1. Why Improvisation Games?
Build Greater Presence, Team, Listening, Performance
What it is – a preparation (used by actors) to stay in the present Ingenuity and inventiveness appear to meet any crises the game
moment, to connect to themselves, to their partner and to presents, for it is understood during playing that a player is
their audience for greater presence and authenticity free to reach the game’s objective in any style chosen. As
What it isn’t – it is not improv performance or comedy long as we abide by rules of the game, we may swing, stand
on our heads or fly through the air. In fact, any unusual or
Talented behavior is the individual’s greater capacity to extraordinary way of playing is loved and applauded by
experiencing and having involvement is on all levels: fellow players.
– Intellectual The importance of group response, in which players see
themselves as an organic part of the whole, becoming one
– Physical body through which all are directly involved in the outcome
– Intuitive of the playing. Becoming part of the whole generates trust
The intuitive is most vital to any learning situation. The and frees the player for playing, the many then acting as
improvisation game provides the involvement and freedom one.
needed for experiencing.
You shut off the mind. When the rational mind is shut off – we The need for players to see themselves and others as fellow
have the possibility of greater intuition. players, playing as peers, no matter what their individual
ability.
The idea is to get out of the head and into the space – and this
allows spontaneity. The game seeks to free each person to
feel his or her own true nature. Eliminating roles helps players move beyond the need for
approval or disapproval which distracts them from
experiencing themselves and solving the problem.
In our daily business, we dissect, analyze and intellectualize or
develop a valuable case history and then we need to
communicate our ideas and our solutions physically. The need for players to get out of the head and into the space,
free of restricted response of established behavior, which
In order to communicate directly to the client or audience inhibits spontaneity, and to focus on the actual field –
effectively through physical language the whole organism SPACE- upon which the playing (energy exchange) takes
needs to be alert. place between players.
The “game” is a natural group form providing the involvement
and personal freedom necessary for experiencing. Getting out of the head and into the space strengthens the
player’s ability to perceive and sense the new with the full
Games develop personal techniques and skills necessary for the body.
game itself, through playing. Skills are developed at the
very moment a person is having all the fun and excitement
playing a game has to offer – this is the exact time one is Working with games shows that this living, organic, non-
open to receive them. authoritarian climate can inform the learning process, in
fact, is the only way which intuitive freedom can grow.
"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
"The only real valuable thing is intuition."
-Albert Einstein
