Best Improvisation Quotes | Short & Famous Sayings Page 4

“When I was in college my improvisation troupe and I did a road trip to Chicago, and went to The Second City to see the classic 'Paradigm Lost' revue - with Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch, Scott Adsit and Kevin Dorff. It blew my mind, and proved to me you can do sketch comedy like you're doing 'Long Day's Journey into Night.' We could treat it like theater.”

Mind Long Night Lost Can Do Cities Comedy Journey College Like You Treats Theater Classic Chicago Paradigm Improvisation Kevin Road Trip Long Day Fey Sketch Comedy Second City Troupe

Author:Mike Birbiglia

“Continual improvisation on a theme is a more useful way to think of how to bring the various parts of life together.”

Thinking Way Together Various Theme Improvisation Parts Of Life Life Together

Author:Stewart D. Friedman

“That's what it is-it's jazz. It's just jazz. That's what the whole thing is about to me. It's about what's happening right now in this context. This conversation is jazz to a certain extent. It's improvisation. What appeals to me about music is the improvization. That's what I don't like about the media-they're not living it.”

Whole Certain Media Right Now Conversation Music Is Happenings Jazz Appeals Improvisation

Author:Van Morrison

“I always hankered to be a composer - I was mad about music, though I never studied seriously, and can't read a note. But I learned to play the piano and became pretty skillful at improvisation, especially after a drop or two.”

Two Play Mad Notes Piano Composer Improvisation Skillful

Author:Conrad Aiken

“Normal adults can doodle, amble, and drift with no need to assess risk, since there is normally no risk at all. Jazz improvisation seems less subject to standards of risk than surgery, and less than much formal athletic performance, as in a tennis match.”

Needs Seems Risk Subjects Normal Standards Adults Performances Jazz Tennis Formal Surgery Athletic Improvisation Jazz Improvisation Athletic Performance

Author:Ernest Sosa

“Now jamming - which is about collaborative improvisation - has to do with getting people together to be creative musically. But it is a very powerful metaphor for understanding the grammar of the creative process. It applies to business and to other pursuits as well.”

People Wells Together Process Understanding Powerful Creative Metaphor Pursuit Creative Process Be Creative Grammar Very Powerful Improvisation

Author:John Kao

“Improvisation in the jazz sense - like the business sense - is not formless. It is built on a skill set. Jazz, for example, involves selecting a tune.”

Example Skills Built Jazz Tunes Improvisation Business Sense

Author:John Kao

“I lived in San Francisco for about eight years and I did a lot of improvisation there. The improvisational world ruled the voice world in San Francisco, so I became a voice talent there and did a lot of commercials and worked all the time. But I never could break into animation.”

World Years Voice Break Talent Eight Animation San Francisco Improvisation

Author:Amy Hill

“You have to study composition to understand that things can be done backwards and forwards and upside down, inverted, but it's mainly just an inner valid intuitive thing. Where do you want to go? Ok this is busy, or this needs some space, or this is too much space so now I want to put more notes in there or something. It's all about contrast. High, low. Fast, slow, thick or thin or what have you. And it's the same with improvisation.”

Want Needs Done Space Study Too Much Lows Notes Busy Contrast Thick Composition Backwards Intuitive Improvisation Upside Down Inverted

Author:Terry Bozzio

“There is really not that much improvisation in my films. There is an acceptance of a chance.”

Film Chance Acceptance Improvisation

Author:Michael Snow

“So much of the show [ Too Much Tuna] is improvisation, and I think that Nick [Kroll] and John [Mulaney] kind of catch each other at times, surprise each other. I think that really makes it a fun, sort of live, unique experience.”

Thinking Kind Shows Fun Too Much Unique Surprise Improvisation Tuna Unique Experiences

Author:Alex Timbers

“The idea of improvisation kind of freaked me out.”

Kind Ideas Improvisation

Author:Lily Collins

“I loved the idea [of improvisation], but I'd never taken any classes or practiced it.”

Ideas Class Taken Improvisation

Author:Lily Collins

“[Improvisation ] is been with me all my life. We all do it.”

Improvisation

Author:Pauline Oliveros

“I have a variety of ways that I make music, but I'm working with the Thingamajigs in a particular way, which is: They are bringing to me their performance skills and their unusual instruments, which I'm relishing. They're really beautiful. The other thing is improvisation - these players improvise and they do it very beautifully, as a matter of fact.”

