Improvisational theatre: Difference between revisions

Modern theatrical improvisation games began as drama exercises for children, which were a staple of drama education in the early 20th century thanks in part to the [[progressive education]] movement initiated by [[John Dewey]] in 1916.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.interactiveimprov.com/tspwb1hist.html|title=TheatreSports History|work=interactiveimprov.com}}</ref> Some people credit American [[Dudley Riggs]] as the first [[vaudeville|vaudevillian]] to use audience suggestions to create improvised sketches on stage. Improvisation exercises were developed further by [[Viola Spolin]] in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, and codified in her book ''Improvisation For The Theater'',<ref name="Spolin">{{cite book|title=Improvisation for the Theater Third Edition|author=Viola Spolin|year=1999|publisher=Northwestern University Press |isbn=978-0-8101-4008-0}}</ref> the first book that gave specific techniques for learning to do and teach improvisational theater. In 1977, [[Clive Barker (editor)|Clive Barker]]'s book ''Theatre Games'' (several translations and editions) spread the ideas of improv internationally. British playwright and director [[Keith Johnstone]] wrote ''[[Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre]]'', a book outlining his ideas on improvisation, and invented [[Theatresports]], which has become a staple of modern improvisational comedy and is the inspiration for the popular television show ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway? (U.S. TV series)|Whose Line Is It Anyway?]]''

Shortform improv consists of short scenes usually constructed from a predetermined [[Theater game|game]], structure, or idea and driven by an audience suggestion. Many short formshortform exercises were first created by Viola Spolin, who called them theatre games, influenced by her training from recreational games expert [[Neva Boyd]].<ref name="Spolin"/> The short-formshortform improv comedy television series ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway?]]'' has familiarized American and British viewers with short-formshortform.

Longform improvisation is especially performed in Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Austin, Dallas, Boston, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Detroit, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington, D.C., and is building a growing following in Baltimore,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/bs-fe-comedy-20170522-story.html|title = Baltimore's comedy scene continues to grow, nurture aspiring talent| date=24 May 2017 }}</ref> Denver, Kansas City, Montreal, Columbus, New Orleans, Omaha, Rochester, NY,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rochesterhomepage.net/fulltext?nxd_id=351262 |title=Fall Back Comedy Festival this weekend |access-date=2015-01-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103093553/http://rochesterhomepage.net/fulltext?nxd_id=351262 |archive-date=November 3, 2012}}</ref> and Hawaii. Outside the United States, longform improv has a [[List of improvisational theatre companies#Improvisational theatre companies in the United Kingdom|growing presence in the United Kingdom]], especially in cities such as London,<ref>[[List of improvisational theatre companies]]{{Circular reference|date=May 2017}}</ref> Bristol, Glasgow, and at the [[Edinburgh Festival Fringe]].

On the west coast, [[Action Theatre (Ruth Zaporah)|Ruth Zaporah]] developed [[Action Theatre (Ruth Zaporah)|Action Theater™Theatre]], a physically based improvisation form that treats language, movement and voice equally. Action Theater™Theatre performances have no scripts, no preplanned ideas and create full-length shows or shorter performances. Longform, dramatic, and narrative-based improvisation is well-established on the west coast with companies such as San Francisco's [[BATS Improv]]. This format allows for full-length plays and musicals to be created improvisationally.

Improv comedy techniques have also been used in hit television shows such as [[HBO|HBO's]] ''[[Curb Your Enthusiasm]]'' created by [[Larry David]], the UK Channel 4 and ABC television series ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway? (U.S. TV series)|Whose Line Is It Anyway]]'' (and its spinoffs ''[[Drew Carey's Green Screen Show]]'' and ''[[Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza]]''), Nick Cannon's improv comedy show ''[[Wild 'N Out]]'', and ''[[Thank God You're Here]]''. A very early American improv television program was the weekly half-hour ''What Happens Now?''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.archive.org/details/radiodailyoctdec49unse/page/n134|title=Tele Topics|work=Television Daily|year=1949}}</ref> which premiered on New York's [[WWOR-TV|WOR-TV]] on October 15, 1949, and ran for 22 episodes. "The Improvisers" were six actors (including [[Larry Blyden]], [[Ross Martin]], and Jean Alexander – Jean Pugsley at the time) who improvised skits based on situations suggested by viewers. In Canada, the series ''[[Train 48]]'' was improvised from scripts which contained a minimal outline of each scene, and the comedy series ''[[This Sitcom Is...Not to Be Repeated]]'' incorporated dialogue drawn from a hat during the course of an episode. The American show ''Reno 911!'' also contained improvised dialogue based on a plot outline. ''[[Fast and Loose (TV series)|Fast and Loose]]'' is an improvisational game show, much like ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?''. The BBC sitcoms ''[[Outnumbered (UK TV series)|Outnumbered]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/dec/06/television-bbc|title=BBC sitcom lets kids improvise|author=Ben Dowell|work=the Guardian|date=6 December 2008}}</ref> and ''[[The Thick of It]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/the-thick-of-it-back-in-the-loop-1805589.html|title=The Thick of It: Back in the loop|work=The Independent|date=23 October 2011}}</ref> also had some improvised elements in them.

