Advanced Theatre Improv

Video Transcript

"JAYNE ENTWISTLE: So what we establish is that improv, even though it's spontaneous and seems like, well, you're just making things up as you go, that improv really does have some very important rules and structure. There is the rule of yes and where you accept offers to further the scene, not blocking, choosing not to say, "No" or "My name is not Susan. What are you talking about?" but actually accepting what's been offered to you. The idea of space object work or creating a nice scene on stage, building a fire, miming objects, miming things that you might be using, the idea of really listening, of giving and taking, of setting up of who, who, where, what; that great stories have a beginning, a middle and an end. They have conflict, they have resolution, they have great characters--and those are all of the things that, when we put them all together, can help us to play improv. And what Andrew and I like to do is what's called short form improv--short games, usually between three and five minutes. We're going to be doing shorter aspects of them today--that you use a hook. We discuss what a hook is; it's some kind of a gag. We're going to show you some of our favorite improv games and we hope you'll really enjoy it."