Key Lessons from My Improv Instructors

Viola Spolin (20th-century innovator
in improvisational theater)

Here is a small collection of improv notes and concepts I got from various instructors and coaches. Of course, there is overlap. Pretty much everyone agrees that performing believably is important so sometimes I'll put a note like "Play it real" under the first teacher who really emphasized that concept to me:

ANTHONY ATAMANUIK

1. Play it real.

2. Don't be afraid to make a choice.

3. What is the improviser really saying?

4. When you see something in a scene, really see it with detail.

5. Justify.

6. Commit.

MICHAEL BERTRANDO

1. There are no rules, darling. It's make-em-ups.

2. Let's focus on scenework. Don't worry about the form, tag-outs, or callbacks unless they come naturally. Otherwise, people get too heady instead of being present.

3. Before you even say anything, people have prejudices about who you are based on how you appear. Be wary of what those are and play with them.

MICHAEL DELANEY

1. Make the active choice instead of the passive choice.

2. Agree to a fault.

3. If something happens that you didn't expect, then let go of those expectations and embrace what is happening now.

4. Is that really unusual or is it typical? We really want to discover original games.

5. What's wrong is right in a Harold.

ARMANDO DIAZ

1. (When asked about the most common reason a sketch flops) It lacks truth.

2. Be very mindful of who you are (i.e. point of view). That will help propel the scene and play the game.

3. Why are you taking an improv class? Is this something your parents are making you do? Then don't worry, relax, and stop judging yourself so harshly before you even do anything onstage.

4. Take an on-camera class, and see what you look like on camera. After you're scarred, use that information to see how you come off onstage.

CHRISTINA GAUSAS

1. Focus on what's going on now. Don't dwell in backstory, planning, or people not in the scene.

2. Great artistry is the marriage of technical mastery and the infusion of the artist's personality.

3. Look your scene partner in the eye.

4. Be very wary of your partner's emotions.

5. If you feel stuck in improving as an improviser, become a better listener.

RILEY SOLONER

1. Relax and just be yourself. Talk and act like you normally do.

2. Listen and observe your scene partners keenly.

3. Build on what your scene partner just said.

4. Try beginning the next line with "You're right."

5. Don't let the form restrict your scenes. You want good scenework, not a fancy form.

MARK SUTTON

1. What's going on right now and how does it make me feel?

2. The type of relationship that actually matters is not whether the characters are related, married, co-workers, etc. The audience wants to see how the characters affect each other.

3. Scenes begin with a line about the people onstage or about something outside those people like an object. One is not necessarily better than the other, but they are different and be mindful of that.

4. Make sure to bring it back to the relationship between the characters onstage.