WHAT WOULD TINA FEY DO? IMPROV TIPS FROM ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS IMPROVISERS

Tina Fey is one of the world’s best known improvisers and in her book “Bossypants” she dispenses some smart tips for people interested in trying improv. If you have ever wanted to improvise like Tina, here’s where to start.

1. Tina believes the first rule of improvisation is agreement. “Always agree and SAY YES. When you’re improvising, this means you are required to agree with whatever your partner has created. So if we’re improvising and I say, “Freeze, I have a gun,” and you say, “That’s not a gun. It’s your finger. You’re pointing your finger at me,” our improvised scene has ground to a halt.”

2. Don’t just say yes. Say… Yes, and. Adding to the reality is the next step. “You are supposed to agree and then add something of your own. If I start a scene with “I can’t believe it’s so hot in here,” and you just say, “Yeah…” we’re kind of at a standstill. But if I say, “I can’t believe it’s so hot in here,” and you say, “What did you expect? We’re in hell.””

3. Tina believes that making statements is a way of adding to the scene, and of giving your scene partner something to play with. “If we’re in a scene and I say, “Who are you? Where are we? What are we doing here? What’s in that box?” I’m putting pressure on you to come up with all the answers. In other words: Whatever the problem, be part of the solution”.

4. Whatever you do, it’s not ‘wrong’ it’s something we have to work into the scene. “There are no mistakes, only opportunities. If I start a scene as what I think is very clearly a cop riding a bicycle, but you think I am a hamster in a hamster wheel, guess what? Now I’m a hamster in a hamster wheel. I’m not going to stop everything to explain that it was really supposed to be a bike”.

You can read what Tina has to say in full in her book “Bossypants” which you can get here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/4727/9780751547832%C2%A0

If you want to take an improv class in Nottingham or Leicester UK, and learn it for yourself, check out some courses and workshops here: https://rhymesimprov.com/improv-comedy-courses