Improv comedy is an art form that some people have probably thought was overly inclusive to those with natural comedic gifts. While it’s true that you need to be razor sharp in comedy invention during improv performances, is it something anyone can learn to do with practice? With improv courses taught here at RISE Comedy Playhouse, we encourage those who think they can’t do improv to come and give it a try. Based on specialized technique, you might be surprised on what you can come up with rather than fretting about how funny something is supposed to be.
Learning Coherence in a Scene
The Exponent Online recently did an article about improv courses being taught at Purdue University and how many people not usually versed in improv are finding benefits through the courses. Not only does it help you think on your feet in real-life situations, but you can also think more creatively in solving problems.
The article points out that far too many people worry about trying to be funny during improv and usually freeze when it doesn’t happen. What those people don’t know is that improv is more about working with others to make a scene coherent. Once that’s done, the comedy can flow organically based on something making sense.
Improv simply doesn’t exist well without the input of other people and the feedback you get from them. All of that comes through faith in yourself and the people you’re acting with on a stage. In that regard, you can call improv a collective intellectual effort helped along by comedy cohesion rather than nonsense.
Of course, the dangers are always there of rambling off into territory that doesn’t make sense. When taking random information from an audience, you’re going to need others with you to help assemble various ideas into something hilarious. The only exception is going to be if you happen to be the next Jonathan Winters or Robin Williams.
What makes improv courses for everybody so useful is that it can start forming minds into thinking more like Winters did and Williams still does. Whether you want to call it your inner child or not, you can tap into a part of your mind that finds funny situations based on real life. And because audience suggestions are usually taken from real life, you already have a palette to color your improv with life experiences.
Because we feel that life experience helps improv, learning improvisation will help make future life experiences even more enjoyable in how you react to them. It’s why we recommend everyone visit us here at RISE Comedy Playhouse to take our improv courses or just watch the magic of professional improv comedians work our stage.
Contact us about our next showtimes for our improv acts. You can learn a lot just watching the pros, even if they’ll depend partly on you to help give them the comedy fuel to keep them going.
