You know the score. You’re due on stage in about 20 minutes, but there’s a show already going on, cupboard at the back is full of people singing, and the bar downstairs is full. You and your team need a space to warm up, FAST! Bright idea, you go outside, oh no this is England,[…]
James Witt shares his favourite exercises from his beginners improv course. Shared Holiday Talking about a shared holiday in pairs and starting every new sentence with ‘Yes And’. This really gets the players on the same page in a fun and inventive low-pressure way. I find it a good bonding exercise too and often my[…]
Here are Hoopla teacher Rory Vieyra’s favourite improv warm-up games and what they help with. Mimic Everyone stands in a circle and someone says something. It can be a movie quote, song lyric or something from real life. The next person in the circle observes the person saying the quote and then mimics exactly what[…]
Rhiannon Vivian’s Top 5 Tips for Beginners So I think the best advice has to come from your own experience. Despite having done improv for ten years now, I still remember my first class as clear as day. With that in mind, here’s my top 5 tips for beginners that you can apply in any[…]
What got you into improv in the first place? I originally trained as an Actor and the improvisation part of our training was the best 10 weeks of my three years at Drama School. Maybe not for everyone in the year, but certainly for me! So I’d always loved improvising but had no idea that[…]
Katy’s favourite improv quote: “If we treat each other as if we are geniuses, poets, and artists, we have a better chance of becoming that on-stage.” – Del Close What got you into improv in the first place? I didn’t realise till years later that I’d done loads of improv at school in my drama class. I[…]
Hi Liam how did you get into improv? I first started doing improv while studying Drama at the University of Kent, joining a short-form group called ‘Play it by Ear’. I had such an amazing time with the group but it’s not like I was super into improv or anything. I was more into the[…]
Jinni Lyons created her solo improv show, Jinni Lyons is an Only Child, in 2013, which she has toured nationally and internationally, including a headlining slot at the Women in Comedy Festival in Boston, USA. I spoke to hear this week to find out what advice she had for solo performers. Hi Jinni, I’ve seen your[…]
Hi James, what are your favourite improv exercises? As a pre-show warm up is ‘Three Line Scenes’ where you hammer home the names / descriptions of who you are, where you are and what you’re doing there. This is good practice for when you’re inside the show when adrenaline often means these vital bits of information[…]
Hi Andrew, what got you into improv in the first place? I trained as an actor and always found the improvised scenes to be more alive, and improv exercises left more room for creative play and silliness – which is closer to my sensibilities. So once I finished the course I went hunting for improv meet-ups[…]
We had a catch up with Chris to find out about the course he created ‘Improvised Theatre with Chris Mead’ and what else he has been up to recently. Hi Chris, can you tell us what is the Improvised Theatre course? The improvised theatre course is for improvisers who have gone through all the improv basics[…]
I find this game hard! A couple of times this season people have said to me that they find a game hard. My first impulse was to try to make it less hard for them, or give them something else. But actually my new response is just “yes, it’s hard”. The game where this is[…]