Way Matter Facts Beautiful Player Particular Skills Performances Instruments Variety Unusual Improvisation Matter Of Fact Very Beautiful Really Beautiful

Author:Pauline Oliveros

“I try to influence this improvisation in two ways. One is by centering on reflections, in both senses of the word: acoustic reflections as well as visual reflections from a mirror or surface, and then reflecting on the material in a contemplative way. The other influence is listening to the tails of the sounds that you make.”

Way Trying Wells Two Sound Influence Materials Listening Reflection Mirrors Surface Senses Visuals Tails Reflecting Two Ways Improvisation Acoustics Contemplative Centering

Author:Pauline Oliveros

“By definition, acting is improvisation, even if you follow the lines. You invent what you do, when you do it.”

Ifs Lines Acting Definitions Improvisation

Author:Isabelle Huppert

“What people think improvisation is and non-improvisation is, it's nothing to do with what you like or dislike. It's all about how it happens with certain directors and certain scenes. That's the way it works. It's not something, in general, that you can decide.”

People Thinking Way Happens Certain Scene Directors Working It Dislike Improvisation

Author:Isabelle Huppert

“Remember that a book is many drafts - mine certainly are. It's improvisation. It's as much jazz and the way we talk and the way I heard people preach coming up as it is writing.”

People Way Writing Book Remember Heard Mines Jazz Improvisation

Author:John Edgar Wideman

“It's a very collaborative environment [making The Office]. We always do takes of how it's scripted, but then we also mix it up a lot too. And it's kind of a crapshoot, you never know which one... I mean a lot of time improvisation doesn't go anywhere and it's not good at all but, so what was written is often times better.”

Knows Kind Mean Environment Written Office Improvisation

Author:Ed Helms

“It was amazing how much their [Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Shauna Robertson] process seemed familiar to me, translating that into the work that I had done and giving actors a lot of freedom and doing a lot of improvisation and a total respect and collaboration with all the department heads and all the crews, and just really making it an enjoyable industry rather than just clocking in and doing a job which a lot of movies are.”

Giving Done Jobs Actors Process Industry Familiar Department Collaboration Translate Crew Enjoyable Improvisation

Author:Seth Rogen

“The improvisation had to be in public, because you only get value playing to strangers.”

Values Stranger Improvisation

Author:Keith Johnstone

“When you want to have entertainment, it must be a waste of time. I don't like that. I don't like improvisation being pointless.”

Want Waste Entertainment Wasting Time Pointless Improvisation

Author:Keith Johnstone

“Any education system that only memorizes things creates robots and will never produce Nobel laureates. Any education system that only emphasizes improvisation will get a bunch of people who may think they are creative, but they are functionally illiterate.”

People Thinking May Creative Produce Bunch Robots Nobel Improvisation Education System Illiterate

Author:John Medina

“Sometimes you write passages that don't need to be rewritten. Performance is that for me. Improvisation, things that happen in the moment, are sometimes wonderful, or wonderful as a moment to be shared between performer and people, but that's it. There might be a strong bond between you and the people, a transformative night, but as a live record it might not translate.”

People Needs Writing Sometimes Moments Might Happens Night Strong Records Wonderful Performances Performers Passages Translate Improvisation Strong Bond

Author:Patti Smith

“I think the films and the paintings erase each other. The paintings are extremely slow and constantly going on in the studio - they're constantly regenerating themselves in this slow, monotonous way that's a physical struggle and can be a pain in the ass. They're all based on very specific math and diagrams. And the films, when I'm making them, are very fast, very collaborative, with a lot of improvisation.”

Thinking Way Pain Film Struggle Painting Studios Math Ass Erase Improvisation Monotonous Diagrams

Author:Sarah Morris

“Improvisation is really not so much remembering things. And this is what I do when I play. I forget things. When I go on the stage, I want my mind to be a blank, so that I can - things can come into me without my knowing where they came from.”

Want Mind I Can Play Remember Forget Knowing Stage Goes On Blank Improvisation

Author:Sonny Rollins

“Within a capitalist corporation, someone says, "Lend me a wrench," and someone asks, "Yeah, what do I get?" You assume that the idea of each according to his or her abilities, each according to his or her needs - in solving a problem - is actually the only thing that works. And in situations of disaster, there are often communistic notions of improvisation, where you basically exchange hierarchies and all of a sudden all those things that are luxuries that you can't afford, you have them in an emergency.”

