How to take and use audience input. The suggestion is the ritual that proves the show is improvised, gives the audience ownership, and provides a creative constraint that provokes discovery.
What makes a good suggestion:
- Specific: "Laundromat" is better than "a place." "Grandmother's attic" is better than "laundromat." Specificity gives performers concrete images and emotional associations.
- Personal/resonant: Suggestions drawn from real experience are richer. "What stressed you out this week?" yields better material than "give me a word."
- Not a joke setup: "DILDO!" shouted from the back row is a poor suggestion — it comes pre-loaded with a punchline the audience expects, which constrains rather than liberates.
- Evocative but not prescriptive: "Thanksgiving" opens possibilities. "A guy who trips on a turkey" prescribes a specific scene.
How to use a suggestion without being imprisoned by it: The suggestion is a launching point, not a prison. Will Hines: "The suggestion is there to prove it's improvised. After that, its job is done."
- Free-associate, don't depict literally. "Dentist" → cavity → hollow → feeling empty → loneliness. The scene might be about loneliness, sparked by "dentist."
- The audience will forget the suggestion within 2-3 minutes. They're engaged with the scene, not checking whether it matches. Trust this.
- Think of it as a gift to open. Appreciate what's inside, then use it however you want. You don't have to follow the instruction manual.
Types of ask-fors:
- One word — simplest, widest range of associations
- Relationship — "Give me two people" → immediately provides scene structure
- Location — concrete setting implying characters and activities
- Personal experience — the richest ask-for; gives performers emotional truth. Used in Armando-style shows where a monologist takes the suggestion and tells a true story, which then inspires scenes
- Occupation — provides expertise, jargon, and world to explore
Why suggestions matter beyond proof:
- Audience ownership: "That was MY word" creates investment and delight when the suggestion recurs
- Shared starting point: Performers and audience begin from common ground
- Creative constraint: Paradoxically, having something to respond to is easier than having nothing. The constraint provokes discovery.
- Community ritual: The suggestion call marks the transition from "strangers in a room" to "we're doing this together." It's the participatory moment that establishes the collaborative contract.
Del Close was ambivalent about suggestions — he felt truly skilled improvisers should create from nothing. But he acknowledged their practical necessity, especially in proving authenticity to skeptical audiences. The iO tradition treats the suggestion as a seed: something small that grows into something the performers couldn't have predicted.