How directing is the opposite of what you expect in improv
It's just as important to take the macro view of a show to help your own choices
Improv covers a lot of skillsets that you wouldn’t initially have in other mediums. When you’re in a show, you’re the actor, writer, director, and (usually) comedian, which is a lot of plates to spin already. It’s easy to jump into, but that ease overshadows just how hard it is to find consistency as a performer, let alone the group you’re in.
Part of the process is learning to improve your writing, acting, and directing. Directing tends to be better known as choices: the choice to edit, walk in, move around the stage, and switch between proactive and reactive.
The crucial part of directing is making choices that improve the scene and show, not for yourself. Improv complicates this by ensuring everyone is a director on stage, which can lead to chaotic outcomes if people aren’t careful.
When you watch beginner shows, one move you see is people jumping into most, if not all, scenes without considering what’s being built.
Having the choice to do this is intoxicating, as you can make yourself the focus in every scene. Still, it comes at the expense of everything else - the choices made by other cast members, the story, the audience’s understanding or enjoyment, and, as a result, the whole show.
A good director not only knows the capabilities of the cast and the perimeters of the show, but also the ingredients that make a successful moment, scene or show.
That’s probably one of the hardest parts of learning improv. It’s one thing to put in the base ingredients like relationship or premise, but it takes experience to know how best to blend them.
What you can do is direct yourself by asking what choices can help those around you. Take a macro view of the show and decide if your support will help or hinder the scene.
You can keep it simple by making small choices for yourself. When you’re on stage, make sure you’re using the space or doing object work. If you’re off-stage, consider what light touch is needed to help advance the scene; it could be as simple as walking in, giving a line or two, and leaving.
You don’t need big choices, but ones that matter and are committed to.
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