When forming an Improv troupe, what are some good things to look for when selecting members?

Question

I've been thinking about forming my own Improv troupe for about a month now.

What kinds of characteristics should I look for in people who want to join?

What kinds of Improv exercises would be good to hold at auditions?

Thanks a bunch!

Answer 1

bright personalities. the only exercise i could think of is the one where you put water in your mouth and hold it and they try to make you laugh. or you go in a circle and one person says an action and the next person performs the action but says a different action then the third person says what the second person says and so on

Answer 2

I'm in several improv companies, one of which holds yearly auditions.  

Things we look for:

--Is the person fun to play with?  This entails many things, including do they listen?  Do they try to hog a scene?  Do they play off what their partner gives them, or do they kill all their ideas?

--Do they have good skills?  Can they create a reality, both verbally and physically?  Can they tell a good story, or are they all about trying to be funny?

And rather than exercises, we find it best to just give them a scenario and have them improvise a scene.  You can tell a lot about a person by watching how they set up what's happening, how they react to their scene partners.  

And bottom line, do you like them?  Do they seem like someone you'd like to spend a lot of time with?

Answer 3

One most well known would be those on the old show DREW Carey, who's line is it anyway.

  The prime issue should be how they work with and play off of each other.

   Certainly it should involve some comedic talent probably, but to interact instantly against what another says or does is critical. That doesn't dictate that everything goes off without any OOPS, but to almost KNOW your line, before you hear the end of a segment by another in the troupe, keeps a flow alive, that could be rapid enough that the audience is involved, and not analyzing, while being entertained.

   I'm not certain EXERCISES is accurate. Certainly as the one conducting an audition YOU can direct a scenario, IE: 4 or more people waiting for a Taxi, their interactions, rain, no shelter, mixed genders, a Cab that may not accommodate them all, IF/When it arrives, them passing on taking a bus, etc. etc. etc. AND so many unlimited situations beyond.

   Creating the scenario is your task. Theirs is to cohesively create the skit.

   Essentialy it's similar to finishing anothers sentence, knowing anothers thought as they verbalize it, reacting and responding spontaneously, and creating an outcome.