Improvisation Quotes · Page 8

Cooking requires confident guesswork and improvisation-- experimentation and substitution, dealing with failure and uncertainty in a creative way

— Paul Theroux

Improvisation is about finding the best joke or the silliest way to get something across. Improvising conflict is always fun because you…

— Ed Helms

There are wonderful things in Jazz, the improvisation, the liveliness, the being at one with the audience.

— Henri Matisse

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

— Lily Collins

Even if the script's well written there's something about the life of an improvisation that resonates better than a written word, sometimes.

— John Travolta

The lifelong goal of an improviser is to listen to what the other person is saying, taking it in, and responding.

— Ali Farahnakian

I think for anyone - male or female - in improv, the biggest thing to get over is the fear. I think…

— Anonymous

Jazz Improvisation means that practice is not as straightforward as it would be when you simply have a score to play.

— Ahmad Jamal

“Do mountains of preparation kill spontaneity? Absolutely not. I’ve found that it’s just the opposite. When you know what you’re doing, you…

— Anonymous

John [Cassavetes] loved actors. He gave them a lot of freedom. So if something came up that a certain actor just felt…

— Gena Rowlands

Improvisation is the art of becoming sound. It is the only art in which a human being can and must become the…

— Alvin Curran

Practice your improv more than learn your lines. 'Cause there's no way you'll be able to learn all those lines in a…

— Anthony Mackie

I've always said my whole career that I wanted to write by the improv credo, 'don't negate,' which means, even if you…

— Gail Simone

The way I write is, I listen to things in my head, and then I copy them down. I memorize conversations and…

— Harvey Pekar

There's a relationship between music and spirituality and inspiration and to a certain extent improvisation that draws me in, because I don't…

— M. Ward

In life, sometimes everything falls into place, and sometimes everything just falls to pieces. The key is to begin creating with these…

— Tori Amos

It was amazing how much their [Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Shauna Robertson] process seemed familiar to me, translating that into the work…

— Seth Rogen

Sometimes people that are very good at improvisation in life, meaning like stage improvisation, aren't good in films because you have to…

— Vince Vaughn

Free improvisation, in addition to being a highly skilled musical craft, is open to use by almost anyone-beginners, children, and non-musicians. The…

— Derek Bailey

With the exceptional talent that is Guy Sigsworth as producer and collaborator, we have recorded a collection of original songs that sees…

— Alison Moyet

I may be prejudiced, but I believe that jazz music has the strongest healing potential, and it's not just because I play…

— Horace Silver

I would make a huge distinction between theater improvisation and film improvisation. There isn't much improvisation in film - there's virtually none.…

— Christopher Guest

It was almost noon when the plane touched down at the Triad airport on the outskirts of Greensboro. There was a hire…

— Greg Egan

Business today is all about improvisation, which is the essence of jazz. Perhaps in the past we could just follow the operating…

— Josh Linkner

Improvisation can be either a last resort or an established way of evoking creativity.

— Mary Catherine Bateson

Improv. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but when it does, it's like open-field running.

— Robin Williams

To write a book about improvisation is partly a contradiction in terms. Improvisation is spontaneous. It's in the moment.

— Sally Schneider

“The more you practice thinking on your feet and the more you prepare for future scenarios, the better you get at improvising…

— Roger Spitz

I consider myself a jazz singer. I think I stick to the roots of improvisation, singing in front of the beat, behind…

— Gregory Porter

Most of my comedy writing happens through improvisation on stage; doing it in the moment.

— Marc Maron

I'm not a huge fan of improv theater or improv sports or whatever, because it still just looks like a tool. It…

— John Michael Higgins

As you know from reading many of these Negro writers, we don't deal too much with the discussion of democracy and what…

— Stanley Crouch

The secret of tango is in this moment of improvisation that happens between step and step. It is to make the impossible…

— Carlos Gavito

if you don't think that all life is improvisation, then you haven't been paying attention. Life is what happens to you while…

— Joan Rivers

I like films that are well-written and concise and with not a lot of room for improvisation.

— Patrice Leconte

“Lying is manipulation. I prefer to call what I did ‘improvisation in times of desperation.”

— Katie Kacvinsky

In life most of us are highly skilled at suppressing action. Bad improvisers block action often with a high degree of skill.…

— Keith Johnstone

Improv is really fun but it's a lot harder to show people your work if they don't come to your show. Something…

— Patti Harrison

“Can't you improvise? You know, make some loud pounding noises or cause the outer walls to bleed?”

— Jeaniene Frost

It's just a whole different vibe with improv. As an actor I just kind of exercise within my environment and adjust depending…

— Katy Mixon