Comedy Analysis: Improvisational humour

Robin Williams was a master of improv

Although many comedy films and series are scripted, improvisational humour is an important genre of comedy. This can be either completely improvised, or improvised to an extent with some script to give guidance.

The oldest documented form of improvisational comedy is the Atellan farce in ancient Rome. It is known this form of improvisational theatre was invented in ancient Greece, although little is known about the Greek form of improv. The Roman version of this theatre involves actors spoofing the way of life of the poor classes, from an upper-class perspective. Often the act was full of vulgar and rude humour, as the upper classes viewed the common people as uncivilized and simple-minded.

Around the 16th to 18th century, the Commedia d'ell Arte took shape. Heavily inspired by the Atellan Farce, this was a form of improvisational theatre popular in Italy during this era. The full name of the art form is Commedia dell’arte all’improvviso, or “Comedy of the very creative ability of improvisation”. This name clarifies the improvisational element in the shows. The Commedia d'ell Arte featured a lot of character humour, often ridiculing stock characters, such as the old man, the soldier, the commoner etcetera. These shows were generally performed on the streets on temporary stages, free of charge. They were sometimes funded by the city the performance took place in and other funding resulted from passing the hat after a show.

Improv Everywhere

Today improv is a popular type of humour, used in television series (often with an audience) as well as films, where actors are sometimes allowed to improvise (part of) their lines. Also dedicated improv groups have been established. The most famous possibly being Improv Everywhere who have gained international fame through the Internet. They often perform in the streets in the form of 'flash-mobs' or spontaneous plays. Their actions are generally very lightly scripted in order to achieve a predetermined result.

On British television some of the BBC's most popular shows include improvisation to some extent. These include Mock the Week and Have I got news for you. Both these series generally feature a panel of comedians who improvise their work on the spot. This makes for hilarious television and no episode is the same. Another popular BBC series is Outnumbered where the actors (in particular the child actors) improvise their lines after a few instructions from the producers.

Improv is not only a powerful tool in humour, but is also applicable to normal everyday life. Several well-known comedians, including Tina Fey and Stephen Colbert, have described life as the most important improvisation of all, as it is the same as improv in comedy: there are no lines, you have no idea what's going to happen and the rules of society tend to keep us from our creative self. By letting go of the rules, people can achieve greatness.

So there you go, humour is not just for laughs, its principles can be applied to real life as well. Humour is useful!