Why Technique Alone Isn't Enough
Or, how we are better than AI
Here’s another selection of thoughts I’ve had about improv this week, mainly prompted by reading some notes I wrote about five years ago. Some of this was definitely inspired by Rick Andrews of The Magnet Theater in New York and some conversations we’ve had.
Welcome if you’re a new subscriber. Please jump in the comments and let me know what you’re thinking after reading this.
Why technique alone isn’t enough
This week, I asked AI to sum up the perfect Harold. Rightly or wrongly (and I’m not getting into that), The Harold is regarded as an iconic improv form. I figured it would be interesting to ask ChatGPT to sum up what made a perfect Harold.
The answers told me a lot about the following techniques and structures:
What to do in an opening, the different beats, the group games etc.
How to pace different elements.
What patters and themes were and the mechanics of spotting them.
However, the answers told me nothing about:
Humanity.
AI isn’t human, but a good improv show is. I found it interesting that the AI summary of what makes good improv leaves out the human element. I feel that good improv uses technique to serve the comedic voice of the players, and comedic voice comes from the individual’s humanity.
Human things make comedy. In improv, in particular, it can be the moments that surprise us as performers as well as the audience. The things you could never have predicted that you were about to say. That’s where the magic is for me.
That’s not to say technique isn’t important. I really admire good technique. Technique is the stuff that isn’t innate. It’s how to play the form, it’s how to initiate, it’s how to edit, it’s how to exploit a pattern. However, those things are of limited use without the human element.
When I teach a taster session or beginners class, it’s always clear that improvising is a natural process. We have to improvise our lives and we learn techniques and social norms to help us structure life and make it more navigable. Equally, our improv technique is how we make a scene and form work more easily. As improvisers progress you can sometimes see them wrestling between the innate and the technique. I’d argue that’s a life-long juggling act.
Here, have a pattern.
Dog, cat, rabbit, snake, rat.
The above pattern is not innately funny. Patterns and games are great, but they only work when we’re being human and in discovery mode, because the context we create around a pattern is what brings it to life. Equally, the description of a perfect Harold by ChatGPT had zero laughs in it.
For me, technique and humanity need to work hand in hand. Good technique will help us grow as an improviser providing we don’t sacrifice too much of ourselves to it. However, in an increasingly process-driven, AI-driven world, the secret sauce will always be the human bits we bring.
Workshops and Shows
The workshops for this year’s Robin Hood International Improv Festival went on sale yesterday - and several are close to selling out. We’ve got an amazing line-up of improvisers from all over the world teaching in Nottingham this September. Whether you’ve always wanted to take a class with Patti Styles, are excited by the incredible workshops Balasree Viswanathan is teaching or you’ve heard Rob Norman’s podcast and a curious about taking a class… we’ve got a world class line-up (Ok, I’m biased because I’m co-director of the fest… indulge me here). If you can get to Nottingham, there’s an amazing line-up of workshops (and shows). Check it out HERE
On June 7th, come see Rhymes Against Humanity create a fully improvised musical at Squire Performing Arts Centre in Nottingham. Tickets HERE
Prepare for your deepest secrets to be used to create comedy. The Secret Show is back in Nottingham on Saturday 21st June. Get your ticket HERE
Have a great week,
Lloydie
As I understand them, AI models tend to generate similar output to what they've been trained on. Which suggests that the improv information ChatGPT has "learned" is mostly about technique. Which further suggests that the people who create that information write mostly about technique.
Beginning improvisers must learn the basics to be able to get on their feet. But after a certain point, some continue hunting for techniques, optimizations, and hacks as a hedge against the uncertainty, to try to guarantee "successful" improv according to whatever their definition is. They gloss over advice like "be human" or "throw away the rules and just play." Give them a new pattern game to play and they're all over it.
This is an important reminder to keep the human part of our teaching intact. We have to work harder at finding new ways to express those ideas. Thanks, Lloydie!
I'm looking forward to those RHIIF workshops!