Most people’s first association with the word ‘improvisation’ is comedy. Their mind leaps straight to TV shows like Whose Line is it Anyway? But I believe learning how to improvise can help all of us off-stage too, especially when it comes to how we communicate. Improvisation is the art of acting without a script. And[…]
How we communicate with one another has changed enormously since the dawning of the Covid-19 crisis. Zoom is now a verb. As we’ve gained new skills on virtual platforms, there is a risk our face-to-face skills have declined. At the very least, many people have told me they feel less confident and more social gauche[…]
Public speaking frequently appears at the top of lists of people’s worst fears, making it even scarier than death! Improv comedians have learned some techniques to own any room-and overcome even the most hostile of audiences. Here are some top tips from improv to help you nail your own presentations at work. 1) […]
My name is Max Dickins. I am a professional comedian and entrepreneur. On stage, I have appeared on TV programmes such as Michael McIntyre’s Big Show. Off stage, I am co-director of Hoopla, a school of improvisation and London’s first dedicated improvised comedy theatre. I am also lucky enough to work with managers from leading[…]
A lot of people find meetings, especially with new people, awkward and anxiety inducing. There are many different reasons for this, of course. The one I hear most often from clients I work with in my coaching work is that the pressure gets to them. The meeting might be high stakes, perhaps with an important[…]
Who’d have thought, way back in January, that, ‘Karen, you’re on mute’ would be one of the phrases of the year? And, oh how we laughed at that poor Professor when his kids came dancing into his office when he was live on TV. Now we’re all trying to keep the show on the road[…]
Every month we give discounted courses to students and people who are unemployed or on low income. How to apply for a scholarship place Have a look at the full range of our improv classes and once you’ve found one you would like to do please contact us at [email protected] with: Your name. What course[…]
The UK’s first pan-Asian improv troupe! With shows and workshops at Hoopla and across the UK. [email protected] https://www.facebook.com/comediasians https://instagram.com/comediasians https://twitter.com/comediasians
An improvised poetry slam. Two teams, either side of the stage, given team names by the audience. On each round the audience give them a theme, word or title and one player from each steps forwards and improvises a poem from that suggestion. Playing Tips Variety. Try different styles of poems from who has been[…]
Scene starts with three improvisers playing noticeably different characters from each other. When the host says “switch” they switch places and take over each others characters and carry on the scene. Switch is said repeatedly. Playing Tips Make the characters different from each other at the start: physical, emotional, vocal or status differences work well.[…]
A helpful exercise for learning Game of the Scene, especially about delaying the funny to build a believable platform and also for spotting the first unusual thing. Two people on stage. They are given a situation. They improvise that situation as normally and realistically as possible, without any attempt to funny. When something unusual/funny/ridiculous happens[…]
A good game to help group mind and support. Everyone stood in a circle. Eyes closed. One person stars making any sound of an instrument or any musical sound with their voice. Could be a drum, a piano, a violin, la la la. Everyone joins in and backs them up by doing the same sound.[…]