The core impro concepts
Acceptance
One of the most important concepts in improvisation is that you should 'accept' or 'say yes' to an offer. So what does it mean to accept? And what is an offer anyway?
Make me an offer.....
An offer is anything which your scene partner communicates to you, either intentionally or unintentionally. For example, it can be a facial expression, a line of dialogue, a physical gesture, tone of voice or subtext.
I accept!
To accept an offer is to engage with an idea, and to use it within your scene. It is more than simply not being negative: to accept an idea means you positively embrace the idea and build on it. It is about incorporating the idea into the reality of the scene.
Blocking
In impro you should not block the offers of other performers. To block an idea is to deny its place within your scene. You can do this by ignoring it, directly contradicting the offer, or refusing to be changed. For example:
Barista: Here is your Latte, Sir.
Customer: That isn't a Latte, it's a dog.
Barista: Um... he loves meeting the customers I am afraid.
Customer: Shut up! I am going for a walk.
If you block another player’s ideas, your scene is unlikely to go anywhere because you will be spending all your time killing ideas rather than exploring them. Plus people will probably stop wanting to play with you.
Indifference (AKA Wimping)
Surprisingly, one of the biggest problems in impro is not blocking. Blocking is often easy to spot and performers learn quickly to avoid it.
However, it is often harder to spot wimping. Wimping is when you do not block another players idea, but you also do not truly embrace it. Instead, you remain reserved or cautious. Such a muted response is often our default setting in life, however not committing to an idea can be as destructive on the impro stage as hitting the other performer with a chair. And it is often harder to spot because you seem , on the surface, to be agreeing with them.
Robber: Give me all your money or I will shoot!
Teller (neutrally): Sure. Here you go.
The teller may have accepted that the robber has the gun, but he has not accepted that the gun is dangerous. A better choice would be to be terrified or courageously try to wrestle the gun from her hands. Anything but indifferent.
Gagging
Impro is about being funny, right?
While improvisation can be very funny, it should not be seen as an opportunity to just make jokes and seem clever. A gag is when a performer makes a joke at the expense of the scene, often disrupting the story or ruining the moment at the same time. Impro is not just badly rehearsed stand up – its humour should come from its stories, its characters and the connections made on stage.
Often a desire to be funny arises from a performer's fear of appearing boring. However, trying to be funny on stage often makes it harder for a scene to succeed. Rather than trying to make jokes, instead let yourself be obvious and you will be surprised where you end up.
Activity
Block, Wimp and Accept
Get everyone into pairs.
Ask each pair to plan a party, taking turns to make suggestions. Each time their partner makes a suggestion, the other person is to shoot that idea down in flames. They then make their own suggestion, which is then also shot down.
As above, but each suggestion is to be agreed to, but without enthusiasm.
As above, each suggestion is to be accepted with delight and excitement.
Have a discussion as a group about how each felt and which they preferred. Its ok to like iteration 1 and 2. Note, that negativity prevents you moving forward but it does show that you care about the other person and creates conflict (which is interesting). Number 2 is our default in life – non-committal agreement. It can feel comfortable but is actually destructive to creativity as the agreement is only superficial. The last, accepting, allows the story to move forward.
Repeat the activity with new scenarios – planning a wedding, defusing a bomb, planning a prank, going on a date, putting together an advertising campaign etc etc.
Notes:
Point out to students that while they may have liked the first two only the last one resulted in anything occurring which they would want to do (the second iteration you end up with a plan but not one you want to do).
This activity can be repeated several times with new partners. It should release a lot of energy.