Yoda was wrong!

At least when it came to improvised theater.

According to the wisest of goblins you either do or not. In improv you get to try and try and try as many times as you want. You don’t even have to get it right, and if you do, that’s just a bonus.

The audience doesn’t care if we make it or not, they just want to see us try, to commit. You trying takes them on a journey of discovery, and they’ll love and support you for it as long as you try your best*.

This seems very obvious for most short form games. If the improvisers did everything perfect it’s not really improvisation anymore, it’s more like scripted theater. I’ve got nothing against scripted theater, but usually I’d rather watch the actor act and the improviser improvise.

Anyways, here’s an exercise that you can try (see what I did there?) if you want to see for yourself. The exercise can be done by any group, regardless of experience.

Slo-mo high-five

I’ve made two versions of this exercise; one is not described here, requires music and is for discovering characters, the other builds on an exercise for learning names. There’s three rounds.

Round one: Asking.

Everyone stands in a circle. A starts by pointing to another person, X:
A: Hi! What is your name?
X: My name is X.
A: Hi X! (walks over and stands next to X). X ask a new person, repeat.

Round two: Asking + high-five.

Same as round one, but a high five between A and X is added.

Round three: Old friends meeting.

Now you’re meeting an old friend. You two go way, way back, but you haven’t seen each other in a long time. You were known for your super fancy high-five combo and you remember exactly how it used to be!

When you meet now you still high-five each other, but in slow motion, complete with various fist bumps, leg shakes etc,. The dialogue is now:
A: Hi! What is your name?
X: It’s me! X!
A: X!!! I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you!

Then they walk towards each and when they go in for the high-five the instructor say “SLOW MOOOOO…”. The high-five continues, but in very, very slow motion, for as long as it lasts. If needed you can add “back to normal” to help them end it.

It hasn’t failed yet: Every high-five meeting is the most exciting and entertaining thing ever! Always!

It’s nothing more than two people trying their best, and it’s breath-taking!

To me this is improv in a nutshell: We don’t know how and we don’t need to. We just need to try. If we get it right, great! If not, it’s still great.

Useful tips

Instructions that might be useful in round three:

• Go slower! You might have to ask again. And again. And again.
• Make eye contact! Have them to look at each other while high-fiving, so they don’t disconnect.
• Be careful. People tend to get physical so please avoid injuries.
• This high-five ends in three seconds, two seconds… (if you want to push it a little longer).
• You could of course add music to the high-fives if you want to. Notice how the music affects the high-five, creating characters and relationships.

Summary

Just try. Commit. You’ll win either way.

May the force be with you.

*disclaimer: trying your best is not the same as trying to be the best.