At first blush, improv was not for Steve Turrisi.Attending a class in 2003 with a friend, Turrisi left at intermission after-half hour of warm-ups. “I thought it was ridiculous,” says Turrisi, but he agreed to return for a proper show, to sit in the audience and see what improv was all about. Something clicked that night and Turrisi, now in his 11th year performing improvisational comedy with Florida Studio Theatre, caught the bug. “What clicked,” says Turrisi, “is that I wasn’t going to be afraid to go out and do it.” Now those same warm-ups Turrisi once derided have become an important part of his craft, instilling within him the fundamentals he needs to succeed onstage and that he shares with SRQ today.

ZERO THOUGHT
Be in the moment

You have to be able to completely free up your thoughts; you can’t think about anything onstage.

SOLELY LISTEN
Every moment is an opportunity

You have to invest in listening and absorb it all. Take in everything your improviser is doing.

REACT AND RESPOND
Seize the opportunity

 Invest in listening. Then your brain can react and respond. Ask yourself two questions: If this is true, what else is true? How does this make me feel?

KNOW YOUR PARTNERS
Reality can be as funny as absurdity

All you do is tell the truth up there. And stretch it a little bit.

DON'T BE FUNNY
Preconceived notions kill the improv

If you’re trying to be funny for the audience while someone’s onstage, you’re going to miss almost everything that’s going on, catch very little and the audience suffers. Because now it’s two people trying to be funny instead of just listening to each other.

KNOW THYSELF
Your life is your greatest resource

You have your life experiences in your head – it’s all there, catalogued and categorized. All you have to do is listen for the cue to spark that memory and react on it.