Favorite Improv Quotes

TexasImprovMassacre · March 18th, 2009, 7:37 am

What are your favorite improv quotes? or quotes related to improv?

"If it feels weird, do it more". - Liz Allen

"The best thing about improv is that no matter how bad your show is, it's only 30 minutes, and never exists again. The worst thing is no matter how good your show is, it's only 30 minutes, and never exists again." - Mick Napier

"We are all supporting actors." -Del Close

"Listening is the willingness to change". - Dave Pasquesi

"Party your dick off". - Terp

"If I don't have fun, it's my own damn fault." - Susan Messing

"Go deep, rather than broad" - Bill Arnett on the harold

"Clear and clunky beats slick and incoherent." - Seth Weitberg

"Work on the sidelines, relax on the stage." - Holly Laurent

also, here are some quotes from Hagakure (the book of the samurai) that make me think about improv

It is a principle of the art of war that one should simply lay down his life and strike. If one's opponent also does the same, it is an even match. Defeating one's opponent is then a matter of faith and destiny.

There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you still get the same soaking.

The Way of the Samurai is found in death.
Meditation on inevitable death should be performed daily.
Every day, when one's body and mind are at peace,
one should meditate upon being ripped apart by arrows, rifles, spears, and swords,
being carried away by surging waves,
being thrown into the midst of a great fire, being struck by lightning,
being shaken to death by a great earthquake,
falling from thousand-foot cliffs,
dying of disease or committing seppuku at the death of one's master.
And every day, without fail, one should consider himself as dead.
This is the substance of the way of the samurai.

Even if one's head were to be suddenly cut off,
he should be able to do one more action with certainty.
With martial valor, if one becomes like a revengeful ghost
and shows great determination, though his head is cut off,
he should not die.

Our bodies are given life from the midst of nothingness.
Existing where there is nothing is the meaning of the phrase,
"form is emptiness."
That all things are provided for by nothingness is the meaning of the
phrase,
"Emptiness is form."
One should not think that these are two separate things.

Lord Sanenori said, "In the midst of a single breath, where perversity cannot be held , is the Way. '' If so, then the
Way is one. But there is no one who can understand this clarity at first. Purity is something that cannot be attained
except by piling effort upon effort.

A certain swordsman in his declining years said the following:
In one's life. there are levels in the pursuit of study. In the lowest level, a person studies but nothing comes of it, and
he feels that both he and others are unskillful. At this point he is worthless. In the middle level he is still useless but is
aware of his own insufficiencies and can also see the insufficiencies of others. In a higher level he has pride
concerning his own ability, rejoices in praise from others, and laments the lack of ability in his fellows. This man has
worth. In the highest level a man has the look of knowing nothing .
These are the levels in general;. But there is one transcending level, and this is the most excellent of all. This person is
aware of the endlessness of entering deeply into a certain Way arid never thinks of himself as having finished. He
truly knows his own insufficiencies and never in his whole life thinks that he has succeeded. He has no thoughts of
pride but with self-abasement knows the Way to the end. It is said that Master Yagyu once remarked, "I do not know
the way to defeat others, but the way to defeat myself. ''
Throughout your life advance daily, becoming more skillful than yesterday, more skillful than today. This is neverending.

ratliff · Post by **ratliff** » March 18th, 2009, 10:10 am

"If you're not connected to the group, you're not improvising." -- Liz Allen

"If you're not having fun onstage, you're the asshole." -- Susan Messing

"If this is true, what else is true?" -- Matt Besser

"Inspiration trumps obligation." -- Bill Arnett

"It took me four years to stop sucking." -- Miles Stroth

(Those are just the ones that start with "I")

ratliff · Post by **ratliff** » March 18th, 2009, 10:28 am

The first rule is that there are no rules, and I wish more people would be aware of that. -- Nick Lowe

There's no such thing as a wrong note; it all depends on how you resolve it. -- Art Tatum

I'll play it first and tell you what it is later. -- Miles Davis

Each thing in the world asks us, "What makes you think I'm not something you like?" -- John Cage

Strange thoughts come into your head and you better think 'em. -- Mike White

Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate. -- Carl Jung

After a certain age, every artist works with injury. -- Marianne Faithfull

Dance in the body you have. -- Agnes Demille

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is or how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. -- Martha Graham

When Reb Zusye went to heaven, God didn't ask him why, in his life on earth, Zusye wasn't Moses, but why he wasn't even Zusye. -- Gerald Sorin

You might want to consider just saying yes to everything. -- Erika May and/or Bob McNichol

. . . and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes. -- James Joyce

vine311 · Post by **vine311** » March 18th, 2009, 10:50 am

"Improv is just choice plus commitment." - Asaf Ronen
"Less volley, more spike." - Asaf Ronen
"No flinching!" - Shana Merlin

scook · Post by **scook** » March 18th, 2009, 1:59 pm

"Fuck it. People don’t judge my mistakes unless I telegraph that I’m an idiot." - Susan Messing

