The Maydays are awarding a scholarship to the Maydays Improv Intensive  (22nd – 26th March) in memory of our friend, teacher and mentor Jason Chin. Jason was a huge influence on the development and spirit of the Maydays. At a practical level our show, “Tonight’s Top Story”, was blatantly stolen from the format of “Whirled...

Improvisation Classes: Using good techniques to avoid bad reviews. Improvisation classes are popping up everywhere nowadays and the participants are from extraordinarily diverse sectors of society.  Many improv schools have their own flavour of improvisation techniques and styles so choosing which class to attend can be tricky.  One of the most important factors is having...

by Rhiannon Vivian ‘Eliminate self motivation and take care of each other,’ – Jorin Garguilo, the ‘Space Hippie’ After years of invaluable training and trying out different methods, schools of playing, tools, tricks and tips (all of which chug away in your subconscious) in recent times I’ve ended up actively focusing on just one thing...

How To Improve Communication Skills with Three Quick Exercises   Improvisers actively practise their communication skills as a warm-up for rehearsing and performing comedy and theatre shows. Many of these exercises improve communication as well as being quick, fun and easy for anyone to play and practise in their work life.  Listen Fully    Listening is the...

by Will Naameh I was fortunate enough to be offered a partial Jason Chin scholarship to the Maydays spring improv intensive in Osho Leela this year. I perform, teach and coach improv in Edinburgh, so went down to Dorset to learn and bring back as much improv wisdom as possible to the community here in Scotland....

Can Improv address some of the problems of mainstream education? by John Cremer and Joe Samuel Our mainstream education system is based on an industrial model of mass-produced learning. We compel lively and inquisitive young people to sit in rows and be “educated” according to an outdated and rigid curriculum. One of the problems of...

Workplace happiness is often defined around how the use of positive psychology has a beneficial effect on productivity. We don’t propose to challenge that assertion, because in business terms, workplace happiness has been shown time and again to lead to better business outcomes. What we do want to challenge, however, is the idea that workplace happiness...

Business Improv Business improv training is now a well established, trusted and proven way to bring fast, effective and lasting benefit to your business.  We have been delivering business improv training for companies across a wide range of sectors for over 10 years and are still surprised and delighted by the range of benefits that...

Improv games and activities are ideal for conferences and training courses. The Maydays are often called on to bring improvisation to these kind of events. Most typically we’re asked to deliver ‘improv for large groups’. As the name suggests, this is a specific discipline within improv which calls for a certain kinds improv games which...

Definition of Spontaneous Improvisation Spontaneous: performed or occurring as a result of a sudden impulse or inclination and without premeditation or external stimulus. Improvisation: something that is improvised, in particular a piece of music, drama, etc. created spontaneously or without preparation. I am often asked “What is the definition of spontaneous improvisation?” and it always...

A different kind of happy Can improv training increase workplace happiness? Regardless of the environment I have seen improvisation used, whether it be at an improv show, public course or in house training, there is one thing that jumps out immediately; people seem to be enjoying themselves.  I don’t mean the nervous giggle or the...

Using Improvisation In The Workplace Improvisation is defined as the act of creating something spontaneously or without preparation. But how much can you actually improvise or apply the techniques of improv in the workplace? And why would you? Surely work is the one place that you need to prepare… If you read this article you’ll...

Corporate Events – How improvisation fixes everything The Maydays are frequently asked to intervene as part of structured corporate events, such as annual conferences, big international or multidisciplinary training events, product launches and anniversary events. The reason The Maydays are in demand for such corporate events is that improvisation ticks many boxes at once –...

Improvisation is a thing in its own right. Here’s how to book it for your event. This is a short article to confirm that improvisation, or to give it its snappier name, ‘improv’, is indeed a thing. That might sound obvious, particularly to improvisers, but there are possibly a couple of misapprehensions that need clearing...

Improv in the workplace is now a well established and highly valued method of training.  At The Maydays, we offer improv training courses which take the principles of improv comedy and apply these to other realms, most often to the benefit of business and organisations. Improv training, in this sense, is different from the improv...

Improvisation is a whole lot of fun, as you’ll know if you’ve attended one of our shows. When we’re not treading the boards somewhere in the world, we’re often training others how to do it. One of our missions in life is to bring some serious happiness to people’s lives. And this remit doesn’t stop...

by Jon M Thomas 2015 has been a transformative year for my improv, full of unexpected events and opportunities, as changing circumstances have brought me closer to my peers in Cambridge and caused me to consider, in a way I perhaps should have been already, exactly what course my journey should be taking. What was...

The Yes, and… exercise used in improvisation training for business executives can occasionally raise consternation if taken too literally. We take a look at the difference between ‘Yes, and…’ in improvisation training, and ‘Yes, and…’ in business, to see what is transferable, and what is not. by Richard Bradford   The mechanism of saying “Yes,...

by Robin Earlier this year I got fed up of improv. I’d had few months off work, and gone to just about every class I had time for (which was a lot). I meant to learn so much! It was going to be amazing! And I did, and it was – but something went off...

Support – a blog by Lloydie James Lloyd When you are really, REALLY supported you can do almost anything. There are studies that show children that have a mentor cheering them on do better at school.  There are programmes that get incredible results in criminal rehabilitation where the offender is assigned someone who gives them unconditional...