Improvisation and Its' Benefits
Improvisation is when something is created spontaneously or in the moment. Lots of people steer clear of improvisation as they are afraid to fail; however, the more you practice, the better you will get at it. The skills acquired from improvisation can be rewarding and can make a difference to your personal and professional life as well.
In reference to comedy, improvisation is a style that many comedians fall back on. When watching stand-up comedians, you will notice that the improvised parts are just as effortless as the rehearsed segments. Usually, improvisation is made up of interaction with the audience and/or commentary on current affairs and developments that may have occurred between writing the material and performing it.
This is not without years and years of practice. The benefits that improvisation include:
Firstly, improvisation improves confidence. The journey from rehearsing every joke word for word to allowing yourself to steer from the routine shows progression and confidence in your work. Improvisation shows that you have faith in yourself and you know that you are funny.
One of the most important benefits is that improvisation improves communication. By interacting with the audience, you are starting a dialogue and allowing your perspective to coincide with others. It is a great way to see how your comedy affects someone and to see how they react.
Improvisation can improve social skills which is great for every aspect of life. This is because being able to improvise means that you are able to start a dialogue. This is great in professional situations like job interviews or personal situations like going on dates. It can help strengthen relationships and make you a happier person.
Another skill that improvisation improves is concentration and paying attention to detail. Comedians in general are observers and improvisers are able to take this one step further by coming with jokes about the audience on the spot or commenting on recent developments in the news.
One of the schemes that The Comedy Trust run is our ‘Comedy Course for Beginners’. The course is a six-week course that helps develop these skills and give them the option to improvise or improve their improvisation skills. It costs £120 and the next course begins on the 16th January 2017. There are only 6 places left so if you are stuck for a present for that special someone for Christmas, you can buy them a place on the course as a gift (we will provide you with a gift certificate to give to them!).
Contact Charlene at charlene@thecomedytrust.com for further details.
Or you can visit our ‘Comedy Course for Beginners’ page on our website
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