"You’re only limited by your lack of imagination and fear of appearing stupid." - Susan Messing

"What do you want to fuck with? Fuck with it more." - Jim Carlson

"Effort is ugly." - TJ Jagodowski

"I love that this is the kind of art where the day I stop growing is the day I start dying. You can’t rest on your petty little laurels at this stage of the game. I’ve been improvising over 19 years now and now I’m not going to stop. What? Stop growing? Did the earth stop?" - Susan Messing

scook · Post by **scook** » March 18th, 2009, 2:19 pm

What kind of state of mind are you in when you're improvising?

Just trying to be "there", basically, and be interested in what's going on around me, besides my own obligation to play. I want to hear the other players as clearly as possible. It's an almost selfish need - besides the satisfaction of hearing them play, even if it isn't first-rate. If I hear what they're doing, I never run out of things to play, because they'll always feed me something. It's really not possible to run out of something to play if you tune in to the bass drum, the sock cymbal, or the bass notes, or the piano chord. But if 100% of my attention is on thinking "What's the next note?" it's hard to listen to anything else.

- Lee Konitz

Dave · Post by **Dave** » March 18th, 2009, 3:01 pm

"how you do what you do is your character." -joe bill

"don't come into a rehearsal and tell us how tired you are. we're all tired." -mick napier

beardedlamb · Post by **beardedlamb** » March 18th, 2009, 5:59 pm

"You are pure potential." - Martin DeMaat

"You can't say what your character would or wouldn't do until the lights go down, so don't justify your denials that way." - a teacher in a class i took one time

"Make the scene about the two of you." - whispered over the PA during a Monks Night Out scene at Velveeta Room by Marc Pruter from the back of the bar

LuBu McJohnson · Post by **LuBu McJohnson** » March 18th, 2009, 6:24 pm

Whenever anyone asked him about Zen, the great master Gutei would quietly raise one finger into the air. A boy in the village began to imitate this behavior. Whenever he heard people talking about Gutei's teachings, he would interrupt the discussion and raise his finger. Gutei heard about the boy's mischief. When he saw him in the street, he seized him and cut off his finger. The boy cried and began to run off, but Gutei called out to him. When the boy turned to look, Gutei raised his finger into the air. At that moment the boy became enlightened.

LuBu McJohnson · Post by **LuBu McJohnson** » March 18th, 2009, 6:25 pm

One day the Master announced that a young monk had reached an advanced state of enlightment. The news caused some stir. Some of the monks went to see the young monk. "We heard you are enlightened. Is that true?" they asked.

"It is," he replied.

"And how do you feel?"

"As miserable as ever," said the monk.

Asaf · Post by **Asaf** » March 19th, 2009, 2:30 am

Thanks for quoting me, Vines. That makes me feel really good.

The thing about [visiting] Crazy Town is there are lots of pictures, but you don't really do anything.
-Dave Razowsky

Why are you rushing to the next thing you don't know?
-Rafe Chase (as quoted by Shana Merlin)

Play from inspiration, not obligation.
-Mick Napier

and here is one I have been quoting to a lot of folks who have been getting down on themselves:

You do not have the right to use this artform to make yourself feel inadequate.
-Martin de Maat

kbadr · Post by **kbadr** » March 19th, 2009, 10:59 am

"While we stop to think, we often miss our opportunity."
-Publilius Syrus

"At least I'll know what kind of pants I'm wearing."
-Stephen Kearin

ratliff · Post by **ratliff** » March 19th, 2009, 11:01 am

kbadr wrote:"At least I'll know what kind of pants I'm wearing."
-Stephen Kearin

And if Kearin knows what kinds of pants he's wearing, by the end of the scene you'll know what kind of pants he's wearing.

DollarBill · Post by **DollarBill** » March 19th, 2009, 11:44 pm

"Don't make a plan..." -Bruce Lee
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ijCSu87I9k[/youtube]

starkserious · Post by **starkserious** » March 23rd, 2009, 1:33 am

“Ride the horse in the direction that it's going” - Werner Erhard

"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation."
---Plato, a Greek guy from many years ago.

"Everyone can act. Everyone can improvise. Anyone who wishes to can play in the theater... If the environment permits it, anyone can learn whatever he chooses to learn, and if the individual permits it, the environment will teach him everything it has to teach. ... 'Talent' or 'lack of talent' have very little to do with it."
---Viola Spolin, "Improvisation for the Theater"

"it's fine to suck at improv. If you don't suck then you aren't really doing improv." - some teacher I can't remember many years ago at Big Stinking Improv