The Magic of Applied Improvisation
- Thia
- Aug 14
- 2 min read
In the past few weeks, I've experienced the magic of applied improvisation in three exciting ways.
Magic Moment #1: Seven of Diamonds
The last weekend of July, I had the privilege of participating in a workshop at the famous BATS Improv in San Francisco titled Off the Stage, Into the Room: A Two-Day Dive into Applied Improvisation with William Hall. I tried my best to be a sponge, soaking up knowledge from a master facilitator over the weekend and learning by doing in the small group workshop.
The first bit of magic came via what seemed on its face to be an actual trick. William asked a participant to select cards from an imaginary deck in his hand. First he asked, "Red or black?" The response was "red," and he removed the black cards and set them on an imaginary shelf. Then, "High cards or low?" which resulted in high cards departing the deck—as we learned later, no matter the answer. And so it went, until there was only one imaginary card left in his hand. "Is this the card?" he asked, pulling a real 7 of diamonds from his shirt pocket. We all gasped. Magic! William explained the apparent trick, which is a metaphor for successful facilitation: Always know where you want participants to go, and guide them there.
Magic Moment #2: Shhh
The second bit of magic was a clever technique for quieting a noisy room. Some of our activities were done in pairs, and inevitably, discussing the task at hand evolved into chatting about other things. To bring us all back from conversation, William sidled up to me and my partner with a request. On his cue, together we voiced "shhh" and the sound flowed like a wave into the group, leaving silence in its wake and everyone turned to us. Magic! It was remarkably more effective than often-ignored verbal calls to return attention to the presenter and less intrusive than a bell or whistle.
Magic Moment #3: Into the Room
On the first Friday in August, I started facilitating a series of monthly applied improvisation workshops through 5Cities Homeless Coalition at their warming shelter, offered for free to people experiencing homelessness through Improv for Good.
The workshop started off with a surprise when we learned participants thought they were attending an improv show, not a participatory workshop. First lesson from improv: flexibility!
We covered the foundations: discovering the basics of “yes, and…,” learning how improv builds trust, and creating a safe space where every voice matters. Pair exercises provided the opportunity to practice the magic of shhh, which worked like a charm every time. Fresh off the weekend intensive, I deployed the 6-phase debriefing approach we'd learned to help participants reflect on their experiences to learn from them.
Feedback from staff was positive: "A few individuals who are normally very quiet and reserved were incredibly engaged by your activities — they lit up in a way we don’t often get to see. It made a real impact." Magic!
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