“This ploy is supposed to make the onlookers have sympathy with them if they ‘fail’ and it’s expected to bring greater rewards if they ‘win’. Actually this down-in-the-mouth attitude almost guarantees failure, and makes everyone fed up with them. No one has sympathy with an adult who takes such as attitude, but when they are children it probably worked.” TryingFailure Book:Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre Source: Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre
“I tell people not to do their best. I don't know when that started. Quite a while ago. Because I . . . when they're doing their best I don't get their best. So I try to persuade them to be average. Because if you're wonderful and you're average, you're still wonderful. If you're a bad improviser and you're average, you're what you are.” PeopleIfsKnowsTryingStillsWonderfulAverage Author:Keith Johnstone
“Trying to do better is trying to be better than you actually are, and I don't think you can do that.” ThinkingTryingCan DoBetter Than You Author:Keith Johnstone
“In a scene [where the improvisers must interact] without the letter S, the audience is waiting for you to lose - so they can laugh at you. Don't try to win.” TryingWinningWaitingLosesAudienceLaughingSceneLettersWaiting For You Author:Keith Johnstone
“Suppose Mozart had tried to be original? It would have been like a man at the North Pole trying to walk north, and this is true of all of the rest of us. Striving after originality takes you far away from your true self, and makes your work mediocre.” MenTryingHas BeensSelfWalksOriginalsStriveOriginalityFar AwayMediocreTrue SelfNorth Pole Book:Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre Source: Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre
