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 It’s every entertainer’s nightmare - getting up on stage and realizing they’re unprepared - unless you’re doing improv comedy that is! Improv theater has grown in popularity over the last couple of years, but it’s actually been around much longer than that - many actors and comedians have used improv to warm up before sets or shows. Now, this backstage exercise has taken center stage and people are lining up to watch talented comedians on stage, giving the audience the driver’s seat as they create a brand new show each night in front of their eyes. The show can go anywhere and take any tone, as audience members are solicited for suggestions and ideas for sketches. The improv actors then take these ideas and bring them to life, producing some of the funniest, most entertaining and original material - and each show is completely different from the last. But no matter what happens, the crowds will laugh ‘till they cry when these performers start working their magic:
As if being an entertainer wasn’t enough, imagine having to create your material as you’re performing! Each night, that’s what comedy improv performers have to do - they must take the material from the crowd and turn it into something entertaining, and something funny - not an easy task considering that even the most basic stand-up routines takes months of writing and practice. Improv comedy, or forms of it, have been around since the 16th century, when it is said the Commedia dell'arte in Italy performed on the streets. In more modern times, theater veterans Viola Spolin and Keith Johnstone used improv games in their acting workshops, but it was much later in the 1950s when Spolin’s son, Paul Sills founded the first improv theater troupe, the Compass Players and eventually, the famed Second City improv comedy group.
Just because it’s improv comedy, doesn’t necessarily mean that you just show up and perform. Comedy improv, in particular, takes training and lots and lots of practice! Performers take classes just to learn to improvise, honing their skills and making a name for themselves and hoping one day to join prestigious improve theater groups like The Second City, The Groundlings and New York’s Upright Citizen’s Brigade. It’s tough work - while the actors on stage may seem like they’re just playing around, they’re using every bit of brain, talent and energy they have to give their audiences a great show. Improv comedy is certainly not for the faint-hearted. Actors must think on their feet, and even hours of rehearsal cannot prepare them for the unexpected. Having other talents - singing, dancing, acting, miming, impersonations, ventriloquism - can be helpful for the improv actor, but really, having a lightning-quick (comedy) reflex is a basic necessity for any improv performer. Many improv theater groups have their own gimmiks, using props or doing guerilla improv, but one thing’s for sure, the show’s success rests solely on the performer’s talents and wits. |
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