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by Joe Samuel One of the joys of improvisation as a musician is the freedom from the ominous accuracy required when playing written music.  So much store is set by striving for perfection when playing pieces that are written into the universal psyche of pianists across the centuries.  How can I even dare to sit...

by Jules Munns. I have just had the privilege of working with  the excellent Katy Schutte and Phil Lunn on an Improvised Musical in a Weekend. Ten improvisers worked together from Friday night until Sunday evening , then put on a improvised musical. And it was great. Really, really good, much better than I ever imagined....

by Alexis Gallagher This post is for improvisers who haven’t had the chance to visit Chicago. Please forgive me! I am going to risk wasting a few minutes of your time by telling you something that you probably already know. Why do I do this? Only because right now, somewhere out there, is an improviser...

by Liz Peters. Commitment. Ooh that terrifying word. Conjuring up images of rings, mortgages, nooses and shackles. Very few words can elicit such a tensing of the shoulders, a sharpening of the senses as you prepare for fight or flight. Commitment means duties and limitations. It means being trapped by your decisions and watching helplessly...

by Jason Blackwater During a car discussion to Yorkshire…I think it was Yorkshire…it was a few months ago now and everything north of the Hollingbury turn off of the A23 feels like coal mine country to me, such is my soft southern-ness…it might also have been back from Yorkshire, or wherever it was…but all of...

By John Cremer As an experienced performer and trainer I condense the underlying value of practicing improvisation to one word – presence. In order to improvise well one acquires and develops a specific set of skills. This skill set greatly enhances personal effectiveness through an ever deepening level of presence in the here and now....

by Jen Rowe Last year, I ran a couple of workshops at our residential called ‘Improv and Creative Writing’. It was partly based on my lamenting the fact that we create so much wonderful stuff in improv classes only to lose it forever, except for dim and distant memories. That, and the fact that I...

by Jason Blackwater Well, that was fun! I’m feeling excited. You are a brilliant person, Jane. For the purposes of this blog, Jane, you’re name is Jane. Is that OK, Jane? Jason Chin was over last week for bit of focussed work with the Maydays and boy did he hit the emotion button. Brilliant! I could...