Christopher Walsh
Improv is one of those comedy forms that rides a particularly precarious line. When it’s good, it can be transcendent, but with no plan or script to adhere to, the chance to descend into the disastrously unfunny looms at every turn. For a guy like Santa Fe Improv Artistic Director Adrian Wallen, though, improv can be a high stakes art form. Wallen’s got more than two decades under his belt, including training at the famed Second City, experience with Albuquerque’s Box Theater and a stint with New Mexico’s first-ever improv theater Gorilla Tango. As Santa Fe Improv gears up for a string of upcoming Friday shows (like Santa Fe Improv Presents: An Improv Comedy Show: 7:30 pm Friday, Dec. 3. $15. Santa Fe Improv, 1202 Parkway Drive, santafeimprov.com)—and continues offering classes in differing styles for adults and kids of all experience levels—we caught up with Wallen to learn why we should say ‘yes, and...’
Improv can be one of those things that divides comedy fans. How would you convince a n00b to take a chance in seeing a show?
I think that what you’re really watching when you see an improv show is people accepting each other’s ideas unconditionally. It might not even be the humor you’re going for, it’s just this atmosphere of love and acceptance. If somebody comes out onstage and decides to be a dinosaur, immediately the other person is going to be a character in Jurassic Park. It’s the support of ideas that can be exciting to see, especially with a lot of what we go through in society. Everybody is there, and they’re all there together. I would also say that spontaneous creative energy you’re witnessing onstage is really infectious. You feel closer to it than you would as an audience member at a standup show. People aren’t just telling jokes to you, they’re crafting a show based on your suggestions. There’s kind of this experience of, ‘We’re all watching this together. We’re all watching this come together in the moment.’
There’s that old improv axiom about always saying ‘yes, and…’ What do you think draws comedy lovers to improv performance themselves and why should we say ‘yes, and…?’
I think it’s because you’re opening up creative possibilities you might not discover yourself. By just openly accepting these ideas and by ‘yes, and-ing’ those ideas, what you’re doing is moving the scene and the creativity forward one step at a time. There’s a theory in improv called discovery. ‘Yes’ is to watch the discovery happen, to watch where the scene goes and what’s created out of that. It’s pretty magical watching that be assembled. Have you ever seen those speed painters where they’re going to do a whole thing in two minutes, but the first minute and a half you don’t know what it is? It’s only right at the end when you say, ‘Oh my God, that’s a portrait of JFK, and I only recognize it now!’ There’s that moment at the end where it all comes together, and the totality of what’s created is really impressive. It’s kind of that reveal of the scene that’s created, which is really satisfying—watching that discovery unfold. What’s satisfying with the audience is watching the actors struggle with these choices and making those decisions in real time. If I’m doing a scene with somebody, and I learn throughout the course of the scene that maybe I’m an escaped convict and I’m running from the law, I didn’t know that when the scene started, but the audience gets to watch me develop into that character. It’s kind of observing that transformation, which is really fun. You get a suggestion from the audience and they give you something like ‘bakery’ or ‘fire department,’ you see how people take that and run with it.
What’s something you’ve learned through improv that you carry with you and implement in your daily life?
As chaotic as scenes can be with all this information being added—and especially being up onstage in front of other people literally making things up as you go along—there can be a tendency to panic. Improv really is an exercise in staying calm, listening to what your partner is saying and ‘yes, and-ing…’ the last thing that was said. I take this into my life because life can be really overwhelming. When we have a lot of things to do and we’re going through transitions, I take that improv lesson to stay calm, listen to people and just try and do one thing at a time. But I also want to just give a simpler answer: It’s truly listening to people and being present in the moment, and that has been so true for me. I’ve got shows booked coming up the next three Fridays...I’m trying not to panic. It can sound cliché, but improv has a lot in common with jazz. When you’re watching something being created in front of you, when those moments go well; when everything aligns, there’s nothing like it
