Organic Premise
There’s a bit of an oxymoron or paradox involved with quality improv. We’ve all heard the phrase “there’s no way that could have been rehearsed.” Great improv always feels like it is scripted, rehearsed and practiced. Premise is a well thought out game that has very specific moves that must be played, which is why this is the case
We think there are school’s of thought around this- the iO is organic, UCB is premised, Groundlings is character, and… the other ones…
I think at their core, they all aspire towards the same goal and that’s quick, fast paced, and tight shows. They don’t even differ with how they get there, really. People hear “grounded,” they think ‘slow.’ People hear “based in reality,” they think ‘not comedic.’ People hear “big characters” they think ‘absurd goofballs.’ People attempt to label improv as x or y, but what’s lost is the nuance of the objective goal of improv comedy: create comedy out of thin air.
I believe that practiced game is how we attack that. I recently began teaching game in my class and it’s such an amazingly simple, yet absurdly difficult concept to grasp. It always has been. Can we teach how to be funny? Or can we only teach the formulas and skills to capitalize on how funny someone already is? I don’t have the perfect answer.
I believe that the key to finding premise in organic play is listening. It’s something we improv instructors harp on constantly, because it’s that important. We can’t play a game we don’t notice! Next time you feel like a game has slipped past your fingers, take a moment to understand what is happening in your scene; what has been said, how it’s been said, why it’s been said. Also look back on who initiated the scene and whether you understood your role before speeding forward.
‘Did they say I was an angry Mom? Shoot, they did. I’m being way too kind as an angry Mom- I might have killed their premise…’
The best way to play premise, is that thing we call group mind. Your partner can either tell you what they want you to do, or you can “read their mind” and know exactly what they want you to do.
What do you think?
