I thought I’d dedicate this first post to the age old question, Long form or Short form improv? My answer to that question is I think, appropriate. Yes, and. Many a practitioner of one of these types of improv maligns practitioners of the other. Sometimes this is in jest and sometimes because of deep rooted biases they’ve learned, taught, or because of experiences that improvisor has had. Let’s brake it down a little.

Why does short form get a bad wrap?

A lot of really good reasons I think. Short form seems easy. It’s the place where a lot of improvisors, this one included, begin. There are a lot of mediocre short form improv theatres/groups producing mediocre short form improv. Because short form games have deceptively easy structures many people play the structure and not the game¹. The results are shows that can be mildly entertaining but rarely scenic. The thing is, each short form game, or at least the vast majority of them, isolate and exercise one or two improv muscles that could/should be in play during any scene. Because of this even if you’re just playing the structure and have no ability, there is the potential for laugher. For some this is enough. They aren’t interested in the why of the game or what the game should teach us so that we can master the craft and instead simply play the structure to the delete of some and the pain of many. There may even be successful theatres that produce this type of improv week after week. So be it. I can enjoy bad short form so long as those performing are legitimately trying and having fun doing so. Short form is at its worst when those performing think they know everything. At its worst short form is cringy and makes the audience uncomfortable.

Why does long form get a bad wrap?

A lot of really good reasons I think. Long form can be pretentious. Under the guise of ‘art’ a lot of schlock has been put on the stage. Many times those performing long form have an agenda – to get noticed, to advance in the theatre, to be get an agent, to get anywhere else, and this has an effect on the product. Long form can be incoherent. Successful long form depends entirely on successful casting of the group/team and many theatres who mount long form shows give little or no time to crafting an ensemble. This leads to disjointed shows our friends have coerced us into watching. Longform Improv can be held captive by pseudo intellectual claptrap masquerading as comedy or art. Bad long form shows can also be too focused on structure but in this case simply playing the structure doesn’t leave you with a net gain of any kind. No one leaves a technically perfect Harold happy if it was only technically perfect. At its worst long form is elitist, self indulgent and tedious leaving the audience bored and confused.

You’re not selling us on improv here.

I said at their worst! At their best both long and short form improv can be thought provoking, side splitting, emotional and incredibly awe inspiring spontaneous art. Improv doesn’t have to be at its best to capture some of this and it doesn’t have to be at its worst to contain some of the lesser elements. And here’s the thing there is probably more bad short/long form out there than there is good short/long form. But there are also more bad basketball players than professional, more bad painters than there are masters more bad musicians than there are virtuosos, more bad tennis players than good, more bad cooks, etc etc. But all of the terrible doesn’t detract from the greatness of those who have mastered their particular field. A room full of middle school science students doesn’t diminish the works of Marie Curie or Stephen Hawking. The existence of paint-by-number doesn’t make Frida Kahlo or Pablo Picasso less important. Great improv is still great and I’ve seen both great short form and great long form.

Why I love short form.

I hinted at this above but short form games are wonderful at isolating certain skills. I plan on exploring some of these ideas on this site moving forward. The genius of short form is that, when done well, what could have been a simple workshop exercise has been elevated to a performative piece. Short form also is at the head of the class in terms of audience participation. You want to follow the fear? Invite a non improvisor audience member to participate in your show. Now I do have some benchmarks for good short form.

• good short form doesn’t sacrifice scene on the altar of game (structure)
• good short form doesn’t rely on schtick
• good short form is performed by good actors

For me short form is a way of challenging an improvisor. If you’re doing short form you’re telling me you are so good at improv that you want to add another layer on top – you want to attempt, not only to keep all the plates spinning, but you’re going to do it while walking a tightrope as well. This is impressive when it’s accomplished.

Why I love long form.

Long form lets you more fully explore any given suggestion. You can play with time and space in a long form more fully than you can in any short-form show. You can have moments of depth and emotion in short form shows but long form shows really allow you to explore and live in those moments. Long form uses all of the muscles the short form games exercise to weave together one complex piece.

Both long and short form improvisational styles are open to new formulations and the creation of new structures/forms. Improv truly is a perpetual motion machine, a miracle of science! When done well both forms require the improvisor to be operating on so many levels and audiences are rarely aware of this. I find both to be fulfilling and enjoy the good versions of both just as much as I don’t enjoy the bad versions of either.

So at the end of the day I love improv. This little corner of the internet will be devoted to that, in all the wonderful forms it takes.

1. I’ll use the word game in reference to short form more often than not. When referring to the idea of game as recognized by those who come form the UCB and similar schools of improv I’ll be explicit about that and/or use the term ‘game of (the) scene.’