Forming Your Own Improv Comedy Troupe
By Victoria Heric, N2Arts Correspondent
Everything you need to know starting an improv group
 

mprov comedy is a great way to bring actors together to perform new and original material. With the success of the television show, “Who’s Line Is It Anyway?” and the popularity of comedians such as Wayne Brady, Ryan Stiles, Chris Farley, and Drew Carey, improv has become extremely popular with the public and favorite of actors. It is also a great way to warm up your theatrical group before a how and it can be a useful tool for preparing yourself for a performance or audition. 

Improving your improv skills can help you to develop strong communication by regularly practicing the art of thinking on your feet and speaking with purpose.  Such abilities can enhance your college and job interviews as well as communication with your peers, teachers and family. Improv comedy would also make a great addition to any talent show or fundraiser, and by practicing your improve skills you will increase your confidence in hosting such events.  Below are some strategies for developing and running your own improv group as well as suggestions for further research and information about enjoying the Los Angeles improv scene. 

What is Improv Comedy?

Improv comedy happens when a group of actors get together and play theater games.  These games can be played with two people or more.  The games have rules and guidelines, but the actors make up the dialogue as they go.  If they are lucky, the dialogue is funny and thus the comedy is born.  Many of the games include soliciting suggestions from the audience that the actors take and incorporate into their dialogue. Thus, improv comedy is a fun way to construct a performance that includes the audience. Every time you play a game, the result is different because the audience is different. This can be the challenge of improv comedy - to develop a consistently good and comedic result. There are some ways to rehearse with your group and improve your chances of a good and comedic result, which are outlined below.

Forming Your Group

Find a neutral and safe location where you can hold your rehearsals. Use your status as a student to secure the space for free, or offer to trade the value of a performed show in exchange for the space. A great place to start is your local school, community center, temple or church.  Local theaters may be difficult as many rely on the rents they charge to stay in business. Someone’s backyard or garage can also make a good rehearsal space, so long as it is quiet and you are free to move around.  Make sure to respect the space. Do not eat or drink or leave trash in the space, and make sure to observe the exact amount of time that you have been allotted in the space. Do not make unnecessary noise when coming and going from the space.  Sometimes, people may be a bit insecure about letting minors use the space unattended, so it’s key that you form a mature relationship with the person in control of the space and also enlisting a teacher or adult to oversee your group and pledge their support would be a wise idea.

Select fellow actors to join your group. As with any artistic group, people’s commitment to the group will come and go, so try to identify one or two key people who are reliable and who are dedicated to forming the group.  A good idea is to set a time goal for people joining the group to work towards.  For example, you can enlist people to join the group by setting the goal of performing in the upcoming talent show or at summertime parties. Take time to assess what each person’s individual strength is and try to use it to the advantage of the group. For example, if someone in the group has an interest in art - see if they will help to design posters and flyers to publicize your event. If someone has an aptitude towards business, let him/her help to maintain the relationship with your rehearsal space and sell tickets. Do not overburden the members of your troupe or have your expectations overwhelm members of the group.  Rather, try to find a way to work collaboratively. Improv relies on trust and so the relationship you have with the troupe is the most important one.

Run your rehearsals in an organized fashion. Arrive on time and insist others arrive on time.  This will maximize the amount of rehearsal you get out of each session. Plan out the games you want to play ahead of time for that rehearsal. If you have an upcoming show, make sure to schedule your rehearsals in order to meet your performance goals. If you know that your troupe is weaker at one game, plan to dedicate extra rehearsals to that particular game.

Get a book about Improv. There are suggested texts at the end of the article. And I would welcome you to post those that you find on your own artistic journey to be helpful. Get a book that details all the many games you can play because this will give you a lot of great and original ideas for games you can play.  In time, you may discover that you would like to create your own games as well, which can be a lot of fun.

Decide on a name. This can be a fun and difficult thing to do. I suggest letting your group meet and play around together before settling on anything too quickly. When selecting a name, keep in mind who your audience will be - will the audience be parents? Peers? Your rabbi? Keep this in mind when choosing your name.  Ideas of famous names are Second City, The Groundlings and my troupe is called Jokers Wild. Many times in Los Angeles, improv troupe adopt quirky names to make them stand out and emphasis their humor and originality.

Games You Can Play

Improve games tend to be divided up into the following categories: scene style, gimmick style, character games or long form.  The most popular and challenging style attempting to be mastered in the Los Angeles community at this time is long form.

Scene style - two actors build a scene based on the rules of the game, along with suggestions from the audience that could be but are not limited to a location, relationship or body position.

Gimmick style - the game employs a gimmick or trick that the actors must master to play the game to its conclusion

Character game - game relies on the actors use of a strong and identifiable character to keep the action of the game moving along

Long form - several characters and scene style games are linked together to create a game that lasts for more than 30 minutes and often times tells a story or has a plot

Begin by warming up with your group. Some popular warm up exercises:

1) Hand Pulse Circle - Have your group gather in a circle, and have everyone clasp hands. Take a moment of silence and have everyone take a deep breath with their eyes closed. The leader starts with a pulse of the hand, and the hand that feels the pulse sends out a pulse to the next hand and so one. Once the circle has developed its own rhythm of pulsing their hands, the leader sends out a second pulse.  It can be in the same direction or a different direction. The challenge is to get everyone in the circle so focused that the pulse gets going around the circle in two rapid heartbeat motions.  The game continues until it becomes unclear where the pulse is coming from and the group has lost focus.

