Improv can make people shake with laughter in a way that little else can. Yet, this improv humor has a different feeling to it than stand up or even sketch comedy. And we’ve all seen painfully unfunny improv, featuring clear attempts at jokes and caricatures that fall flat. So, what exactly is it that makes improv funny?
In the Upright Citizens Brigade style of improv, humor is created when improvisers set up a “base reality” for their scene, then identify the first unusual thing that deviates from that reality and make a game out of it. Exploring and heightening this “game of the scene” is what makes improv funny.
However, as with many things in improv, not everyone agrees on what makes improv funny, how you should approach it, or even whether it has to be funny at all. So, your mileage may vary. Read on to learn about what makes improv funny (according to various experts) and how heavy-handed attempts at humor can actually sabotage the humor in your scenework.
What Makes Improv Funny: The Game of the Scene
The Upright Citizens Brigade (or UCB) is an improv and sketch comedy group that started in 1990 at the Improv Olympic and later established their own NYC theatre. The UCB has developed a distinct philosophy of what makes improv funny, and this comedic approach has influenced a wide range of both improv and sketch comedy.
According to the UCB, what makes improv funny is the game of the scene, “a consistent pattern of behavior that breaks from the expected patterns of our everyday lives,” which emerges in contrast to the base reality of your scene. [1]
Below is a brief summary of The Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Improvisation Manual‘s guide to making improv funny by finding, exploring, and heightening the game of the scene.
Starting with Base Reality
When you begin an improv scene, you first set out to establish the base reality of your scene.
This is the who, what, and where of your scene, the “business as usual” or straightforward plot of your scene. You establish the who, what, and where of your scene by yes, and-ing your scene partner(s), listening to their contributions, and building on them.
For example, in the base reality portion of your scene, you may establish that you and your scene partner are a veterinarian and a client (the who of your scene), that you are in a vet’s office with your pet parakeet (the where of your scene), and that you think your parakeet might be ill because his birdsong sounds off (the what of your scene).
Once you’ve clearly grounded your scene in reality, you start looking for the game of your scene. Establishing the base reality of your scene is important, because without it, anything unusual or absurd that happens won’t stand out from the ordinary. Without establishing what “ordinary” is, the absurd can’t stand out and be funny.
Finding the Game of the Scene
To find the game, the thing that makes your scene funny, you should look for the first unusual thing in your scene. That is, “the first piece of information that breaks from the pattern of normal life.” [1] Once you do, make it clear to your scene partner that you think this unusual thing could become a comedic game in your scene.
In the scene above, you might (in discussing your parakeet’s symptoms) mention that his song seems very melancholy lately, like a funeral dirge. This is an unusual thing—for a parakeet to sing a funeral dirge—and your scene partner may pick up on this and emphasize it as a potential game to play out in your scene:
Pet owner: Peter has been making the saddest sounding songs lately. I swear he was chirping a funeral dirge last night! Vet: An entire funeral dirge? Pet owner: Yes, and this morning he was singing My Heart Will Go On. It's put a real damper on the family's mood.
In this example, the vet draws attention to the unusual thing, and the pet owner emphasizes it. Throughout the rest of the scene, they will heighten and explore this game, this singular unusual thing, expanding and building upon it, which will make their improv funny.
Heightening the Game
Once you’ve found the game of your scene, you can build on this comedic element by heightening it. Heightening is “the act of making a Game move in a scene that is more absurd than anything that has preceded it.” [2]
You find these absurd developments not by trying to come up with funny choices, but by asking yourself, “If this unusual thing is true, then what else is true?” This way, each heightening is still building off the original game.
In the scene example above, the vet might heighten the game (pet who acts like a person) by implying that the parakeet might join a blues group (rather than singing sad songs alone), which builds on the original unusual thing while making it more extreme.
Pet owner: Yes, and this morning he was singing My Heart Will Go On. It's put a real damper on the family's mood. Vet: Well, as long as he hasn't joined an a cappella blues group, there's still hope. Pet owner: *looking stricken* He's been chirping in harmony with the tea kettle. I thought it was harmless.
In this example, the improviser playing the vet heightened the game, raising the stakes.
Exploring the Game
The other key component for playing the game is exploration, or justifying your game moves with logical rationale.
Exploration involves fleshing out why your character (or your scene partner) is making absurd choices, providing reasonable explanations for the absurdity. It is answering the question, “If this absurd thing is true, then why is it true?”
