What do improvisers hope 2021 brings to our artform and to their own projects? Improvisers from across the world have sent messages to The Improv Chronicle and some of improv's next generation reflect on what they want the new year to look like.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-improv-chronicle-podcast

The Improv Chronicle Podcast is produced and hosted by Nottingham improviser Lloydie James Lloyd

Theme music - Sam Plummer

Logo design - Hélène Dollie

Episode Transcript:
This… is the Improv Chronicle podcast. I'm Lloydie.

Lloydie James Lloyd: It's been a year. It really has been quite a year at the beginning of 2020, I don't think many improvisors were expecting pretty much our entire artform to exist online for the majority of the year. And yet that's what's happened. 

So, as we look ahead past the festive season and into a brand-new year, what do improvisors from around the world want from improv? What do they want, not only for themselves, but for the art form as a whole around the globe?

At the end of the last episode, I asked you to get in touch and tell me what do you want from improv from 2021?

So, I thought what I'd do is go through some of the responses I've had. And there's a number of them here. Let's start with this one.

Rob Norman: Hi, this is a message for the Improv Chronicle. It's Rob Norman from the Backline Podcast. Lloydie asked me what is it that I want from 2021? And it's just to survive. Just to live. I just want to live again.

Lloydie: All right. Okay, sorry, that's not exactly the kind of message I was after, really.

Right, okay, let's try this one. 

Unidentified Contributor: Yeah, my hopes and wishes for 2021. Well, I want to be on stage with all of the great people. I want to be on stage with Bill Murray. I want to be on stage with De… De... Des Clerk. Derrell Close. Oh, and also Lloydie. I want to be on stage with Lloydie. He's my hero.

How much would I get paid for this?

Lloydie: Yeah, okay. Yeah, that's not exactly what I was expecting either. Right, okay. This one definitely will be right. It's from Emma Bird in Liverpool.

Emma Bird: What am I looking forward to? I'm revamping Liverpool Comedy Improv. I'm collaborating with a lot of brilliant teachers and hopefully offering a range of classes and courses. We've got new socials and jams coming up in 2021. Looking forward to that. 

I'm hoping that we get the balance between this hybrid of online classes and physical-space classes. Hopefully, we'll get a balance between online and physical space. 

I'm really looking forward to my performance teams, Boss Birds, Improv and Moses and Bird continuing to get more gigs. 

And generally, globally, looking forward to continuing flourishing friendships. And I'm hoping the improv community globally continues to work towards real diversity and inclusivity and that our friendships continue to blossom.

Lloydie: Oh, that's awesome. Emma, thank you for that. I've also had a message through from my duo partner, Stuart Moses, as well. What's your message for the Improv Chronicle, Stuart?

Stuart Moses: The Improv what? The Improv Chronicle? What's that supposed to be when it's at home? Is it a newspaper? What? There are other podcasts apart from mine? Why did nobody tell me? Okay, okay.

Hello, my name's Stuart Moses, I'm the host of the Improv London Podcast, one half of Moses and Bird and another half of Doctor Who Prov. 

In 2021, I would like to see there be more inclusion and more intimacy in improv. 

And Lloydie, you'll tidy it up before you send it, won't you? Where's my trumpet?

Lloydie: Okay, yeah, I don't think Stuart until read the brief. 

Okay, let's go somewhere else. Let's go to Dublin in Ireland and speak to Neil Curran. 

Lloydie: I don't know if this would count as a hope and a wish, but certainly when you look at 2020, the whole notion of community is something that was really tested this year. And we really saw the community wasn't something that was always there in improv, but we have some incredible people who have done amazing works and really have raced to the top, in terms of what they have done, the value of they've brought the art form and their own communities. And certainly, on an international level, have a cohesiveness formed between different communities and different parts of the improv world, which we didn't see on a global level, but we certainly saw emerging from a number of different areas. 

So, I think when we look to 2021, I'd like to think that this is something we can learn from, that we can take stock of what community actually meant in the face of adversity and start applying that on a more broader level. Because one thing is for sure, improv is not going back to the way that it was.

Lloydie: I think Neil has quite a point there. We've learnt a heck of a lot during an unexpected pandemic. But what we do next is going to be crucial for our art form, I think. 

So, earlier on, Rob, from the Backline Podcast got in touch. I've asked him to redo his message because I think he got the wrong end of the stick. So, let's see what he's come up with this time.

Rob: Hi, Lloydie, it's Rob Norman from the Backline Podcast. So, what do I hope for in 2021? I know that this year has been really hard on improvisors in improv companies. A lot of cool companies have lost their spaces. 

I just am thinking back when I first started, you know, Second City had just gone bankrupt and the other two prominent improv companies, one shut down permanently and the other lost their space. And I remember it being a really tough time. It really felt like everybody had abandoned ship and we were kind of alone left in the improv community. Things were really bad. 

But I remember after that small blip, that a new space opened up, but it was called Comedy Bar. And Comedy Bar was like this place where everyone was welcome. It gave a roof to everyone who didn't have a home. And for the first time ever, improvisers were playing with stand ups and sketch comedians. 

