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Improv as an actor makes you present in the moment. You listen, you're attentive. You're not acting so much as reacting, which is what you're doing in life all the time. -- Nathan Fillion
You know how sports teach kids teamwork and how to be strong and brave and confident? Improv was my sport. I learned how to not waffle and how to hold a conversation, how to take risks and actually be excited to fail. -- Emma Stone
Improv is... gods creating worlds. -- Scott Adsit
Improv is mostly what I've studied. -- Ellie Kemper
River City Improv set the stage for my career. -- Marc Evan Jackson
The DC Improv food is amazingly edible for a comedy club. -- Jim Gaffigan
I take improv classes. Improv is something I can use in any aspect of life. -- Vinny Guadagnino
Improv. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but when it does, it's like open-field running. -- Robin Williams
It's like low-budget filmmaking - a focus on dialogue and relationships over plot. Quirky. Improv. -- James Franco
I'm terrified of improv. Improv in a show or in front of an audience sounds terrifying. -- Elizabeth Olsen
Improv requires one thing I lack that I think most mothers need - the basic instinct to put someone else first. -- Jen Kirkman
I'm a very anxious person, and it's hard for me to be in the moment. Improv demands that you be in the moment. -- Zach Woods
When I was coming up the DC Improv was considered the best Improv out there. It's always been high quality stuff coming out of there. -- Bill Burr
Improv seemed to replace stand-up, which was very big before that. Stand-up comedy was real hot in the late '80s and through the '90s. -- Joe Flaherty
Improv kind of goes hand in hand with what I do. I was on 'Reno 911!' for six years, and that was a completely improvised show. -- Nick Swardson
Improv Everywhere tramples the lines drawn between spectacle and spectator, theatre and real life, public and private, performance and protest, and reclaims the streets for ordinary people. -- Lyn Gardner
Improv training allows you to get out of your head a little bit and take more risks, which is something I would like to continue to improve upon. -- Allison Tolman
Improv is so different, it's such a collaborative thing, you're working with other people, nothing is planned and it's kind of this community mentality, whereas stand-up, you're alone and it was really hard. -- Aubrey Plaza
Improv is what helped me overcome the anxiety that I was feeling sometimes. It's the thing that pushes me to be present, and to keep moving through all of the what-ifs that go through my mind. -- Emma Stone
Improv plays such a huge role in finding great lines - you'll be surprised at what comes out of your mind inadvertently. A lot of times it's better than a script you've worked out ahead of time. -- Nick Swardson
I miss improv. I hate it in a way - watching it, doing it - but only because it's so challenging and nerve wracking. Improv is the only belief system I've ever experienced that directly works on how to be. Just how to be. -- Ilana Glazer
I like doing live things and plays. You can perfect the laugh or extend the laugh, you can get them on a roll. Versus improv, which I hate. Put it all together. They're more vignettes. Improv makes me slightly anxious because I feel for them. -- Eric Idle
When I finished my residency in New Orleans, I went to L.A. where I would work as a doctor during the day, and then at night I would actually go to The Improv and do standup, all the while kind of cultivating my comedy resume. -- Ken Jeong
Improv is not something I had a lot of experience with, because for a long time, my only experience in front of a camera was all television, which is pretty rigid script-wise, except for the occasional scene where you toss in an ad-lib just to elongate something. -- Gary Cole
Improv relies just as much on listening as it does you delivering dialogue. That's the hard for some people. Some people just concentrate on what they're going to say, and they're not listening. You have to listen in order to see where the other person is going to. -- J. B. Smoove
Steve Buscemi is hilarious. He's really, really good with improv. -- Steve Carell
With improv, it's a combination of listening and not trying to be funny. -- Kristen Wiig
There's sketch, improv, writing, acting, music, and badminton. Those are the seven forms of comedy. -- T. J. Miller
The improv, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but when it does, it's like open-field running. -- Robin Williams
I did sketch comedy, but I never did improv. So I've just tried to learn as I go. -- John Oliver
I'm an actor first and foremost, who happens to do improv. I've also done sitcoms, I've done stage. -- Wayne Brady
I always loved acting and improv and sketch comedy and theater, which I did at a local youth theater. -- Emma Stone
I started doing improv when I was 8 years old, so it's always been in my life. I would feel naked without it. -- Jillian Bell
I didn't do improv in college, I never performed, I didn't do theater either. I was in student government, I was a history major. -- Demetri Martin
I think for anyone - male or female - in improv, the biggest thing to get over is the fear. I think every improviser has that. -- Rachel Dratch
I joined an improv group in college, which was a lot of fun. After I graduated, I moved to Chicago to try to get into the Second City. -- Steve Carell
In the happy scenes there were really fun times. Sean would say really funny stuff because he likes to improv. I would want to laugh, but you are not allowed to do that during the take. -- Dakota Fanning