These justifications can be just as humorous as heightening: “This logical answer, juxtaposed with the absurd behavior, will make this scene funnier.” [3]
For example, in the veterinarian scene, after heightening the game to imply the parakeet has joined a blues a cappella group, the vet could explore this game move by providing a rationale for this behavior, perhaps creating a fictitious disease that explains the behavior. This would give the players more to work with, and they could then build on this exploration to continue to heighten the game.
Focusing on the game of the scene isn’t limiting: it can actually help you focus on a single comedic idea, focusing all your efforts on developing that one unusual thing into a memorable scene. As the UCB manual puts it:
Having a Game in your scene is the closest thing in improvisation to having a script. You don’t have to wrack your brain for funny things to say. You now have a method that provides you with funny things to say.
Besser, Matt, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh. The Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Improvisation Manual. p. 67
What Else Makes Improv Funny: Making Connections
Let’s look at another perspective, setting aside the game of the scene. In their book, Truth in Comedy, Del Close, Charna Halpern, and Kim “Howard” Johnson claim that what makes improv funny is making connections.
The best laughs, they claim, “come from an improviser making a connection to something that has gone before.” This cannot be preplanned, and the spontaneous connection—which can only result from staying in the moment and listening—will add energy to your scene. [4]
The common theme between these two perspectives is that improv scenes are funniest when you’re not trying to be funny. More specifically, organic humor comes from being true to the reality of your scene and is dependent on good listening, agreement with your scene partner(s), and reacting at the top of your intelligence in the moment.
What Not To Do: Making Jokes in Improv
The fastest way to remove the humor from your improv is to make jokes.
This may seem counterintuitive, but improv comedy is different from stand up or sketch comedy in this regard. Often, when you make an intentional joke to get a laugh during a scene, it’s at the expense of the reality you’ve created in the scene (or your scene partner).
In Truth in Comedy, Halpern, Close, and Johnson suggest that cheap jokes weaken the commitment to a scene, pulling both the improvisers and the audiences out of the truth of the scene. This might get a quick laugh, but it weakens the scene as a whole:
When a player forces a joke, it is usually a comment about the scene. Unfortunately, if you are able to comment on the scene, then you are not really involved in the scene. … Jokes frequently lead to groans from an audience—they rarely get laughs. On those occasions where they do get laughs, it is usually at the expense of the scene, because the level of commitment to the scene is lowered.
Halpern, Charla, Del Close, and Kim “Howard” Johnson. Truth in Comedy: the Manual of Improvisation. pp. 27–28
As counterintuitive as it sounds, if you try too hard to be funny in improv, you won’t be. Regardless of whether you believe in UCB’s approach to improv comedy, trying for cheap laughs might get you a reaction from the audience, but it likely won’t make your improv scenes truly funny.
Other Tips for Making Improv Funny
Here are some other quick tips I’ve gleaned from fellow improvisers that can help set up an improv scene for comedic success:
- Commit to your character (and other) choices: A surefire way to break the reality of your scene is to forget your character has a broken leg or to walk right through a kitchen table you created earlier. Continuing to commit to strong choices can also lead to unintentional comedy.
- Respond realistically, at the top of your intelligence: React how a real person would. This will help keep your scene grounded so that the unusual/comedic parts stand out to the audience. If everything in your scene is absurd, then nothing is.
- Make callbacks: This speaks to the point about making connections. If you’re reacting in the moment and listening, you’ll make spontaneous connections that end up being funny without trying.
- Don’t deny: Rejecting your scene partner’s offer will stop a scene in its tracks.
- Don’t self-censor: Don’t worry that what you’re saying isn’t funny enough. If you’re thinking too much, you might not be listening enough. The humor doesn’t come from you making witty jokes; it’s something you and your scene partner(s) create together.
References
[1] Besser, Matt, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh. The Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Improvisation Manual. New York, NY: Comedy Council of Nicea LLC, 2013. p. 64.
B[2] esser, Matt, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh. The Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Improvisation Manual. New York, NY: Comedy Council of Nicea LLC, 2013. p. 113
[3] Besser, Matt, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh. The Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Improvisation Manual. New York, NY: Comedy Council of Nicea LLC, 2013. p. 130
[4] Halpern, Charna, Del Close, and Kim “Howard” Johnson. Truth in Comedy: The Manual of Improvisation. Englewood, CO: Meriwether Publishing, 1994. p. 26