5 lessons for aspiring improvisers

Graham Dickson from improv collective The Free Association offers up 5 lessons for aspiring improvisers...

1. Listen

I would say that listening is by far the most underrated skill in improv, and it's also one you can improve at in the wider world. Everything in improv comes down to listening.

"How do you make it all up?" is something you hear all the time from audiences. Well, the key is listening, and if you're paying close attention to the scene, you don't have to make too many things up, the answers are often right in front of you.

We should always be building on our partner's ideas in a scene, and that means simply using what they've given you in the first place. Comedy is observation, and observation is listening.

The route to finding any 'game' in a scene begins with listening for the first unusual idea that comes up, then highlighting what's strange about it.

It all starts with listening.

2. Don't be funny

Or at least, don't try to be. The audience is smart. They are always at least as smart as you, and often considerably more so. They will see right through you when you try to make a witty pun or deliver a joke that is not in line with the scene. Generally they hate it, which is why they groan.

In long-form improv, what we teach at The Free Association, it is all about the scene and the 'Game of the scene'. Learning 'Game' is a gift because it teaches you that you don't have to be witty or have a huge vocabulary to be funny, you just need to be truthful.

Find what the funny idea is and invest in it, truthfully. We call this 'grounding' and it forms the basis of our teaching at the FA. Scenes are so much funnier and more satisfying when we are watching real characters respond to absurd ideas.

3. Surprise Yourself

One of the hardest things to do in life is surprise yourself. Who knows you better than you? We all rely on our own brains trying to protect us by planning ahead. It's how we survive.

In improv, your brain can be your worst enemy, and that's why, if you've ever taken many improv classes, you would have no doubt heard the phrase 'you were in your head'. Put simply, this is what happens when you try to work out what the next funny line you should be saying is, or whether this scene would benefit from your awesome Greg Wallace impression. Don't think. When we think, we are stuck on the backline and we're drowning. Be curious, be brave, and...

4. Get on stage

Nothing happens until we make that first step on stage. Improv is all about trust... and all the other things I've said it's about. Trust in yourself and trust in your scene partner. Trust that something can and always will happen if you allow it to.

We talk a lot about making choices in improv. Making strong, specific choices is how we build dynamic, hilarious scenes, and the most dynamic choice you have to make is that first bold step into the lights. Everything after that is easy. Kind of.

'Get on stage' also means 'practice'. Like everything else in this world, improv takes a long time to be good at. You'll only get there by getting on stage again and again. Form a team. Rehearse. Do shows. Keep doing it.

5. Have fun

This one seems easy, but dear lord is it important. Sometimes it seems the more you learn the harder improv gets, and I can't tell you how many experienced improvisers I've seen get frustrated because they seem to be in a rut. The cure is not always the same, but the piece of advice I dish out the most and the one I keep the closest to my heart is this: Have Fun.

Improv is a magical thing to me, because it is essentially about grown-ups dicking about on stage like children. It's all about play. No game is worth playing if you're not having fun. The other unique thing about improv is that whatever scene you're in will never happen again. Let that thought liberate you, not terrify you. You think you did something wrong? So what, it's vanished forever. You only get one chance, so, HAVE FUN...