Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, action, story, and characters are created collaboratively by the players as the improvisation unfolds in present time, without use of an already prepared, written script.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to theatre:
Second Nature is a long-form improvisational theatre troupe based in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California.
A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp on tunes, songs and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without extensive preparation or predefined arrangements, except for when the group is playing well-known jazz standards or covers of existing popular songs. Original jam sessions, also 'free flow sessions', are often used by musicians to develop new material (music) and find suitable arrangements. Both styles can be used simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one participant, or may be wholly improvisational. Jam sessions can range from very loose gatherings of amateurs to evenings where a jam session coordinator or host acts as a "gatekeeper" to ensure that only appropriate-level performers take the stage, to sophisticated improvised recording sessions by professionals which are intended to be broadcast live on radio or TV or edited and released to the public.
The Krannert Center for the Performing Arts is an educational and performing arts complex located at 500 S. Goodwin Street in Urbana, Illinois, on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Herman C. Krannert, an industrialist who was the founder of Inland Container Corp. and an alumnus of the University, and his wife, Ellnora Krannert, made a gift of $16 million that made creation of the Krannert Center possible. Max Abramovitz, the architect who designed the facility, was also an Illinois alumnus.
John Berndt is a musician and organizer based in Baltimore, Maryland who is best known as an extended-technique experimental saxophonist and electronic musician. He participated in the second wave of the neoism cultural movement, the first wave having consisted of Monty Cantsin, Istvan Kantor, and Blaster Al Ackerman, amongst many others. Berndt's participation in Neoism began after the 1st eight Neoist Apartment Festivals during the "64th International Neoist Apartment Festival" in 1986 in Berlin and subsequently in the "One Millionth" in New York City in late 1988 and the "13th" in Paris in 1994. Conceptual work by Berndt was shown at Documenta X, in Kassel, in 1997.
VJing is a broad designation for realtime visual performance. Characteristics of VJing are the creation or manipulation of imagery in realtime through technological mediation and for an audience, in synchronization to music. VJing often takes place at events such as concerts, nightclubs, music festivals and sometimes in combination with other performative arts. This results in a live multimedia performance that can include music, actors and dancers. The term VJing became popular in its association with MTV's Video Jockey but its origins date back to the New York club scene of the 70s. In both situations VJing is the manipulation or selection of visuals, the same way DJing is a selection and manipulation of audio.
Maggie Nicols, is a Scottish free-jazz and improvising vocalist, dancer, and performer.
Aleksander Kolkowski is a British musician and composer whose work combines instruments and machines from the pioneering era of sound recording and reproduction to make live mechanical-acoustic music. He lives and works in London, England.
From Scratch are a New Zealand experimental music / performance group, best known for their large sculptural invented instruments and rhythmic innovation. They have performed since 1974 with an ever-changing lineup, though principally led by Philip Dadson.
Crash Worship or ADRV was a San Diego, California based experimental music and performance art ensemble formed in 1986. They were most renowned for live performances partly inspired by the confrontational Viennese Actionism movement of the 1960s. The musical element featured three stand-up percussionists who hammered out industrial and tribal poly-rhythms accompanied by highly unorthodox electric guitar, synthesizers, sound effects and dueling vocalists. Audience members were showered in various substances such as blood, wine and honey while, band members ignited combustibles and set fires within the performance area. Crash Worship also released several albums and singles of both live and studio-recorded music. Mostly self-produced works in visually stunning screen printed metal splattered with paint, urine, blood and other esoterica. Although they toured playing music from their recorded material, the celebratory nature of these events left each show open to spontaneity and improvisation.
S. Ama Wray, known formally as Sheron Wray, is a dancer, teacher, choreographer and theatre director. She studied under Jane Dudley at the London Contemporary Dance School, later performing with the London Contemporary Dance Theatre and the Rambert Dance Company, and forming her own company JazzXchange in 1992. She presently is associate professor of dance at the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at the University of California, Irvine.
Roger Turner is an English jazz percussionist. He plays the drumset, drums, and various percussion, and was brought up into the jazz and visual art cultures inhabited by his older brothers, playing drums from childhood in informal jazz contexts.
The Feminist Improvising Group (FIG) were a five- to eight-piece international free improvising avant-garde jazz and experimental music ensemble formed in London in 1977 by Scottish vocalist Maggie Nicols and English bassoonist/composer Lindsay Cooper. Their debut performance was at a "Music for Socialism" festival at the Almost Free Theatre in London in October 1977, and they toured Europe several times in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The Megapolis Audio Festival is a weekend-long event dedicated to the art of sound and to do-it-yourself (DIY) culture. The festival serves as a forum for artists, documentarians, musicians, and fans to come together to share secrets on producing and presenting challenging audio works online, on-air, and on the stage. Traveling to a new city each year to connect artists from around the world with local artists and arts organizations, MEGAPOLIS remains an affordable event where people of all ages can educate and inspire each other to hear the world differently.
Steven J. Fowler or SJ Fowler is a contemporary English poet, writer and avant-garde artist, and the founder of European Poetry Festival.
The K-POP World Festival is an annual K-pop talent competition organized by South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the support of numerous government agencies. After going through a few preliminary rounds, fans of K-pop are invited by the South Korean government to take part in the final round of the competition held every year in Changwon, South Korea.
Sylvia Hallett is an English musician and composer. She plays many instruments including the violin and she is known for improvisations on unusual instruments. She has appeared at international festivals, often in collaboration with theatres and dance companies.
The Free Association, or The FA, is a London-based improvised comedy theatre and school. It was founded in 2015 and operates two comedy venues and training centres in London. They are currently the largest provider of improvisation training in the UK.
Voice of America is a 1982 live collaborative album of improvised experimental music by Fred Frith, Bob Ostertag and Phil Minton. It was recorded live at PASS, New York City in January 1981, and the Actual Festival at the ICA, London in August 1981. The album was released on LP by Rift Records in 1982. RecRec Music reissued the album on CD in 1994.