Patti Stiles trained Deborah Frances-White and Tom Salinsky the co-founders of The Spontaneity Shop when she lived in London in 1996. The training she gave them encouraged them to go and train further with Keith Johnstone at The Loose Moose in Canada. After she left Deborah and Tom set up the company based on the principles of improvisation they'd learned from Patti and Keith.

Patti, what's your background as an improviser and teacher?

I trained at the Loose Moose Theatre with Keith Johnstone at the Loose Moose Theatre Company, birthplace of Theatresports, under the playful, eagle eye of its inventor, Keith Johnstone. My biog reads something like this: She is an actor, improviser, director, instructor and playwright and her work in Canada, the USA, England, Holland, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Norway, New Zealand, Thailand and Australia has brought her international renown as one of the finest exponents of Johnstonian improvisation in the world. A core member of the improvisational company, Die Nasty, Patti holds the unofficial record for the first woman to improvise 53 hours in a row. She has been dubbed "Improv Doyenne" and "Queen of Improvisation" by the press. Patti has been Artistic Director of two Theatresports companies in Canada and is currently the Artistic Director of Impro Melbourne in Australia.

What are your memories of working with Deb and Tom in London?

I remember Deb following me home on the tube. At first I thought she was just going the same way and we were having a chat. Then she admitted to me she was following me to talk to me more about impro. You see I just taught a workshop she was in and I guess she was inspired by the work. I don't think I had the same initial affect on Tom as I did Deb. My first memories of Tom were of him just sitting back and watching me carefully and skeptically.

When I first met them they were both frustrated by their work but had a sense of more or something else but didn't know how to get there. They seemed to me to have the right heart but the wrong tools and no real guidance that spoke to them where they were. I'm delighted to see how they have grown as improvisers and as teachers and very proud of what they have done.

What's your favorite memory of "The Secret Impro Group" that met in London every week and that was the beginning of Deborah working with you?

It was a very special and unique time. The trust, play and joy in the group. There was no judgment or fear just a joy of playing, leaping into the unknown and learning more about what is there after you leap. I particularly remember some solo advancing scene work. It was the improvisor lighting up while doing. Knowing at a gut level they were in the zone and it was obvious to them and us. It was a night where everyone went 'oh I get it!' all at once. I like those moments. I'm also very fond of the cheese and laugh when I think how often Deb would get lost driving.

What advice do you have for new improvisers?

Hard to answer as it really depends on the person. Impro is global and personal. There are some over-riding truths and then there are the personal applications of that. I guess I would say remember to make your partner look good, be playful and positive, keep your personal ego out of the way, jump then justify, embrace and enjoy the fear, work on being a storyteller not a gag machine, and remember improvisation is actually easy it is our fear that makes it difficult and complicated.

What do you love about improvisation?

The moment. The fear. The play. The joy. The stories. The collective sound from an audience when you get them. The dancing on the edge and having no idea where the scene is going. The look in the eyes of a fellow improvisor when you inspire them. The deep bond of trust you share with players you connect with. The fun. The release into the unknown. The abandonment into trust. Mischief, and surprise. The opportunity to create different theatre. To be in and hold the stage and audience in the absolute present moment. That I can perform with people of different languages and we get it and each other and can create without relying on words.

What are you doing now?

Currently I am the Artistic Director of Impro Melbourne and a freelance actor. I am also writing a book on improvisation.

If people are coming to Australia what should they expect if they stop by Impro Melbourne shows and workshops?

A good time.

We hear you were on Neighbours. What was it like visiting Ramsay Street?

Hilarious! I had a blast! I played Mayor Lee Thomas a rather nasty sort. Drinking champagne in a hot tub with Stefan Dennis (who plays Paul Robinson) is my idea of work! The cast and crew are fantastic, fun and very welcoming. Some of the Neighbours cast plays in Impro Melbourne's Celebrity TheatresportsT each year. Last year I played with Ben Nichols (Stingray) and we won! I've also taught improvisation to the youth of the Neighbours cast. If interested you can read an interview I did for their web site.

What are your favourite improv companies around the world and what are their websites?

Spontaneity Shop of course...plus...

• Loose Moose http://www.loosemoose.com/
• Die Nasty http://www.die-nasty.com/
• Impro Melbourne http://www.impromelbourne.com.au/
• Rapid Fire Theatre http://www.rapidfiretheatre.com/
• Unexpected Productions http://www.unexpectedproductions.org/
• Bay Area Theatresports http://www.improv.org/
• Vancouver Theatresports League http://www.vtsl.com/
• Hidden Shakespeare http://www.hiddenshakespeare.de/
• Patternoster http://www.paternoster-berlin.de/
• Improvisation & Co. http://www.improco.net/
• Stockholm Improvisation Theatre http://www.impro.a.se/
• Die Gorillas http://www.die-gorillas.de/index.php?modus=table
• 6AuftKraut http://www.6aufkraut.de/
• Tontos Nephews http://www.tontosnephews.com/

To name a few.

Early 2007 is the 10 year anniversary of the first ever Spontaneity Shop show. What advice would you give The Shop for the next 10 years?

"Boldly go where no impro company has gone before!"

How many degrees of separation are you from Kevin Bacon?

Two

And finally...would you rather accept an Oscar or wield a light saber?

The improvisor in me: I'd love to wield a light saber. The actor in me: I'd love to win an Oscar because I'd like the creative opportunity that comes before the Oscar and the doors it could open after.