I mean, in the foreword to Impro in Denmark is by Sรธren Iversen, who I taught long ago, he was a Danish director, after he left. He said he'd read about [Eugeny] Vakhtangov. I'm a fan of his. When he heard that Vakhtangov had lots of tricks, he thought this was very bad. But when he came to be my student, he realised it was very good to have a lot of tricks. You saw some this morning.
Keith JohnstoneEvery time you go the way the audience expects, they'll think you're original. People laugh with pleasure at the obvious.
Keith JohnstoneI see a great lack of stories around. I bought six literary magazines and looked through them to see what people were doing. There wasn't a story in them. They were all about how poetic the feelings of the author were.
Keith JohnstoneVery hard to get an audience. So if you're going to fill the theatre, you can't just rely on old stuff.
Keith JohnstoneAt school any spontaneous act was likely to get me into trouble. I learned never to act on impulse, and that whatever came into my mind first should be rejected in favour of better ideas. I learned that my imagination Wasnโt โgoodโ enough. I learned that the first idea was unsatisfactory because it was (1) psychotic; (2) obscene; (3) unoriginal. The truth is that the best ideas are often psychotic, obscene and unoriginal.
Keith Johnstone