Notes on improv:

Improv isn’t about getting laughs (though there can be plenty). It’s about good storytelling. It’s not about a particular player getting audience approval, it’s about helping a group tell an honest and connected story.

“Blue” refers to material that is sexually explicit. Blue “gets” or offers or storylines usually feel too easy/obvious and are best avoided. They usually lead to generic story-killing story paths that are hard to get out of.

Re: guns or violence- Some offers can literally “kill” a scene- e.g., If you aim a gun, you usually must fire it, as improv is about doing not avoiding doing. Guns or threat of violence typically force the players to kill the story prematurely. Best avoided.

Don’t just play the improv games you’re good at. Try ones that you’re afraid of! 

Laughing at yourself or breaking character usually weakens the performance. It can be avoided by more fully committing to your character and the scene.

Improv theater is about sharing power– taking stage but also giving stage. You develop an awareness of anticipating when to step back and let go of the spotlight to allow another to “take the reins,” so to speak. With this you can avoid talking over each other or having more than one scene playing out at the same time. Any upstaging or sidebar activity or speaking should assist the story playing out, not distract or draw audience focus.

Don’t repeat what has worked before for you! Characters, gags or motifs that that once got a great response are too easy to replicate. Repetition renders your performance stale. It’s also rather lazy and safe- which is anti-improv. 

Stumbles or wipeouts are not a problem. Acknowledge and move on! Or build the story from it or around it! Nothing entertains like a vulnerable performer honestly twisting in the wind! Mistakes, stumbles and errors are gifts to welcome not ignore!

If doing a musical, an opening song often works best when it establishes the setting and the idea or problem (e.g., a town and its predicament). But- there are no absolute rules to story telling. 

You are free to start with the opposite of the audience “get” and gradually work towards it, or let the suggestion appear indirectly. You can find the “get” rather than pounce on it immediately!

Relationship, wanting and obstacles drive story and humor, not being clever.

Improv theater may be free-wheeling but it is a show with form and momentum. Whoever MC’s the show or a game is charged with taking charge of the stage and making the rules clear for the audience and moving the process along (and maybe ending the scene when it finds a good ending or is hopelessly wandering or floundering).