ALICE LEVINE:'I'm Alice Levine, and I'm most definitely not an actress. But I've been asked to perform for one night only in Warhorse, on the West End. I have no idea what I'm doing.'
ALICE LEVINE:Oh lord!
ALICE LEVINE:'So I have to learn everything I can before I take to the stage.'
ALICE LEVINE:Go Warhorse!
ALICE LEVINE:'Today, it's all about improvisation.'
ALICE LEVINE:I'm here in the heart of London at once of the most iconic venues on the comedy circuit. So many famous names have trodden these boards for their debut, every aspiring comedian wants to perform here. We're at The Comedy Store. And let's find out who my guide is for today.
ISY SUTTIE:I'm Debbie, but everyone calls me Dobby.
DAVID MITCHELL:Are you new? I don't think I've seen you here before, have I?
ISY SUTTIE:I'm the IT misfit, the man with no name.
ALICE LEVINE:It's only Isy Suttie, comedian extraordinaire and star of Peep Show. Hello, Alice.
ISY SUTTIE:Hello, Isy.
ALICE LEVINE:Thank you for being my guide today and my teacher. I hope to learnan awful lot from you.
ISY SUTTIE:I'm gonna learn from you as well, 'cause that's the nature of improv.
ALICE LEVINE:Oh god, OK. Now I know that improvisation is a very, very important skill for actors, but I literally have no idea.
ISY SUTTIE:Well, you actually improvise a lot more than you think you do. Like, if you go into a shop, and you talk, which I imagine you do.
ALICE LEVINE:Often.
ISY SUTTIE:You are actually improvising and so are they. So it's just transferring that. The most important thing with improv is to be open to saying yes, and it's all about a team effort.
ISY SUTTIE:So with improvisation it's never about the individual looking good. If one bit of the machinery fails and blocks, we call it blocking when you say 'no'.
ALICE LEVINE:OK.
ISY SUTTIE:If one bit fails the whole thing kind of falls apart, because then the other person just looks like a mad person pretending to be on the moon, whereas if it's two people pretending to be on the moon the audience goes, "Oh yeah. They're on the moon."
ALICE LEVINE:OK, so say yes, be a team player. Any other kind of good skills to bear in mind when we start improv-ing?
ISY SUTTIE:I think just listen, and that's a skill in improv as well. So if you're listening to the other people…
ISY SUTTIE:you might miss, for example, the fact that they said, "We're not on the moon anymore, we're in Slough". And then you're continuing to go like that, and the audience is like, mmm.
ALICE LEVINE:So obviously improvising is really great for comedy, because all of those unusual and unexpected things happen, but it's great for drama too, right?
ISY SUTTIE:Yeah, absolutely. I mean, improvisation is just a great skill to have, which everyone does have, they've just got to let go. It's not something that you can really learn. And the reason it's good for everything is because you feel like you know your character so much more if you've done a bit of improvisation. So sometimes, although I get a script and I'm not allowed to change it, at home before I film it, or before the play,
ISY SUTTIE:I'll just sort of hot seat myself and answer questions in character about my day or where I live or my childhood and stuff, and hope that no-one's in and can hear me.
ALICE LEVINE:All of that's kind of, even if it doesn't end up in the final performance, it's all influenced it, and it's got you there.
ISY SUTTIE:Absolutely. And in a sense it does end up in the final performance because it has shaped what ends up being the end product.
3700:03:04:13 00:03:13:21ALICE LEVINE:I suppose the really nice thing about improv is there's no right or wrong, because you're writing it as you're saying it. But it's also quite a good skill to have in your back pocket for something going wrong, I imagine.
ISY SUTTIE:Definitely.
ALICE LEVINE:Because you're thinking on your feet.
ISY SUTTIE:Yeah, especially on stage where you can't retake it and you can't pause it and the audience is there. I think the best way to test all of this out is to actually give it a go.
ALICE LEVINE:I feared you say that.
ISY SUTTIE:Yeah.
ALICE LEVINE:OK.
ISY SUTTIE:So I've invited a few friends along.
ALICE LEVINE:Oh my. Right.
ISY SUTTIE:They're really nice.
ALICE LEVINE:OK. Do they laugh at anything?