In the growing field of [[Drama Therapy]], [[psychodrama]]tic improvisation, along with other techniques developed for [[Drama Therapy]], are used extensively. The ''[[Yes, and...|"Yes, and"]]'' rule has been compared to [[Milton Erickson]]'s ''utilization'' process and to a variety of acceptance-based psychotherapies. Improv training has been recommended for [[couples therapy]] and therapist training, and it has been speculated that improv training may be helpful in some cases of [[social anxiety disorder]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfxmachine.com/docs/yes,_and.pdf|title=Yes, and: Acceptance, Resistance, and Change in Improv, Aikido, and Psychotherapy}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05xcvc2|title=BBC World Service - People Fixing The World, Improvising Your Way Out of Anxiety|website=[[BBC]]|date=13 February 2018 |language=en-GB|access-date=2018-11-12}}</ref>

[[Brave New Workshop|The Brave New Workshop Comedy Theater]] (BNW), is a sketch and improvisational comedy theater based in [[Minneapolis]], [[Minnesota]]. Started by [[Dudley Riggs]] in 1958, the artists of the BNW have been writing, performing and producing live [[sketch comedy]] and improvisation performances for 62 years &ndash; longer than any other theater in the nation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bravenewworkshop.com/ |title=Brave New Workshop Main {{!}} stan harry styles for clear skin ;0Improv, Satire and Comedy since 1958 |access-date=November 19, 2019 |quote=The Brave New Workshop has been crafting audacious, hilarious, and thought-provoking original comedy, improv and satire in Minneapolis since 1958 – longer than any other theatre in the U.S. }}</ref> Notable alumni of the BNW include [[Louie Anderson]], [[Mo Collins]], [[Tom Davis (comedian)|Tom Davis]], [[Al Franken]], [[Penn Jillette]], [[Carl Lumbly]], [[Paul Menzel]], [[Pat Proft]], Annie Reirson, Taylor Nikolai, [[Nancy Steen]], [[Peter Tolan]], [[Linda Wallem]], [[Lizz Winstead]], [[Peter MacNicol]], [[Melissa Peterman]], and [[Cedric Yarbrough]].

[[Hoopla Impro]] are the founders of the UK and London's first improv theatre.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Paskett |first1=Zoe |title=London's Best Improv Comedy Clubs and Nights |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/arts/londons-best-improv-comedy-clubs-and-nights-a3834651.html |publisher=[[Evening Standard]] |date=10 May 2018|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Improv Comedy Club |url=https://www.hooplaimpro.com/improv-comedy-club-london-bridge.html |website=hooplaimpro.com}}</ref> They also run an annual UK improv festival<ref>{{cite web |title=Improv has got big! |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/live/features/improv_has_got_big/ |publisher=[[British Comedy Guide]] |date=25 April 2019}}</ref> and improv marathon.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Holmes |first1=Paul |title=Hoopla Improv Marathon |url=https://thevelvetonion.com/2017/10/17/hoopla-improv-marathon/amp/ |work=The Velvet Onion |date=17 October 2017 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Hoopla Improv Marathon |url=https://www.hooplaimpro.com/the-hoopla-improv-marathon}}</ref>

[[Alan Alda]]'s book ''If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face?''<ref>{{Cite book|isbn = 978-0812989144|title = If I Understood You, Would I Have this Look on My Face?: My Adventures in the Art and Science of Relating and Communicating|last1 = Alda|first1 = Alan|year = 2017| publisher=Random House }}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=February 2021}} investigates the way in which improvisation improves communication in the sciences. The book is based on his work at [[Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science]] at [[Stony Brook University]]. The book has many examples of how improvisational theater games can increase communication skills and develop empathy.