the co-creation. Even when we are working alone we are in collaboration with authors, teachers, friends and colleagues from our lives.

Take the things you learn. Try it out. Change it. Make it your own.

I learned improv from many wonderful improvisers as coaches and peers. Where I can I try to pass along the chain of attribution to help preserve the shared history and impart it to others.

What are your thoughts? Share them in a comment below.

First, we decided to do a Film Noir Jazz Opera with no spoken dialogue. I was really excited to do it and it was a big risk having all of those elements. So, I was a little more nervous than normal.

The second reason is that I grabbed the wrong pants. The wrong pants, because  they were too small and when I put them on I started worrying that I would pop the button on them. So that was on my mind right up until we went on. That amount of extra distraction was enough to make my volume low for the first few scenes.

It all turned out well in the end, and we had a great performance and a lot of fun. But, it was the most nervous I had been in a long time. The next week, I had the right pants and things were back to a nice normal amount of nervous.

Your thoughts?

This experience got me wondering – what makes you nervous before shows? Do you get nervous? Write your story in the comments below.

7 key elements that you learn in improv that help you tell a story to your kids.

Tell them before bed, driving in a car, anywhere. Kids love stories.

1. Use the story spine

You cannot fail with this. Use it as a framwork but feel free to move away from it.

Once upon a time….
And Everyday….
Until One Day…..
Because of that….(at least 3)
Until Finally…..
And Ever Since That Day…

2. Dare to Fail

My goodness, do not worry about your story being good. You are communicating with a toddler. You are already their hero, in their eyes, you cannot fail. By sitting there close to your kid and talking that is already a win-win situation.

3. Don’t worry about making sense – Leap into storytelling

Say something, anything, what’s in your brain, use what’s around you, and the story will follow.

4. Color and Move on

If you are stuck, start describing the scene, talk about the pirate, how he has dark green eyes that flash gold when he’s angry. When someone is bad, they are really, really bad and give an example of how bad they are. “When Cranky Frank started yelling, even the astronauts on the moon heard him!”

5. Tell stories you want to hear/tell

I have followed the advice that my friend Rebecca told me when I asked her advice on teaching improv to kids. She told me that kids have amazing bullshit detectors, teach what you like. They will see right through you and then eat you. Same goes for storytelling. Tell something that delights you. I sometimes find myself giggling at the very story I am telling.

6. Have same characters in different adventures/Repetition is your friend!

An easy cheat is to use the same characters in different stories. We have a favorite in our house. It’s called, “Hank and Glick” Hank is a boy and Glick is a tiny little alien from Smallville. The bad guys are wakawakaians from the planet Waka Waka. Hank is the more sensible of the two and Glick is just so excited to be on Earth and experiencing it that they get into all sorts of trouble. They fly around in a bubble space ship. Don’t be surprised if they remember the details that you have forgotten.

7. Say YES – Leave space for child to help tell the story.

My philosophy is if Henry asks a question about the story, the answer is always YES! It keeps me on my toes and leads me places I wouldn’t have thought of. So take pauses in your storytelling, ask questions.

It is my absolute delight when I ask my kids if they want me to read them a story or tell them a story and they say, “TELL ME A STORY!” So go tell a story.

Of course, you can always contact William or Rich and get some help or have us help you with hosting, improvising, teaching some improv, or just helping choose and adapt games for your audience.

Here are some games to try:

Scales

Have everyone stand up and then ask a question that has many levels and have people sit when their answer matches the ones you have prepared.An example:

When did you last eat sushi? Sit down if you answer is: (allow 5 seconds for each stage for people to sit and observe)

1. Never
2. Once
3. Within the last year
4. Within the last month
5. Within the last week
6. Within two days

If you ever…

Guests take turns saying something that is true about themselves. The crowd stands up with them if it’s also true saying “me too” or sits if it is not true of themselves.  Every person in the audience decides for themselves to  stand or sit on each truth revealed depending on if it is also true for them.