And I think of that as like the golden age of improv. I feel like some of the coolest and most interesting shows happened during that time. Some of my most cherished relationships occurred during that time. And my fingers are crossed that globally this is what we're all about to experience; a better, more connected improv community, not just in our individual cities, but also around the world. I've met so many cool people internationally that I wouldn't know unless I was doing a zoom show with them at 3 a.m. 

So, yeah, I'm hopeful and I really can't wait to see what everybody does next.

Lloydie: Okay. There was me expecting him to do another bit and he came through with actually something really thoughtful and something really beautiful. Thank you, Rob. I do actually really love your podcast. Oh, God. What a fanboy. Ah, went and ruined it. 

Let's go elsewhere in the world. 

Kelly Agathos: This is Kelly Agathos from Improbable in Brussels. And my wish for 2021 is to go to improv festivals again, to meet old friends and new friends, and to just come together as the worldwide improv community that we are. So, hopefully see you at a festival soon. 

Lloydie: And from Belgium to India. 

Varoon Anand: From Varoon Anand at Cavalia Plays in New Delhi, India. Here's to hoping improv continues to bring people together around the world to play together, learn together and have fun together, and that we find new avenues that improv can lend itself to improving people's lives, just as we have seen. Lots of love to everyone. Merry Christmas. Happy New Year.

Lloydie: And yes, I'm overcompensating for not being able to travel around the world and do festivals. Instead, we're going around the world on the podcast.

Let's go down under. 

Ali Little: Ali Little from Wellington, New Zealand here. My hope for improv next year is that the great and glorious discovery that has been that you can improvise with people in other countries and other time zones and that you can take classes with fabulous legendary teachers and you can have a lot of fun over Zoom, I hope that continues no matter what. Have a good holiday. Bye.

Lloydie: Oh, I love the birdsong in the background of that. 

So, one set of message. Yes, I did not expect to get was this next set, and they're really wonderful. 

Elana Fishbein of the Magnet Theater in New York City spoke to her Improv for Teens class today, and she asked some of them their improv hopes and dreams for 2021. And I think as we look forward to the future, it's pretty cool to hear from the next generation of improvisers.

Teen Improv 1: You know, it's always nice to be hopeful that we're going to be able to get back to doing classes at The Magnet studio. And that would be great. But, you know, like I'm going to go to college in the fall. And I think that even maintaining like a Zoom improv with Magnet, if I'm not in the city anymore, would be great. I'm totally happy doing this. Like it's been great to kind of get to know you guys and work with you. And you're so youthful and lovely. 

Teen Improv 5: I love that. 

Teen Improv 2: Next year, when the aliens invade, I would like to use improv to entertain them so they don't eat me.

Teen Improv 3: I guess I could go next. So, in 2021, for the first half of the year, I just want to keep doing these classes. And I'm also doing a small, like, group class, also on Tuesdays; I'm kind of like double up on improv on Tuesdays. So, it's very fun. But I just want to keep doing that with my small group and doing the Zoom improv here. 

And then maybe over the summer, we can get back, you know, because I've never actually done a class with you guys at The Magnet. So, that would be fun to get back into that and then like do some shows, because I've done a show since like last year.

Teen Improv 4: I would say that for 2021, well, I feel like improv has been a good way to, like, keep me motivated in 2020 because like with everything that's going on, it's kind of been like, well, at least I have one hour in the week that I can, like, designate to laughing a lot and like having fun. So, probably keeping that up. 

And also hopefully, getting back to in-person classes because that was always fun, like going to the city and then having two-hour classes and like, laughing your butts off and then hanging out afterwards and then doing the same thing every week; like, yeah. So, hopefully that will get back to that soon.

Teen Improv 1: Yeah, I really miss having a bagel between improv classes. That was a good ritual. 

Teen Improv 2: The light behind me is changing colors, and I don't know why.

Teen Improv 3: To the aliens. 

Teen Improv 1: And that's something that couldn't happen with in-person classes. 

Teen Improv 3: Yeah. 

Teen Improv 1: Think about it that way. 

Cassie, do you want to wrap it up?

Teen Improv 5: I think everybody really said what I was going to say. I'm definitely hopefully getting back to in-person classes. But of course, if that's not possible, like virtual is always fun.

I'll just say, like, I hope that that we all get to keep collaborating with each other; whether it's in-person or online, that we all maintain the connections that we established over these last many months of looking at each other through a screen. 

Next time… on the Improv Chronicle Podcast.

As 2020 mercifully comes to a close, we're going to take a look back at some of the interviews that we've done with a variety of people and play you stuff that we just didn't get time for. 

A lot of the time on this podcast, I edit out stuff that I really like to include. So, next episode, you're hear all of the gold that I didn't get time to put in previous episodes. 

The Improv Chronicle Podcast is produced and hosted by me, Lloydie James Lloyd. You can help the podcast by rating us and subscribing on your favorite podcast app.

And if you want to get in touch about a future episode, go to improvchronicle.com