h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Improvisation. - A4052341
Author: EndangeredSpecies - U1147945

Just wanted to know what people think!

Hmmm...

Nice. This Entry gives some handy popinters for people who want to do drama improvisation on stage. The basic ideas are collected and explained briefly.

Additional info / suggestions:

1. Improvisation is a widely used training-technique in drama, especially when a new group of actors gets assembled. It works kinda like those jam-sessions in the first meetings of a new band. The actors get to know a bit about how to work together. On the semi-amateur level (e.g. amateur actors directed by a professional director), the directors will let the troupe improvise a bit to break the ice between the people and to get a feeling about what the actors can or can't do.

2. Interestingly, there are professional drama-groups (5-6 people) that are specialized in improvisation. They let the audience say a few key-words and then go on to improvise on that theme. That's their show. And, as one can imagine, it is highly entertaining.

There are problems with that kind of show, however, in my opinion. Improvisation shows tend to become saturated after a while, especially if you see one and the same group of actors doing it on a regular basis. (One of those groups was very hip here in Germany, and they even ended up appearing on the TV every 14 days). After a while it is possible to see certain patterns, phrases and gags appearing again and again. Also, the key-words given by the public start to become repetitive (politics, sex). After a while these shows do get boring.

Maybe an additional tip for groups that want to do improvisation on stage would be that they should be aware of this (repetition problem), especially if they are going to do the show often in fornt of a similar public (e.g. 14 shows every saturday in the town theatre). Maybe they should try to force themselves to come up with new ideas. Then again, here you cross the boundary to something I would call 'rehearsed improvisation'. (Like a guitar solo - you're usually not really free to do whatever you want because there's the harmony and stuff.)

3. Also, one of the difficulties in improvisation is to do 'serious' or 'sad' drama - improv acts, seems to me, are always connected to 'humour' or 'absurd' at best. After a while this gets boring - also for the actors.

4. There are some things that could be improved in the writing of the Entry. (Remember, the Edited Guide is not improvised...) For example, the title. Improvisation can found anywhere from music, to drama, to quotidian life. A more appropriate title would IMO be in the lines of: "Improvisation in drama"

Good luck with this Entry!

HELL

Nice ideas - but I agree with Hell, they need fleshing out. I also agree that the title needs changing - I read it as I thought it was going to be an entry about musical improvisation...

Hi there, ES:

I hadn't thought about the musical improvisation, but I appreciated some of Hell's comments as mirroring my own thoughts.

Perhaps, if drama is the focus of the type of improvisation on which you wish to write exclusively, the title should be "Drama Improvisation" or "Stage Improvisation - Drama". You get the idea.

Most 'improv' (which you might want to handle separately from 'improvisation') that I've seen has been humour based; or, has soon evolved into humour.

Certainly I've seen the more serious stuff, but mostly when used as exercises in acting classes. There are dozens of 'games' that might be mentioned here, of the type used in those classes. I've seen whole books of them, but a description of the most common ones might be a fine addition to the piece.

Sometimes the instructor will decide to set the scene, and possibly even suggest character types. Though this takes it away from 'pure improvisation', it can help those new to improvisation by providing a skeletal structure on which to build.

Anyway, the job you've done is already on its way to being an excellent EG entry. Good Luck with it.

Hi EndangeredSpecies!

Are you planning to continue working on this Entry?

I see you got quite a few helpful comments when you last posted here.

Jules

Are you still there?

Nope. The author has unsubscribed. Flea Market?

Unsubscribed but last posted 5 hours ago, maybe he/she just lost track of this one? I'll bop him/her a note...



HELL

Please do Hell, but unsubscribing from a PR thread usually counts as abondonment of entry, although people have been known to do that accidentally.

I did... Author hasn't beeen on-line since I posted.


HELL

Sorry people! I think I wasn't quite with it when I unsubscribed to this post and yes I am going to work on this post. Thanks very much for the advice and now I'm not so busy I'll be more focused

ES

Hi, I was just posting my own entry on the Ten Rules of Improv comedy. Perhaps, to avoid redundancy on my part and to lessen the work on yours, we could collaborate?

-Mac Dougal

That's fine by me

In that case, could you remove this one from Peer review? Just go to PeerReview and click on the 'Remove' button. Will look forward to your collaboration

Hi Endangered Species

I hope you're still working on this, and it would be handy anyhow if you were to remove this from Peer Review for now and then re-submit it when you're ready.

EndangeredSpecies - are you still around?

I can see you're still posting to the site, are you still subscribed to this thread?

Not posted since 1 November - Fleamarket?

Seconded

Added