<aside> 💡 This April, I’m answering questions from other improvisers (send your questions to [email protected] please).

This week, Kirsten writes: I'd be interested in reading your thoughts on 15 minute slots. It seems most nights offer either 15 mins or 20 mins in London to newish teams at the moment. To me this often makes the difference between a good show and a bad one. When we do 20 minutes plus, I feel present. I slow down and relax. 15 minutes often feels like a stressful supermarket sweep type exercise where you try and grab all the things you can as fast as you can and inevitably a lot of it is undesirable in hindsight.

So I put it to you: Can you do good long form in 15 mins? How?

</aside>

Stage time is at an absolute premium in most cities. So this is an incredibly apt question.

Schools are under pressure to give students and newer groups experience in front of an audience, that often means that the show slots themselves are pinched in order to fit in more people. Fifteen minutes has indeed become the standard in London. And even if you are lucky enough to have access to longer tranches of stage time - limitations are our friends. They force us to conduct ourselves with elegance and restraint.

So, yes, you can do a good longform improv show in 15 minutes. Here are my 5 tips and tricks to do so.

1. Cut your cloth to suit your means. It may not be appropriate to try and cram your entire show format into 15 minutes. Instead of attempting a rushed micro-version of your full-length show, why not concentrate on one aspect for the allotted time? Practice a series of monologues instead of doing an Armando, group games instead of a full Harold, the relationship-based spine scenes of a Deconstruction interlinked with each other. Over the subsequent months, vary the aspect you are presenting and soon enough you’ll have put full shows up in front of audiences, just not in chronological order. I’m a particular fan of this technique because it’s a bit like isolating a muscle group at the gym. You are flexing the same performance skill again and again. Not having to switch between different kinds of scenes will help you focus and improve. In this the 15 minute time slot is your friend because that’s also not enough time for an audience to become bored. Audiences will watch anything done with commitment and joy for a quarter of an hour. We’re suckers for it.
2. Work on your editing. You want to make your 15 minutes count. The best way to do that is to work on your editing. An old improv coach of mine said that if all you do in a 25 minute show is make two good edits, then you’ve pulled your weight in the team that night. I agree with her. Becoming a good editor means building a sense of discernment about a scene. Has it outstayed its welcome? Is there more juice to be squeezed out of a particular scenario? Editing should be a responsibility held by the entire team. Practice editing from within the scene as well as from the sidelines. Look at different types of edits: swipes, crossfades, definitive final lines or even working closely with the technician who supports your shows. A gaggle of confident editors, improvisers who aren’t scared to move the show along, is mega advantageous, in all shows but particularly when you’re pushed for time.
3. Think about your introduction. Easy one this. Don’t talk much at the beginning. Get on stage, get what you need from the audience and then launch into your first scene. Be succinct. Like this paragraph.
4. Pick a format that works. This is my cheat answer. If your format can’t be broken down into discreet theatrical chunks, then DO SOMETHING ELSE when you’ve only got 15 minutes. Don’t set yourself up to fail. Playing together, even if it isn’t in your primary mode, is still EXTREMELY valuable. You’ll still get loads out of learning to connect. Be patient with one another. Pay attention to what’s actually happening in the scene etc. I would always recommend a Monoscene (one scene set in one location, played in real time) because that gives you plenty of leeway to sit with one set of characters and even tell a bit of a story. But a simple montage of scenes will also do just fine. Don’t be overly ambitious basically. I love your description of putting on a Supermarket Sweep type show where the frenetic energy IS the show. In this scenario, the grab-bag of hastily assembled characters, situations and jokes becomes the centre of gravity for the performance. Sometimes you might even desire to put on a show with that kind of energy. But if you truly want to slow down, feel present and connect - then plan for a show with less moving parts - so that you have time to breathe.
5. BONUS THOUGHT THAT ISN’T REALLY ANSWERING THE QUESTION. If you want to do full performances in front of audiences then why not get together with 2-3 other groups, hire a rehearsal room and perform to each other? That way you have a guaranteed interested audience, you get to regularly perform your whole show and it’s a nice networking event to boot.

Ok, that’s my ha’penny’s worth. Let me know at the usual address, if you have any other thoughts. Cheers.

<aside> 💡 Hey, my name’s Chris Mead. I write an article about improv almost every week. You can get the latest in your inbox by subscribing to my newsletter. Or check out the archive.

</aside>