ISY SUTTIE:They laugh at absolutely everything.
ALICE LEVINE:OK.
ISY SUTTIE:Yeah. Do you feel ready to do some improv?
ALICE LEVINE:No. Shall we have an extra hour?
ISY SUTTIE:No. We say yes!
ALICE LEVINE:Yes, let's!
ALICE LEVINE:'Agrh! The audience are here. Time to put Isy's tips to the test.'
ISY SUTTIE:So Alice is going to be in Warhorse, the play.
ALICE LEVINE:I'm only doing one night.
ISY SUTTIE:And she's gonna be playing a nurse. Right, OK, let's pretend to be penguins!
ALICE LEVINE:Yes, let's.
ISY SUTTIE:And then you can say something now.
ALICE LEVINE:I think I'm gonna ace this game. OK.
ALICE LEVINE:Let's try and find due north.
ISY SUTTIE:Oh that's a good one. I think it's there.
ISY SUTTIE:We could ask for a style of song.
ALICE LEVINE:OK.
ISY SUTTIE:To put another constraint on it.
ALICE LEVINE:OK, yeah. Let's get a style of song. Style of song.
AUDIENCE MEMBER:Opera.
ISY SUTTIE:Opera, yeah. OK. # I can't walk, I can't walk, I can't walk #
ISY SUTTIE:
I can't walk because there's something in my foot and I dare not look at it
ALICE LEVINE:Thank you so much for talking me through the key skills.
ISY SUTTIE:So just to recap, the main things to remember with improv, really, are not to block. And the other thing I'd say is that it's really worth spending a little bit of time at home just thinking about her life and what she's been doing before each scene, and what she might be off to do afterwards.
ALICE LEVINE:'So improvisation is a great skill to have to cover your mistakes, thank goodness.
ALICE LEVINE:'It's a good thing to develop your character. Don't block, always say yes. And it's great as a warm up.'
ALICE LEVINE:Thanks so much, Isy.
ISY SUTTIE:No worries, good luck.
ALICE LEVINE:See you on this stage again soon.
ISY SUTTIE:Yeah.
ALICE LEVINE:Possibly not, but OK. Thank you so much.
Alice Levine continues her journey to become an actress by visiting London's Comedy Store to learn improvisation techniques that are at the heart of any actor's training.
Actor / comedian, Isy Suttie (Dobby from Peep Show) gives Alice a lesson in improvisation techniques - and then puts Alice to the test with a live audience!
Will Alice be able to pull it off?
Teacher Notes
Students could try to improvise an off text scene for a character that they are playing.
They should consider what this scene tells them about their character and how this additional information will influence their performance.
Students could create a list of settings in which to improvise a scene in order to support the development of their character.
They could take part in hot seating exercises, asking their peers to feedback about their performance.
Filming the hot-seating exercise could be a beneficial way of evaluating their own performance and the performance of others.
Curriculum Notes
This clip will be useful for teaching Drama, particularly performance skills at Key Stage 4 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and National 4/5 in Scotland. It could also be useful for people of any age preparing for an acting role.
More from Alice's Journey to Wonderland:
Developing a character (pt 1/8) video
Alice visits the set of soap opera Hollyoaks to find out how the actors there create their characters. She learns to think about her character's backstory and the influences that affect her.
Using your voice (pt 2/8) video
Alice takes a voice lesson from Ben Aldridge, star of BBC One's Our Girl to learn more about using her voice in performance.
Set and costume (pt 3/8) video
Alice visits the set of hit West End musical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, to find out how the elaborate set was designed, and how set and costume help tell the story.
Working with multimedia (pt 5/8) video
Alice visits the set of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time to find out how working with multimedia can help her on her journey to become a West End actress.
Working with a Director (pt 6/8) video
Alice visits the set of CBBC drama Wolfblood and talks to actor Jacqueline Boatswain who plays Victoria Sweeney about how to get the most out of working with a director.
Preparing for a role (pt 7/8) video
It's almost time for Alice Levine to make her West End debut in War Horse. She gets some last minute tips from lead actor James Backway and gets on her costume and makeup.
The big performance (pt 8/8) video
Alice is finally ready to rehearse for her West End debut in War Horse. She works through her lines and character with the director and other actors, before performing.
