I am thoroughly unsure as to where the misconception began with improvisers that the scene you are performing exists in and only in that moment. High-school improvisers - could be any improvisers - are so afraid of giving history and explanation to their scenes and characters.

Before giving you all the solution, I need to analyze the problem. Why are so many improvisers so afraid of giving extra information and detail to a scene? Why are we so content giving the least we can and hoping we get the most? It's because we're nervous and we're scared. Scared of? Nervous about? Many things. That by giving detail we'll derail the scene. That it won't be funny. That we won't have enough time to be entertaining because we explained something. That the audience will get overwhelmed. That we'll forget. Most importantly it's because improvisers ourselves are so focused on the big picture, the long form, that we treat scenes like Anthony Micheal Hall's acting career. The sad truth is, if you think that giving your two cents to the First National Bank of Improv at the beginning of a scene, don't expect $2000 plus in interest at the end of one.

So how do we add detail and depth to our scenes? How do we not only make them more interesting, but easier on ourselves? How can we use detail to enhance the scene and do more than we were before?

Well I'm glad you asked, because I have gathered many tips from many sources...

Be Very Specific
As a very bossy person I can sympathies with people who are afraid of being too specific. Like when your partner says, "What's that?" and you go, "I don't know! What do you think?" instead of "My God, they're putting toupees on Mount Rushmore!" because they said it, it's their contribution, or because if you keep calling the shots on unnamed objects, people, and events you've basically hijacked the scene in your mind's eye. Well, calm down. Instead of saying "Nice car!" say "Wow! A 1968 Chevy Impala!" Not only have you clued in your scene partner, but the audience can start envisioning who would own a car like that. Are they some old guy? An artsy student? Some washed up rockstar? Be specific about that, too. Help yourself help your partner help the audience.

Your Audience Cares
Your audience is more concerned than you may think they are by the table being mimed at three different locations. They are more put off that "Chuck" is also called Dan, Bill, and Lorrie than you think. Your audience is uncomfortable when you walk through a fridge. It's the one of you who damns putting wheels on the table, who says Chuck is in witness protection, that quips about the human shaped hole in the fridge that puts your audience to rest.

Give Information About Your Scene Partner
The line "Nice tie" opens up so much about your location to your audience without flat out saying your at a wedding, or at prom, or an office elevator. It's tasteful hinting at your surroundings. "You're a grown man!" "I guess it would be hard coming from a Catholic family." "That's why Cathy broke up with you." This helps you and the other players learn how to handle their character, and gives tasteful relationship history.

It Happens Again and Again....
Give history with one word or a quick one liner. This is a fun joke in itself, by the way. Instead of "We can't get arrested!" make it "We can't get arrested again!" A line like "Remember what happened last time..." gives opportunity to a related one liner.

Your Face is Familiar
As many reading this are high school students (I think), then at least five of you have read a Spanish 2 textbook and been surprised that Miguel and Ana just met, but he's asking her about where her dad works and what she's so nervous about. Like, Hola Senorita, my name is Miguel and I'm real nervous about my executive meeting today. This is more of a general warning, but I've seen and been told that opening a scene as strangers can often make things difficult. Not always, of course, but there's a reason we try to establish relationships, and we swear it is for the players benefit.

If you can try an incorporate these into your scenes, then you'll have well formed, detailed work that will keep your audience at peace and entertained.

While it sounds like a bad Billy Ocean song, I'm referring to the need for students to stop thinking about their improv sometimes.

Yesterday, I had a group of three students attempting a more serious improv scene. It was about a mother and daughter about to attend a family reunion, and worried about rehashing the "issue" with Grandma from the last reunion. As the three characters began to interact, the student playing the mother came up with some really interesting stuff - how she talked to her mother, news she confessed to her daughter about Dad's dalliances, etc. But there was one thing the scene was screaming for: emotion.

It was obvious to me (and the rest of the group) that they were playing very cerebrally - thinking about their next line, thinking about how to respond to another character, thinking ahead to where the scene should go, thinking about how not to laugh at the physicality of the player playing the grandmother. It felt very corked - none of them wanted to take that chance and react emotionally. Particularly the mother - she was almost deadpan throughout.

I took the grandmother and daughter aside, and gave them one direction: when Mother tells you that Father has been cheating, react emotionally. I instructed the Mother to deliver her one line ("Honey, I need to tell you that your father has been cheating on me.") and then react appropriately to however the other two characters react. When the daughter reacted angrily and hurt, the mother in turn was able to react more apologetically and regretfully. And when the grandmother chimed in with her extreme disappointment, the mother turned to sorrow, burying her head in her hands.


