“Don't give anyone the right to write your own story, even if you know they're going to write a beautiful story for you! The story that others write for you becomes the story of others, not yours!”
“Improvisers are unaware of what is about to happen until it occurs, spontaneously creating as they go along.”
Source: Disrupt With Impact: Achieve Business Success in an Unpredictable World
“Everyone can act. Everyone can improvise. Anyone who wishes to can play in the theater and learn to become stageworthy.”
Source: Improvisation for the Theater
“The greatest thing I learned while taking classes at Second City was the very first thing they taught: 'Yes, and...'. In improv, you keep scenes alive but accepting whatever you are given and then adding to it or amplifying it. There is no space on stage for 'No,' 'I'm sorry, you're mistaken,' or 'Yes, but...'. Those transitions kill energy, set up interpersonal conflict, engage the ego in a defensive posture, and stymie the flow of conversation onstage.”
Source: How to Self-Destruct: Making the Least of What's Left of Your Career
“Time flies fast when time is important, and even faster when it is not.”
“Somewhere in the back of my head must have been the thought that No leads to dead ends, and Yes leads to possibilities. Again, hearkening back to my improv days, this was the ultimate "Yes And.”
Source: Girl Walks into a Bar . . .: Comedy Calamities, Dating Disasters, and a Midlife Miracle
“I’ve embarked on personal adventures with each of these quilts. I want to teach you how to do the same.”
Source: East-Meets-West Quilts: Explore Improv with Japanese-Inspired Designs
“The world of improv is a portal into mindfulness and magic.”
Source: Improv Wisdom: Don't Prepare, Just Show Up
“Improvisors connect for the same basic reason you and your friends connect. Say you meet someone. You like something about them and they like something about you. Your mutual interest begets mutual play. Play begets cooperation and mutual understanding, which, trampolined by fun, becomes love. Love is the highest form of play.”
Source: Improv Nation: How We Made a Great American Art
“The practice of improvisation (in contrast, say, to that of writing or painting) teaches something that we are hungry to understand: how to be in harmony with one another and how to have fun. We practice improvisation not only to “express ourselves” but to connect with others in a more immediate way.”