Favorite Improv Quotes
Posted: 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.
"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.