Improv 101

About Improv 101 Android App

Design your Improv classes on the fly with this easy to use app.

• Create classes quickly and easily
• Get inspiration from over 150 pre-defined games and scenes (Pro)
• Instantly add related warmups or scenes with one tap
• Add your own exercises to the mix
• Extensive ‘Asks’ for scenes in easy to find categories
• Run your class exercises by exercise with coaching notes

If you are running or want to start your own Comedy Improv class, this app will give you a leg up, keeping you fresh and organised.

Please note - class timings are a guide only!

I’d been running Improv classes for well over ten year and realised that I was collecting a lot of slips of paper with classes on that I kept referring to to remind me of the exercises I had to hand and which I’d already used. I thought – there must be an app for that, - but there wasn’t – so I, um, in true Improv style, I made one up!

To start with I just had the basic outline of exercises as that’s all I needed. After reviewing with some friends, I realised that the exercises needed to be much better qualified.

Each exercise needed clearer setup instructions and more detailed enunciations. All the exercises I know have come from classes I’ve done. For example, the quite wonderful John Cremer, London’s Sprout and the Ubud Improv Crew to name but a few. Improv tends to treat exercises as open-source and I hope we all encourage sharing our knowledge.

As an Improv facilitator, I find myself being a coach much of the time, so most exercises also have coaching tips as well. All that leads to a much more complete information for the facilitator and ultimately, more professional classes. I don’t know about you, but I have a lousy memory so these help me to remember the more detailed points of each exercise.

I have so many ideas that I want to implement but simply not enough time to do them all. Top of the list is to link Asks to exercises. One of my biggest failings is requesting suggestions (asks) so I’m planning a cross reference for each exercise.

The app also needs input the number of people in a class to make the estimated timings more accurate. Timings are tricky because you don’t really know how long scenes will take or how often each one will be repeated or how much coaching you’ll give. However, this will give us a finger in the air estimate to work with. (It’s almost always less exercises than you think you need for the time allotted!)

I hope you enjoy the app and get as much benefit from it as I have.

Best, James