Is it possible to improvise in the genre of horror? Let’s explore this idea!
Most improv on stage is comedic. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a short form improv show where the intention wasn’t comedy. Long form shows, however, whilst still usually comedy for the most part, are where you can sometimes find that they dip more into drama. Or if not fully drama, long form shows have room to have some more serious scenes and character moments than just going all out for comedy.
But what about other genres? Are they possible in improv? And I suppose if that a question, why am I focussing on horror for this exploration?
I guess horror is quite unique compared to some other genres in what it sets out to accomplish. Horror is meant to be scary, and if it doesn’t achieve that, you could argue that what has ben produced isn’t really horror.
One thing to highlight at this stage is that the definition of genre can kinda be split into two lines of thought. One is to do with themes and tone of a story, and the other is the genre of how a show is produced…which I guess could also be called the medium.
For example, if you put aliens in a show and teleportation, you could say the genre is science fiction by its themes. If, however, you have the characters singing and dancing, then the genre is also a musical. You’d then say that the show is a sci-fi musical.
If you had a show that was horror because it had vampires, but was then a musical, you could say it was a horror musical, but my guess is, unless, as a musical it was played quite serious, the idea of it being horror would be thematically only. Yes, there are vampires, but it doesn’t fulfil actually being scary or true horror at all.
And I think horror is unique in this regard.
Musical romance is still romance, undoubtably. Action comedy is still action. Horror, but comedy or other genres that take away the scares? Not really horror in my books. I’m not sure that any other genre gets to sacrifice its main defining feature and still be called that genre. Take the love story out of romance and it wouldn’t still be called a romance. Take the action out of an action movie and it wouldn’t be classed that way.
If a thriller doesn’t leave you on the edge of your seat and wasn’t tense, it simply wouldn’t be classed as a thriller anymore.
But something can still be called horror just by having monsters or killers in, even if it loses the aspect of being scary. But it’s not true horror.
And that’s what I want to explore here. Can an improv show actually be horror and actually achieve the defining aspect of horror in being scary?
When improvising, the performers in the scene are the main people to define the genre of the scene or show. Certainly, a show could be advertised as horror or sci-fi or romance, but if the performers don’t include elements that live up to those genres, the show fails to be that genre.
Lighting and music can also influence an improv show, and these are two key aspects that can help make an improv show horror. These could be controlled by technicians and/or musicians who help influence the atmosphere of the show.
For the most part, it will come down to what the performers do that define the genre though. I think a lot of improvisers don’t think about this much. You can change the way you say the same lines to make them seem different genres. Say something in a silly voice and people may assume its for comedy, or a cartoon. Say the line in a heightened way and people may think it’s for something fun, but that isn’t too serious. Say it in a grounded way and people may assume it’s for a drama.
So, if you want to improvise horror and make your scenes or show scary, you need to know the conventions of horror and how you can portray them and convey the sense of horror to the audience.
Low lighting and musical are things an actor can react to, but aren’t things in the direct control of the performer. The question is what can you, as a performer actually do.
To begin with, your tone of voice. Making things intentionally quieter will mean the audience have to listen more keenly. Suddenly having loud moments that take the audience by surprise such as unexpected screaming or shouting could certainly startle them. Doing this would be an effective jump scare. This is a trick of diminishing returns though as after it’s done once, the audience will start to expect it and will look out for signs of it coming again.
Pauses and silence can also be used to great effect. Tension can build if you show that characters are intentionally being quiet, and if the reasons for doing so lend themselves to the themes of horror. If a character shows that they need to be quiet or risk being discovered if they’re hiding or they will alert a threat, this will create tension.
Showing a character is scared, or being cautious about movements or with things they say can help the audience feel they are in the shoes of the character. If the character acts scared, you can aim to project this sense of fear onto the audience.
You can also use stage combat and action scenes to show a character is in peril. These though are something that isn’t so easy to achieve in improv though. Stage combat is usually carefully choreographed, and though possible in an improvisational style, is something risky to do unless your team are very confident, they can pull off without risk of injury.
Another tactic will come in the content of what you say, as well as how you say it. If you play a character who speaks about the murders they have committed and give grisly detail, that can be effective. If you play as a ghost who says about disturbing things this can add to the sense of horror.
Another classic horror convention you can utilise is the plot twist. Plot twists aren’t uniquely horror of course, but horror almost always uses some kind of misdirection. This can be as simple as to make you think that something is about to make you jump and then doesn’t (or vice versa) or on a larger scale when you learn that a character you thought you could trust is actually the killer and such like.
But an issue for the improviser who is looking to improvise horror is that there are a lot of horror conventions that you can’t really or at least easily create on stage within the confines of improvised theatre.
As I mentioned, horror on stage could use lighting, music, sound effects and even projections to add layers to the production, but these aren’t really improv based. A musician could play live creepy music, and a technician could light the show in an improvised style, but these are more technical aspects than what is within the control of the performer.
Horror movies rely on camera angles to limit what the viewer can see. On stage the improviser can’t really replicate this fear of the unknown that you get from camera angles.
You also probably can’t have any gore or blood and guts, so can’t use gross out body horror in improvised horror either.
It’s an interesting discussion, but I’m fairly sure that any performer or performers who put their mind to the task could create a selection of ideas that would be able to be utilised within an improvised horror show. The only issue with this is that it would require the aspect of pre-planning, and thus makes the show less improvised and more of a remix of pre-created set pieces.
I for one would like to challenge myself to create an improvised horror show on stage that was more than just horror in theme and was able to create a sense of fear for the audience watching. And I’d certainly like to see if anyone else can achieve it as well.
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