Needs Ideas Problem Asks Ability Situation Yeah Assuming Notion Disaster Luxury Corporations Capitalist Emergencies Hierarchy Improvisation Wrenches

Author:David Graeber

“The reality for me is simple. When music is written, it is usually categorized as classical. When it is improvised, it can still be called classical if it is an inspired improvisation. In either category, it is still music, and it can be good or bad or simply mediocre.”

Reality Simple Music Is Inspired Be Good Mediocre Improvisation

Author:Dave Brubeck

“I teach a graduate seminar called "Theorizing Improvisation" that is pretty interdisciplinary, but really makes students deal with black studies seriously. A lot of authors of color, a lot of women of color - those become central to the intellectual trajectory. It considers music, but it also considers areas of thought that might seem unrelated to music. That's partly because we're expanding the notion of what music is beyond objects, beyond scores, beyond things.”

Black Teach Study Students Music Is Intellectual Graduates Improvisation

Author:Vijay Iyer

“Music making features real-time creation, real-time decisions and actions. It's basically improvisation, which is the stuff of everyday life. In the realm of discourse about music, improvisation is marginal, but in the realm of doing it, it's omnipresent. Strange distinction here: we're improvising all the time, but when we tend to talk about music, we tend to talk about objects that are fixed, like recordings, scores, pieces.”

Action Decision Creation Strange Everyday Everyday Life Improvisation

Author:Vijay Iyer

“I like the idea of the objecthood of music being destabilized by process and things like improvisation. That's what empowers us; that's how we make each day new as players, as people.”

People Player Music Is Empowering Improvisation

Author:Vijay Iyer

“I look for something universal in songs rather than something personal. I look for something that will give us a platform for live improvisation.”

Giving Song Improvisation

Author:Will Kimbrough

“Business today is all about improvisation, which is the essence of jazz. Perhaps in the past we could just follow the operating manual and do what we were told, but today the world is too complex and fast. Today it's all about real-time innovation and creativity. Individuals may get hired based on their resumes, but they'll get promoted and reach their dreams based on their ability to create. In that context, being a jazz musician was the best MBA I could have ever received.”

World Dream Today Past Individual Ability Creativity Musician Innovation Jazz Jazz Music Improvisation Jazz Musician

Author:Josh Linkner

“It's kind of like being a writer in the sense that you always hear other writers say, 'Well, the best way to start writing is to just start writing.' The same goes for improvisation. You want to start improvising, just start playing notes. And the more you do that, the more comfortable - or not comfortable - but I guess how you're able to adapt to situations. You become more familiar with your instrument. As soon as you have a musical thought, you can go ahead and add to that musical thought and know your way around.”

Writing Kind Situation Musical Familiar Improvisation

Author:Jherek Bischoff

“Writing for chamber ensemble is the thing that excites me the most. So when I went down into the cistern, I didn't know that I was going to make a record based on that time and those improvisations. But as soon as I started playing music down there, I realised that it was going to be something significant for me.”

Writing Significant Improvisation

Author:Jherek Bischoff

“Making Homeland series is not improvisational comedy theater, but it is improvisation. We might get a call that morning, while we're doing something, and the change goes in that is something that just happened an hour ago, in the world.”

World Hours Morning Comedy Improvisation

Author:Mandy Patinkin

“Michael Ian Black wears many hats. He's a stand-up comedian, a comedic actor, he's now a writer-director so he knew how to work with all of us. And furthermore, because so much of his career is based on improvisation he gave us the freedom to do that as well.”

Black Comedian Improvisation Comedic

Author:Jason Biggs

“I knew Steve Carell because of Little Miss Sunshine, so I felt very comfortable with him. Maybe he always does it to guest stars, but I felt as though he was being particularly funny with me, and particularly stretching the boundaries of improvisation. He's such a comic genius. I hate to use that word, because everyone throws it around, but Steve Carell is channeling something.”

Hate Missing Genius I Hate Boundaries Comic Sunshine Improvisation

Author:Beth Grant

“I think improvisation is really crucial in terms of making things feel real and authentic.”

