Del Close didn’t invent long form improv, but he is the father of the form that I’ve been studying for the past year at Improv Olympic in Chicago, IL. Never have I ever been in a community or ‘scene’ where the words “THAT TOTALLY BLEW MY MIND” were uttered more often. I see an average of 4 shows every week at the theater, I guess you could say I’ve fallen totally in love with improvisation. Even if I never have success as a performer, which is honestly more of a pipe dream anyways, I’ve learned more important lessons from studying long-form improv than any form of schooling I’ve ever been apart of… Maybe with the exception of 2nd grade art when I mastered scissors!

Here are my favorite ‘principles’ or lessons that I learned at iO Chicago (in no particular order). Disclaimer - I’m an improv infant and by no means claim to be an expert on this stuff. I’m just a huge nerd and I think it’s super cool.

1) DARE TO BE BOLD. It’s often chilling to sit in a classroom with improvisers and continually encourage one another to “do whatever you want!” Empowering? I think so.

2) BE IN THE MOMENT. Maybe the most ‘mind blowing’ thing we practice. YES, we actually practice BEING IN THE MOMENT. Do you realize how many people say they wish they could just be in the moment in their everyday lives? In improv, we actually do drills and preach this so much that tapping into this mindset (hopefully) becomes like a tool in your toolbox as an improviser. Pull it out at any time.

3) SAY WHAT YOU MEAN. You can’t be passive agressive or vague in improv. You have to just come out and say what you really mean. I love this. Few of us do this in our everyday lives because we have to be polite, especially in the Midwest where people actually do tend to be passive agressive. But you can’t be polite in improv because your scene will end up boring or confusing (just like real life! ha).

4) BE AFFECTED. At your core as a performer, you have to react to everything - especially the last thing said. Everything has to be done and interpreted with a sense of heightened importance compared to real life. One of my favorite teachers, Jason Shotts always says, “Make their head pop!” and “Let it hit you in the chest, hard!” Improv is all about reacting to one another and making each other’s heads pop on stage. It’s easier to do this when your partner says things to get under your skin, as I mentioned in the last one (#3) and as Del talks about in the video.

5) SEARCH FOR MEANING. This is one of the best, most mind melting thing we practice in Improv class. Del mentioned it in the above interview. He said we are all raving paranoids searching for meaning in everything. What that means, is there is always a reason, beneath the surface, someone says something or communicates something. It is our job as improvisers to ask what that is? Ask yourself, ‘What does it really mean when she said that ?’ … and then react.

6) DON’T TRY TO WIN, TRY TO LOSE. In comedy this is an awesomely important concept. Nobody thinks its funny when somebody just wins everything, and it’s not interesting to watch someone in a scene who has everything they want. It is so much more fun for the improviser and the audience to play or cheer on a character that is flawed, and who constantly gets what they want and then has it taken away, only to get it again, probably before losing it again. The flaws in your character allow him or her to want something.

7) DON’T ACT OUT OF FEAR. Back to the earlier point of you can do anything you want to in improv… perhaps the only thing you can’t do is make a choice out of fear. Your choices on stage as an improver should be postive and you should find a way to enjoy every move you make. If you’re not having fun, the audience damned well isn’t having fun. This is my favorite lesson I’ve learned in Improv that I try to apply to my life outside of improv.

That’s all I can think of off the top of my head right now - or for that matter, all I’m willing to write in a single blog post. There are books and documentaries and essays and entire schools devoted to teaching these principles and more… They apply to every kind of work, every kind of creativity and all aspects of life in intriguing and valuable ways. So I encourage everyone to study it and have your MIND BLOWN. See improv!