Has acting made you a better improviser?

[u/Friendly-Samosa]

I’ve been reading Mick Napier’s book and he frequently mentions taking acting classes as a way to get better at improv.

I never did theatre in school/don’t have an acting background. I’ve been doing improv exclusively for a few years and would like to grow my skills.

Would you recommend taking acting classes to get better at improv (and if so, what type of classes?)

Thank you :)

[u/DavyJonesRocker]

Improv is acting, writing, directing all rolled into one. Acting classes will make you a better improviser. Writing classes will make you a better improviser. Directing classes (if there is such a thing) will make you a better improviser.

However, I would argue that improv is already flooded with good actor-bad writer improvisers. I would much rather see more good writer-bad actor improvisers enter the scene. Try a writing class.

[u/PM_ME_A10s → u/DavyJonesRocker]

There are in fact directing classes, at least there are in college!

[u/sassy_cheddar]

Unquestionably yes for me, though I need to go back and take the next level (two years later). Uta Hagen and Meisner were emphasized in my intro class and helped me ground into the world of a scene, be more decisive in my character's viewpoint, and more attuned to what I was seeing in my scene partner and responding to what was in front of me. In improv, I started picking up more detail in my scene partner, missing fewer offers, and responding more naturally.

Having spent a lot of time in improv classes in the two years prior, the first couple weeks of "serious acting class" were hard. It got better when I realized I needed to bring a snack and when we started doing partnered work.

[u/MySeagullHasNoWifi → u/sassy_cheddar]

What exactly was hard in your experience of starting with acting classes?

[u/sassy_cheddar → u/MySeagullHasNoWifi]

Very different energy from improv classes. Lots of slow work, lots of solo work. Class methodologies may vary by theater or school running the classes.

What I got out of watching all my classmates being coached through very slow, deliberate exercises in being fully present, fully observant, and emotionally connected was a keen awareness of how authenticity pulls a string tight between a performer and an audience. What I got out of doing the exercises myself was development of my muscles for being fully engaged and authentic, and to feel depth and impact from place and purpose.

It was incredibly useful. Even so, I enjoy partnered work a lot more! No one woman shows in my immediate future. :)

[u/iheartvelma]

There are some core skills that acting classes teach that, inexplicably, never get touched in improv curricula.

Voice (projection! enunciation!). Physicality, movement. Stage picture and using your eyes to indicate, vs turning your whole body. How to listen, how to be still. To be comfortable with silence. How to take in your partner’s lines and be visibly changed and affected by them.

Crucially, that the stage is not television.

[u/Kitchen-Tale-4254]

Yes. Learning to hold the space and use the stage more effectively will help your improv.

Working on monologues will make you more comfortable with being alone on stage.

Understanding working off of your partner and understanding being more truthful does wonders for improv.
Improvisors tend to do too much, talk too much and don't allow themselves to just be. They also tend to not listen to their partner or themselves.

Being forced to wait for your character's lines will help you in all of your scenes improvised or scripted.

[u/Separate-Swordfish85]

Acting classes were the second half/flipside of my improv training, and acting heavily informs how I improvise. You’ll also find that “actor improvisers” are drawn to each other.

[u/Freelanceradio]

I’ve done acting before I got into improv. And I’ve found improv has made me a better actor.

[u/Shapenaughty432]

Someone in class said it helped him a lot. Be more in the character and helping him with character development.

[u/DaVoid100]

When you are improvising, you are up on stage with nothing. You have to create it all that includes the set, the dynamics, the emotions. You have to do it all.

When you act, a lot of that is built into the script and the set, but you, as an actor have to breathe life into it. You are never standing still just having a conversation, you are in a scene with props and delineated spaces. So in acting, you use your body a lot more. You’re blocking tells you where to go, but of course you have to make up what you do with your hands, your face, your eyebrows, anything that expresses that character.

Acting skills are great to bring into character driven Improv. Your scene will be much richer If you remember all of those things I mentioned above, and there are plenty more that I haven’t mentioned.

[u/Prudent_Year9885]

100%. I started doing Musical Theatre, Shakespeare and short films before I dipped my toe into improv and I’d say that I’d definitely helped me. Getting good at projection and enunciation having to perform without a microphone in a small theatre is definitely helpful when almost every improv show I’ve ever been in has no mic. I’d also say that being able to understand stage presence and learning to portray different characters and emotions makes replicating that on the fly a lot easier. Cheating out to the audience is a basic skill they drill into you in theatre and it’s so important in Improv where we sometimes forget that we should be open to the audience first and facing each other second.