The Art of Making Sh!t Up

Chapter 8Heightening

In improv comedy, the actors are making up scenes and stories from nothing. They start by showing up and stepping out on that stage. They don't know what they're going to do or say, nor do they know what their fellow actors are going to do or say. Standing on a floor‐level stage in a dark basement theater, the actors are surrounded on all sides by an audience that is in parts excited, indifferent, supportive and hostile.

The actor, standing alone on stage with the rest of the cast behind him/her, asks the audience a simple question, something like “What have you recently purchased for over $100?” Without any preplanned thoughts or conversations, these actors take the rawest of material and weave a tale with multiple layers, many different characters, jumps in time, unexpected twists and turns, all somehow leading to a neat resolution of the story. When done well, it feels almost like a magic trick. Six performers, never speaking a word to each other, somehow immediately get on the same page, coherently moving ideas forward so seamlessly that it looks like it must be preplanned.

In a matter of seconds, improv actors have to accept a previously unknown idea, free associate off of what they have heard, negotiate with another actor as to the who, what, and where of the scene, come to an agreement, and move the idea forward. All while also attempting to make the audience laugh. The performers are also being publicly judged, and the feedback that they receive ...