Twenty five years ago in New York city I was invited by a friend to an “improv” class. On a Monday night we walked over to Tribeca, went into a large room on the 10th floor of an old building. In the class was Ralph Buckley, producer of Broadway’s Next Hit Musical, and our teacher for the night. Architects, lawyers, accountants, actors, graphic designers, and writers spent the next two and a half hours playing games. Games that seemed unstructured and free flowing but that had clear methodology beneath the surface. Games that gave us the freedom to laugh, to make mistakes, to help each other. We were learning through games to be better team players, to collaborate, to create “something from nothing,” all while laughing our heads off. We all left that night on a definite high, filled with joy and feeling more creative than ever.
Improvisation is to make or create something by using whatever is available as defined by Britannica (Dictionary, 2022) “Improvising invites us to lighten up and look around. It offers alternatives to the controlling way many of us try to lead our lives. It requires that we say yes and be helpful rather than argumentative: it offers us a chance to do things differently.” says Patricia Ryan Madson (professor emeritus at Stanford U.) in her book Improv Wisdom: Don’t Prepare, Just show up (Patricia Ryan Madson, 2005). We improvise every day when we choose our clothes, decide what to make for dinner, choose what song to play, what route to take.
I am a firm believer in this technique primarily because of the “Yes and …” principle that guides improvisation. It’s a game where the most important rule is saying “yes”, and it’s an activity that fosters flexibility and adaptability. It is based on a method in which mistakes, ingenuity, creativity and silliness are welcome. Improvisation leads to developing skills valuable in teamwork, brainstorming, and problem solving. Dr. Madson also says that improvisation is a form of play that in turn enhances creativity. She shows you how to introduce it into your everyday life, enhancing your creativity and most importantly, your joy.
Mental or creative blocks are a frequent struggle for all professions. Improvisation seems to be an antidote to mental blocks, as it is almost their opposite. Dr. Madson says “Blocking comes in many forms: it is a way of trying to control the situation instead of accepting it. We block when we say NO, when we have a better idea, when we change the subject, when we correct the speaker, when we fail to listen. Or when we simply ignore the situation. The critic in us wakes up and runs the show. Saying NO is the most common way to control the future.” (Patricia Ryan Madson, 2010)
But more generally, improvisation is a form of play. Play is “something we do voluntarily, that engages us, and it’s fun regardless of the outcome” (Hoehn, 2014). But why is it important to play?
Play is how creativity theory is put into practice; how the creative muscles in our brain are exercised. According to studies by Dr Stuart Brown humans need play to survive. He has studied animals and humans for over 50 years and has come to the conclusion that play is necessary for our survival. How can we play when we need to work, do chores, be parents, etc? “Play is purposeless, all-consuming, and fun,” says Hoehn, who says we need to introduce play into our everyday lives just like we brush our teeth. (Hoehn, 2014) Brown believes play in childhood and as adults is in direct relationship with being happier and more productive, but is also a biological drive as integral to our health as sleep or nutrition. “Play is essential to develop social skills and adult problem-solving skills” (Brown and Vaughan, 2009).
Do you remember when you went to a record store and listened to different records and explored sections of the store until you chose an artist, took it home and listened to it? Exploring new styles, new artists, or new music is a form of play. Being curious and explorative in your music selection, being creative is a form of play. However, today we mostly enter Spotify and let it choose a “playlist” for us, all based on our previous actions. This is helpful and an appealing service, but it eliminates the curiosity, the exploration and the creativity out of the process.
I don’t advocate for abandoning our current lifestyles or the use of digital apps, but we could pause and reflect on how we are being distracted by technology and absorbed by the pace of everyday life. We should consider the benefits of finding time for ourselves and for our wellbeing. Dr. Stuart Brown MD believes that despite the challenges in life we should find the time to play in order to maintain our health and wellbeing. “It energizes us and enlivens us. It eases our burdens. It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities.” (Brown and Vaughan, 2009)
It is possible that the structure and planning in the education system has emphasized right and wrong too much. Mistakes are not rewarded but punished. In addition, the use of electronics by young children has limited their capacity to play. Being constantly connected to a device from childhood to old age may be leading to the decline in creativity, joy and well-being. Improvisation teaches you to make mistakes and make the best of them, because you are not alone, your team members (family, friends, colleagues) will say YES to your mistakes and make the best of ANY idea. We are all working together.
Picasso said: “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up”.
