Here are 7 reasons why everyone should take at least one improv class in their life:
1. It will boost your confidence
When you're forced to get up in a room full of people and create a three minute scene based on the word "tomato", or having your onstage partner try to help you put on a thong (in a room full of people) for Spring Fling because you have two left legs and can't do it yourself, you will come to realize that everyday commodities aren't so scary after all.
2. It's a wonderful form of team building.
For some, (introverts in particular) acting on the spot is hard. Really hard. Especially in a room full of people. Typically with each scene you do, there is a task at hand: something pops up, a problem/tension in sues, and you/your fellow improvists have to fix it. OR, you and your onstage partner(s) are simply having a made-up conversation, and just like in real life, you have to find a way to keep it going. So, supporting your fellow improvists by being aware of what they are saying or doing- whether it's a character they have created or how they are going off the prompt that has been given for your scene- and then figuring out what you can do to make your scene flow in a way that is entertaining for you, your partners, and your audience. . . is really special.
3. It's intellectually stimulating.
One of the concepts we learned in my class is the "group mind", which basically means that a group of people onstage have to think as if they are part of one whole brain. In order to do this, you have to really pay attention to what your onstage partners are doing- whether it's body language, gestures, voices, attitudes, dialogue- and figuring out how to make your scene flow by picking up on what is being said to you or how you think your fellow improvists would want you to respond. This also includes remembering something from a previous scene and somehow weaving that it into your current one; my class in particular had these recurring "Todd" and "Janice" characters that were always funny no matter what scenario or context you put them in.
4. It's a weird form of therapy.
Do you have any pent up feelings you need to let out, or just want to verbally fight or yell at someone for no reason at all? Just work it into a scene somehow. You will feel better because more times than not, your partner(s) will not only fight back and give you that adrenaline rush you've been craving, and your audience will laugh. So basically, you can turn your most darkest and depressing feelings into entertainment. Yay!
5. It actually holds important values.
The most crucial concept we learned in my class is: accept what is being offered to you. Basically, this means you have to roll with whatever your partner throws at you, because it could create a "dead end" type of situation for your scene if you don't. Oh, your partner (who is a very tall and built adult male) just informed you that his character (who was a teenage girl named Amanda) has sex frequently with your General Ed teacher, Mr. Johnson, in the janitor's closet and that they are not only in a relationship, but are also getting married?! Well, there's no way to really casually back out of that one.
But, in all and total seriousness, I believe this concept also applies to life in general; rather than leaving a situation feeling uncomfortable or defeated, you should face it head on and accept the lesson that you're being given.
6. It's a supportive community.
This was the only improv group I've been a part of, so I'm not sure if I'm biased or if all improv groups are like this, but; I took this class through my university (UW Tacoma) which is a pretty diverse campus to begin with, and my classmates came from a variety of backgrounds- whether that was race or class or gender or hometown or people with kids and families, or ex-military, or just some dumb twenty-something year olds trying to pursue their dream comedy career- we all came together for roughly ten hours out of the week just to have some fun and forget about everything else going on in our lives or the world in general (because shit's pretty fucked up right now) and laugh together. If a classmate did something onstage that was ballsy or funny or weird, we would compliment them on it. If a classmate was nervous to go onstage, we would hype them up. If a classmate shared something personal or intimate about themselves and their life experiences, we would listen.
