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Improv and Storytelling
One of my favorite shows of all time has to be “Whose Line is it Anyway?” The show ran from 1998 - 2006 on ABC and can still be found in reruns every now and then. If you haven’t seen it, the premise was to pull in several guest actors along with a regular cast and have them “improv” scenes either pulled from a hat or suggested by the audience on the spot. I would watch every episode and wonder, “How are they able to be so creative, funny, and interesting without knowing what will come next?”
It's no surprise that the skills that make improv so entertaining are some of the same skills that make for good writing.
In the book, Training to Imagine, improv artist Kat Koppett discusses the six principles of improvisation and how they relate to creativity and teamwork. These same skills are good confidence builders for student storytellers:
- Trust - In improvisation, you have to trust in your fellow actors to go along with whatever tale you spin. In storytelling, trust allows the storyteller to take risks in their writing and know that the audience will allow them the freedom to explore new ways of expression.
- Spontaneity - In improvisation, there is no time to censor and filter thoughts that might not be "right.". In the same vein, every story needs a little bit of surprise and suspense to make the listener wonder what comes next.
- Accepting Offers - There's a way of thinking called "Yes, and..." that requires improvisational artists to accept an idea and build on it. It's also a great way to build stories collaboratively.
- Listening and Awareness - To work as a team, improvisational groups must actively listen to others in order to build a story. Recognizing the audience as an active participant in the story is important to students too as they keep in mind how the audience will react.
- Storytelling - It's the power of the narrative to engage the listener that helps make information stick. Improv artists know that a series of quips or stunts won't entertain for long - the narrative has to build a compelling story.
- Non-Verbal Communication - Some of the most powerful stories can fall flat if the non-verbal part isn't attended to. Student storytellers need to make sure that every element they incorporate, from background music, to photos and illustrations, to voice emotion and inflection help tell the story.
Creative writing has many elements in common with improvisation and the games and activities that improv artists use are also great tools to help students build creative stories. In the sections that follow, we'll explore improv games to help students frame and expand stories.
Portions of this page are adapted from my writing on Collaboration that can be found here on my blog.
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, Apr 4 2011, 11:22 PM EDT
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