(Katie, Jeff and Rachel Pan - 2011)

Giving Gifts - tis better to give more

Give Gifts - tis better to give and give some more

This past week in class, our teacher, Ralph Thomas, led us in an 'endowment' exercise.

Two players had to create a scene during which each improviser gave the other improviser 5 endowments.

Endowments are the names, qualities, and other information mentioned by an improviser that helps establish the other improviser's character.  

These are the gifts we give in improv.

In our class, the audience kept track of the number of endowments given and clapped when the quota was met. When each improviser had given each other 5 endowments, the scene ended.

It was a good challenge to focus on how much of a scene can arise from helping your scene partner out by giving them information about their characters and your relationship.

An entire world emerges from the relationship you create onstage.

Figuratively- and less figuratively- the best thing to do in improv is give each other gifts.

One of my favorite improv warmups is a gift-giving game. Improvisers sit in a circle, and someone begins by giving an imaginary gift to the player beside them.

The giver does not say what the gift is, but may illustrate some of its qualities by how they handle it.

The receiving player accepts the gift. It is exactly what they've always wanted!

They name the gift is and thank the giver.

It could go something like this:

B: Hey C, I got you something for your birthday!

B cups his hands and slowly tips something into C's hands. Then B wipes his hands on his jeans.

C: Oooh, B! Mercury! Thank you! I've been needing to refill my thermometers!

C accepts the gift, lets it go, turns and hands a completely new gift to the next player.

The game continues around the circle until everyone has given and accepted a gift.

The space object is not only the only gift. All the information the giver offers, how they interact with the object, their behavior, is also a gift to the that gives the receiving improviser's imagination something to work with.

It's an exercise in spontaneity and agreement. It's not about thinking of a clever or interesting gift. It's not about making sense. (C could've said the gift was "Water!" "Slime!" "Jelly beans!" Mercury just popped into my mind first.) 

It's about accepting what the other improviser gives you, enjoying it and spontaneously adding information.

You'll only receive as much as you give in improv. Creating a scene is about leaping off a cliff with your fellow improvisers and imagining each other's parachutes. 

The most satisfying part of improv is creating a completely new and unexpected situations together. It's always possible, even between strangers, and it's better tried than talked about.

Give it a try at one of Pan Theater's classes.
Lydia Hadfield
Long form training troupe performer
Pan Theater, Fall 2011