Improv Rules Quotes

You can't be controlling in improv.

A lot of times, good improv is when both people, or however many people are in the scene, really have no idea what the next thing you're going to say is.

Generally, I've found that a heckler in an improv audience is just enjoying the show so much that they want to be in it.

When I came into improv, it was almost like an outsider art form.

A lot of times when you're trying to do improv, everybody's doing a different style.

I moved to Chicago in the early 1990s and I studied improvisation there. I learned some rules that I try to apply still today: Listen. Say yes. Live in the moment. Make sure you play with people who have your back. Make big choices early and often. Don't start a scene where two people are talking about jumping out of a plane. Start the scene having already jumped. If you're scared, look into your partner's eyes — you will feel better.

As they say, there are two rules in improv: Never say no, and never ask why. When another actor asks 'Why?' or says no to something you're suggesting, then it's very clear that they're putting the onus on you, because they're not comfortable with it themselves.

In improv, the whole thing is that it is a relationship between the two people, as a back and forth. In standup, you don't really want to be listening to what somebody is saying; you want to project your jokes into their face.

We don't worry about continuity because when we're doing so many improvs, it's better to get the laugh. It's better to get the great lines even if they're in the wrong part of the room.

That was a huge part of my training, doing improv in Chicago.

I think that it is important to establish a world of place for the characters in improv and there is nothing to be gained from disagreeing about that. So you have to establish the principle that if some person establishes one thing we're all going to go along with it and that we are all building from it.