Ever wondered what Improv is all about? Well this week Her Campus chatted with Harry Turnball, the Troupe Director of Nottingham’s very own Improv Society to find out exactly that. Harry told us about the number of exciting things Improv Soc get up to from weekly improv sessions, to performances at the New Theatre and successfully explained the intricacies of short and longform Improv performances. As a third year Biology student, Harry’s ability to juggle all this, along with Improv Society’s yearly performance up at the Edinburgh Fringe, truly makes this Troupe Director worthy of Campus Celeb status.
When did you first get into improv?
I first started improv in my first year of university. I’d had a look at the list of societies on the SU website before I arrived for fresher’s week. Once I found Improv at Fresher’s fair and had a chat to the lovely people at the stall, I knew I was going to join.
How did you get involved with the Society?
Improv runs a weekly session, 6-8pm on Sunday in the SU Hub, so I went along to those sessions and had an amazing amount of fun. I also auditioned for the troupe in my first year. The troupe is the performance branch of the society. They train twice a week, and perform in regular shows the society runs, as well as two longform plays, one in the New Theatre, and another up at the Edinburgh Fringe in the summer. Unfortunately I didn’t get into troupe in my first year, but I persevered, and auditioned successfully in my second year. Now, in my third year, I run the troupe as the Troupe Director.
Do you have any special/exciting events coming up?
We run fortnightly Comedy nights, usually on Tuesdays in the Bag O’ Nails in Lenton, the next one is on the 10th of December, but there are many more throughout the year. We are also often invited to perform at events such as Amnesty International Soc’s Secret Policeman’s Ball. These one off events are much more sporadic, so to find out about when we’re performing, look us up on Facebook. We also have our first longform play at the New Theatre coming up in February, so look out for that too.
Any tips you would give to aspiring members of Improv Society?
Get up and do it! The games we play might seem silly and a bit bizarre or embarrassing sometimes, but once you get up into a game, you’ll love it. People improvise all the time without even knowing it by just talking to people, so even if you don’t know what to say, don’t worry, you’ll work it out once you’re playing. And keep at it, practice makes perfect.
What is your favourite kind of improv to do ?
My favourite type of improv is longform, which we use in both our New Theatre and Edinburgh Fringe plays. Longform ( as opposed to shortform) is the idea of creating a series of scenes which are all set in the same world, with recurring characters and an overarching storyline. It takes a lot of work and practice for a group of individual improvisers to get to the point where they are all in sync with each other, interacting with each other almost only whilst acting on stage, using the group mind to create a seamless world and a story arc rich with a multitude of characters over the course of an hour or so. The work is well worth it, and results in fantastic performances and amazing friendships between the players of the group.
What kind of improv are you best at?
As much as I love longform, the bread and butter of improv lies with shortform. Shortform is what people are usually most familiar with when they think of improv. It’s the short, three to four minute games that you might see on shows such as “Whose line is it anyway”. Shortform is how you start learning improv, and it’s always what I fall back to when I want to have some fun. The fast pace, and short length of shortform games allows you to really push the boundaries of comedy, and come up with some very funny, and very unique scenes.
When you aren’t doing Improv, what else do you enjoy getting up to around Campus/Nottingham?
I’m a third year Biology student, and training the troupe takes a lot of what little free time I have, but when I do get a break, I like to draw illustrations, play video games and I also play hockey for BioSoc. I’ve written and performed a few stand-up routines, and I write and record sketches for the GAG show on URN.