Improv and comedy are interconnected. Like yin and yang. Nature and nurture. Laughter and the rule of 3s. Whether we like it or not, audiences across the world associate improv with comedy. That is because when we improvise, we are creating. And creativity is the natural byproduct of play. Whether it is an improvised play, short form games, the Harold, or Free Form, the root of everything is play. 

This isn’t to say that we can’t do improv that is dramatic, or that you need to feel comfortable calling yourself a comedian. Despite how our audience feels, comedy has become, for many improvisers, an afterthought of their performance. Some improvisers even react negatively when they are confronted about the comedy they create, as though being funny is some kind of an affront to the art that they just created out of thin air. 

The comedy we create serves a purpose, even in our drama; we need the comedy to contrast the tension. We need the tension to contrast the joy. And we need the joy to bring an audience to the shows. So rather than avoiding it, let’s learn how to create it, figure out how to use it, and understand when to leave it out. 

Because there’s nothing worse than a show that is trying too hard to be funny – except a show that is trying too hard not to be. 

I really enjoyed the exercises about finding a pattern (word association within a theme) and expanding it (heightening and “finding a funnel”). Also, when we actually got on stage and doing scenes, I liked the fact that Trent side coached a lot and let us practice spotting the game in a slow pace. I felt like I was allowed to gradually and slowly build the foundation for finding the funny instead of having to spot it immediately (which is very hard and pressuresome [okay, did I just create a new English word…]).

– Friendly Improviser, Barcelona

The workshop with Trent Pancy was among the best workshops I ever took. Trent manages to merge the best of both worlds: Chicago style, game-based improv and European relationship-and-character focused scenes. He makes you learn new stuff while at the same time polishing the skills you already have. He is an extremely fast thinker, has a sharp eye, gives valuable individual feedback – and it’s simply tons of fun working with him. I loved every second of the workshop!!!

– Claudia, Germany