OK, maybe I’m going to make myself vulnerable with this blog, and perhaps I’ll make myself sound a fool, but am I the only one who improvises alone when I’m the only one in the house?
I’ve often been with other actors or improvisers where we just spontaneously start replying to each other in character. Sometimes in a group of actors or comedians, we’ll pick up on a joke and run with it and continually refer back to something we have fictionalised between us in the moment. Something, that to an outside viewer may think we are sincere about. There’s a certain vibe that you can pick up from another performer when you start to do this, and it happens as an unwritten and undiscussed piece of spontaneity that can be dropped as quickly as it begins.
But do you ever do this alone? I have.
I’ve sometimes found myself speaking in a character voice or accent and running through improvised speeches which can sometimes last several minutes. Sometimes I’ll play multiple characters that have sprung up out of nowhere and they’ll each have their unique voices and physical attributes.
Sometimes I do this for no other reason that the joy of doing it, and sometimes it’s an extension of a rehearsal technique. It’s playing and experimenting to a supportive audience…that being myself.
Actually, even when alone I sometimes find that I’m a decidedly harsh critic of my efforts.
I have found myself crawling up the stairs as if on some silent mission where I must creep undetected, and invent reasons why my mission is of the utmost importance, and then just as suddenly, I may have the thought of ‘what am I doing?’ and drop the roleplay.
I have found this soloprov of its most pure form useful for developing new improv games and testing out characters and story structures. But I’m also aware that it’s something I’m not sure many others if any others ever actually do. I’ve not spoken to others about doing it, so if there are others, perhaps they too have kept mum and not spoken about it in class or during a rehearsal or workshop.
Speaking of keeping mum, yes, I am aware that there is a whole Norman Bates quality to such activities, but maybe if the proprietor of Bates Motel had taken up some honest to god improv he’d have had an outlet that would have prevented all that killing business…and yes I am now aware that an inference of what I have just said is that any or all improvisers when taken away from the activity of improvised performance may lead them to becoming a serial killer…wasn’t my intention, but I’ve made my bed and I’ll lie in it.
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Want to learn improv skills? You should check out the range of improv books from David Pustansky, who is the author of the popular Extreme Improv Big Book of Improv Games series of books. Available worldwide on Amazon and Kindle, you can find links to the books here
