CAN WE PLAY?
When we walk out on stage as improvisers, we come with several directives: be truthful, listen and accept fully! With those directives as a collective ethos, it is hard to NOT be effective in presenting improvisation that is engaging and enjoyable. However, there is one more directive that is essential and sometimes the most elusive and that is: PLAY!

In an effort to make theater that feels authentic and three-dimensional, we can become insecure as improvisers and dive too deeply into the depths of truth and, in the process, forget to allow ourselves to be playful and silly. That looseness is such an essential part of the equation because it not only creates content that is funny, it also opens the curtain for the audience and lets them see that we are delighting in discovering right along with them.

DISRUPT THE MOMENT!
Humor comes from self-reflection and revealing of the unusual in usual contexts. It is the surprise factor of the interrupting cow that makes that joke funny and surprise is a product of expectations and the disruption of those expectations. In order to find that disruption in the moment, we have to be loose and hyper aware at the same time.

That was a long-winded way of saying let yourself be silly and funny.  It is not mutually exclusive to being truthful and real and will not shallow your depth! And guess what…your audience will laugh right along with you!