Jest in Time

While Daniel Fernandez,a Mumbai-based stand-up comedian who regularly performs in Pune,refers to improv as “stand-up’s half-sister”,Neville Shah of Ministry of Schtick says that you cannot compare the two. “Improv is the most raw form of performance. It is natural,organic,and without inhibition. Stand-up can be derived from improv but not the other way around,” says Shah,adding that the genre has been raging in America since the late ’70s as a performance art. It’s also used as a warm-up exercise to help actors with a scripted performance.

Fernandez explains that there are two types of improv — long-term performances and a short-term variation that includes impromptu games such as those featured on the American television series Whose line is it anyway? “Though improv provides a variety in the otherwise-scripted performance of a stand-up comedian,it is risky business. You always have to be switched on and keep your mind open to think out of the box to successfully pull off an improv act. Us stand-ups are used to ending with punchlines,this does not happen with improv,” says Fernandez,who recently tried his hand at improv as part in his act performed in the city. Verma seconds the thought and believes that since improv is a group-effort,it is rather selfish for a team-member to opt for a punch-line.

He also points out that because every improv performance is unique it has great repeat value; the audience will always witness something different every time they come for a show. But,to pull off an improv act successfully,one needs to brush up their impromptu skills. “While doing stand-up,you’re so used to doing your jokes that,after a point,even if you’re tired or thinking about something else in your head,you can still go on saying the lines. But,with improv,you need to be wide awake and attentive,” says Verma.

Shah says that the genre requires one to refrain from planning ahead and keep out of the comfort zone.