Listening: Not usually thought of as an improv skill, listening is the vital principle that allows improvisation to occur in a connected, understandable manner. Unless the improviser listens to their stage partner(s) – with their ears and eyes (words, tone of voice, body language and action) – they lack the information essential for the improvisation to move forward. And it's a difficult situation if they have less information than the audience. I recently sat through several "Whose Line Is It Anyway" episodes and noted that the actors listened carefully to each other, never interrupted each other, reacted and built their contribution on what occurred.

Supporting: The concept of support goes deep to the heart of improvisation. It gives focus and shape to your creativity. The concept of support intertwines with listening. The answer to the question "what do I do next?" is "find a way to support (build upon) whatever is happening." This builds a cohesive whole for the audience at the same time it releases your creativity. The wholeness of the performance is created because everything that arises gets used, the blind alleys and starts and stops in nonsupportive improvisations are replaced by contributions from each actor that work to build a cohesive whole. The creativity is released because you have a principle to spur you from thought into action. That objective is to support what is happening on stage.

Agreement: The idea of agreement comes in many forms. In the short hand of improv it is called the "yes, and" adjustment. To everything that happens on stage you say yes and you add to it. The opposite is that most annoying of conversations that center on the "yes, but" approach. Lack of agreement is called a "denial" and, in extreme cases, calls for a visit from the Improv Police. The core principle is that everything said in the course of improvisation is not only true (first order agreement) but also becomes the building block for the next improviser’s contribution (second order agreement).

Some improv workshops focus on the term "denial" for an act that negates the truth of what someone has done on stage. Though denial is the flip side of agreement, it is important to focus on the concept of agreement, which is a forward going principal you can use to help come up with ideas to propel a scene. Trying to avoid denials is a negative – it doesn’t tell you what to do and slows you down as you check your impulsive ideas against the anti-denial rule. A forward going principle helps focus and shape your contribution.

Reread that last paragraph. It contains the logic behind most of Del Close’s teaching -- Give actors a positive principal they can invoke to release their creativity. Don’t give them rules that stifle their impulses.

Copping to Reality: The audience sees what is happening on stage and it is a form of denial for the actors on stage to avoid the reality. If the scene is stuck, everyone knows it....so cop to it and use it as a spring board to propel the scene. Simple phrases such as "I don’t know what to do", "I am lost", "You missed my point" bring actors and audience into the here and now - the present "real" and stage reality - providing a solid basis for progressing the action. If you break into giggles during a somber scene, cop to the reality. Use it. It gives an opportunity to release of creativity. Other opportunities to cop to reality include the actual feelings that exist between you and your stage partner; your actual feelings about the subject that arises during the scene; actual life experiences. Those kinds of copping help scenes get into issues- continued on reverse side -

Justifying: Another aspect of support, improvisers justify what has happened, helping to shape it. If one actor says "The sky is lime green." Support the truth of the line -- "we just painted it" or "that darn nuclear power plant".

Finding and Playing the Action: They call us actors because we show how our actions affect ourselves and others. There’s a reason we are not called "talktors." Look for opportunities to take an action. In one recent scene, one protagonist was chastising the other for sponging off of them. The other replied by taking out a checkbook and paying them back every penny. The scene after that action was the highlight of the evening, spurred because the actor took action.

Transforming: In order to progress, actors in scenes must be affected by the actions and words. If your partner starts out angry, look for opportunities to change them -- actions you can take to transform them. Look for opportunities for your own transformations. In many scenes, monologs and plays, actors assume the person is the same at the end as at the beginning. If the playing has been effective they must change and indeed these changes are often the sum and substance of the progression of the play.

Using Yourself: "Every character is yourself with two or three things changed." Del Close. This gives you a vast pool of experience to draw on. One actor says "remember that prank you pulled in high school?" You don’t have to invent it, just remember it (or one someone else did).

Being: In the being state you are "in the here and now", aware of your environment and reactive to it. This magnifies the moment for yourself, your stage partner(s) and the audience. You freely react to stimuli. You surprise yourself and the audience with what you say (and do) next. You live in the moment.

Group Work: Spontaneously creating stage pictures; machines; expressive movement, greek choruses.

Soliloquies: You step out and take stage focus and start talking to the audience about what is happening on stage or to your character. You can rant. You can rave. You can go anywhere with it.

Scenes: We’ll focus on two people scenes, two people building a physical reality, a relationship and letting the chemistry of the two characters progress the scene.

Harold: Harold is the name given to a thematic, multi-scene improvisation that explores a topic suggested by the audience. It is the Shangri La of improvisation, the El Dorado we search for. It takes all of our cooperation, skill and passion. His work long forms was (in my humble opinion) Del’s biggest contribution to improvisation (and I think it was also in his opinion).