I'm not saying you CAN'T start a scene in negativity and deprivation. I'm just saying that it's harder... and I'm a lazy improviser. You'd be setting up existential challenges for your audience before you even start the scene. They'll be asking... If they hate it here, why don't they leave? If they hate this activity why don't they stop If they hate that person, why don't they just tell them to fuck off? Most importantly... Why the hell am I watching this scene? Positivity an

"Make Active & Positive Choices" Elaine May & Del Close I first read this quote in Jeffrey Sweet's seminal book Something Wonderful Right Away: An Oral History of the Second City and the Compass Players. I'm happy to say that since that day Jeffrey & I have become fast friends... getting slower as the years go by. Let's work backwards. I'd like to cover Positive Choices first. To me this means start your scene in a place of positivity and abundance. That's a place you want t

"It's An Actor's Job To Justify." Del Close & Elaine May This is the last of 3 principles from Elaine May & Del Close, as I read them in Jeffrey Sweet's book Something Wonderful Right Away. As actors we're in the business of justification. We stand in a room with 3 walls and pretend that there's a 4th. We stand in a room full of people and pretend that we are alone. We do and say things that we ourselves would never do, but we do and say those things in service of the story w

"Support the physical, & verbal reality of the scene" Elaine May & Del Close This one takes a bit of explaining. The first 3 of my improv tips come from Elaine May & Del Close, as I read them in Jeffrey Sweet's book Something Wonderful Right Away. Two of those quotes are verbatim, as written in the book. One of them... this one... has seen some amendments. Here's what's written in the book... "Support the physical, & verbal reality of the scene." To start with, if you're n