Suzette Hibble is doing it to discover who she is beyond a wife and mother. Anna Schmitt is in it to uncover her true self — the one she was before societal roles such as educator defined her. Clint Reinhard loves saying “yes” to new things. Elizabeth Havice does it for fun with friends and heard it could help her attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, too. Luke Warren wants to tap into the fun he had trying acting when he was younger.
They’re all taking a Central Oregon Community College (COCC) continuing education class in improvisational theater, or improv, in which actors have no script but simply make it up as they go along, often based on suggestions from the audience. Although their reasons for joining vary, each participant is drawn to the diverse benefits improv offers. Locally, people are seeking out improv not only as entertainment but for a range of other benefits, from boosting career skills and interpersonal relationships to helping with serious illnesses such as cancer and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Rules of Improv
Renny Temple, a longtime L.A. actor in television, commercials and improv theater, has been teaching “Improv for Life” at COCC since he moved here in 2018. “I decided to connect the life factor to improv,” he said. “You have hundreds of scenes every day that you call your life,” he described. “You talk to cashiers, you talk to friends, you talk to your boss, you talk to your spouse, your kids, and you don’t have a cue card and you don’t have a teleprompter, and you can use the same rules of improv in your life.”
He named some of the rules of improv: “Take care of the other person—don’t try to be better than anybody, try to make everybody better because of you. Collaborate, don’t be competitive.” People start understanding the concept of how you can take these rules and apply them to their lives, he said. “Pretty soon it starts becoming part of your life, and magic starts to happen when you start cooperating rather than arguing. You start creating things that are better than one person thinking by themselves.”
Temple isn’t alone in recognizing the power of improv in everyday life. At the Bend Institute of Comedy, professional actor-writer-director John Breen emphasized the joy and growth that comes from play. Improv boosts confidence and communication, and the physiological benefits of laughing are scientifically proven, he said. “All of your relationships will improve when you can listen better,” he said. “And, we’re laughing throughout the whole class—we’re having fun.That’s a major part of it. If you stick with it—guaranteed many things will improve in your life.”
Remembering to Play
Simply getting to play is vital, too. “If you forget how to play, life is hard,” Breen said.
For Carol Sternkopf, one of the eight members of the improv performance group The Roundabouts, the aspect of play carried her through treatment for bladder cancer this year.
“It’s pure play. It’s absolute play, and it’s not something a lot of adults get to do,” said Sternkopf, a photographer who learned the craft of improv from Temple and took classes from Breen, too. “[When doing improv] I did not even give cancer a second thought. I was like, I’m here to play.”
Improv is taking other forms locally, too. One example is the monthly show “So You Think You Got Jokes,” at Silver Moon Brewing and elsewhere. There, standup comedians do improv jokes based on audience suggestions collected at the beginning of the show.
More improv opportunities are on the horizon as well. Ryan Traughber founded entertainment production company Bend Comedy in 2015, halted it during the pandemic, and will restart Bend Improv Group shows and workshops this year, he said. Learn more at bendcomedy.com.
Meanwhile, on any given weeknight, a local improv class is likely underway, offering lessons for life as well as for laughter. Learn more at bendinstituteofcomedy.com.
