The first rule of improv comedy is that there are no rules. This reliance on unscripted spontaneity is what makes improv one of the most liberating forms of comedy out there. It requires an ability to commit fully to any situation, think on your feet, and have absolute trust in your partner. Or, as Tina Fey puts it, improv depends on your ability to “just say yes and figure it out afterwards.” These are skills that will stand you in good stead on the stage, no matter what your preferred mode of performance is. It’s no wonder that many of India’s top comedians cut their teeth in the improv scene, from Kaneez Surka and Vir Das to Kanan Gill and Prashasti Singh. 

That lack of rules can also be intimidating to those on the outside. People often think of improv as an esoteric art form, one that requires superhuman levels of creativity and quick-thinking. Comedian-turned-improv-trainer Neville Bharucha disagrees strongly with that idea, and believes that improv is something everyone should try at least one. “Improv is for everyone no matter which profession you are in or how old you are,” he says. “Anyone can do it, and everyone should do it.”

To help demystify the myths around improv, DeadAnt spoke to Bharucha about his love for the form, why everyone should do it, and whether he misses standup comedy. Edited excerpts from the interview below. 

Good morning Neville. To start things off, what’s keeping you busy these days? 

I have been doing a lot of improv lately. Basically, only teaching and performing a lot of improv. I am also working on a web series that I can’t talk about right now. But it’s very exciting and I’m having a lot of fun acting in it. 

Can you take us through your improv comedy journey? 

So I started doing it years ago, in 2013. I dabbled in improv from 2013 onwards and a lot of the foundational stuff was taught to me by Kaneez [Surka]. I performed here and there and only started doing it seriously sometime in 2018, when I went to the Upright Citizens Brigade Training Center [in Los Angeles]. I did Level One and Two at UCB and then I ended up winning scholarships to The Second City [improv venue and school in Chicago], and then this improv retreat in London run by an improv company called the Maydays. Which was fantastic, except for the fact that it was at the Osho ashram.  

When I came back, I decided to run some classes and workshops. The first few classes were great. They were very small, about six or seven people. But it was fantastic. In 2019, the classes started getting bigger when they were shifted to the Cuckoo Club. That was just picking up steam when the pandemic hit and everything shut down. 

How did you adapt to that?

I was quite bummed in the beginning when that happened. But then I did this online workshop again with the Maydays, which taught me how to run an improv workshop online. After that, I just kept saying I’ll do it [online classes]. But, I’ll be honest, my actual motivation came when one of my students, who would do a lot of workshops with me, started taking up classes with others. I was like ‘man, what am I doing?!’ 

So I started doing classes online. I loved doing improv online because that just opened it up to the masses in a way I couldn’t realistically do live. I’ve had students from Manipal, Bengaluru, Delhi, Jaipur, Indore and even Atlanta. 

It’s wonderful meeting these guys in person now because there is a connection and understanding from the classes. I have to say there has been tremendous support from the Habitat team, so we do a lot of our improv there now. Just the next-level support they have offered, and they are one of the main reasons we’ve been able to grow the community. At this stage, we have about fifteen new sign-ups for the classes each month. We try to keep at least one or more every month now. 

Can you tell us about your Sandbox Creative Academy venture? 

Everything creative that I am associated with comes under the Sandbox Creative Academy, and that’s not restricted to adults only. I teach kids creative writing, I teach improv, and sometimes I try to teach kids improv. That’s what Sandbox is about. 

You also did standup comedy for a while, what made you give it up? 

For me, travel was one of the main reasons I stopped doing standup. I loved doing it and I was good. But I definitely wasn’t the best. And I knew I wasn’t going to be the best. I was making more money and there was definitely a brighter future for me with improv and teaching creative writing. So I had to make the decision to stop standup. I always tell myself I should get on stage to do comedy once a month, but it’s not gotten to that point.  

Personally, I really enjoy the freedom to go and play badminton every evening. I love it and I’ve become a lot better, physically I’m at my fittest best right now and I’m playing better than I ever was. I’m at a reasonably high-ish level of badminton. So I really enjoy playing five times a week and then going home to get dinner with my wife and friends and hang out. I really like that part of my life so I’m not ready to give it away to go do a 10-minute spot somewhere. I am done with that part of my life. 

Do you ever miss being on that stage? 

I do miss it a little. I miss the crowd work, because I was so good at it. I would especially be called in to host shows because other comedians don’t want to host so much. But I was always very excited to do it because hosting is the intersection between improv and doing material. An important skill for a host is that you have to be warm, excitable and funny and you have to stay with the audience and set the room by establishing the definition of laughing together, as opposed to just making fun of the audience. Improv has taught me that balance.

I also miss the volume and the absolute rabid nature of standup crowds. But I’m having a great time anyway with improv, so no complaints.

What do you teach participants in your improv workshops? 

There are five levels of improv with me. Level one is the foundation of scene work, so you learn to deliver a good scene no matter what. Level two is short-form improv. Level three is an introduction to long-form improv. Level four is the Harold [a structure used in long-form improv] and level five is other forms of long-form improv. There are also electives which teach you different skills. So electives are basically classes that are not connected to the level path but they will still boost your skills as an improviser. 

What takeaways do you hope that the participants have from the workshop?

Improv is not an art form that is meant for artists, comedians or performers alone. Improv is for everyone, no matter which profession you are in or how old you are. Because there are so many different takeaways that improv has. It helps people work with each other and be more social, helps sharpen their mental abilities, and helps them thrive under pressure. And once you’ve done that it’s so much fun that they want to perform again. 

If you have enough improv practice you can jump on stage anytime and perform with anyone. I love that freedom and excitement about improv. Anyone can do it. Everyone should do it. Improv changes the way you think and behave and it gives you a huge positive outlook on everything and it’s a wonderful space to be in. It makes you okay with failure and pick up from there and move on. It teaches you to be a lot more comfortable and sure of yourself and at the risk of sounding very fortune cookie-ish, it actually teaches you to be a better person.

What I find absolutely fascinating is at least five people in each improv batch I’ve been a part of have always been like, ‘omg I have met some of the best friends I have right now in class’. These people have genuinely found some meaningful friendships in this class and they remain in touch after class. I feel awesome about that. 

What are you working towards right now? 

My future plans are to open up improv to kids and also to corporations. So I am planning to develop workshops for these demographics. An improv tour is also something that I would love to attempt as long as it’s financially viable for everybody involved. Until [that happens] I am definitely planning to tour with the workshops across a few cities.