Play The Scene That's In Front Of You No Matter What.

I have been improvising for about 12 years now and every year I find that I have to update my own approach to improvisation.  Improvisation is unlike any art form because you can't guarantee the product every time.  The path to being great at it comes with constant work.  It's not a mountain to be climbed or a status to be achieved, it's a path that is long and winding with peaks and valleys through out.

If you work hard and are always growing, always trying on stage then you can be great at it.  If you can open your mind and always be willing to go with what is happening on stage then you will find success. When I am on stage I do my best to bring no judgement and react truthfully in the moment. This may mean playing a character who does not have my same beliefs or someone I would find despicable in real life. 

Playing these characters is where the idea of Playing At The Top Of Your Intelligence comes in the most.  An example would be even though as a character I may be a member of the KKK and hate all races that are not White ( a truly despicable and grotesque idiot of a character) I can play this character truthfully while pointing out the ridiculousness of being such an extreme idiot. The character is a thin veil put on by the  improviser who reacts through the character to make the scene interesting and fun.

We do the work to point out the ridiculousness of this way of thinking and play a character the audience can laugh at and also say after "That's why racism is dumb, I mean only a  stupid person like that would think that's something people should believe." We do this by playing the character honestly from our own real life point of view of what someone like this thinks like. We should stay away from stereotypes and play honestly as this character. When playing this character we have to keep our improviser brain working to find the absurdity to heighten that will give the audience the okay to invest and enjoy the scene.

We can bring light to subjects that seem terrible and give people a new outlook on things. That's the beauty of art.  So next time you get labeled something that you don't agree with, take it as an opportunity to commit hard and do something interesting with this high risk choice. Stay in the moment and don't judge your fellow player for giving you a character or scene idea you may not like or agree with. Play the scene.

The show always must go on and in improvisation there is no room to judge your own or your partners ideas. Be in the moment. React like a real person would. Always be trying. Always be growing. Every idea can be great with strong support and commitment.

- Jeff Quintana
Artistic Director
Villain Theater