Five Years!
Note: This is a reprint of a previous Improv Illusionist newsletter. If you’re not receiving my email newsletter, you can subscribe here and get my “Learning the Improv Illusion” series as a bonus.
Welcome to another issue of the Improv Illusionist Newsletter, a monthly update from me, David Raitt, with a focus on the improv skills of environment, object work, and physicality in character and performance. I’m honoured by your interest.
I’m back from exploring the UK improv scene!
In London, I saw shows at Hoopla (“Man Band” and a set from Grand Theft Impro) and The Free Association’s Harold Night.
I met some fabulous improvisers, including Katy Schutte (who directed “Man Band”), Chris Mead, and “Lloydie” James Lloyd (who gave me a lovely tour of Nottingham).
These are all delightful and highly intelligent people, and I recommend you follow their work. I’ve put links below to their various newsletters.
Now, as I was putting this month’s newsletter together, I realized it’s been FIVE YEARS since I began writing and publishing for Improv Illusionist! So I’m feeling philosophical…
On 5 years of Improv Illusionist
In June 2019, I began writing my first notes about physical improv and what would eventually become the Improv Illusionist book and website. Since then, I’ve been asked many times why I narrow my focus so much.
It’s not that I think other skills aren’t important. The joy of improv is that anything can happen. We can tell any story we want, in any setting, any time period. And to hold the audience’s attention, we change things up from scene to scene. Successful improv relies on a versatile set of skills.
At the same time, all this artistic freedom creates a huge challenge. Most people aren’t comfortable with uncertainty, and improv is about as uncertain as you can get. To cope with uncertainty, the mind’s response is to play it safe.
One of the biggest ways people do this is by ignoring their physical impulses. Improv scenes become static and boring when players stand still and talk at each other. I call this “rooting,” and I believe it’s based in our instinctive desire to avoid attracting attention. You feel more safe when you stay in one place.
But look closely at a rooted improviser and you can see their physicality leaking through. A halted step toward or away from the other character, a gesture quickly suppressed. Our body knows what to do, but we’ve got it on a short leash while we desperately try to make something “interesting” happen.
When we unleash our physicality, scenes become more interesting all by themselves. We get out of our own heads, and ideas come to us more naturally. We have more fun improvising.
Physicality is just one subset of the improv toolkit. But it’s the lowest of priorities for many students (and teachers). They want to learn about creating characters, or telling more emotional stories. The irony is that physicality makes all those other goals easier!
I dedicate my work to physical improv because I couldn’t find deep resources for learning object work, environment, and physical expression. All the “classic” improv books give a nod to the importance of physicality, but never more than a few pages. Sometimes, only a few paragraphs.
The improv training I’ve explored does the same. If object work is taught at all, it’s usually in a beginning class, then quickly left behind for more “advanced” topics. And it’s never revisited, depriving experienced players of the chance to connect the “advanced” tools back to physicality.
Physical improv isn’t just the “basics.” It’s a set of tools for unleashing your body and amplifying your other skills. With confidence in your environment work, you can more easily take your scenes anywhere, and do anything. Physicality is a necessary part of a well-rounded set of improv skills.
It’s still early days in my mission to promote these ideas. But the more I travel and learn about improv worldwide, the more I see the need for this training everywhere. And the more I appreciate improvisers like YOU for your interest in this.
Would you consider forwarding this to one or more fellow improvisers? The more we spread these ideas, the more we make our improv more visually interesting, more fun, more spectacular. I look forward to seeing what emerges.
Things to Try
Exercises, scenes, and practices to work out your physical improv skills.
In honour of the 5th anniversary, here are tips from some of the most popular articles I’ve published so far.
- Play with the space. Use the whole theatre space for your scenes, including the back wall, the audience, even the wings and backstage (for “off camera” characters). (From Middleditch & Schwartz: Improv Tips)
- Go first sometimes. In your classes or workshops, how often do you hesitate to jump up for an exercise? In scenes, do you bail when people start singing or dancing? Challenge yourself to try unfamiliar or uncomfortable situations. (From How to Take an Improv Class)
- Remember outdoors scenes. We don’t do these as often as we could. Explore how your characters are affected by unusual weather or lighting conditions. (From Outdoor Improv Scenes – Performance Tips)
- Lots more tips on the website! Check out the Articles and Newsletter Archive.
More for the Improv Illusionist
The Improv Illusionist book – Preview and order info
Improv Exercises for Physical Skills
Improv Books — Reviews & Recommendations
Improv Podcasts — Reviews & Recommendations
Newsletter Recommendations
Improv Chronicle
“Lloydie” James Lloyd hosts the Improv Chronicle podcast, with new episodes every two weeks. He also publishes a new article weekly. Great insights into how we think about improv.
Chris Mead’s Improv Fables
Chris publishes a short improv article every week – his archive is a brilliant rabbit hole of tips. But each week he also includes 3 pop culture recommendations, excellent for discovering new content online. By far his most popular feature is the weekly photo of his adorable dog, Radio!
Katy Schutte
Katy is a prolific improv innovator who’s always doing something new. Keep up to date on her projects and teaching schedule.
Question(s) of the Month
What’s your “improv kryptonite” – the skill you feel least comfortable using?(By the way, mine is singing.)
Hit Reply and share. I love to chat with readers, and it gives me ideas for future content to help the entire community.
Do you have any feedback about Improv Illusionist? Send me a message or just reply to this email. Seriously, I read everything and respond to nearly all of it as my schedule allows.
I’ll be back to start the NEXT five years on July 4th! 🙂
Ex nihilo!
— Dave
