This week’s jam: Five Naked Men Sitting On A Rugby Post
This week’s jam is brought to you by: Parky
Why do we have such a hang-up about questions in improv?
Questions are a good thing, right? Every sales course I have been on waxes lyrically about the requirement for open questions and eliciting information from customers by asking them about their needs and desires. When we’re out on a date we fill the evening with questions in order to find out more about this lovely person we’re with. And who doesn’t ask questions as part of their everyday life?
The problem with questions in improv is that they directly shift the burden of responsibility from you onto your scene partner. When you ask a question – especially early in a scene – you force your scene partner to come up with something interesting. Instead of providing that information yourself by making a statement (“So, Gerald, your new bike is great!”) asking a question (“Who are you and what is that?”) shifts the entire burden onto your partner.
What it means is that you immediately stop doing a scene together and instead you force one person into doing work that you are unwilling to do yourself.
At MissImp we’re all about working together and supporting each other. So, this week we’ll be trying to dramatically reduce the amount of questions we ask. Some questions are OK and even experienced improvisors use them once in a while to move the scene forward. However, this Thursday we’ll have our hands hovering over the bell and if you keep asking questions, particularly early on, we’ll force you to move the scene forward co-operatively (by making a statement) rather than making the other person do all the work.
It may seem like tough love but your scenes will be amazing!
Thursday 16 July 2015
7.30pm – 9.30pm
The Corner
8 Stoney St
Hockley
NG1 1LH
£3
