The mechanics of spontaneous comedy: game verses scene in theatrical improvisation

Abstract

Much of improvised comedy’s appeal comes from the shared acknowledgement between performer and audience that the material is both spontaneous and unrepeatable. But can ‘anything’ really happen? In the many and varied approaches of Short and Long-Form improvisation are performance structures which inform both the unprepared scenic material and the types of humour which can be produced. Some have argued that the evolution of Long-Form began with the abandonment of game in favour of relational scene. This helpful distinction warrants further discussion; especially since the practice of ‘finding the game’, popularised by the Upright Citizens Brigade (2013), has blurred the boundary between game and scene. How do such scenic games function within these structures? How do they relate to other notions of game and scene to be found in the performance practice of other improvised traditions? I will explore the paradox of using rules, pre-planned formats and prepared methods of play to open up the ways in which spontaneous comedy is affected by both structure and approach. The research for this paper will come from the literature in the field as well as with interviews with professional improvisers who have trained and worked at Chicago’s most influential theatres: The Second City, I.O & The Annoyance. It will also draw on my own training under some of Chicago’s most established improvisers and personal experience of staging both Short and Long-Form work.

Keywords:

• Comedy
• improvisation
• short-form
• long-form
• spontaneity
• games

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Paul Birch

Paul Birch has been improvising for over 20 years and has studied at both I.O and Second City. He created and produced a monthly short-form improv show, Right Here, Right Now for Friargate Theatre and is part of Fool(ish) a company experimenting with Long-Form and site-specific improvisation. As a dramatist and director he has worked with Audible, BBC, Birmingham Rep, Leeds Playhouse, Polka, York Theatre Royal amongst many others. As a practitioner he has worked in care homes, criminal justice settings, schools, military bases and with people in recovery. He also ran Out of Character, a theatre company for artists with lived experience of mental illness for eight years. He teaches regularly at both the University of York and York St. John University on both undergraduate and post graduate theatre programmes.

https://www.paulbirchcreates.com/contact