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2025-01-03 23:30:15

As most of those who know me are aware, I've been acting and otherwise performing on stage for the majority of my life - from school plays to after-school groups; university theatre companies and little theatres. I've tried my hand at standup, singing and improvisation.

That last one has always been something of a safe space for me. As someone who is historically averse to artifice - I hate "role playing" exercises for example; I struggle to really define why - improv feels like a second home to me. It provides an easy space for me, one where I can relax and belong, where I can show off and fail.

I would hazard a guess that most people in the UK and USA will know of improv through Whose Line is it Anyway? - we call this "short form" improv, as it's mainly about short sketches, scenes or theatre games. As the name suggests, there also exists "long form" where whole plays are acted out, based on audience suggestions. Here in the UK one of the more famous examples is Showstopper! The Improvised Musical; in the US troupes such as The Upright Citizens Brigade regularly perform "Harolds" as part of their act.

But at the core of it, it's all the same - performers come into the show with nothing more than their own life experiences and knowledge, and with some structure in mind for their act, but ultimately get their performance seeded with suggestions from the audience, which we call prompts.

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