String of pearls

1. Have 7-9 people come up and stand at the back of the stage.
2. Have the audience tell the beginning line of a made up story and the ending line of a totally different story.
3. Have two players stand at opposite ends of the front of the stage and say the two lines form the audience as if it was one story.
4. Have a thrid person move between the first two on the front of the stage and add a line in the middle of the story. Repeat all the lines in this, now, 3 line story.
5. Add another person with their own line and repeat again.
6. In the last round, will have all players at the front of the stage, in order, with one line each.
7. Together they will have created a complete story and can recite the lines in order to tell it.  Tell them to “sell it” and really pump up the drama in their own line.

Secret Handshake

1. Everyone stands up and finds a partner. They have 1 minute to create a brand new secret handshake between them, and practice it so they remember.
2. Have everyone find a new partner and share their favorite childhood book.
3. Continue finding new partners and sharing information on topics (there is a list below)
4. Then call out a topic names (secret handshake partner, childhood book partner) and they have to find that partner in the room and and share the info again quickly (do the hand shake, say the name of the book).
5. Continue calling out topics until you feel the game is over.

• Secret handshake
• favorite childhood book
• embarrassing story (title the other persons and share that title)
• noise from childhood (person, game, environment – make the noise)
• nicknames
• secret dance
• life dream
• favorite vacation spot

Try to keep it as simple as possible and focus on fun!

This year I am the emcee of our company Christmas party. i’ve been to a party before and the host was an improvisor. he really got the room pumped up with a couple quick games using different staff.

… It’s a sit down dinner in a banquet hall, so I will have a stage area and captive audience.

Here is my advise for Stephanie who has some improv experience a few years back.

Follow the two underlying rules from “How to Host an Improv Show”

1. Help the audience enjoy the show
2. You are not the focus

Help the audience enjoy the show

• Eliminate distractions
• alcohol can prevent people from paying attention or cause interrupting
• you are at dinner, so don’t compete with the food play games before or after
• watching is thrilling for some, and scarry for others choose activities/games that allow for people to be comfortable
• If the space is big it’s hard to hear, and you can loose people’s attention
• The more active the “audience” is in the game, the more fun it is

You are not the focus

• Unless you are the start of the show, help move things along and be prepared.
• Be ready to fill space when needed for transitions
• Be clear with instructions and directions. Practice with a small group ahead of time
• Make everyone look good and ask the audience to help be supportive
• This is a work event, so be sure that the games and play will be accepted by the corporate culture

What games do I play?

If you have experienced improvisers then play anything that inspires them. If it’s just a fun group that is willing to play along, focus on starting with games in pairs or large group games that have everyone involved. It’s more fun to be playing than watch others.

There are many game resources out there including my favorite, the Improv Playbook (www.improvplaybook.com) which has a ton of games to try. Also there is a new game every Monday on the site and archives are available.

Some other resources are the Improv Encyclopedia and The Living Playbook by Unexpected Productions.  Leave a comment with your favorite source for games.

In Part 2 of this series I will suggest a few specific games that are both fun and simple.

Sometimes a scene of 1-2 seconds is perfect to change things up. There are the 7-8 minute epics that just find life and flow with ease. And, somewhere in between, there is the “average” 3-5 minute scene.

Once you get the suggestion you head out confidently and start seeing the world this scene is in. Slowly interacting with the space object world. We are now 25% done with our average 3 minute scene! There was no effort at all.

What has happened so far?

• slow space object work that is engaging and fun to watch (entertainment)
• you have clearly defined the place for your partners – what a gift
• you gave yourself and your partners 30 seconds of time to think
• perhaps no talking yet if we are really lucky and the players trust each other

AND, if you are calm and slow magic has happened!

The magic comes from creating something from nothing in a way that the audience sees every detail. It’s the moment of recognition that another player comes and joins that world when nothing has been said.

