You Have Your Improv and I Have Mine
One of the most beautiful things about improv is the accessibility it gives to theater. Even though there had been a lot of attempts - many of which were successful indeed - at making theater accessible, it is not until improv came in with games that anyone can play that theater's accessibility sky-rocketed. Improv arrived at a time when theater was delving deeper and deeper into abstract expressionism, intellectualism, and academicism. Improv heralded the notion that theater can also be fun and games and anyone can actually do it.
And to a large extent, I agree. I do think anyone can learn improv. I believe that anyone can become a magnificent improviser. As a matter of fact, I am one of those who think that talent - or an innate ability to do something greatly- is extremely overrated. Yes, we aren't all born equal when it comes to skills or abilities to do something. But what we are born with is merely a starting point. If we don't work on it, it stays that. At best. It even deteriorates.
That being said, I also think that improv is a theatrical art form - whether we like it or not. And just like any theater performance, it needs to make use of theater techniques. Theater techniques are numerous and require a lot of practice. They are not difficult. They are not only for the talented. They are merely a lot of work and practice. They are a set of skills and techniques that are built and maintained by practice. Just like muscles. Just like going to the gym. So if you've gone to the gym for a month, or even a year, and you expect that you got all the fitness you need in the world and you stop, you'll go back to being unfit. If you've gone to basketball practice for 5 years, and you now want to become an NBA player, then, yes, take a few improv workshops and become a performer.
Unfortunately, this is the price of accessibility. If I were to indulge in politics, I would say this is the price of accessibility just like Trump is the price of democracy. But since I'm not discussing politics these days, I won't say that. Instead, I will use what I call the "YouTube Effect". YouTube came and "democratized" video creation (of course, a lot of other factors helped, liked technology, access to information (which becomes part of a loop in this system), prices/economy, etc). With that accessibility and a few years later, we have millions of YouTube videos at our fingertips now, for free, and millions of users creating videos and uploading them to YouTube. How amazing! Long live democracy!
However, let's face it. Ninety-five percent of YouTube videos are shit! Regardless of your preference and your feed and how smart YouTube is becoming in tailoring your feed to what you like, NINETY-FIVE PERCENT OF VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE ARE SHIT FOR YOU AND YOUR TASTE. But, the access I have to that five percent of videos and people who are doing what I think is amazing videos is enough for me to like YouTube! There's a hell lot of sifting that needs to be done to get to that five percent, though. In this sense, improv is the YouTube of theater.
But that five percent of improv… When you find it… Wow! It's the best theater or live performance you will ever see. It's just magical!
Which brings me to my improv. When I was first introduced to improv, I was already working in theater. And for me, improv was theater. After training for a couple of years on improv skills and adding them to our performance skills, we decided to start performing improv shows. We couldn't imagine doing that anywhere other than a theater. A club was not even on our radar. We needed a light designer and operator. We needed a musician. We needed a costume designer. It was a full production. To a large extent, improv is still a large production for me. It wasn't until I started travelling and playing with other people that I learned that for a lot of people, you ask what you are going to wear a day before on the group's WhatsApp group a day before the show - sometimes on the same day. You know, in the morning. To know what to pack with you for the day.
And that is not wrong. That is part of what made improv so popular. It's just not my improv. My improv is a theatrical performance. And recently, I've been having difficulty calling myself an improviser, just like a YouTube creator who sees his YouTube videos as films (as opposed to "content"), finds it difficult to call himself a YouTuber.
For my most recent show, Halim Al-Hakawati, I refused to call it an improv show. I would be doing it and the people I'm communicating about the show with a big disservice if I call it an improv show. They will come expecting something and get something totally different. I think this show is a theatrical performance that uses improv as one of its tools. Another tool is storytelling. And it makes use of a lot of the elements that any live or theatrical show use; characters (some already established and that grow with every show like Halim, Kareem, and Saeed and some that are created on the spot like we always do in improv), light design and light operation, sound design and music, costume design, props, etc…
Alas, all YouTubers don't like to be called YouTubers and believe that they make films. It's the same in the world of improv. So standing out as a show that uses improv as ONE of its techniques instead of being labeled an "improv show" is almost impossible in the current time and age. So, being invited to perform Halim Al-Hakawati at the Amsterdam Storytelling Festival 2024 is, to day, one of my biggest achievements and contributions to the world of improv.
Halim Al-Hakawati at Theatre Le Monnot - Beirut, Lebanon - 2023
I've done both of my autobiographical monodramas at the Amsterdam Storytelling Festival. One of them even premiered there. It is one of the festivals that's dearest to my heart. But doing Halim Al-Hakawati there this week is a milestone in my career. This 13th time I play Halim will be one of the proudest moments of my life. If you happen to witness it, please, join me for a celebratory drink after.