2) Count to Twenty - While standing in the same circle, have the group count to twenty. This sounds easy, but you will be surprised how difficult it can be to have absolute focus. One person counts a number at a time, randomly and when they feel the urge to do so. However, if two people speak at the same time, the whole group has to go back to one. The point of this game is to develop the ability to listen and take turns. If you have a person in the group who is apt to be more aggressive than the others, this will help to slow that person down so that they can listen more to the actors in their scene.

Fun games to get you started:

1) Freeze Tag (scene style) - Two actors go to the playing area, the host asks for a body position which the actors assume. The actors begin to make up the dialogue of the scene based on those body positions. At a climax or funny moment, another actor in the group yells “FREEZE” and goes in, selects an actor to be removed from the game, assumes their body position and starts a new scene, with new circumstances.  This game can be played with the actors watching the action of each scene or with the actors’ backs to the actions, freezing the scene at random.

2) Emotional Adjustment (scene style) - Two actors go into the playing area, host asks the audience for a location or relationship for the two actors.  The actors begin the scene by creating that location or that relationship with their dialogue.  Host calls out emotions that the actors must apply to the scene. As the scene continues on, the actors are constant altering their emotional state.  The trick is for the host to insert the “emotional adjustment” at just the right point to be humorous.

Games for when you are feeling more advanced:

1)Alphabet (gimmicky) - Two actors go into the playing area, host asks the audience for a location or relationship for the two actors.  Actors create the circumstances of the scene through their dialogue, however they must begin each sentence with the next letter in the alphabet. The game starts with “A” continues to “Z” and once the actors reach “Z” then they begin to play the game doing the alphabet backwards- this is the most challenging part. If an actor accidentally begins their sentence with the wrong letter, they must go back to the beginning of the alphabet.

2) Commedia del high school (long form) - A good thing to ask for is a weird prom theme you wish you’d had.  The cast forms a backup line.  One by one each member steps forward and does a quick monologue introducing to the audience who they are. 

For example: “Hi, I’m Ronnie and I’m the captain of the football, basketball, wrestling, track, and baseball team.  This is my 5th year here and I’m really looking forward to my senior year next year.”

(This basically sets up that this person is going to be playing a dumb jock character.) It’s good to remember that you are not limited to being just students. Remember that high schools also have teachers, janitors, principals, etc.

After each monologue (short is better) the player returns to the backup line.  Once everyone has gone, a player will step out and begin a scene.  They are free pull out someone with them, or call out for someone.  Other players are free to enter and exit scenes as well.  Players from the backup line call “Cut” to end the scene and then someone starts a new scene.  You try to build up story lines leading up to the prom.  Hopefully if it all goes right the final scene is the prom and everyone enters the scene as if going to the prom (hopefully everyone doesn’t enter at the same time but during the scene as it grows.) You try to close it up with an ending and the lights go out or someone calls “cut”.

It’s a very fun game if everyone plays together and most importantly listens to what is going on and use that information to progress the story.

Long form takes a lot of practice because it truly depends on the group working together, no one person can carry it.

Some General Improv Rules

While it is generally understood (at least in my mind), that if it’s funny to the audience, it’s working, there are some general rules that do help to shape the game and make for a superior show.

Don’t deny. If an actor says something, take it and run with it. Don’t ever give the response of “no” or a negative reaction as this stops the forward motion of the scene and leaves the actors with little to do. In life as in improv, if you take something and make the best of it, that’s always more interesting than wallowing in the negative.

Don’t ask questions. While it’s not always bad to ask questions of your fellow actor in the scene, by and large this keeps the scene from mutually developing - rather it stops the action and forces the other actor to justify what he or she has just said and that’s… boring.

Pretend like you know what the other person is talking about. In life as in improv, sometimes we’ve just got to bury that quizzical look and press on. It’s funnier to the audience if you identify with the suggestion they’ve just given you, and furthermore if you are unsure of a line that’s just been thrown at you, it stops the action of the scene to pause and get the idea defined. Rather, just act like you know everything… because perhaps your fellow actor will have a better idea of what the word or suggestion just was and can compensate for you. A good example is the word loquacious. While you are reading this webpage I want you to pretend like you know what that word means. That’s what I did while I was writing it.

Listen to one another. When performing an improv scene do not talk over the other actors in the scene- its easy for this to happen as you are creating the dialogue on the fly, however the trick it to take it slow and listen to what your fellow actors are saying. Otherwise, the audience may miss what is being said.

Keep things topical. Be aware of what’s going on in the media, entertainment and your local community. Use these happenings to spice up your scenes and help the audience identify with your characters.

Select a strong host. Hosting is a major component to the presentation of the improv game to the audience. The host explains how the game is played and solicits suggestions from the audience. Make sure that you select a person who has great charisma and understands the games well for this position. Many times, the host also inserts suggestions into the scene to alter the action (i.e. - emotional adjustment) so be sure and appoint a strong player to this position to keep the arc of the scenes solid. People can also develop their hosting skills and it’s not a bad idea to dedicate rehearsals to this very job.

Keep small generic costume and prop pieces on hand.This is a great excuse to not clean out your closet that your Mother will have to buy into! You never know when that crazy old had or plastic cigar could come in handy for a crazy character. Adding little props and costumes in at the right moment can sometimes take the scene to the next level. This is great when playing the Mating Game, for example.

Victoria Heric received her B.A. in Theater from Cal State Northridge. She current works in television and independent production throughout the Los Angeles area. She is the co-founder of the improv troupe "Jokers Wild" and is a member of several theater companies as well as the Automobile Club of Southern California. She can be reached by email at Administration@JokersWildLA.com.