I have been participating in improvisational comedy as a hobby since the wee age of 10. Now, I am 21 and taking classes at the Institution Theatre in Austin. Improv is an amazing art. Everyone says, â??Yeah, it sounds hard, you have to be good at thinking on your feet!â? but that is false. Improv is all about being out of your thinking state; when you are improvising you have to get out of your mind and into your heart (Tom Booker). Practicing improvisational Comedy can be therapeutic. Imagine, once a week just going and literally playing with people your age. You travel into a pretend world where no matter what, the person with you will be on your side, even if their character is not.
Anyone who is interested in writing should think about studying some improv comedy. Seeing and participating in several scenes will present any writer with a plethora of inspiration for sketch comedy, stand-up, or even film concepts! Even if the story you are writing has nothing to do with the goofy scene you may be performing in practice, there are millions of other words said, body language shown, character pairs fighting, or voices changed to allow plenty of diverse creativity to write about.
The Harold is a famous improv form. It is very advanced and complicated to perform, but with some practice it is super fun! Remember, they do it all improvised!
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