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[…]
A new character exercise We conjured up this new character exercise at last weekend’s character workshop at Hoopla. A couple of the improvisers were asking about how to go beyond their default characters. They felt they had a habit of playing the same go-to characters in improv shows and workshops. We pointed out that there[…]
Hoopla Big Christmas Thanks! Hi everyone. This is my big Christmas thank you blog! I’ve been trying to write it all week and have procrastinated and procrastinated and now it is midnight on Christmas Eve and I have to write it now after watching It’s A Wonderful Life for the first time ever! About 11[…]
Thank you! Wow that was quite a weekend!!! Many thanks to everyone involved in watching, working, volunteering, performing, watching, dancing, glow stick waving and more! The weekend was made up of a team of 100s of people so I can’t name check everyone but I want to let everyone know that it meant a huge[…]
How to practice improv by yourself Every time you pick up an object in real life, immediately after pick up the mimed version of the object with the same movements and imagine the same weight. It helps to notice how actions work in real life so we can make our object work more believable. Play[…]
A friend of mine is suffering anxiety about not being quick or funny enough when improvising. This can be a vicious cycle for performers that gets worse and worse, until they end up doing less and less shows or quitting improv altogether. What doesn’t help in this situation is “trying”. Trying to be quick or[…]