One of my students recently admitted to me after a scene that they had cheated! It was a great scene, so I asked what cheating meant. They replied that they didn’t know where the scene was going when they started just kept doing the space object stuff until something happened.

I told them if they can learn to make it a habit of cheating like that, they would be a great improviser.

What do you think?

How long can you do simple space object work before it’s too much?

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…

But, maybe we all access creativity in different ways.

Here are some thoughts I put down in an ongoing discussion on the  Applied Improv Network recently about the 10 ways to trigger creativity in the workplace.

This is in response to a point that being “relaxed” can be an escape to being “comfortably numb” and not helpful in inspiring creativity and that improv games, massage, and walks in the park might not be enough.

Different Strokes

We need to allow people to go through a varied experience from comfort to challenge and that will take different forms.

An extrovert might be comfortable in a big goofy group game that is challenging for an introvert. And, in the same fashion, an delicious hour of dedicated time to reflect for an introvert might be hard for an extrovert. Why not do both?

There are many models that you can use, introvert/extrovert, visual/audial/kinestetic (VAK), multiple-intelligences, or pretty much any kind of “there are two kinds of people in this world…” that allow you to stretch people in new ways.

I think a key idea is to find ways to put people into places of comfort and discomfort so they have chances to stretch and changes to relax. I think this works just as well in a daily work environment as it does in a workshop.

One thing we do know is that innovation (aka creativity) comes from creating new connections of existing neural rings in the brain. Finding ways to exercise the whole brain can create opportunities for mixing new experiences can help make those new connections.

Relaxed or Comfortably Numb

I think it’s easy to equate relaxed with a state of disengaged or distracted. And perhaps relaxed is an unfortunate word for describing improv related creativity work. I think that using anything as a distraction to really seeing and noticing what is going on can have a negative impact on productivity and creativity.

From neuroscience we know that without good brain health you loose strategic thinking, decision making, emotional balance, and several other important higher level functions.

These support a good creative process or “creativeness”. And, good brain health includes exercise, sunlight, good diet, enough sleep, social interaction and a few other aspects. Maybe, instead of relaxation, engagement in new ways is the point of the massage, walking outside, and improv activities. Perhaps these suggestions are simply an effort to encourage the things we know are important factors.

For a longer list of ways to inspire creativity see Cultivating Creativity – part 1

What do you think?

How do you “get creative”?

Ok, maybe there is a better way.

I was participating in a discussion on the Applied Improv Network recently about the 10 ways to trigger creativity in the workplace.

There were several nice lists of things to foster a creative environment in the workplace.  The whole discussion is available for anyone to read but here are some highlights…

Excerpts of 10 ways to trigger creativity in the workplace on the Applied Improv Network discussion forums.

From Pubudu Sachithanandan:

• Encourage people to change where they sit for a day.
• Have a meeting outdoors.
• Hire a comedian to make everyone laugh during their lunch break.
• Bring in a masseuse to give ten-minute shoulder rubs to everybody
• workday costume parties
• Creat a workplace that is informal, almost home-like, make it fun, out of the ordinary, e:g: a roof top terrace that is perhaps in level with a high tree etc
• Let people bring in their dogs.

From Kat Koppett:

• Feed inspiration (by going for walks, reading, chatting, playing with things)
• Think like someone else (what would _____ do?)
• Come up with bad ideas intentionally
• Set clear objectives and boundaries (sometimes we forget that necessity has oft been the mother of invention, and that we become MORE creative if there are limitations to bounce off of. )
• Be clear When and Where you really want people to be creative, so they are not getting mixed messages.
• In those instances, reward the process not the results.

And my own:

• Develop collaboration
• Reward risk-taking
• Celebrate failure
• Encourage saying “yes, and” and not “yes, but” or “no”
• Separate brainstorming (idea expansion) and qualification (idea evaluation)
• Change environments and break patterns
• Play games unrelated to the work
• Ask kids for their solutions