Ask Improv Andy

Some  questions to Andy were submitted by the editors.  Andy does welcome all questions and will answer whatever he can thoughtfully and respectfully.  See below for his e-mail address.

Dear Improv Andy-

I just moved here from Arizona and I have only taken a few Improv classes.  I wanted to get your advice on where to start for Improv basics in NYC.  – Lishia, Arizona

Dear Lishia-

The improv scene is vibrant in New York, and many of the groups that perform there offer classes to supplement their group income.  New York is also the largest theater city in the world, so there are countless drama schools that offer improv training along with the many supplementary classes that would feed any improvisors training.  (I recommend taking acting technique, dance, mime and voice classes, among others.)

That being said, I can’t recommend any classes to you.  Only you can do that.  See performances by the groups that are offering classes.  Some of the biggest (and most sworn by) in NYC are The Upright Citizen’s Brigade, Gotham City Improv and Chicago City Limits.  If you like the work they do onstage, chances are that they will teach you to perform similarly.  Talk to the performers you enjoyed after the show.  Where did they train?  What might they recommend?

After getting some recommendations go talk to those schools or teachers.  Any teacher worth his/her salt should be able to easily encapsulate their philosophies, curriculum and methods into a five-minute phone conversation.  In addition, if classes are ongoing, you should be able to audit the class.  That is sit in as a non-participatory student free of charge in order to get a sense of the teachers methods, the students, what level you may or may not be at, and simply whether or not you would enjoy yourself.  Any ongoing class or school that won’t allow an audit has something to hide, and just wants your money.

The best lesson I can teach you, as the quintessential improv guru is that there are no gurus, and therefore you should find your own way to learn and to work.

Dear Improv Andy-

Is there any validity to groups doing what are widely known as "warm ups", such as freeze tag, sound ball or hotspot, as part of a performance?  Do you think letting the audience in on the process enhances the enjoyment or detracts?  Scenes Only, Los Angeles, CA

Dear Scenes Only-

Sure there is.  I feel this is more a marketing question than a performance question.

For many years a gentleman named Bob Ross appeared on PBS television in a show called The Joy of Oil Painting that did nothing but show him painting a simple landscape while explaining how he was proceeding.  Multitudes tuned in to the point that this mild-mannered painter became a sort of cultural icon.  Many of those multitudes had no interest in oil painting as vocation or hobby, nor would they ever purchase an original oil painting.  Fact is, the show never portended to be anything but what it was, and all who tuned in were able to learn a little about oil painting, and relax to the soft-spoken artist’s talk of “happy little trees.”

Had PBS advertised the show by stating that it was “as good as or better than an actual oil painting hanging in your house,” many would have been sorely disappointed.  In that vein, if a show is advertised as a workshop, invited rehearsal, seminar or demonstration of the way improv is learned, practiced and created, then watching a half-hour of Sound Ball or Hot Spot might be just what the doctor ordered.  The intent of the show itself must be taken into consideration, and if it is OK with the participants that the show contains several warm-ups then it should be OK with the audience.

Now for the gray area: if one is invited to see a “show,” long-form or short-form, the participants do have an obligation to the audience.  Freeze Tag is a fun game to watch if the audience gets to see some fine scenes taking place.  It’s a drag if we are just watching a group practicing physical inspiration by playing Freeze Tag. 

Also (and many groups are guilty of this), there is no reason or justification for any performance to be as casual as it might be in rehearsal.  If there is an audience present, respect them enough to give them a good show, whether you are rehearsing, putting on a show, or just lecturing about improv theory.

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To pose a query to Andy, please e-mail him at improvandy@improvreview.com.