When it's a sharing and improvisational meeting, where you're riffing off other people's ideas, that actually can be productive.
Many people do think it's naive to improvise in front of paying customers. I'm not saying one way is better than another.
For Kitty Gilbert in 'Topsy-Turvy,' I had to get to the point where I could improvise in the style of 1880, which is difficult. The research for that was huge.
My family is full of musicians, and a couple of times a year we get together and jam at my cousin's studio. We improvise and have a great time.
That's the beauty of music. You can take a theme from a Bach sacred chorale and improvise. It doesn't make any difference where the theme comes from; the treatment of it can be jazz.
I realized that improvisers should probably always have time off. But musicians are always gigging and never have a chance to stop for a minute - unless something drastic occurs.
These actors like Danny McBride and Jonah Hill are so good at improvising, and when they do it, it's this fun moment for the audience. It makes them feel like they're watching something fresh and new.
There's nothing that makes you so aware of the improvisation of human existence as a song unfinished. Or an old address book.
I know there are some actors who are just brilliant at improvising and brilliant at just being in the moment and doing it there and then. I'm not one of those actors.
People's association with improvisation means one person playing an endless stream of notes over something, and it doesn't have to be.
I don't mind doing scripted material. It's actually kind of a relief, because improvising is a little bit like screenwriting on your feet.
It ain't about if he knocks a guy out. It's about how he knocks a guy out. It's the style, the improvisation.
Can't you improvise? You know, make some loud pounding noises or cause the outer walls to bleed?
They were looking for actors - real actors - who could play instruments. There was a lot of improvisation and scene work involved in addition to the music. The auditions went on for a long time.
I was improvising before I was reading music. I was just trying to play things on the clarinet by ear. I think my ear is one of my greatest assets.
There was one thing Beethoven didn't do. When one of his string quartets was played, you can believe the second violin wasn't improvising.
Certain kinds of speed, flow, intensity, density of attacks, density of interaction... Music that concentrates on those qualities is, I think, easier achieved by free improvisation between people sharing a common attitude, a common language.
Who the hell do you think you're, Kiddo? I don't do thinking, Sir. I simply improvise.
That, as my cousin Nord would say, is where my improvised lie falls apart.
The thing about improvisation is that it's not about what you say. It's listening to what other people say. It's about what you hear.
My younger brother and I have been writing together, mainly for fun, for years, but we've been improvising together since we were kids. Literally.
