Austin Improv

Hi all --
At every Tuesday jam, we've got a few local-actor types -- people completely new to improv -- stopping by. I want to make sure that we're dealing with them appropriately, so I figured I'd ask the community for advice.

What's the best way to work with complete improv newbies? What exercises and games are appropriate? What are some pitfalls to avoid?

(Side note #1: My apologies if y'all have discussed this before. I searched the forums, but found nothing.)

(Side note #2: now that I have the info about Coldtowne's "Improv 101" class, I'll be sure to tell them about that.)

I always get actor types in my Drop-In class. Feel free to send me more there.

For complete newbies, I think it's best to keep things positive and give them a feeling of fun and success. Try not to overload them with too much information, direction or instruction.

The good news is that most of the Jam has some more experienced improvisers who are modeling good performance, which is the easiest ways for newbies to pick things up.

You can definitely send them my way as well, and let them know about all the beginner classes in town.

Play games!!
A nice round of what are you doing? Or super hero party. 3-line scene starts. New Choice. Bring in a bunch of hats and have them do one-liner dating video promos. Play a round of World's Worst, or 183. The kind of fun-fun stuff that you would see on an episode of Who's Line is always nice, because that's likely the kind of stuff they've seen before that got them interested.

I always think of Jams as places to simply have a good freakin' time, you know relax and be goofy. Classes are great places to learn skills so I certainly second Asaf and Shana on suggesting they take classes.

The key thing for new people is to give them a chance to succeed at it right away. They get up there and they are scared about doing it wrong, looking foolish, etc. They are not even thinking about the fun they could have.

So play the games where the success of the players is easiest to achieve, where it is most inherent.

In my drop-ins, we only do scenes from nothing. When i have someone in the class that I know is doing improv for the very first time, I tell them "for the next few scenes, the very first thing I want you to do is look at your scene partner and say 'You are _______!', and fill in that blank with whatever you want. And I give you permission to talk over the other person to get that line out." This opening gets them out of their head about what to say at the top of the scene and gives them a choice they can easily get behind if they want to, that will carry them through the scene. Knowing their character thinks the other character is a bastard, or is beautiful, or is scary gives them all the info they need to have a scene.