The Spontaneity Shop: Performance and training Improvisation company
Home > About > Q And A > Dylan Emery
- Dylan, how long have you been improvising?
- Five years
- What do you love about improv?
- Not having to learn any lines. Seriously, it's great. And it means that any improviser can drop in on any impro show and that really is fantastic.
- What's your favourite improv memory?
- Impro anecdotes tend to be of the 'you had to be there' variety, so choosing a great moment from a show is out. One thing that stands out was the first time I did impro in a proper full-sized theatre in the main Steiner school in Sussex. The thrill of being on a huge stage with just four improvisers was intense, as was doing it in front of 200 highly engaged and creative kids.
- You play keyboards for Grand Theft Impro. What's the difference between being a musical improviser and a verbal improviser?
- The same basic skills apply to both - you listen, you react, you make offers. The main difference is that it's much more of a directing job - a big like improvising lights. You have to support what the improviser wants to do - but if they are getting a bit stuck, you need to be able to push them into the next section of the song, a bridge, chorus or whatever. When you are improvising musicals, the job is even more important. You have to know when the story needs to move on and then change the mood of the music radically to shake them out of whatever they were singing and get them back on track.
- You were at the Edinburgh Festival this year. What were you doing?
- The great Ken Campbell has become fascinated with impro over the last couple of years and he has gathered together a bunch of actors who have learned lots of 'theatrical impro' - theatre styles, but done really well, Shakespeare, sonnets, demon possessions, horror. He's not bound by the usual rules of what impro and that makes it refreshing and exciting. In Edinburgh, we were doing 'In Pursuit of Cardenio' - re-creating a genuinely lost play of Shakespeare.
- You also run the Crunchy Frog Collective website which is where everyone goes to find out what's happening in London Improv. What was the inspiration behind the site and do you enjoy being webmaster?
- When I started the site there was very little impro in London, just a
handful of shows and a few irregular workshops. There was very little
communication between all the people who were interested in impro and as
a result, there was little creative cross-over. And because there wasn't
much impro, there wasn't a big pool of impro-goersand groups tended to
guard their audiences quite jealously.
But for something like impro, it's vital to get new blood to keep the ideas flowing, the shows sparking - that will grow the audiences for everyone and help boost the standard of the impro. I thought it would be very useful to have a single point of information and discussion and, from the number of people who come to the site (more than 100 a day), it seems there's a need.
- How can people contribute to the website or let you know about events?
- Go to the site (www.thecrunchyfrogcollective.com) and click on the 'submit news' tab at the top. Please let me know about any shows, workshops or any news that you hear about that is impro related. If you aren't sure about the details, so you don't want to officially submit it, just e-mail me at mail@grandtheftimpro.com and I'll chase up the facts. There are still groups out there who do shows but don't submit it to the site. It's free advertising, so please take advantage of it.
- You have three times hosted the final of the Make A Wish Theatresports Cup Final. How did you come to be involved in that event?
- I honestly don't remember. I think someone mentioned it was happening, and I organised a bunch of our workshoppers to put some teams together. I was in one of them and I got knocked out in the first round (impressive, non?), so when they were looking for a host for the final, I volunteered. It's just become a habit since then.
- You traditionally host the event in a dinner jacket. Has anyone told you you look sexy in black tie?
- Oh, Deborah, you are awful. But I like you.
- What are you doing tonight?
- Waiting for your call.
- What's your maxim for life?
- Don't try to predict the future. Look at everything that you enjoy and just make sure you keep those things in your life. If you focus on doing that, you'll suddenly find you've taken a good path without the fearful process of looking at the thousands of choices you could make and trying to guess which is the best one.
- How many degrees of separation between you and Kevin Bacon?
- I know a chap called Kevin and I like bacon, so two.
- Would you rather accept an Oscar or wield a light saber?
- With a light sabre I could take an Oscar.
