Here are guaranteed tips to make your improv scenes funnier. These always work.
Talk more slowly. Put pauses where they wouldn’t go.
Compare:
“Hi. Welcome to McDonald’s. Can I take your order?”
with
“Hi. Welcome to McDonald’s. Can I take your… order?”
Instead of “yes” say “hell yes.”
“Do you work here?”
“Hell yes.”
It’s doubly funny if the question is implying you did something wrong.
“Did you eat my lunch that was in here?”
“Hell yes.”
Non-round numbers are mildly better than round ones.
“Come on, we’ve been married 20 years!”
is not quite as good as
“Come on, we’ve been married 17 years!”
Even better is a surprisingly small number.
“Come on, we’ve been married 2 years!”
When accused of anything, say “you got me.”
“You know, I think you’re TRYING to get fired.”
“You got me.”
When in doubt, compare things to animals.
“You’re like a puma.”
“Our love is like a hummingbird.”
“I feel like a buffalo.”
When doing silent object work, pretend everyone in the audience is four years old. You’ll make your eyes big. You’ll move your head along with your hands.
If you’re a reference head, here’s how the audience will react:
10 years ago is out of fashion and boring. “I could go for Mad Max: Fury Road”
20 years ago is beloved. “Let’s watch Batman Begins.”
30 years ago is surprising. “Feel like watching 12 Monkeys?”
5 years ago is funny. “I could go for Nomadland.”
And finally, always begin your improv essays with an impossible promise.
See you next week!
Plugs
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“Do you work here?”/“Hell yes.” really got me.
BUT two is both a small number and round so not optimally funny. I think the funniest number of years for a couple to be married has yet to be determined.
Ha! Spot on. Just last month, we got some fantastic mileage out of setting a scene in 2008, complete with a trip to see the equally beloved Dark Knight