downrightupright:

Does anyone know what “play it real” means? Seriously. If an instructor or coach gives my group or class that note, I swear to god there’s 20 different interpretations of what “play it real” means and then another 20 for how exactly it pertains to the specific scene that garnered the note in the…

It’s “truth” in comedy, not “reality” in comedy. Truth and Reality do not always correspond, and for Del Close they were often in opposition with each other. Find what is true about a scene and play that grounded, committed and (when appropriate) straight. When of the hardest things for me when “playing it real” comes out of the fact that my real reactions might be deemed inherently unusual by someone else. In real life, I don’t have strong reactions to things that seem unusual. My real tendency is to not react and often make the passive choice. But the truth of any situation probably comes from the internal monologue you have when you notice something unusual, even if you wouldn’t vocalize that reaction. Playing it “truthful” would be to pinpoint the heart of what is interesting about what’s going on. React to that, even if it’s not what you would do in real life.

Del Close encouraged improvisers to “be a raving paranoid onstage; nothing is taken at face value, nothing is tossed aside.” Acting like this is not how most people act in real life, but by listening and reacting to everything with this paranoid mindset, you’re likely to find the truth in the scene.