Hi, I’m Rebecca Haugh (LoveThatRebecca) and I’ve worked full time as a VO actor since 2009. Improv helps me stretch and expand my performance muscles. I’ve even read in some scientific articles how improv seems to help neurons fire in the brain and nerve synapses form new patterns, which is all very important for brain function and development. I haven’t taken any brain wave tests but I’m always energized by improv because: it’s fun! 

However, I didn’t always feel this way. In fact, when I first studied voice-over, I was always being told to “be you” and “speak conversationally” and sometimes “do 3 in a row” or “a/b/c it”… at the time, I was a bit intimidated. Guess what: improvisation skills support you to do all of the above, and more.

Did you know that improv training has long been an important element in formulating most actors skill sets? Fun fact: the first known use of improv was in the fourth century B.C.! 

Jumping to the present day, nearly all stage and screen actors with formalized training have had at least some experience with improv. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are two celebrity actresses who are Hollywood examples of the value of improv in acting.  

More names? Steve Carell, Seth Meyers, Jordan Peele.

For voice-over, I can name Pat Fraley and Dee Bradley Baker to start. Not just celebrities, though- many talented VO artists have been using improv in their work consistently.

Have fun building performance skills

So the question “Is improvisation important for a VO Actor?” is easily answered with a “Yes, and…” (the improv mantra). Here’s a brief summary how:

Commercial and Narration Work

Regular improv practice will have you pull ideas of location, ambiance, and relationships of who you’re within scene after scene. You take that skill, apply it to a script, and create a 3D world from it, almost like pulling it from the air. Initially, it won’t feel that easy, like when you start anything new. Apply a little determination to get started and keep practicing. 

Every script I’ve worked on has the opportunity to imagine a visual scene in your head, so you can point to it as the narrator, or be in it as a character. The more vivid that scene is in your head, fitted well with the words on the script, the more naturally the words will come out of your mouth.

Character Work in Games or Audiobooks 

‘Character’ work is when you are given a character description and you create an imaginary persona that is born from that. You can also create your own originals. Improv gives you the freedom to play around with these imaginary personas to develop them further or create new ones. This exploration allows us to have them ready and fleshed out before we use them for auditions; that playfulness increases our versatility too. 

I have a character I created when I was in a play called “Ida”. This Ida persona keeps developing, and I have stories she can tell, she can audition for VO gigs, or she can even entertain my clients while in session. Point being,  improvisation helps to develop our current ‘characters’ while giving us the playtime to develop new ones. 

Directed Sessions

A directed session is when you are live in the booth with your client (and perhaps their team) directing you while recording their script. It’s collaboration. 

Improv helps you practice receiving a variety of directions and responding immediately, which is also collaboration. Keep in mind that performing in a live session brings on the nerves in the beginning. There’s time pressure. Improv helps because you’ve been immediately responding, continuously, with time pressure, in all of your improv sessions. More often than not, a director/client will have you perform the script several times until they hear what they want. A VO who has solid improv training brings strong collaboration experience to their sessions. Plus, throw in a funny character in the right moment to entertain them!

Overall Performance Confidence

Improv’s biggest gift is the confidence we grow, which can really be heard through the mic. Improvisation is a skill you have to develop, and it’s one of the most fun skills to learn. You’ll trust your point of view, performance choices, and creative ideas by taking risks in a safe, supportive improv training environment. Getting in tune with your creative and innovative side makes you a better performer by bringing your knowledge, experience, point of view and tastes — who you are — into your performance. You’ll ‘be you’ in a conscious way.

A lot of beginners have an idea of ‘being perfect.’ In an improv workout, you’re practicing, collaborating, and experimenting. Improv frees my mind to be creative and confident for auditions and gigs, no longer searching for ‘perfect’ but just ‘being me’ because I’ve practiced this in a supportive group. The best part about improv is that even when you’re not doing it right and “failing”, you’re still winning because you’re exploring in the creative sandbox with a group of professional friends doing the same things! 

