Kick off the SF Improv Festival with a lesson in ad-libbing

Most artists work with a design in mind – architects have their blueprints, actors have their screenplays – a plan for how their project will proceed. But for improv comics, art is making people laugh without a script or even a clue of how you’ll go about doing it before you hit the stage.

You might remember the TV program “Whose Line Is it Anyway,” where four comics get on stage with no script or plan whatsoever, take suggestions for skits from the audience, and see what happens. Performer Ron West from the original British version of the show will be in town this week to teach an improv workshop as part of theSan Francisco Improv Festival, which is running through this Saturday at San Francisco’s Eureka Theater. The executive producer of the festival is Jamie Wright of the local improv group, Crisis Hopkins. He swung by our studios to talk with KALW’s Hana Baba.

*     *     *

HANA BABA: So what’s the difference between sketch and improv?

JAMIE WRIGHT: Well sketch of course is written and it’s been worked over quite a bit by funny people, ideally. And improvisation is something which just comes off the top of the dome, like having people on stage. And it can be dramatic as well, it can be comedic – it’s a wide range of anything that you make up given a basic inspiration, whether it’s a title or a relationship or place. Anything like that.

And sketch comedy oftentimes comes out of improvisation…

BABA: It seems that they’re related.

WRIGHT: It’s true. You know, I would say most companies that start as an improvisation company oftentimes end up doing sketch. And that is because improv is a great training tool and it sharpens your ability to understand what is funny and what timing is, and what elements go together to create the tension which is humor. But definitely you see people who are writing sketch right now like Tina Fey – a lot of the people on SNL I worked with at Boom Chicago back in the day. And all of these people are improvisers: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Will Ferrell, Seth Meyers, Jason Sudeikis. I could go on for ages just talking about like, Steve Carell.

BABA: You mentioned earlier “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” and that might kind of be the way TV viewers were introduced to improvisation where four players did improv in front of an audience, and they’d involve the audience as well. And I was wondering if you felt improv can be as effective on mass media like television or radio as the intimacy of the theater.

WRIGHT: Well I will say there’s something to say about the nature of improvisation that makes a translation a little bit difficult. The heart of improvisation is about being in the moment and I know it sounds very theater-nerdy, but you end up sharing a happening with a group of people – like the people in the audience are part of the show, people on stage are part of the show, the people on stage are getting inspiration and feedback from the people in the audience, and that directs what organically happens. And it’s what everyone brings to the party – the people walking in the door throw out crazy suggestions or they’ve got a little bit of a heat on so the energy’s really high and that feeds the actors. Or it’s a little more quiet and things go a little more slower, a little more thoughtfully. You know, it’s a back and forth, and it’s hard to capture that on video, to package as a product or something like that. I think it’s a little more easier on radio because people open up their imaginations a bit more on radio. It’s a very unique medium.

BABA: Radio is better than TV, you know that right. (laughs)

WRIGHT: It is a totally different experience, and it’s a delightful experience.

BABA: Is it a really easily acquired skill, or is it a talent you’re born with? It would seem to me, just the person watching, that I can’t do that.

WRIGHT: There’s a great teacher who is no longer with us – his name is Del Close, started back in the beginning of modern improvisation and taught and directed in San Francisco with the committee for years and went on to start Improv Olympic with Chana Halpern. And one of the things that he would always say is, “Don’t tell jokes on stage. Don’t ever tell a joke on stage. I don’t want to see that. You stand up, you be there, and you react honestly to what’s happening.”

And you know there’s that old line: it’s funny because it’s true. That is sort at the heart of what’s great about improvisation. The thing is people look at improvisation and think, “Oh I could never do that.” But the fact of the matter is, you’re doing it every single day. We’re doing it right now – we’re having a conversation. We didn’t plan this; we didn’t script this. We said, “Hey, we’re going to talk about improv.”

BABA: It’s not funny.

WRIGHT: Well … not yet! Improvisation is not always funny. But most of the time, it’s just a fun situation as long as people are comfortable in their own skin.

BABA: So since you mentioned we’re sitting here and we’re improvising, we do a little bit of that on the radio sometimes – we call it ab-libbing when there’s no script and we just talk. So can we do it now? How does this even work?

WRIGHT: Well, I think you can probably just start with a relationship or a place.

BABA: A place. Oakland?

WRIGHT: A place two people might be.

BABA: The desert. We’re in the desert. What else do we need?

WRIGHT: Well I think you just need to start by knowing that it always helps when you know each other.

BABA: So there has to be a relationship between the people in the place.

WRIGHT: Yes.

BABA: Okay so, I am a thirsty person in the desert…

WRIGHT: Well you don’t necessarily want to plan it out. You just want to know that when you come on, somehow, you know each other. And that’s made obvious by whoever initiates the scene, just initiates it. And all you do is accept what the other person says and you build on that.

BABA: Build on it … okay. We’re in the desert. You start.

WRIGHT: Baby, Mojave vacations are not all they’re cracked up to be.

BABA: They honestly told me it was going to rain and it’ll be nice and cool and nice…

WRIGHT: It’s 135 degrees out.

BABA: I know…

WRIGHT: I’m wearing flip-flops and they’re melting…

BABA: I know, I’m sorry! The next plane will be here in 45 minutes. We have 45 minutes, what are we going to do?

WRIGHT: Levitate? I wish.

BABA: I wish. It’s too hot to do anything!

WRIGHT: Can you stand over me? I’m just going to get really small – you stand over me.

BABA: See that’s not fair. That’s just not fair. You stand over me.

WRIGHT: You never try and help me out.

BABA: Oh is this what it’s about now?

WRIGHT: Yes, this is what it was about when we started this trip. This is what it was about when we started our relationship.

BABA: And you’re going to bring your mother into this I’m sure in one second. You’re going to bring your mom into this. We’re in the middle of the Mojave Desert, and here you are, fighting, and you’re going to bring your mother into this. So predictable.

WRIGHT: Well. I’m carrying her with me in the backpack. I never leave home without her ashes, you know that.

BABA: (laughs) Oh no you did not! You did not go the mother-is-dead route! Okay. So how was that?

WRIGHT: I don’t know!

BABA: Who knows, right? But that’s what it is?

WRIGHT: We’re just making it up and sometimes it’s great and sometimes it’s not great and sometimes it’s kind of like when there are moments when it’s funny and it’s the kind of discovery of it which is fun. Like, I carry my mother’s ashes with me in my backpack.

BABA: I never saw that coming. Like never.

WRIGHT: I didn’t either. I had no idea.

BABA: And there was a point when I was just quiet and trying to think like, “What next?” But it just came. That’s exciting!

WRIGHT: Yeah, it’s fun. And like I said, it’s what people do all the time, every day. You just walk around and go into the bakery and get your banana bread like, “I love banana bread.” People just kind of talk with you and you talk back, and that’s it. But it’s just kind of a way to look at the world ultimately. Good rules for life: accept what’s happening, bring something to the table, build on things, take action.