Slate Magazine on improvisation

What Thank God You’re Here gets wrong about improv. – By Dan Kois – Slate Magazine

This article is really about comedy improv, but it quite interesting in its anaylsis of what makes improvisation work.

My response wasn’t particularly witty, but it laid the groundwork for a scene that quickly became very funny as she went to greater and greater lengths to convince my character of her devotion. Through agreement and elaboration, improvisational performers invent relationships, emotional stakes, and dramatic and funny scenes out of nothing but their own teamwork.