NEXT LEVEL IMPROV

The following is not a review of The Improvised Shakespeare Company, it’s a prescription.

How do you know you need The Improvised Shakespeare Company? If you have not laughed until your eyes ran, or screamed, hooted or guffawed lately, then the ISC is definitely indicated.

The Improvised Shakespeare Company is actually several companies who do exactly what the name suggests; they improvise Shakespeare–an entire play– in verse, with songs and choreography, fights, love scenes and deaths, all inspired by the aesthetics, language and imagery of the immortal William Shakespeare.

I’ve seen them perform about a half dozen times.  Simply said, they are MAGNIFICENT.

I needn’t go into my own improv “CV.” Suffice to say, I have seen and been a part of improvised shows more times than I can count.

Permit me to stroke a long beard as I say The Improvised Shakespeare Company is something truly transcendent.

(Non-improvisors will possibly find the following hopelessly pedantic. Skip it, and just go and order tickets to the next show at www.improvisedshakespeare.com

Any trained improvisor can state the foundation of good improv:”Yes, and?” not “No, but…”

There are additional fundamentals which masters of improvisation use to construct memorable scenes and characters.

Back when I was studying in New York, I was introduced to these fundamentals, gleaned from the teachings of legendary teacher Del Close, which constitute a reliable list of various skills and practices that, if followed, help make magical moments of unscripted theater possible.

These rules are the magic keys to good improv, especially when practiced by talented actors.

They have nothing to do with content. They merely indicate what should be done to effectively build and develop channels of agreement between players to allow their creativity to flow.

“Bad” improv groups aren’t that way just because their ideas are bad; they often don’t manage their ideas well.  They waste each other’s contributions, panic under pressure, step on one another’s toes, play down to an audience, etc.

The members of the Improvised Shakespeare Company not only follow all the best guidelines and traditions of improv, they achieve new heights of excellence with them.

If Black Belts were given for improv, these guys would wear them.

Setting aside for now the magic trick of creating an hour long spontaneous play in Shakespearean verse, (with rhyming couplets, soaring monologues and even songs) one marvels most at the ability of the members of the ISC to LISTEN.

In every show I’ve seen, no opportunity was wasted. If some information was introduced, it would sooner or later be acknowledged and integrated into the piece.

That might not seem like much. But it is an aspect of all great compositions; if something is in the play (or, as in a painting or movie “in the frame”) then it must be there for a reason.

In improv, the actors begin by throwing out some information. They assign attributes, describe situations, conjure up ideas and characters out of thin air. These, when agreed upon, are the building blocks of the sketch, scene or play.

The “Yes, and..?” method allows for such suggestions to take root, and develop.  If they are ignored, negated or dismissed, they are wasted.  This makes audiences impatient.

One learns pretty early on in improv training that just about any idea will do, as long as everybody agrees with it.

Although we humans seem hard-wired to negate any new idea, (especially our own) experience soon reveals that there is no such thing as a bad idea; only an idea that hasn’t been adopted and committed to.

Ideas are brought to life by agreement, the tacit pact of acceptance between players.  When this is lacking, nothing good can grow, when it is present, miracles happen.

In Indian culture, it is said no part of the buffalo was wasted.

In the world of The Improvised Shakespeare Company, no story element is ever wasted.

Audiences are delighted when a random detail uttered by one of the members is accepted into the overall fabric of the play, explored and then “called back” again much later.  They will see it happen and be delighted again and again.

Nothing of value is passed up. And believe me, the things they think up have ridiculous value.

Another guideline is to play to the top of one’s intelligence, to never play “down” to the audience.

Many improv groups I’ve seen seem to specialize in the opposite; they’re only willing to explore the lowest common denominators of human experience. This doesn’t show much respect for the audience; the message seems to be, “we’re ALL just a bunch of stupid low-lifes, right?”

This can have a certain cathartic value, but a little goes a long, long way.

When the members of the ISC construct their one-of-a-kind, never-to-be-performed-again shows, out of their formidable listening skills emerges a wealth of knowledge which they whip into a froth of hilarity.

These are intelligent, literate, thoughtful individuals (one of whom has been a two time Jeopardy champion.)

When THEY play to the top of their intelligence, it’s a feast;

each impromptu show has an undercurrent of wisdom and scholarliness, in a savory stew of complete silliness.

Trust is key in good improv and here the ISC demonstrates an incredible capacity.

That trust extends from each player to one another, but that trust also extends to the audience– that we will understand and follow the language and the vocabulary, that we will appreciate the various departures, call-backs and obscure references.

The packed crowds I have seen have been VERY comfortable with the high quality of the material– if you can call laughing until you’re completely hoarse comfortable.

It’s refreshing, and frankly revolutionary, to not be “played down to” by a comedy group and be respected for being able to appreciate such an otherwise “snooty” art form.

Now, let’s discuss their mastery of William Shakespeare.

Only those who have absorbed a LOT of the Bard’s plays could possibly work out how to improvise lines for over an hour in that style; only those who truly love him could possibly bear to absorb so much.

This company loves Shakespeare the playwright so much, they’ve figured out how to BE him.

The result is so lively and inventive, it captures the true spirit of Shakespeare far better than most traditional performances.

To be honest, they’ve ruined me utterly on all but the most genius productions of Shakespeare.

In every show, this incredible company takes a suggestion of a title from the audience, creates the characters, plays scenes in verse, remembers all the names and details, creates inventive stage pictures and blocking, listens to one another, missing nothing, makes connections to current events, challenges one another in dazzling displays of wit, tosses in impromptu, organic musical numbers with each player taking a verse, and moves the narrative forward in Shakespearean style to an coherent, satisfying resolution. Talk about multi-tasking!

The impossible thing to convey is how bloody funny they are while doing it.

I read once that good stand up comedians get a laugh at least every twenty seconds.  In my estimation, which I’d be willing to take a stopwatch to, the ISC betters this by 200%.

Plus, the laughter they earn is of a extraordinarily good vintage; the audience roars, shrieks and weeps tears of delight.  There’s not only laughter, but also moments of “oohs” and “ahhs” when a player throws out a bit of timeless truth in amongst the comedy, to keep the play from completely dissolving in a frisson of mirth.

When the inevitable standing ovation is done and lights come up, the audience is spent, knackered; we’ve been guffawing for a solid hour and a half!

(That has to be good for our health, don’t you think?)

Well, I could go on and on, but you get the idea.  See them!

The Improvised Shakespeare Company is a miracle that you will try to explain to your friends… the best way is to just bring them with you to a show.  You will be a hero in their eyes forever.

– Jim Meskimen