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.
Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation, in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of improvisation can apply to many different faculties, across all artistic, scientific, physical, cognitive, academic, and non-academic disciplines; see Applied improvisation.
Harold Allen Ramis was an American actor, director, writer, and comedian. His best-known film acting roles were as Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II (1989) and Russell Ziskey in Stripes (1981); he also co-wrote those films. As a director, his films include the comedies Caddyshack (1980), National Lampoon's Vacation (1983), Groundhog Day (1993), and Analyze This (1999). Ramis was the original head writer of the television series SCTV, on which he also performed, as well as a co-writer of Groundhog Day and National Lampoon's Animal House (1978). The final film that he wrote, produced, directed, and acted in was Year One (2009).
Pat Sajak is an American television personality, former weatherman, and talk show host, best known as the host of the American television game show Wheel of Fortune.
Viola Spolin was a theatre academic, educator and acting coach. She is considered an important innovator in 20th century American theater for creating directorial techniques to help actors to be focused in the present moment and to find choices improvisationally, as if in real life. These acting exercises she later called Theater Games and formed the first body of work that enabled other directors and actors to create improvisational theater. Her book Improvisation for the Theater, which published these techniques, includes her philosophy and her teaching and coaching methods, and is considered the "bible of improvisational theater". Spolin's contributions were seminal to the improvisational theater movement in the U.S. She is considered to be the mother of Improvisational theater. Her work has influenced American theater, television and film by providing new tools and techniques that are now used by actors, directors and writers.
Wendy A. MacLeod is an American playwright.
Jeffrey Todd Garlin is an American comedian, actor, producer, director, and writer. He is widely known for playing Jeff Greene on the HBO show Curb Your Enthusiasm, Mort Meyers on Arrested Development for Fox and Netflix and Murray Goldberg, the patriarch of the titular family in the ABC sitcom The Goldbergs.
David Patrick Kelly is an American actor and musician who has appeared in numerous films and television series. He is best known for his role as Luther, the main antagonist in the cult film The Warriors (1979). Kelly is also known for his collaborations with Spike Lee, in the films Malcolm X (1992), Crooklyn (1994), and Chi-Raq (2015), and with David Lynch, appearing in Wild at Heart (1990) as well as Twin Peaks (1990–91) and its 2017 revival.
Cipha Sounds is an American radio and television personality of Puerto Rican descent. He is mostly known for his work as a DJ, a VJ for MTV and as a comedian.
iO, or iO Chicago, is an improv theater and training center in central Chicago, with a former branch in Los Angeles called iO West and in Raleigh, North Carolina called iO South. The theater teaches and hosts performances of improvisational comedy. It was founded in 1981 by Del Close and Charna Halpern. The theater has many notable alumni, including Amy Poehler and Stephen Colbert.
ImprovBoston is a nonprofit improvisational theater, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offers shows five nights per week at its theater in Central Square and training programs in improvisation, stand-up comedy and sketchwriting.
Mick Napier is an American director and improvisational theater teacher. He is the founder and artistic director of the Annoyance Theatre and a director at The Second City. He has directed Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch, Horatio Sanz, Nia Vardalos, Andy Richter, Jeff Garlin, and David Sedaris.
Paul Silverberg, better known as Paul Sills, was an American director and improvisation teacher, and the original director of Chicago's The Second City.
Aidan Mackenzy Bryant is an American actress and comedian. She is best known as a cast member on the late-night variety series Saturday Night Live, beginning in season 38. For her work on the series, she has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards, including for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Other work includes a starring role on the sitcom Shrill and a voice role on Danger & Eggs.
"Yes, and...", also referred to as "Yes, and..." thinking is a rule-of-thumb in improvisational comedy that suggests that a participant should accept what another participant has stated ("yes") and then expand on that line of thinking ("and"). It is also used in business and other organizations as a principle that improves the effectiveness of the brainstorming process, fosters effective communication, and encourages the free sharing of ideas.
Under the Gun Theater is a theater company located in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Angie McMahon and Kevin Mullaney, Under the Gun is a sketch and improvisational comedy theater which opened in Chicago's Lake View community in 2014. The theater was known for its interactive show Comedy Against Humanity, which ended due to legal concerns, based on the game Cards Against Humanity. In September 2017 Under the Gun Theater announced it would partner with the Chicago stand-up comedy institution Lincoln Lodge to focus on producing stand-up comedy shows.
Dennis Banks better known by his stage name Felonious Munk is an Ethiopian-American comedian, writer, actor, playwright, and social commentator. He has worked as a frequent contributor on the Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore and is the creator of a YouTube series Stop It B.