Is it possible our constant engagement with digital devices is suctioning our time and taking our focus away from the present? Our behaviors have radically changed in the last 2 decades and it seems like no one nowadays has the “opportunity” to be idle or bored. Play is believed to require time and mindfulness, but Kyung Hee Kim, professor at William and Mary’s college believes that smartphones have left no time to think in depth, or to explore, thereby causing a decline in play (Kim, 2011). As quoted in an article from PT, Kim says in her study: “children have become less emotionally expressive, less energetic, less talkative and verbally expressive, less humorous, less imaginative, less unconventional, less lively and passionate, less perceptive, less apt to connect seemingly irrelevant things, less synthesizing, and less likely to see things from a different angle.” (Gray PhD, 2012). Stuart Brown, a researcher in the effect of Play also holds a similar position (Brown and Vaughan, 2009).
Previous generations possibly had less gadgets to entertain them, faced boredom more frequently and therefore had more time to play when they were young. Furthermore, today’s children and teenagers are so focused on being academically successful, on learning to read sooner, or so hooked to the games of their tablet that they have no free or idle time for play.
Kyung Hee Kim (Kim, 2011) has conducted research on this topic using the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) (Baer, 2017) suggests that creativity scores have gone down since 1990.This is a test developed by Terrence Torrance (often called the father of creativity) which consists of measuring creativity through fluency, flexibility, elaboration and originality. Her research is based on over 270,000 individuals of all ages taking the same test over a period of 40 years, starting in 1966 and ending in 2008. The results showed an increase in IQ scores, but a decrease in creativity.
It is my belief that improvisation is a technique that can be taught and used to introduce play into our daily lives. A kind of “Creativity Gym,” where people can go and recover or develop creativity and the ability to play. A course in which play and creativity become not only ways to capture the imagination and attention of others, but also a means for self-expression and for bringing joy into everyday life. A course that encourages each of us to bring our uniqueness to the surface, to become better problem-solvers and team players. A course that celebrates “A-ha” moments, from a creative burst, which can provide unforgettable “highs” that are even more rewarding than the satisfaction from a job well done.
My challenge is to persuade and train adults (and occasionally children) who believe creativity (and play) is not for them. To convince my audience that people aren’t necessarily “born” creative, or not. That the brain is not set in its ways and, instead, it continues to change and connect through time, like a muscle that benefits from exercise.
Improvisation training can begin with simple exercises, like taking a different route to work each day or trying to brush your teeth with your non-dominant hand. It can also be not making a detailed plan for dinner but rather seeing what you create with what is already in the refrigerator. Nevertheless, the potential is huge and impactful, and for those willing to pursue it, there’s more to be learned. I believe it’s time to see mistakes as opportunities, and to bring our creative fountains back to life via play.
Reference list
Baer, J. (2017). Torrance Test – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics. [online] www.sciencedirect.com. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/torrance-test.
Brown, S.L. and Vaughan, C.C. (2009). Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul. New York: Avery.
Dictionary, B. (2022). Improvise Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary. [online] www.britannica.com. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/improvise.
Eichler, K.L. and Spragge, A.M. (2021). The Big Book of Improv Games. Independently Published.
Franken, R.E. (1998). Human motivation : Robert E. Franken. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole.
Gray PhD, P. (2012). As Children’s Freedom Has Declined, So Has Their Creativity. [online] Psychology Today. Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/freedom-learn/201209/children-s-freedom-has-declined-so-has-their-creativity.
Hoehn, C. (2014). Play it away : a workaholic’s cure for anxiety. United States: Charlie Hoehn.
Hopkins, R. (2018). Kyung Hee Kim on ‘The Creativity Crisis’. [online] Rob Hopkins. Available at: https://www.robhopkins.net/2018/09/20/kyung-hee-kim-on-the-creativity-crisis/.
Inc, G. (2022). World Unhappier, More Stressed Out Than Ever. [online] Gallup.com. Available at: https://news.gallup.com/poll/394025/world-unhappier-stressed-ever.aspx.
Kim, K.H. (2011). The Creativity Crisis: The Decrease in Creative Thinking Scores on the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. Creativity Research Journal, 23(4), pp.285–295. doi:10.1080/10400419.2011.627805.
Patricia Ryan Madson (2005). Improv wisdom : don’t prepare, just show up. New York: Bell Tower, Cop.
Patricia Ryan Madson (2010). Improv Wisdom. Harmony.
Stillman, J. (2021). Research Suggests We’re All Getting Less Creative and Scientists Think They Know Why. [online] Inc.com. Available at: https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/creativity-crisis-torrance-test.html.
www.youtube.com. (n.d.). Creativity Panel: Dr. Kyung Hee Kim, Creativity and Innovation. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXWIJ-F8vco [Accessed 10 Nov. 2022].