Monday, February 07, 2011

Game Theory of the Improv Scene

Something I've been working through as a coach and a player, is the problem of balancing stage time. You want to feel responsibility for the show, but you also don't want it to feel like a one-man-team. Should you play aggressively or politely? There's certainly some individual wisdom required, but I think I've decided what the default mode should be. Here's a game theory chart to explain:


No matter what Player 1 does, Player 2 should always play aggressively. No matter what Player 2 does, Player 1 should always play aggressively. Best of all, if both follow this strategy it results in the best possible scene, fast-paced and exciting. And you though Game Theory was just for classrooms and reality TV.

This has also been posted at The College Improv Resource.

7 comments:

  1. Interesting. What are the forces that would push both "players" (I didn't know they were called that) to want to be aggressive? I don't see any tit-for-tatness going on here.

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  2. Well there is the selfish reason of wanting to be seen, which results in bad improv.

    The opposite can happen when insecurity keeps players on the sidelines.

    I think the attitude should be of responsibility for the show as a whole. Everyone is responsible for every scene. If not, it might as well be pairs of improvisers doing scenes in a row.

    Could I perhaps convince you to take an improv class?

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  3. Ah, the Comedy of the Commons.

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  4. This raises another question for me: Does improv train you to be more "aggressive" in your ordinary dealings with your spouse or colleagues (or in your case, students)? And if so, is that bad?

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  5. Oh and my answer to whether you could convince me to take an improv class will depend on your response. No pressure. :-)

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  6. Paul D.12:08 AM

    Your theory has a fallacy that a good scene has to be fast-paced to be good. That is not always true. there are plenty of fast-paced scenes that are cliched and not funny.

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  7. Justin,

    I'm not sure if performing improv itself will make you more aggressive in ordinary dealings. However, I do thin it will make you more supportive. The inherent pattern of saying "yes" to an idea, "and" adding to it, is an important part of a successful scene.

    Now I'm curious which answer you were looking for.


    Paul,

    Great point. I guess I'm playing the odds that on average, worse scenes are slower and more boring. That said, I think even "slow-played" shows (like say my two-man team) is still a form of aggressive play.

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You are the reason why I do not write privately. I would love to hear your thoughts, whether you agree or not.