Improv makes you a better voice actor

As I approach auditions and gigs now, I’m having more fun than ever before. It only takes maybe seven minutes to cut a few takes to send off, but in reality, each audition represents hundreds of hours that I’ve spent studying and practicing everything, including improv. And the improv experience really helps release my creativity in the moment while giving the best possible takes each time. 

If you’re already experienced with improv, then you already know what I’m talking about. 

Source

For years, we have booked voice-over jobs together. So much of that is because we possess a genuine chemistry. However, it’s also our ability to commit to our characters and have the moxie to jump off the page, to do improvisation. That’s right, stray a bit from what’s written. We’re not talking about changing the writer’s good words. We are speaking of the in-betweens, buttons, and subtle nuances that our characters would say. If we stuck to the words on the page, they would sound too robotic and stilted, and you know it’s all about being the average Joe. But the average Joe does not speak concisely. Our youngest kid repeats things three times before he actually gets to the point. He’s excited to tell the story, but he’s still formulating his thoughts and buying time in that repetition. It’s quite endearing.

One of the best marathons we ever ran was when we were cross-training with yoga. The more we ran, the more rigid our muscles became. Yoga freed us from that, forcing us to flex our muscles in an entirely different way. Improvisation does the exact same thing. Every piece of copy we get has a place where we can throw in slight nuances that make the piece jump off the page.

This “Moxie” that we mentioned comes with some slight risk-taking and you have to be proficient at it. It’s not about finding the funny. Some of the drollest things that you can add get the biggest laughs. Sometimes funny can fall flat, especially when people are trying to BE funny.

After 30 plus years in the business, we both agree that there are times we have found ourselves getting stale and falling into the same habits. It’s easy to do, especially when we are locked in a booth all day by ourselves with no one to feed off of. So, we further educate ourselves with improvisation classes because there are wise nuggets to be gained from every single person we have had the pleasure of learning from. Shaking things up and learning different techniques is wonderful practice. The training of improvisation is an amazing platform to learn how to stretch your muscles. It teaches you about listening, supporting your fellow performers, and being spontaneous. Since we started with The Second City, we have seen a steady rise in our bookings, our copy feels fresher, and we are more excited to challenge ourselves in becoming our characters. And no exaggeration when we say a good improvisation class is filled with so much love, fun, and laughter that it pours itself into your work and your life.  

To learn more about Jessica and George Grant, visit their website here!

Source

Improv is a vital way for voice-over artists to build confidence in their skills. Why? Because as modern day voice actors, we’re spending more time working alone in our home studios than ever before. With no one to bounce our performances off of, it makes sense that creating fresh, creative, dynamic performances time after time can become difficult. Losing perspective on the work we’re doing can quickly lead to insecurity. These classic rules of improv can help you build confidence in your voice-over work. 

Create the where (and who and why).

Improv is performed without costumes, props, or scenery. Improv actors need to focus on quickly establishing a vivid sense of place, building a relationship to the other actors in the scene, and defining a purpose for being there. As a voice-over artist, this practice can help you become more confident in your script analysis skills, making it easier for you to establish the “Who am I? Who am I talking to? What is my point of view?” in any script.

Learn to adapt.

Actors need to keep moving through a scene together even if the circumstances change, otherwise the entire performance will fall apart. This requires listening to scene partners, making spontaneous choices, and remaining fully present in every moment. As a voice actor, this practice will prepare you to respond to direction, react immediately, and continue varying your deliveries throughout an audition or a recording session.

Contribute something.

One of the basic tenets of improv comedy is known as “Yes, and…” The actor’s job is to accept what is presented (“Yes,”) and contribute something to the scene (“and”) no matter what crazy things actors present to one another in an improv setting. This practice will help you make any script your own, establish your unique point of view, and provide you with confidence when developing characters.

There are no mistakes, only opportunities.

In improv, there’s no safety net, no road map, and no way to control what’s about to happen. At first, it can be a terrifying thing to try. You might worry and think “What if I mess up?” There’s this special beauty in the art of improv. This magic in improv often exists where a “mistake” shows up as an opportunity to make the scene better. As a voice actor, this practice can help you to take risks, feel excited to perform, and turn perceived setbacks into happy accidents.

