In The Beginning

Relatively speaking, improv is still in its beginning stages as an art form. Improv for improv’s sake, as a form of entertainment meant for audiences has only been around for about 50-60 years. For context, that makes it a little older than rap and a little younger than rock n’ roll, about the same age as House music. Because of this, there’s a real opportunity not to just learn the structures and the rules, but to ask their creators the what, how, and why behind the structures. 

"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise; seek what they sought." - Bashō

This is one of the things about improv that I don’t think gets talked about enough; the creators of so many of the games, warm-ups, forms, and theaters that are now ubiquitous are still alive. And a bunch of them are still actively performing and teaching! Put another way, if you’re in the right places at the right times, you can learn from some of the most influential people who shaped modern improv. As an example from my own experience, I happened to be in Chicago for an iO intensive that spanned a Liz Allen workshop and a three-person show put on by Susan Messing, TJ Jagodowski, and Kevin Dorff. For a guy based in SoCal who had booked the iO intensive months before the workshop or show had been scheduled, getting to do the workshop and see the show felt like hitting the lottery because opportunities to learn from people like the aforementioned legends don’t happen all the time in San Diego. 

That was part of the motivation behind improv.coach: to create more opportunity for players from anywhere to get access to the coaches from anywhere, and vice versa. Because something changes when you read Mick Napier’s writing about how too many rules get in the way of learning to play, or when you hear Jake Jabbour explain why he created the Grand Slam form. I finally felt relieved of the need to master form and began feeling empowered to be truly present and make moves just for fun. Again, it was access to perspectives from outside my own community that helped unlock growth for me as an improviser. 

"A good coach will make players see what they can be rather than what they are." - Ara Parseghian 

So here we are, in the beginning stages of an experiment to see if we can connect more players to the legendary and emerging voices influencing this developing art form. And on the flip side, we hope to help great teachers and coaches become practitioners able to make careers out of their passion for improv by helping them connect with more teams and individuals interested in growing as artists no matter where they are, whether San Diego, Chicago, or beyond… 

-Jon