A Quote by Matt Besser

When I came to Chicago, I didn't even know what improvisation meant, as far as pertaining to comedy. I knew about Second City, but I didn't know what the word 'improvisation' meant.
Most of my music is improvisation, and composition is improvisation. Even if I have a score, it is improvisation.
I hated improvisation because in my early days as an actor, improvisation meant somebody had just come down from Oxford and they were doing a play above a pub in Kentish Town, and the biggest ego would win.
Comedy is far more difficult, as it involves improvisation and impromptu acting, and as an actor, that came as a welcome break for me.
When I was in college my improvisation troupe and I did a road trip to Chicago, and went to The Second City to see the classic 'Paradigm Lost' revue - with Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch, Scott Adsit and Kevin Dorff. It blew my mind, and proved to me you can do sketch comedy like you're doing 'Long Day's Journey into Night.' We could treat it like theater.
To write a book about improvisation is partly a contradiction in terms. Improvisation is spontaneous. It's in the moment.
Growing up, I knew I was different. But I didn't know what it meant to be Aboriginal. I just knew that I had a really big, extended family. I was taught nothing about who we were or where we came from.
I moved to Chicago when I was 28, and I wasn't completely idealistic about going to Second City and making a living from comedy, but I knew it would be great for the resume.
A lot of improvisation ends up being about just thinking outside of the box in the scene. It's not improvisation as much as it is quickness or making it real.
It scared me to death to think about improv, but I got hired for a year at Second City in Chicago, which made me nervous, but I found I could improvise. Then I was in a group called the Ace Trucking Company, which we'd do, like, a half hour set of material, then open up for improvisation.
I never know what it's going to look like. Wouldn't be much point in painting if I already knew the outcome. I have a subject in front of me and I start flooding colour and making marks, I don't know, it's improvisation isn't it?
You'd better have faith that everything happens for the best. Nothing happens in your life that isn't something that you are meant to learn to get you where you need to go so you can become who you are meant to be. And that meant-to-be might be someone you don't even know exists at this moment in time.
I would make a huge distinction between theater improvisation and film improvisation.
I would make a huge distinction between theater improvisation and film improvisation. There isn't much improvisation in film - there's virtually none. The people that theoretically could be good at this in a theater situation don't necessarily do this in a film in a way that will work, because it's much broader on a stage. But in a movie, it has to be real, and the characters have to look entirely real because it's being done as a faux documentary, so there are even fewer actors that can do that on film.
Everything that happens is meant to be. It's meant to happen like that. But sometimes you don't know at the time that it's meant to be disaster.
What people think improvisation is and non-improvisation is, it's nothing to do with what you like or dislike. It's all about how it happens with certain directors and certain scenes. That's the way it works. It's not something, in general, that you can decide.
I don't want anybody to be under a misunderstanding. Donald Trump never even said the word "assassination." That was the word used by Hillary Clinton in 2008, which CNN is calling a gaffe. (impression) "But Trump meant it! Yeah, Trump, he meant it." With Hillary, "It was a gaffe! We all know Hillary Clinton, and we all know Hillary Clinton didn't really mean what she said." Yeah, right. Double standards.
This site uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. More info...
Got it!