Improv Training Quotes

To me, if people really want to improvise, get into classes and learn.

I know how to have a conversation, but I've never done improv. I've never taken improv classes.

The hardest part about improv is getting the audience to relax and enjoy themselves, because most improv is not very good, and the audience is nervous for the performers the whole time. Not that they don't even like the show, but they feel bad for the performers.

I'm very interested in the improvisation because one of the things I do is to help train scientists to communicate in a better way and more personal way when they're making a presentation, and I use improvisation to do that.

I took a class at The Second City, and it became contagious.

Theatre sports is the best improv training period.

I think the best thing I ever did was, years before I got the 'Late Night' show, when I first got out to Los Angeles to be a television writer, the first thing I did was I signed up to take improvisational classes... And I studied that for years, and I really loved it.

I took one class at Second City called Improv for Actors, and that was it, and that was only because my agent told me I had to.

I think not every improviser is a good stage actor. Certainly not every stage actor is a good improviser.

I can legitimately say without being arrogant that there's probably a stretch where I was one of the better teachers of improv in the country.

I took an improv class in 2005 in Chicago at ComedySportz, which was short-form, more of a games-based improv. I remember it being real fun and helping with my stand-up. If I did an improv class, and then I did stand-up later, I felt looser on stage and more comfortable.

When I first did 'Best in Show,' I had never done any improvisation.

I love doing improv, and I swear by it, and I encourage people to take classes, and blah blah blah. But it's always been interesting how it doesn't necessarily translate to television.

I do believe if we opened up a comedy theater in a city, that we're going to be able to teach improv better than whoever's there already. In general, I think I could say that.

It's so much harder to make a living off improv. Improv is so rarified and for such a specific audience.

After going to theater school, and then subsequently dropping out, I would say that when I first went to Chicago and learned long-form improv, that was a far better acting workshop than any acting school I've been to.

I think improv training really orients you to character development, more than taking a Strasberg class or Meisner class. Not only is it about developing character really quickly, but it's also about being a good partner in the scene.

Improv definitely made me a better auditioner, without a doubt. We did do an audition semester in grad school, and that was helpful for those times that you have a script and you have a few days to prepare it, to really work on sides. But the auditions I was doing in New York, if you got it the night before, you were very lucky.

I did improv classes just like any kid would do soccer or gymnastics or swimming. At one of my showcases, my manager came to my mom and said, 'We would like to represent your daughter.' My mom asked me that night if I would like to actually act, and I said, 'Why not? I'll give it a try!'

Improv is more than just spitting out a bunch of funny stuff that's unrelated to the material. You have to stay in character, you have to react and respond as the character you're trying to play. You have to service the story, and I think improv training has helped with my listening, responding, and my audition technique. It's sounds so silly, but it's true. Because not only do you improvise during the audition, but once you get the part, they'll say, "Throw away everything. Just improv this scene. Do whatever you want." Someone could panic if they're not used to doing something like that.

I really learned how to improvise at the Groundlings.It's something I've always loved to do. For some reason it feels more honest at times.

I'm not an improv guy. I'm not a nerd, I play one on television.

I'm not much of an improv guy. That's a talent I don't have.

I was never in an improv group. But when I went to school, we would do it all day long with friends, not knowing what it was called.

I do feel like my improv training has helped me throughout my entire audition process only because the idea of 'yes and-ing' applies to everything.