“We had done a show,” says Rohit Nair in a telephonic interview, “the audience loved it. But the next day we saw comments that said, “we enjoyed the stand-up comedy show.” Rohit cannot stress this fact enough: Improv is not stand-up comedy.
In fact, the term improv is used loosely in theatre too. Even though the performance may seem spontaneous -- and it is to a certain extent considering you have to think on your feet -- there are rules. Rohit speaks about some of them. “When one person is on stage, the other player who comes on stage should not block the first person’s idea. They have to say ‘yes’ to the idea and add to it. As you go on, you discover the conflict.”
Rohit adds that the most important thing in improv is to be aware of your surroundings. “There are times when you have to switch roles to be subjugated, raise your status, and balance your act. In improv, we call ideas, ‘an offer’. We also follow the follower. But there is no leader or follower. Everyone is the leader and everyone is a follower.” He adds that it is important in improv to stick to the basic principles. “You must respect your fellow improviser and not get carried away by your performance.”
Rohit cites a TED talk about improv that shows how challenging it is and how quick you have to be with coming up with ideas. “In the talk the speaker said there was an earthquake in the middle of the performance where two people were playing lovers. The performer took the whole scenario and said the very presence of you shakes the earth beneath me.”
Rohit is obviously ecstatic about being invited to the Chicago Improv Festival. A systems architect by profession, he was earlier in Mumbai and later moved to Bengaluru after marriage. He recalls his journey to finding his passion for improv, “I was interested in storytelling and was part of Tall Tales Storytelling in Mumbai. I took a workshop with Adam Dow, a pioneer of improv in India.”
Rohit and his friend Nasir were part of Improv comedy Mumbai (ICM). Nasir moved to Bengaluru and started Improv Comedy Bangalore (ICB). “I then joined ICB. Both Nasir and I were trained in improv. And we further got more knowledge on it. We began submitting our videos to festivals. Jonathan Pitts, director of the Chicago Improv Festival, selected us.”
The Chicago Improv Festival, says Rohit, is prestigious because “Chicago is the home of improv.” As for his own experiences, Rohit has several that he cherishes. He recounts a recent one. “I did a show at Alliance Francaise where I played a lover. The girl who joined me on stage became my heart and came up to my torso. I said: “My love for you is unfathomable and my heart has moved to my oesophagus.”
