Awareness and sharing control
At the heart of good improvisation is learning to be aware and connected to your fellow performers.
Too often in life we don't really pay attention to the people around us. We are too distracted or busy to really focus on them. How often have you found yourself in a conversation with another person, where you are thinking of what you are going to say next while they are talking?
Unfortunately, this habit appears regularly on the impro stage. Performers, trying to think about where to go next in a scene, disconnect from those around them. They stop listening to ideas and instead turn inwards to find sources of inspiration.
But how can you create something with another person if you not open to what they are trying to communicate? One of the most important but often hardest lessons to learn as an improviser is to be aware - truly aware - of those who you are performing with.
Unless you plan on doing solo improvisation work, you will need to learn how to share control of a scene with others. Some people have a natural tendency to take charge - to force the scene in a particular direction and kill off ideas not their own. Other people like to give up control to others, and to cruise along making few contributions.
To work effectively as a team, you will need to learn to share control in a scene - to both take the lead and to be lead. This often needs to happen on a moment by moment basis. It is therefore important that you become aware of whether you like to be in control or not, and be prepared to do the opposite within a scene. Games like word at a time story are excellent for learning this skill.
Activity
Get the group to stand in a large circle. Have the group tell a story with each person take turns to add to the story by saying one word. For example:
P1 “One”
P2 “day”
P3 “the”
P4 “Farmer”
etc
Encourage the group not to plan ahead or to control the story. Also, let the group to try and say the first word that pops into their head rather than searching for the right word.
Break the group into pairs, and get each pair to tell a story one word at a time. Encourage them, whenever they are confused, lost for ideas, or just feel the story is over to joyously yell out “Again” and restart a new story.
Discuss the stories the groups have told. This helps get everyone comfortable with being playful.
Repeat with new partners. You can extend the activity by getting them to meet a monster, and to do something to it. You can also, depending on the group, get them to act out the story.