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And follow the hashtag:  #KJBats

Sample Tweets:

• I think my brain is much more intelligent than I am…so I tend to trust it. ~Keith Johnstone
• Best side-coaching for improvisers in a scene? “Do it.” Some actors don’t want to move into the future. ~Keith Johnstone
• Beginners will almost always shout: “Come in!” when the doorbell rings – they don’t want to move… ~ Keith Johnstone
• Actors are made of eggshells – improvisors shouldn’t be… ~Keith Johnstone
• Good actors are not thinking ahead.  They are listening to what is going on right now.  ~Keith Johnstone
• I think my brain is much more intelligent than I am…so I tend to trust it. ~Keith Johnstone

© 2010, Improv Notebook. All rights reserved. info@improvnotebook.comi

©2010 Improv Notebook. All Rights Reserved.

Which do you do:

• Improv
• Improvisation
• Impro [in certain parts of the world]

A Google search suggests that Improv is a theatrical term and Improvisation  is a musical term.

In talking with companies in the US and abroad this is what I’ve found.

If you use the word IMPROV in the title of your show
the audience will expect ‘comedy’.

Christian Utzman (The Un-Scripted Theater Company in San Francisco) discovered this on his own.   Christian always takes his marketing material into the center of San Francisco’s shopping district, Union Square and asks tourists what kind of show they expect based on the flier he shows them.  If their answer is different from the show they’re planning, they redesign the flier.  Christian says, ” sometimes we  have to shoot a different photo”.

One thing he’s learned is that if the show is not a comedy show, they don’t use  the word ‘improv’.   When they promote their Shakespeare style show (Shakespeare Un-Scripted) they will us will use either improvisation or improvised (as in ‘A full length improvised Shakespeare play.’).

Which do you prefer?  And why?  Thanks in response for your comment.

© 2009, Improv Notebook. All rights reserved. info@improvnotebook.comi

©2010 Improv Notebook. All Rights Reserved.

I’ve known Keith for about 20 years.  He has taught me many things…mostly about eliminating fear from the stage….so that we can reveal ourselves.

Earlier I asked you to help me put together my list of questions.   I asked you,what would you like to know about him, his theories and his view towards improvisational theater.  Many of you wrote in…thank you.

The interview took place on Sunday at 6pm in the BATS Improv theatre in San Francisco (see photo below).

_________________________________Thanks to David Boyll for the photo.

Keith Johnstone and I talked for an hour.  Well…mostly he talked…which I think is the idea.

He spent about 30 minutes on growing up in a small fishing village and then 30 minutes on improvisation.  He told one joke and talked about the kind of improv he does go to.

He also told us ‘why he still teaches’.  Good stuff.

I’ll write up a little bit about the interview and post it here ….er..soon.

Thanks to everyone for your questions.

© 2009, Improv Notebook. All rights reserved. info@improvnotebook.comi

©2010 Improv Notebook. All Rights Reserved.

Photo by Rich Ross

Day 1 of 4 days with Keith Johnstone…and here are a few highlights from my notebook:

The workshop was held in a small theater in downtown San Francisco.  There were 24 students ranging in experience from novice to +20 years of experience.  The workshop lasted from 10am until 4pm.  And seemed to meander from lecture to exercise…with lecture taking most of the weight.

Keith Johnstone wrote IMPRO in 1966 after just 3 years of experience.

The audience wants change – so freeze games are popular…but in freeze games the players are not moving things forward.

If you’re not obvious – it’s almost impossible to get narrative going.

If you know how to do it (improve or teach) it means that you’ve codified your bag of tricks!

Occasionally Keith would call for “anyone who hasn’t been on the stage yet today…and people would step forward.

If you play a scene where you meet a talking mouse where he voice is provided by an actor off stage:

• if you are scared it’s looking for a cat.
• If you’re less scared it’s looking for your cat.
• If you’re unafraid it’s looking for you.

I mentioned this progression to Keith the next morning and he look at me with a sly smile and said…

“If you’re really frightened, you’re looking for a cat too!”

More to come…

© 2009, Improv Notebook. All rights reserved. info@improvnotebook.comi

©2010 Improv Notebook. All Rights Reserved.