I love improv. 'Crazy, Stupid, Love,' the script was really great, but the directors were open to letting you try different things. And that felt like a muscle I hadn't exercised in a really long time. -- Emma Stone
Almost every college playwright or sketch or improv comedian was sort of aware of Christopher Durang - even kids in high school. His short plays were so accessible to younger people and I think that was inspirational to me. -- Mindy Kaling
And I've always loved commercials. I like working out how to organically weave a brand's message into the writing process. It's like an improv show, where comics ask the audience to throw out a word and a skit is built around it. -- Jason Bateman
I've been working straight since 2003, so I might just want to take an improv or theater class. That excites me. I can't wait to do different characters - not necessarily the leading chick who gets the guy, but the weird, freaky cousin. -- Fergie
I think there's something really freeing about improv, that it's a collective, creative, in-the-moment piece. That's really exciting and really frustrating, because it's there and gone. There's an amazing interaction with the audience that happens because they are very much another scene partner. -- Tatiana Maslany
I'm convinced to do improv. All you have to do is listen to what people are saying to you, and then just add more information to what they've just said. That's all there is to improv, but it's the hardest thing to do. -- Ryan Stiles
Sometimes with films you have a freedom to be able to, Okay, we got that take so let's try another one where suddenly I'll say this, or you'll get to improv. You can't do that with stage. We have to make it new every time, and also within the structured settings. -- Sebastian Stan
I don't like improv at all. It terrifies me. I like to know exactly what I'm going to say. Being surprised does make me a better actor. Anytime I'm afraid of something that makes me rise to the occasion, it scares me, but it's what makes great actors - being in the moment. -- Jesse Tyler Ferguson
I was always a big fan of Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner's '2000-Year-Old Man' sketch. I think it's one of the biggest influences on the podcast, definitely. You'd never say Carl Reiner was the funniest dude on there, because he's just teeing it up, but he knows what questions to ask to lead to great improv. -- Scott Aukerman
What I don't like is when I see stuff that I know has had a lot of improv done or is playing around where there's no purpose to the scene other than to just be funny. What you don't want is funny scene, funny scene, funny scene, and now here's the epiphany scene and then the movie's over. -- Paul Feig
We are going to do 'Hot Tub' until we die. Every Monday. Then we'll come back and do it as zombies. 'Hot Tub' is very important. What we do is based on our live skills. It's stand-up and sketch and improv; everything we do in 'Hot Tub' is important to our jobs. And every Monday I'm excited to do it. -- Kurt Braunohler
My best friend growing up really put the bug in my ear about acting. We created this one hour-and-a-half improv play when we were 10 or 11 and performed it at the library. We just played off each other so well and had the best time doing it and the funniest part was, we wound up having packed houses, other people loved it too. -- Katherine Moennig
You can't be controlling in improv. -- Matt Walsh
I'm not an improv guy. -- Curtis Armstrong
Pronouns are the enemy of improv. -- Craig Cackowski
You cant be controlling in improv. -- Matt Walsh
I started doing improv my sophomore year. -- Rachel Dratch
My background is in improv and writing. -- Paul Scheer
I've always loved improv. It's my thing. -- Oscar Nunez
Theatre sports is the best improv training period -- Wayne Brady
Theatre sports is the best improv training period. -- Wayne Brady
When it comes to improv, Specifics beget specifics. -- Craig Cackowski
I haven't done improv since I was in middle school. -- Gillian Jacobs
What happens in improv is you create your own storyline. -- J. B. Smoove
Taking improv has helped every other aspect of my field. -- Ben Schwartz
I started doing improv in college, and I really liked it. -- Rachel Dratch
I've done lots of improv things but not a whole movie. -- Martin Short
Life is unfair and improv is a great metaphor of that. -- Mike Birbiglia
Some of the best stuff in all my movies has been improv. -- Catherine Hardwicke
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The current Babe Ruth of improv? Sacha Baron Cohen. He's pretty amazing. -- Seth Rogen
I'm not much of an improv guy. That's a talent I don't have. -- Henry Rollins
I worked with Adam Pally and he's hilarious and the king of improv! -- Jacob Hopkins
For the last 30-plus years, I have been doing one long, uninterrupted improv. -- Henry Rollins
There's always way less improv than people think. The truth is something like 15 percent. -- Adam McKay
I always feel in improv that nothing is ever as good once it's repeated. -- Paul Feig
You gotta improvise in life. You gotta improv if the police pull you over. -- J. B. Smoove
The improv stuff, that's always surprising so a lot of times that's really funny. -- Ed Helms
My natural inclination to be improv rather than an educated character serves me well. -- Gary Vaynerchuk
I love physical comedy. I love Oscar Wilde, I love Shakespeare comedies, I love improv. -- Elizabeth Banks
When I started stand-up, the first thing I did was to take an improv class. -- J. B. Smoove
