Saturday, May 19, 2012

What is Improv Comedy?

August 19, 2010 by  
Filed under improv acting tips

Improv comedy is a type of comedy that has helped many famous comedians get their start. Improvisational comedy, or improv, is a mix between comedy and theater with just some minor differences. Many people find improv is best done in groups and there won’t be any scripts like you have in an ordinary play or theater production. Instead, you will make it up as you go along. This is, in fact, what improv is all about in the first place.

Sometimes these groups will get the audience active in their skits or ask a member of the audience to come up with a storyline that they will have to act out. Once you get the storyline, you can either act it out using human props or you can use actual objects as props. This all depends on the skit that you will be performing.

Even though improv may seem like it is easy and for some people it may come naturally, for others it takes time to learn these skills and how to be on cue right away without any practice and just be able to blurt anything out that comes to mind in a skit. There are some things that you want to keep in mind if you are considering improv as a profession. You have to have to be able to work in front of crowds -no one wants to come to a comedy club and see a improv show were the people are fumbling around with their words and are shying away from the crowd. This will only make you look awkward to the crowd. For some comedians this has worked, but this has no place for it in improv.

You also need to learn to be able to take a topic and run with it. If you cannot think of a scene or a storyline to go with the topic that was given right away, this can leave your audience bored and ready to head for the doors. Do not get discouraged and think that you cannot do it because with proper training you can learn how to come up with funny ways to portray a topic on the spot.

Sometimes comedy is better when it is not forced. If you have been told that you are funny, then this might be something for you to join in on. You can do some things to improve yourself such as using props. This can be something to look into if you already know how to work a crowd, or you can do improve in a group setting which is really fun and is easier to do because now you have other people to feed off of for how the storyline of the topic will go.

Instead of you having to figure this all out alone, you can learn from others. Really it is all up to you and which route you want to go with your comedy, but it is best to look into some improv training because this will give you all the tools that you will need to turn your love for theater and your love for comedy into a profession.

Improv is a way for you to get started on your way to being able to do standup comedy and other things in the comedy field. Some people choose to jump into comedy head first, but this is a way to get your feet wet and learn how to work a crowd and be funny without having to try really hard to do it. Yes, there are things that you can do as far as training, but this will only help you improve your improvisational comedy in front of large crowds. This form of comedy will help you be able to get the best of both the comedy and theater worlds.

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