Heightening

Stand. Start a scene, with words. Doing only one characters dialogue, heighten your own character's point of view. Pretend there is another character speaking gibberish. Constantly put fuel on your own fire, adding to and heightening the energy or point of view you have already created. Pause for the other improviser's "dialogue." For example:

Me: That's a cool-looking dog.

Pause

Me: Three-legged dogs are rare.

Pause

Me: Damn thing's name is Rexy?

Pause

Me: It's standing next to a cat with one ear.

Pause

Me: Never seen a green cat and a three-legged wiener dog.

Pause

So you get the idea. You just keep improvising your half of the scene, bringing more and more to your initiation.

Purpose

Even though improvisation usually involves two or more people, improvisers must learn to bring heat to their own initiations. This exercise will help you maintain and heighten your own thing, while sustaining your ability to filter anything else that happens in the scene, or anything your partner says and does, through your character.

Read a Character from a Play Out Loud

Read plays, read plays, read plays. I said it before in regard to styles, now I'm saying it in regard to improvised characters and scenes. What better place to learn about scene construction and character attributes? Now, not only read a play, but also read a character out loud. Don't worry about how well you are doing with the acting, just read it. Notice, as you are reading, how the point of view of the character (or in acting terms the superobjective, or want) heightens and flourishes and is unwavering. The playwright does this on purpose. In improv, as I have said thirty times, you must create the point of view yourself.

Purpose

I can't tell you enough how valuable reading plays is. (Have I told you enough?) People ask all the time, "How can I get an edge in improvisation?"

Well, right here is the start, because my answer is always, "Acting skills."

That's the edge. That's it—seriously. Professional improvisation companies are quite often not so improvisational, but more sketch. You have to play roles. That's an acting job, first and foremost. I've seen so many good improvisers go bye-bye because they lack acting skills. In addition, if you can think this far ahead, after all the improvisation—the long form, the games, the professional sketch comedy troupe—continued success always comes back to acting. So learn how to do it. Start this afternoon.

Film Dialogue

Turn on your television. Turn off the sound. Find a movie. Improvise the characters' dialogue.

Purpose

This is fun and usually funny. The biggest thing this exercise does for you is force you to keep going. Improvisers often feel as if they've reached that threshold where they can't do or say anything else. In this exercise, you must keep talking as long as the film char­acters talk. At first, you may take only one character's dialogue, but I invite you to work up to improvising all of the characters for a half hour or so. It's hard work. Once again, notice how characters' points of view remain intact and are heightened throughout. After you do a film or two, try sitcoms, the news, cooking shows, and so on. Enjoy.

Next are some miscellaneous extra bonus exercises.