It didn't quite get as emotional as it could've, and given them some real material to work with - but it was so much better. Most of these were junior improvisers, and tend to be much more reserved. It reinforced in me (and in some of them as well) the need to get out of their heads and to get them comfortable with acting and behaving with their fellow troupe members. How do we (our character) feel about what they've just heard, and how do we act upon those feelings? Don't just think it or say it, show it. Feel it. Some of the best improv I've seen my troupe do has been centered around themes with strong feelings - but only when they trusted each other enough to show those feelings and act upon them.


There are a handful of Emoting games that might help students get more into that "heartspace." Because the games tend to take emotions a little over the top for the sake of the gimmick, they may not necessarily bring emotional gravity to a scene - but they can at least get students emoting on stage. Emotional Roller Coaster is the one that probably best could be set up to carry a serious improv scene; for a little more fun, try Emotional Quadrants or Emotional Objects.

Jimmy Carrane is a veteran Chicago improv performer and teacher, with blogs, podcasts, books and awards to his name. Over on his blog Improv Nerd, he's had a couple of posts (here's one and here's the other) about improv coaching and teaching - what to do if you're a coach and what to look for if you're being coached. I encourage you to check out his post (although some of the language is Not Safe For School) - I found some inspiration in his ideas, and created a list you can use with your classes and students.

Shut Up
The only way to really learn improv is to do it. If you do too much verbal coaching, your students spend their time in their heads, not on their feet. If you're trying to make a point, have them get on their feet and do it/show it. Even better...


You Need To Improvise Too
This comes in two forms. The first is not being afraid to get on your own feet and perform with your students. Don't be the omniscient voice in the back of the room or the side of the stage. Let your students see you play with them. You can better guide a scene or illustrate a point that you're trying to make.
The second is in terms of the actual flow of the workshop or class or rehearsal, don't have a set agenda. Chances are if you've ever started a session with a pre-set plan, somewhere along the way you went off the plan, maybe by a little, maybe by a lot. Instead, respond to the needs of the group. Have an overall theme for the session, and a big set of games and exercises to draw from, but let the group help determine the course of the session.

You're An Expert, Not a Know-It-All
You have the knowledge to guide your class, but you probably don't know everything. When a question arises, don't be the first to answer - ask the class. It often generates much better discussion than listening to you yak on and on. Occasionally you'll get a question to which the answer is clear - but most of the time you won't. Those are the best questions.

Set The Ground Rules
What are your expectations when it comes to folks behaving in class? No cell phones? Respectful attention during scenes? No profanity? Miss no more than one rehearsal? Everyone's opinion deserves to be heard?
Make sure you set those very clearly from Day 1, and expect to have to continue to reinforce them. Make sure that students know what's appropriate and what's not. It's particularly difficult when it comes to high school troupes - the line that they're not allowed to cross tends to me more restrictive that with most other troupes - but training them develops their improvisational muscle memory.

Encourage Questions and Comments
Provide an encouraging learning environment for your students, one in which they feel comfortable asking questions (not just to you but to the whole group) and sharing comments. Let students learn from each other - if they're not sure of something, let the group provide clarification. This is especially important if you're working with just a performance troupe - if they don't trust each other to ask questions and share their feelings, then there's something crucial missing from their chemistry.

Go See Other Improvisers
Improvisers, particular high school students, can get stuck in a rut if they don't get a chance to expand their view of improv. Encourage your students to see other shows or other formats. Take them to a neighboring school's improv troupe's show. Get your short-form-focused students to a professional long-form show. After the show (immediately, if possible), discuss with them what they saw. What worked, what didn't, what looked like us, what didn't. Get them to think outside their box.

It takes a second to see what this C.S. Lewis quote has to do with improv, but act it out and you'll see.

The focus is on objects - not everything you do on stage should be verbal. In fact, there should be quite a lot you do on stage that isn't verbal, and in some cases is completely non-verbal. Putting a pipe in your mouth during the scene lets you think about what's happening and what's going to happen - what your character, the pipe-smoker, is going to do next, what he/she is going to say, how he/she is going to react to what your fellow player just said or is saying, and so on.

The next you rehearse a scene, try this - spend the first 30 seconds saying absolutely nothing. Instead, interact with the objects that are the world of the scene - which means that, most likely, you'll have to create them in the first place. If your scene is in a kitchen, don't just barge in and ask "Hey, mom! What's for dinner?" Spend some time watching (silently) your scene partner cooking, check out the refrigerator, the pantry, the cupboard, the place where you keep your secret stash of cookies and discover you finished them the last time you checked there, find a piece of gum and chew it for a while, sit down at the kitchen table and drum your pencil impatiently... there's lots you can do without saying a word. Each of those actions lends some tidbit to your character, the location, your relationship with your scene partner, and so on.

If you don't talk, it gives you more time to hear those tidbits.