Improv can help you be more confident and capable behind the mic. Plus, it’s a ton of fun, too! Want to try it out? Look for an improv class or Meetup near you. In the meantime, here are some more improv-centric things to explore:

http://dontthinktwicemovie.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Upright-Citizens-Brigade-Comedy-Improvisation/dp/0989387801

http://improvencyclopedia.org/games/

About the Author

Claudine Ohayon is an Emmy Award-winning director/producer, commercial and promotional voice talent for brands like Verizon, Listerine, and MasterCard, native Brooklynite, published photographer. She was also the live announcer for the first ever televised Hollywood Film Awards on CBS.

We’re giving you two other ways to tune into our blog!

You can access the audio version of this article on the Such A Voice Soundcloud.

We’re also on YouTube. Check out the video for this post:

Source

The first of these extremes is not the subject of this blog. But to show the difference between the two extremes I will briefly mention it. It is the art of script analysis. Script analysis is a time tested and methodical way of breaking down a script, looking at all its pieces, getting into the head of the script writer, putting the pieces back together, developing a character and finally developing a style of delivery. This takes time, thought and work and it is a necessary process when working as a voice-over talent, director and producer from your personal studio.

The other extreme is Improv. Many times as a voice-over professional you will be in situations that demand the ability to “think on your feet”. I recently saw an article that called it “immediate theatre”. And improv is especially beneficial to any talent during the auditioning process.

Improv stretches the “Listening Muscle”. In our modern world, listening is a dying art. Truly listening requires something much deeper than hearing words. It is paying attention to inflections, dynamics, pacing and a world of other things important to what is being communicated.

Improv stretches the “Concentration Muscle”. As one “listens”, one must be able to focus on things you may not have typically noticed. This begins an emotional connection that is so important to the final delivery or performance.

Improv stretches the “Creative Muscle”. A few of the greatest advantages to improv are the ability to “think outside the box”, the ability to change at a moments notice when necessary and the ability to look at many choices and choose those that best apply.

Improv stretches the “Confidence Muscle”. This is where improv pays big dividends. Listening, concentrating and creating with confidence results in impressive auditions, spot-on performances and extremely satisfied clients.

You may be reading this and not really know what improv is. I have already used the term “immediate theater”. Basically, actors or participants take suggestions on settings, circumstances, characters, etc. and act out scenes accordingly. And they do this impromptu, or without planning. It’s immediate. The actor may employ drama but comedy is the more popular element of improv. Improv is non-scripted. I also found this description on the internet: “On another level, improv is a way of being. It is a method that allows for creativity beyond the normal. It allows for confidence and real emotion to become unblocked. For many improv players, improv is therapy and knowledge”. And then, “on a higher level, improv is reverting to childhood, to games, to no censors, to ancient behavior. What is it like to clearly feel the emotions that mankind shares together? It goes back to something as simple as “breathe in: breathe out”.

So, why should a voice-over professional do improv?

In an article in Backstage Magazine, Rebecca Michaels Haugh explained that, “For VO performance improv helps an actor approach a scene/script with variety, creating more vivid circumstances and more variety in possible circumstances. For VO sessions with producers and clients, it’s practice receiving a variety of direction and need to act immediately. For games and character VO work, even audiobooks, improvisation supports expansion of current character/accents and development of new ones.”

There is simply no excuse to not do improv. Improv is everywhere. Almost every city in America has some kind of improv group or class. But if your town doesn’t, start one. There is plenty of information online that you can use.

Remember what I said earlier; listening, concentrating and creating with confidence results in impressive auditions, spot-on performances and extremely satisfied clients. And this is what improv will do for you.

Have fun!!!

Find this useful?  Dig even deeper into topics like this in our VIP Membership program.

Bill Brooks is a 40+ year voice over veteran and provides voice over services to clients all over the world. He appears regularly in theatrical stage productions in the Dalls/Fort Worth area and is serving his second year as President of the Executive Board at Artisan Center Theater in Hurst, TX.

Source