You've seen it on TV. You may have heard of the Groundlings or Second City.  And those night clubs full of stand-up comedians and NOT improv, are called "The Improv"?   Improvisational Comedy is the art of instantly performing scenes without a script.  And you know it's unscripted, because the scenes are based on the audience's immediate suggestions. 

So why a page on the history of improv? To add more good keywords for searches, really.

The history part goes something like this:  Back in the 20's and 30's, a  woman named Viola Spolin was working with immigrant children. She could be considered almost a social worker for lack of a better term in those days. Viola created theater games for children to help them socialize and communicate, to great success. Later, her son, Paul Sills further developed these games with his theater comrades into the types of improv comedy scenes and games we see today. His work around the University of Chicago in the 50's, helped spawn the original Second City, with improv legends like Del Close and David Shepherd.  And from those Second City roots, grew The Committee of San Francisco, and the Groundlings in LA.

We're all genetically connected to these Viola Spolin roots. And her book is a must-read for the basic Improv Geek.  You can go down that rabbit hole for awhile, or you can just come see the Waterbrains. Because you should see the Waterbrains.

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