"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one," is a good mantra if you want to be a strong improvisor.
In an improv scene, the scene is the most important thing and all the players, whether there are 2 or 20, have to keep that in mind at all times in order for the scene to be as successful as possible. The best thing to do is listen carefully and, in taking that moment of silence before you respond, ask yourself what the scene needs. Do we know where you are? Who you are? Why today's the big day?
You should always be looking for ways to build the scene. If you are looking for ways to get a laugh, you are putting the needs of the one (you) ahead of the many (the scene). It's not that there's no ego in improv - we wouldn't be on stage if we didn't have healthy egos, after all. It's just that what you're shooting for in improv is a sort of group ego trip, where we all get the biggest laughs and applause from creating something from nothing together.
There are so many reasons for this: first of all, no matter how funny or brilliant you think you are (and I'm not arguing with you; you're f*ing brilliant!), 2 (or 3 or 20) heads are better than one. You can't possibly think of all the interesting ways a scene might go all by yourself.
Secondly, the audience LOVES to see a whole bunch of people start with a vague suggestion and work together to create something no one could possibly have anticipated. The more people who are in on the building of the scene and agreeing implicitly to take it in this particular direction, the more in awe the audience becomes.
And third, if you're that person who is always going for the joke (ie, putting your need for a laugh ahead of the scene's need for information and agreement), the "many" are going to get pretty tired of playing with you. Ironically, you'll end up getting fewer laughs overall because your scene partners won't trust you and will build the scene without you as much as possible.
So I guess the moral of this story is, um, be like Spock.
There are no Held2gether improv shows this weekend, so feel free to watch Star Trek instead.
By Sonnjea Blackwell
