This year there were a lot of shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe that I saw that I found exciting, inspiring and made me think alot about the world of performance. One of the shows that I watched that I found to be fantastic was MC Hammersmith and you can read my review of this show here. It was a great improv show and if there was one thing that I took away from it was that there is a lot of things that any improviser can learn from it. So today I thought I would talk about some of the points I walked away from that I think other improvisers would find useful.

Failing is great

If there is one thing that we get taught right from the start of trainng in improv it is that failing is great and it is a fun thing to have on stage in improv. A lot of the time as an improviser, you secretly do not like believeing this because you do not want to fail on stage as you feel that it is a shameful thing to do. IT. IS. NOT. Improv is a magical thing and one of the key characteristics of it is that you are making it up on the spot and you are bound to make mistakes.The best thing…the audience actually LOVE it. When I watched MC Hammersmith there were a few times where he messed up lyrics or said the wrong thing and it created some of the best bits of comedy of the show. Embrace the failures don’t ever think they are a bad thing.

Put on a Show

If there is one thing that I have always thought was an important part of improv was proven to be evident in MC Hammersmith’s show – production values can be key to make you stand out. Whilst it is fun to do an improv show that is just scenes it can be even more fun if you incorporate music, sound effects and anything else you can think of! Whilst an improv show can be about showcasing your ‘skills’ to friends and family, try and think about those audience members that have no personal connection to you and want to experience improv – think about those people paying or turning up to see a show!

Introductions are Key

You will not believe the amount of shows that I have seen where acts have not taken the time or the effort to explain what is about to happen or what improv actually is. When my team Punderstandably existed, we made it incredibly important to take five minutes at the top to explain what improv actually is and the type of show that the audience have come out to see so that everyone can go in with a clear understanding. The one thing that was great about MC Hammersmith is that they did this right at the beginning without the ‘rap persona’ so that all the audiences felt included and part of the show. It is such an important factor that is always forgotten and it is something that should be focussed on a lot more.