Ready to get creative? Improv acting will stretch your ingenuity to the full. In its purest form, improv acting means that you embark on a performance in which the plot, the characters, and the dialogue are created on the spur of the moment. You and your fellow actors become your own script writers and directors, taking cues from the audience and one another to craft a unique, never-to-be-repeated performance.
Improv Through the Ages
Although there are no records to prove it, improv acting is possibly the oldest form of theatre. After all, pranks, joking around, or even storytelling can all lead participants to improvise. However, improv acting as a form of performing art was first recorded in 391 BC. The Atellan Farce consisted of 25 to 30 minute mini-plays featuring masked actors who performed off-the-cuff comedic skits.
In the 16th to 18th centuries, improv took to the streets, with actors using broad plot outlines as the basis of their storytelling. In modern times, improv acting became a learning activity for school children, but also took to the stage once again with improv theatre companies gaining popularity with audiences around the world.
While comedic skits are very well-suited to improv, this performance style has also been used to explore more serious themes. For example, 66 minutes in Damascus, an immersive experience in which the entire audience become “hostages” was crafted using improv acting techniques.
Long-Form vs Short-Form Improv
Improv acting goes beyond ad-libbing in which actors spontaneously add lines to traditional, scripted performances. Instead, the entire performance is improvised.
In long-form improv, actors create an entire show based on a premise. During the performance, the actors develop the plots and characters, creating an entire production on the go.
Short form improv consists of short “games” or scenes and is often based on suggestions from the audience or a presenter. The game show “Whose Line is it Anyway” is among the most famous examples of this form of improv, and as you’ll have guessed, short form improv is a particularly good vehicle for comedy.
How to do Improv Acting: Rules of Improv
Without a few basic rules, improv can easily devolve into chaos with each actor trying to take the lead. Improv requires collaboration, and the rules of improv set the tone for cooperation. The first rule is “Say yes, and…” In other words, take the contributions of other actors on board and assimilate them into your performance, adding your own input to move the performance and storyline forward. Asking questions is usually (but not always) a no-no. Doing so detracts from your contribution and requires a co-actor to do your “work.”
Improv requires focus, not only on dialogue, but on everything that’s happening around you. As part of an unplanned scene, you need to think on your feet, listening carefully, reading facial expressions, tones of voice, physical movements and responding to spatial elements while developing your own verbal and non-verbal responses.
Improv usually takes place on a bare stage, so it’s up to the actors to set the scene. Work scene-setting words into your dialogue to help your co-actors and audience to understand the developing scenario. In a similar vein, the story you are building requires background and detail – make specific statements that show your reasoning and enrich the storyline.
Stories are about changes and improv actors have to ring the changes. Move the story along, introducing interesting elements of change into the plot. Surprising events occur, people are transformed – you’re not just role playing a static scene.
Finally, feel free to add humorous twists, even when improv acting in serious scenes. However, if you do so, fully commit to your decision. Focus on actions and objects or use tricks like taking figurative speech literally. At the same time, one of our top improv acting tips is to keep it “real.” Even if you’re an aspiring comedian, don’t constantly try to be funny. It will come across as forced.
Can Improv Make You a Better Actor?
Improv teaches you several skills that will be of value throughout your acting career. Perhaps the most important of these is the ability to concentrate on and respond to what’s happening in the moment. You’re monitoring your team, and you’re taking your cues from them. Acting is about teamwork and interaction. Improv takes it to the next level. Learn to relate and respond to fellow cast members and become a better team player.
As you move through an improv performance, you’ll constantly adapt. This adaptability will stand you in good stead when working under a director in conventional theatre or film. And, since improv theatre doesn’t use props or scenery, you’ll learn to be more in touch with expressing context using movement and posture – key acting skills that all performers should master.
Although ad-libbing isn’t improv acting, it’s certainly an ability you’ll sharpen as you learn improv. Some of the most memorable lines in movies were originally ad lib. For example, in the iconic Jaws, actor Roy Scheider’s “You’re going to need a bigger boat,” was never part of the original script. Directors sometimes ask actors to ad lib, and your improv acting practice will help you to do just that.
Through improv acting, you’ll build your creativity, range and confidence as an actor. It takes you out of your comfort zone and challenges your skills, all while “reading the room” and putting your intuition to work.
How to Learn Improv
The best way to learn how to do improv acting is to take improv classes. City Academy is only one of the London acting schools that offers them. Improv classes are fun and sociable, teaching you serious skills in a lighthearted setting.
It’s all about interaction, but you can try some improv acting exercises on your own. For example, try miming everyday actions. Washing up? See if you can communicate this activity without the sink and dishes. Think about your body language as you interact with other people or even try playing two characters in a short, unprepared “scene” when you’re on your own.
Improvise at Work and in Your Personal Life
Although everyday interactions might seem too mundane to represent good improv acting practice, remember that the world is a stage.
You’re probably doing at least some improv in your interactions with other people already: that time when someone told a joke you didn’t get but you laughed at it anyway, perhaps. Or the times you reacted to someone else’s good news as excitedly as if it happened to you. The truth is, ordinary people are improvising all the time. Actors improvise more intentionally, but that’s the only real difference.
The workplace offers plenty of opportunities for improv practice, especially when you’re dealing with the public. No, you don’t really think Mrs. Jones’s inquiry about a late delivery is all that important, but she does, so you respond with a portrayal of appropriate concern and empathy. This brings us to RSVP.
Flexible Work for Actors With RSVP
We’re a customer service agency with a difference. Representing several important brands, we’ve chosen to employ actors to act as their ambassadors. As an actor, you already know how to win audiences over, and your ability to gauge situations and respond appropriately is among your strongest skills. You get to practise your art in a workplace setting, and our clients get the perfect people to represent them: actors.
Best of all, we understand your need for flexibility. Go to classes. Attend auditions. Be there for rehearsals and shows. Go on tour. And, when you have time on your hands, report for paid work at RSVP. Want to know more? Visit our careers page and join our community.