Two years ago I joined an improvisational comedy group -- Guerrilla Troupe or “Gtroupe” as people call it -- and I had no idea what I was doing. Improv was like a foreign language to me. The only thing that made me feel confident was my inappropriate use of the word "Sticky" -- it seemed to make my friends laugh. During my time in this group learning the art of improv, I gained tons of useful skills that can help me in my life and my career. Mostly I learned that it is really easy to sweat through a baseball tee when stage lights are on and absolutely no one cares that you do improv in college. But! There are some lessons I have learned in improv that translate directly into real life as well. So I wanted to share with you all, click-bait readers, some rules that can make you a better improviser, and might make your life a little better.
1. Always say “Yes, and…”
“Yes, and” is the first rule you learn in improv; it’s what helps you advance a scene. When you have to make things up as it’s happening and cannot plan ahead, nothing will happen when you just say no to your partner. We must say "Yes," to affirm new opportunities, then "and..." to give your partner something! Give gifts! For example if you ask your partner if they will help you save a tiger, and they say, “No.” That’s a total missed opportunity for some funny to happen! Or say, you ask your “dad” to “help you pay your rent for the summer” and he says “No.” That sure is not funny. And then you’re sleeping on an acquaintance's couch for the night and driving back from college to live with your parents for the summer. There’s just nothing funny about that.
2. Don’t Introduce Conflict Too Early
It’s important to let conflict arise naturally as a scene progresses. The payoff is always greater in a scene when your audience is invested in the characters. That’s why every story has exposition. In improv we often want to skip the introductions and get strait to the conflict. This can be funny, but the audience may not care as much as they would if they knew who they were laughing at. As humans we often try to weed out those people who cause conflict too early. People who are a problem in our lives before they have done any good, just aren’t worth the effort it takes to be frustrated with them. So basically what I’m saying is get rid of any friend you have that negates you, doesn’t think the way you do, doesn’t eat what you do, or uses a different music provider than you. Weed them out! No conflicts here!! Haha!
3. Listen
Listening to your partner in improv is critical to the success of a scene. I once was in a scene on stage where one partner called me their wife. Then another partner said I was their mother. But the two boys firmly established they were life-long enemies. A fourth partner walked into the scene claiming me as their girlfriend. Things got so sticky in that moment and I had no option but to shout to the world, “I had many lovers!” This sent the scene into a rapid decline as we searched for the ending, to no avail. In life, of course, we have to listen to each other. Conversations and relationships are a give and take and if we don’t listen we could literally end up with multiple lovers and no one wants to have that conversation.
4. Never Pull Out a Gun
This is a rule in improv because when you pull out one of those fake finger guns during a scene the stakes are raised really high for everyone involved. If you kill your partner the scene is over and there are no more laughs to be had … because now its just you on stage ... being the butt hole who killed their partner and ended the scene early. And in life this rule applies for reasons that I am far too sleepy to type.
5. Use Names!
Of course fake names are funny! If the first thing you say on stage is, “Margret that hat looks fabulous,” it’s a guaranteed laugh. Not because the imaginary hat is so funny, but giving someone a fake name always makes an audience giggle. We don’t know why! It just does! People want to laugh. We’re all sad on the inside. Just like in life! But in life we should use names because it makes people feel special and important. Remembering someone’s name is a sign that you’re interested in their existence. Also, don’t you always notice when someone says your name at the beginning or end of a sentence? Address Margret directly and tell her that you do love the hat.
6. Laugh It Off
If a scene gets messy right at the beginning, it’s because you were not following one of the other basic rules of improv (see 1-5). You always have the option to “laugh it off” when a scene makes no sense. This can help you and your partner move past little tiffs or complications and get the scene moving forward. When you’re making up things as you go, sometimes you find yourself in a sticky situation, but luckily, as improvisers we can laugh it off. This way small things don’t bring you down before you get to the truly great moments and the really big laughs. (The last sentence can be used in life as advice as well, I felt that was obvious.)
Finally, in improv you play a scene until you find a great button that wraps it up. But sometimes in improv you cannot find a button naturally and the scene must end because the word count is satisfactory.
