Improvisation Quotes · Page 6

To create characters, one must build background. And one of the tools we use is improvisation

— Harvey Keitel

I think the good ones, the interviews and the promos people remember, those are improv.

— CM Punk

The thing that always fascinated me about improv is that it's basically a happy accident that you think you're initiating.

— Tina Fey

A person improvising is sometimes very fortunate that just at that second things coincide.

— Leo Ornstein

Most of my act is improvisation. I'm inspired for the moment. Standing there in front of 2,000 or 3,000 people you don't…

— Howie Mandel

I always do a little bit of improv. I did some of 'The Office,' a tiny bit in 'Extras,' a bit more…

— Ricky Gervais

“Herzen declared that there were “no solutions”: history, like nature, was an improvisation, subject to the play of chance.”

— Aileen M. Kelly

Acting is really scary, but it's also challenging, fun, hard work. There's always an element of improvisation with every actor, even when…

— Michael Pitt

It scared me to death to think about improv, but I got hired for a year at Second City in Chicago, which…

— Fred Willard

I miss improv. I hate it in a way - watching it, doing it - but only because it's so challenging and…

— Ilana Glazer

I approach music and acting the same way, through spontaneous improvisation. I never really try to rehearse anything, do it over and…

— Matt Schulze

[In "The Invisible Woman"] was a different type of performance which was less driven by improv. You always want moments of freshness…

— Felicity Jones

I do believe if we opened up a comedy theater in a city, that we're going to be able to teach improv…

— Matt Besser

I love improvisation because I like to be able to contribute creatively a little bit more than just memorizing my lines. But…

— Jenna Fischer

If improv gets reckless, you can feel it. A lot of shows try to do that, I find. When improv is done…

— Steve Dildarian

Effortless [performance] and improvisation are two different things. Just because it's improvised doesn't mean it's effortless and just because it's effortless doesn't…

— Christoph Waltz

I was about 14 when I started with a theater group; it was like a stage group on the weekends alongside school.…

— Imogen Poots

When I auditioned for drama college, they asked me to do my Shakespeare. I couldn't do it. They asked me to do…

— Hans Matheson

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

— Seth Rogen

I think jazz is a beautiful, democratic music. It encourages musicians with very strong, and many times, very different points of view…

— Marcus Miller

With Halloween, the director was this genius wonder boy who was the writer, director, producer, along with his girlfriend. They were this…

— P. J. Soles

I want the music to be heard as close to when I made it, as much as possible. I don't want to…

— Bradford Cox

It's very interesting to read why Cornelius Cardew became disenchanted with academic avant-garde music. He wanted to reach as many people as…

— Alasdair MacLean

Having been an actor, I always want to leave room for the actors to find their comfort zone, so I don't like…

— Eric Balfour

Improvisation, for me, is when the cameras start rolling, we don't know where we're going and let's just waste people's time and…

— Jason Bateman

Everyone can act. Everyone can improvise. Anyone who wishes to can play in the theatre.

— Viola Spolin

A lot of times, good improv is when both people, or however many people are in the scene, really have no idea…

— John C. Reilly

“Bad improvisers block action, often with a high degree of skill. Good improvisers develop action."(p.115)”

— Malcolm Gladwell

I think that music, or at least the kind of music that I make, benefits greatly from improvisation.

— Ryan Adams

Improvising is wonderful. But, the thing is that you cannot improvise unless you know exactly what you're doing. That's a kind of…

— Christopher Walken

Improvisation is empowering because it welcomes the unknown. And since what's impossible is always unknown, it allows me to believe I can…

— Philippe Petit

We live in a time where improv is king and people love improv, and I think there's a time and a place…

— Aya Cash

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

— Keith Johnstone

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

— Isabelle Huppert

All you're trying to do in an improvisation is get as much material as possible for the editing room.

— Martin Short

It's an improvisation on a theme. You know where you want to go, but you don't know how to get there. It's…

— Richard Holbrooke

Both 'Udaan' and 'Lootera' were largely rehearsed. With 'Trapped,' I left room for improvisation.

— Vikramaditya Motwane

Civilization has gotten further and further from the so-called 'natural' man, who uses all his faculties: perception, invention, improvisation.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

I've never been a big fan of improvisation, because I think you appreciate the process and the cleverness of it more than…

— Alan Thicke

Working on a sitcom and improv improves your comedic chops. If you do it long enough, the one thing you learn to…

— Diedrich Bader