Improv Quotes: A Few Favorites

Improv Quotes to Inspire

The Keith Johnstone improv quotes come from the workshops I have attended. The first of the two Viola Spolin quotes comes from a less direct method, I saw it posted on the internet (my friend Gary Schwartz has authenticated it). The second one comes from the video “Viola Spolin Conducts Theater Games.” (If you haven’t seen this yet, get it and watch it, it’s great.) The James Cranna quote comes from an interview I conducted with him on stage at BATS Improv in San Francisco. The Del Close quotes comes from an internet source and is consistent with everything I know about Del.

Keith Johnstone

• Every time you go the way the audience expects, they’ll think you’re original. People laugh with pleasure at the obvious.
• If you do your best, you’ll get some form of stage fright. Be obvious. If you believe you’re good already, you don’t need to do extra stuff to impress us. Your best work comes when you’re absorbed; because then your ego is away.
• We made a mistake. That’s good. We just learned something.
• You may never know what the other person wants. You’ll be an expert at saying “yes”… but you’ll never know what inspires your partner. Can you please or inspire your partner?
  
• Good actors are not thinking ahead. They are listening to what is going on right now.
• Beginners will almost always shout: “Come in!” when the doorbell rings – they don’t want to move… they don’t want to change.
• I think my brain is much more intelligent than I am… so I tend to trust it.
• Everybody knows two things. You can only learn by failing. You should have a good attitude about it.

Viola Spolin

• Play touches and stimulates vitality, awakening the whole person – mind, body, intelligence and creativity.
• Fear freezes you.

James Cranna

• If there is a question that comes up in your scene that can be answered “yes” or “no”… the answer is always “yes.”

The only rule is that there are no rules.

Del Close

• The only rule is that there are no rules.
• Bring a brick to the scene instead of a whole cathedral. Build together!
• The Beatles called their haircut Arthur, so I’ll call this Harold… Probably my most significant contribution and it’s got that stupid name.
• Is what we’re doing comedy? Probably not. Is it funny? Probably yes… What we do is too enchanting to be quantified.

This article about improv quotes originally posted on my other improv site, www.ImprovNotebook.com
Thoughtful conversations about improv.