The first improv I ever saw was on the show Whose Line is it Anyway?.  An informal survey of the people sitting next to me gave the same answer.  Whose Line, a British t.v. show, launched a thousand improvised ships over here in the U.S.  There was certainly improv here and in Canada before that show but I’d bet that the majority of improv groups here, especially on college campuses, were inspired by that show.  I bet in England improv is a hallowed institution.  Well….

I just got back from England.  Wonderful time.  I stayed down in Brighton, a town famous for it’s beach, kinda like Panama City or Daytona I guess, although the beach is rocky.  More accurately it is all rocks.  I had some apple cider that was aged in rum casks.  Delicious.  I was there doing a series of workshops in group down there called The Maydays.  Very talented group.  They do longform improv, a rare beast over in the Uk.

Improv in general is hard to find over there.  London, the birth place of Whose Line and Keith Johnstone, has a handful of groups and no full-time improv venues.  If you google “improv” and “London” you get stand-up clubs.  In fact the third hit on my search mentions the Chicago Improv festival.  What gives?

In some ways this situation parallels the history of rock and roll music.  We all agree that while it was born in the U.S. groups like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The kinks and the Who (and the other British Invasion bands) changed the rules forever.  Those bands infact got there start unabashedly covering U.S. R&B bands.  The sound was made here but the echo that came back to us was somehow louder.

Perhaps improv is the same way but in reverse.  The vibrations from Whose Line struck a cord with us and now our waves are making there way back carrying information absent from the original.  In addition to the workshops with The Maydays I did a workshop open to all comers with some experience.  We got people from Brighton and London and points between.  The first thing I did was give a brief explanation of the class, basic longform techniques.  The first question put me was what is longform.  Was I improv John Lennon bringing “the music” back to where it was from? (Please don’t say I was improv Peter Noone.)

I do need to say at this point that I was universally impressed with the level of talent with everyone I worked with in Brighton and in Oxford.  Perhaps it’s the culture over there but there was so little schtick.  Everyone could play nice and subtle and real with only minor prodding.   It was so nice, well done!

I did however forget to leave them this message.  It seems obvious but it’s something we loose sight of.  Said simply it’s this, no one comes to the theater to see your technique.  It should be hidden.  They don’t come to watch you yes-and.  They don’t care whether or not you’re sticking to your deal or performing an action while talking about something else.  You may spend a whole rehearsal working on making emotional choices at the beginnings of scenes but the audience won’t be judging you on how well you do it in the show.  We get bombarded with techniques and advice and how-to tips.  But audiences just come to enjoy themselves.  Take the stage and forget it all.