How to Be the Greatest Improviser on Earth by Will Hines

Author:Will Hines [Hines, Will]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: humour
Goodreads: 30364117
Publisher: Pretty Great Publishing
Published: 2016-07-26T04:00:00+00:00

What Would YOU Say?

A very common note from improv teachers is, “What would you say here?” They’re asking you to give the commonsense reaction to whatever is going on in the scene. They want you to notice what the audience is noticing and speak to it. They also want to know if you are observing something that most people wouldn’t observe—something particular to your sensibilities.

But it’s not as simple as it sounds. What they are really asking you to do is something a bit trickier. You also have to say yes to all the facts, be brave about any acting choices being asked of you, and adhere to the principles of KNOW, CARE, and SAY.

So what you’re actually being asked is: “After having said yes to all the facts, and doing any brave acting tasks at hand, and also presuming that you will choose to KNOW what’s going on, CARE about it, and are willing to SAY what you think—now, what would you say?”

In the “Reps” section of “Be Present,” I said the hardest acting job is often just acting “like a normal person.” It’s also surprisingly hard to “act like yourself,” but that’s what you must do to make your improv scenes compelling. What is it, given that this situation is happening, that you would say? To do that, you have to be able to relate to the scene, no matter what.

Here’s a scene between improvisers Rhona Cleary and Ruha Taslimi, where Rhona has cooked and served her own cat as a meal.

Rhona: I see you enjoyed dinner. That was my cat you just ate.

Ruha: (throws up)

Rhona: Aw, come on. You’re exaggerating. It’s not that bad. People have eaten cats in history. They wouldn’t be alive if they didn’t!

Ruha: You just rescued that cat! You cooked that cat?

Rhona: Wait a minute, I’m not the villain here. That cat had feline AIDS. It wasn’t going to have a great life.

Ruha: Even if somehow you do believe you were sparing that cat, why would you feed me a cat without telling me?

Rhona: You are the most adventurous person I know! I’ve seen you eating tripe! I’ve seen you eat haggis!

Ruha: I knew I was eating those things! You thought, “Ooh, I know what Stacy would love! She’s gonna be so surprised that she ate a cute cat!”

Rhona: Look, get over the cute part. It was unhealthy, it was dying.

Ruha: They can treat feline AIDS! There’s lots of cats that live with it!

Rhona: They have miserable lives! Look, I believe in medically assisted suicide. It was the same thing. I’m surprised at your response! I thought this would be one of those things that we’d both look back on and laugh about!

Ruha plays it truthfully, though she does not leave and continues to engage Rhona. Rhona plays it “as if” she had merely given her friend an exotic new food. They’re not inventing elaborate reasons to “solve” the unusual thing, but instead are relating to the scene using the way they behave in real life.

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