Improvisation Quotes · Page 8

What I want to happen is to be really creative, and to play something new in the improvisations, every time.

— Dave Brubeck

Life is an improvisation. You have no idea what's going to happen next and you are mostly just making things up as…

— Stephen Colbert

I don't think I differentiate between composition and improvisation. Improvisation could be a large part of a composition.

— Yoshi Wada

“Nothing we design or make ever really works??? Everything we design and make is an improvisation, a lash-up, something inept and provisional.”

— David Pye

“When you don’t have honesty in love then there is no communication. Honesty is improvisation of the heart; anything less is a…

— Shannon L. Alder

These are days when no one should rely unduly on his competence. Strength lies in improvisation. All the decisive blows are struck…

— Walter Benjamin

The genius of our country is improvisation, and jazz reflects that. It's our great contribution to the arts.

— Ken Burns

Anything I do, I learn about first. I am not in favour of improvisation; I believe in work and in learning

— Ferreira Gullar

I try to influence this improvisation in two ways. One is by centering on reflections, in both senses of the word: acoustic…

— Pauline Oliveros

Improv as an actor makes you present in the moment. You listen, you're attentive. You're not acting so much as reacting, which…

— Nathan Fillion

So much of the show [ Too Much Tuna] is improvisation, and I think that Nick [Kroll] and John [Mulaney] kind of…

— Alex Timbers

As they say, there are two rules in improv: Never say no, and never ask why. When another actor asks 'Why?' or…

— Johnny Galecki

Improvisation is almost like the retarded cousin in the comedy world. We've been trying forever to get improvisation on TV. It's just…

— Amy Poehler

When I think back now to the recording sessions, there is more improvisation than one hears. It's an ideal combination of arrangements…

— Eberhard Weber

Improvisation is a weird word because we often think it means that you make things up out of whole cloth right there…

— Roger Ebert

I don't like improv at all. It terrifies me. I like to know exactly what I'm going to say. Being surprised does…

— Jesse Tyler Ferguson

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

Improvisation was the blood and bone of jazz, and in the classic, New Orleans jazz it was collective improvisation in which each…

— Russell Lynes

I think there's something really freeing about improv, that it's a collective, creative, in-the-moment piece. That's really exciting and really frustrating, because…

— Tatiana Maslany

I love performing. I love doing improv. It's a totally terrifying experience, but it's something that I've always felt so strongly about…

— Tatiana Maslany

I think of myself as a jazz player, and my music as a natural extension of the jazz tradition. What I'm doing…

— Richard Grossman

“The second rule of improvisation is not only to say yes, but YES, AND. You are supposed to agree and then _add…

— Tina Fey

It's kind of like being a writer in the sense that you always hear other writers say, 'Well, the best way to…

— Jherek Bischoff

I grew up in the theater, and you can't improvise Shakespeare and Ibsen. You have to speak the language. But obviously, in…

— Victor Garber

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

— Keith Johnstone

People's association with improvisation means one person playing an endless stream of notes over something, and it doesn't have to be.

— Jon Brion

As any jazz musician knows, it takes flexibility and adaptability for improvisation to create beauty.

— Doc Childre

Understanding listening is an epiphany moment for every improviser. At least for me it was.

— Matt Besser

Here's our shtick line to describe our music: It's our garage band attempt at our appreciation of jazz improvisation through the reality…

— John Popper

With 'Slave Ambient', I was writing things on top of loops. Now I really get the structure of the song down, but…

— Adam Granduciel

Composing is a slowed-down improvisation; often one cannot write fast enough to keep up with the stream of ideas.

— Arnold Schoenberg

The trouble with improv is that it is often about being funny in the moment without any real consideration for the bigger…

— Simon Pegg

The great thing about improvisation is that it allows us to establish an uncensored form of theater. Freedom of speech is absolutely…

— Lucien Bourjeily

I think I'm going to venture into the futuristic, semi sci-fi love story land, but still in my style of improvisation.

— Drake Doremus

The biggest thing that comes out of improv that gets built on is just character traits. You know, for me the singing…

— Ed Helms

Sometimes some of the best moments are contributed by the actors being creative, with their own improvisations.

— Woody Allen

If you do improvising, it can sometimes end up being a waste of time. And if you do that, it's more or…

— Giovanni Ribisi

I guess, yeah. I've always loved improv. It's my thing. I really like it, but I also think it has to be…

— Oscar Nunez

There are editing procedures for talks just as there are editing procedures in jazz improvisation.

— David Antin

I know all about improvisation and the free-form that mirrors the chaos of our time, but I do like to feel that…

— Jean Kerr