The problem with improv is that you're letting an idiot tell you what to do. -- Dino Stamatopoulos
Is this a generation of orphans who are going to the improv to do stand-up? -- Mindy Kaling
You have to be able to fail with the improv. You have to not care. -- Adam McKay
Stand-up is the scariest thing - whether it's TV, movies, improv - stand-up is the worst. -- Melissa Peterman
I know how to have a conversation, but I've never done improv. I've never taken improv classes. -- Brie Larson
I love improv. I do it with my co-star John Michael Higgins in both 'Pitch Perfect' films. -- Elizabeth Banks
Honestly, my biggest education regarding improv comedy actually came on the job working for 'My Boys.' -- Reid Scott
You need to know what doesn't work to know what works. It's especially true in improv and stand-up. -- Mike Birbiglia
I never did improv professionally, but that was certainly in my training as an actor. I like it. -- Steve Buscemi
I did improv at Yale, with the Exit Players. It was great, but they played a little rough. -- Allison Silverman
If you work in Chicago in the improv scene, anyone is happy for you if you get a job. -- Steven Yeun
I love doing improv. I love comedy. I have always felt this way, even when I was really young. -- Dakota Johnson
I was able to bring my process of doing improv with actors into the animation world, which was fun. -- Nicholas Stoller
From there, I tried out for a community theatre play, joined an improv group... it all started opening up. -- Kevin James
You don't want to jump in on your first day on a show and start improv-ing and changing the show. -- Geoff Stults
The thing that always fascinated me about improv is that it's basically a happy accident that you think you're initiating. -- Tina Fey
When improv is bad, it's excruciating to watch, and to be involved with it is a unique type of torture. -- Zach Woods
I feel confident writing on my feet with improv, but it's different when you're sitting down and writing it out. -- Amy Sedaris
I am a stage actor. I do mostly improv comedy. The only national television stuff is 'Archer' and' Frisky Dingo.' -- Amber Nash
I love comedy and did a lot of comedy in college. I was in an improv comedy group with my friends. -- Kevin Rahm
I never went to acting school, so improv was my training. Just being quick on your feet helps in everyday life. -- Ben Schwartz
I used to teach improv courses in Amsterdam where we would do team-building exercises, and they can go south very quickly. -- Ike Barinholtz
Just watching people who come from a stand-up background is different from watching people who come from an improv or sketch background. -- Luka Jones
I think it's a lot richer than what we call fleshy improv, I think it's very funny, puppet improv and fleshy improv. -- Brian Henson
Shooting an improv-based film is incredibly liberating, exhilarating, and fun, but editing that kind of movie can be difficult for obvious continuity reasons. -- Hannah Fidell
The trouble with improv is that it is often about being funny in the moment without any real consideration for the bigger picture. -- Simon Pegg
Life is improvisation. All of those [improv] classes were like church to me. The training had seeped into me and changed who I am. -- Tina Fey
I'm not from that world where you get on your feet and somebody gives you a suggestion and you improv your way through things. -- Kevin Dunn
I come from the world of improv; I love any show or any vehicle that gives me an opportunity to be in the moment. -- Brad Garrett
Even though I do a more traditional type of being funny on television, I still know a lot of comedians and stand-ups and improv actors. -- Busy Philipps
Many of the people I've worked with over the years came from a sketch-comedy background or an improv background, and I've learned a lot from them. -- Megan Mullally
I think for anyone - male or female - in improv, the biggest thing to get over is the fear. I think every improviser has that. -- Rachel Dratch
Very rarely do I talk off the top of my head on stage. I'm not an improv guy. I'm a writer-guy who presents what he's written. -- Steven Wright
But, yes, I learned everything working in theater. I learned the importance of community - I was constantly going to play readings, stand-up nights, improv. nights. -- Elizabeth Meriwether
I'm a comedy geek so anything comedy related, whether that's standup shows, improv shows, I'm all over that. That's my favorite way to be entertained always. -- Rashida Jones
It's just a whole different vibe with improv. As an actor I just kind of exercise within my environment and adjust depending on where I'm at. -- Katy Mixon
Can we all admit that 'Parks and Recreation' is horrible? Is this something we would all know, but don't say? Maybe everything should not be improv'd. -- Andy Kindler
When you try to go back and watch improv on tape, it almost never feels as good as it did when a crowd was laughing at it. -- Chris Gethard
I do an improv show on Sunday where we have a class, and then afterwards we go and do a live performance in front of an audience. -- Nolan Gould
My brothers and I always did improv stuff in our basement with our friends; we're super nerds, and that was our way of spending a Friday night. -- Tatiana Maslany
The biggest thing that comes out of improv that gets built on is just character traits. You know, for me the singing was born out of improv. -- Ed Helms
Executives and studios really like to have control over their product. They panic or they're not secure enough to trust in the powers of really amazing improv people. -- Harland Williams

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