Thinking Real Term Improvisation

Author:Dan Mazer

“I'm a big fan of improvisation but I can't say that I'm great at it.”

Improvisation

Author:Michelle Monaghan

“You do stuff that gets a reaction and you think 'that's a winner' and then it never sees the light of day. But the thing with improvisation is that 90% of what you come up with won't be used and for good reason. But you keep going for the occasional gem that you might come up with. You do a scene and a lot of the time. We wouldn't cut. So, you come up with something that might be funny and then you go, 'alright, what else'? So, you kind of throw stuff against the wall and see what happens. But you've got to be prepared to make a fool of yourself.”

Thinking Kind Reason Cutting Wall Fool Scene Keep Going Be Prepared Improvisation Gems

Author:Rafe Spall

“With Halloween, the director was this genius wonder boy who was the writer, director, producer, along with his girlfriend. They were this team, and they were making this small movie, and it was just completely different, but it was really inspiring and a lot of fun, and also allowed me to do a lot of improvisation, because they just depended on the girls to expand their parts to bring some real life, being girls ourselves, to the characters.”

Different Real Character Girl Fun Wonder Boys Team Genius Real Life Producers Girlfriend Halloween Improvisation Being A Girl

Author:P. J. Soles

“It's very interesting to read why Cornelius Cardew became disenchanted with academic avant-garde music. He wanted to reach as many people as possible and change their consciousness. He wanted to reach the "working classes" in England. The kind of music he was making was very much from the academy, even though it had a lot in common with things like free jazz and improvisation, and he felt that it was the music of the elite, and that he wasn't really speaking to the people.”

People Kind Interesting Common Consciousness Jazz Academic Working Class Very Interesting Improvisation

Author:Alasdair MacLean

“Improvisation in general is good, and improvising material into themes, turning the material into something codified and repeatable, taught me scenic structure and dramatic gambits that work and things that are appealing both as a performer and an audience member, like you know, what does "want" really mean in a scene, and how do you achieve your want, and how is that expressed, and how do you achieve closure? Those are all things that I learned performing at the cabaret after just doing the same scenes over and over and over again over the years, with my own ability to change.”

Mean Ability Audience Achieve Like You Scene Performing Dramatic Really Mean Improvisation Closure Cabaret

Author:Stephen Colbert

“I'm proud of my ability to understand what somebody else is trying to do and help them achieve it, because part of the aesthetic of improvisation is service. You never say no. Serve the servant, follow the follower. And that's very valuable in your life, as well as very valuable in your actor's work. I'm damn proud of my ability to help other people achieve their ideas.”

People Trying Helping Ability Achieve Proud Valuable Helping Others Servant Aesthetic Improvisation

Author:Stephen Colbert

“I would make a huge distinction between theater improvisation and film improvisation. There isn't much improvisation in film - there's virtually none. The people that theoretically could be good at this in a theater situation don't necessarily do this in a film in a way that will work, because it's much broader on a stage. But in a movie, it has to be real, and the characters have to look entirely real because it's being done as a faux documentary, so there are even fewer actors that can do that on film.”

People Real Done Character Film Situation Be Good Being Real Improvisation

Author:Christopher Guest

“Some people have this really clear memory of making that decision, and I don't. My earliest memories of being involved with drama or acting were in elementary school. My sister and I got dropped off at an after-school improvisation class, a time-killer for kids while parents were doing the groceries. I'm 6 years old, and I remember running amok and playing these games.”

People Running Kids School Remember Parent Memories Decision Acting Drama My Sister Improvisation Elementary School

Author:Jai Courtney

“Music and writing do fold together in the sense that you have to have a certain level of skill in order to execute your ideas and you need a medium. The idea of improvisation is one that many writers fall into, and I improvise a great deal when I'm writing, but there's a structural framework that I'm working around, and that takes more time than the actual writing. Once the characters get to yapping and talking, they'll move from one room to the next, and I just have to make sure that the house is built. That's really hard, that's the kind of thing that sits with you all day long.”

Writing Kind Long Character Together Moving Fall House Improvisation

Author:James McBride

“It's not like that because the improvisation makes it automatically democratic. No one's leading anything. I didn't have to worry about anyone feeling involved. It was just the most natural, easy process of making music.”

Feelings Easy Natural Worry Democratic Improvisation

Author:Alexis Taylor

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Improvisation Quotes