Mastering the art of improvisation

For the third time, Industrie 45 was the scene of an improvisation competition. Without any preparation and with the help of the audience, the players improvised just about anything - and created surprising situations.
 
On the first Wednesday of each month, the Hotel 99 improsport group organises an improsport competition in Industrie 45. If you’re not sure what this means, a flyer on the chairs provides some enlightenment - in simple terms, Improsport means improvised theatre without a screenplay and with great entertainment value. So there are many possible twists that the evening could take.
 
Walter “Willy” Willimann is part of the Hotel 99 quintet, and explains the metier before his appearance: “For improvisational theatre, you don’t need to be funny or particularly creative on the stage. It's all about listening to your teammates, following up what they say and do, and having fun - the rest comes by itself. You learn not to try to remain in the foreground, but to try to make your fellow-player look better - I find this ‘addictive’, and this is confirmed by the fact that improvisational theatre is the opposite of today's society." He confirms this thesis by pointing out that, in contrast to today’s performance-oriented life, failure is permitted here, and that hilarious situations can arise from them.
 
Mathias Zocher is also part of Hotel 99, and is proud that the improsport scene is growing: "There is a scene in Switzerland, especially in the cities. Improvisation theatre is also a fixed part of the theatre schools today.”
 
Following the improvisation motto, the entrance charge is calculated by rolling a dice, and the audience is even encouraged to sing a little and fool around in order to loosen up. The two teams, the Hotel 99 hosts and Tobertus Habicht from Zurich, then go on stage with their respective two players and face up to each other. The presenter alternately gives the teams challenging tasks, whereby the audience can influence this with intervening calls. From soul-eating devils to the farmer whose salad has spontaneously disappeared, no situation turns out to be too grotesque, and the great thing is that everything is improvised. The players throw themselves completely into this, which even causes some to them to also laugh themselves.
 
After a short break, the two teams perform scenes together in a fictitious two-star hotel with 99 floors, in which a murder takes place. The players recognise the situations immediately, and, together, work it into a hilarious story. Burak Cak enjoyed the performance immensely: "It was very entertaining, and I can warmly recommend it."

Note: There will be free improvisation theatre workshops for young people on 8 November and 6 December in Industrie 45.