Sound Effects for Improv Shows

When you're running an improv theater, you have a lot to think about. Marketing, community outreach, and coaching are just a few things you have on your plate. Have you thought about sound effects?

When you're performing, you're building a world for the audience. The stage performers are important, they're space object-ing and heightening the scene, and listening to offers....but so is the sound person who is in the tech booth. Well...could be. They have so much power to build a world, and help improvisers...but how often are we taking advantage of sound?

Here are five valuable sounds you should give to your sound tech. It can radically change and help a show. It can infuse scenes with energy and excitement. And, it reminds the stage performers, "the sound tech has our back!"

Please download the sounds, and let me know if they've been helpful for your productions. Also, these sounds are creative commons zero (cc0), so enjoy them for any production. Have fun!

(if you like these sounds, and would like more I am happy to make this a regular feature.. Just leave a comment and let me know.)

1. Door knock / Door open 

This is how the list begins! With a cheat. I'm lumping two sounds into number one. When there's a knock at the door or a door opens the world can change dramatically. If the scene isn't clicking, if some energy needs to be pumped into the scene, reach for a door knock, or crack open a door. It can be such a gift when someone enters the scene.

2. Gun shot

Need something to cap that scene? Want to inject some adrenaline in the show? Try a gun shot sound effect. (also very fun to play during a blackout."Who got shot!" "What happened?" The audience will be on the edge of their seat as the next scene begins. Just, make sure those players don't ignore the gunfire, or the audience will feel cheated).

3. Atmospheres [restaurant, forest, subway]

I'm cheating again. I'm lumping three sounds under atmosphere. Space work goes so far. Sometimes an audience likes to hear some noise at that coffee shop, car ride, and forest. Soundscapes can really help heighten tension too. Ironically, when people aren't talking, but the soundscape can be heard, tension, I've found, increases in an audience.

4. Phone

Much like a doorbell, a phone means something is about to enter the scene. Let's hope the players treat the call as something very important, a things-will-never-be-the-same-moment.

5. Bell

This is more a technical choice, then scenic. If your company plays improv games, and you relay on a physical bell, I strongly suggest getting a bell sound effect too. I can't count the number of times this sound effect has saved our ass when we've misplaced the physical bell.

We hope these sounds make your improv productions even better! If you would like to receive more sounds, just leave a comment and let me know or email me at paul@blacktopcomedy.com

Incredible Weekend of Shows

Thank you for making this weekend such an extraordinary one for Blacktop! We're glad you had such a fun time at Squeaky Clean!

We had wonderful volunteers during Squeaky Clean, who helped make Sound Effects, Lassie, and Hey Waiter memorable improv games.

Brooklyn, your instinct to slam on the brakes during that chase scene was fantastic!

Sarah, during Lassie you guessed Timmy was hanging out with Elvis Presley. Good job!

And,  Jacob, you were one of the funniest parts of Hey Waiter, because you were so frustrated they kept getting your order wrong. The audience loved it. 

Audience volunteers always makes our shows better! We go with the flow, and adapt to whatever the audience offers. We will never pick on an audience member, but we do encourage you to realize you have the ability to be an improv genius. I think kids can be better at improv, because they're less inhibited. They have fewer negative memories, fewer people telling them, "that's a bad idea," "be serious," "don't think that." That stuff adds up. It accumulates, and by adulthood we're filtering out so many great instincts. 

Adult volunteers can be great, but they play it much safer onstage then kids. You will see the adult check in with the improviser, and their eyes say, "is this ok? I don't want to ruin the show." Kids embrace their imagination, and as improvisers, we love the wild turns each scene can take. The mixed audience of children and adults love the twists and turns too. It's great seeing parents who enjoy the show as much as the kids.

It's also a great reminder, we can all take some risks. We should take some risks. Look how funny a scene can become when we embrace our instincts. I guess the danger is our measured thoughts keep us safe, and our instincts are new. Our instincts haven't been vetted. I always picture a new thought like a gangster who gets patted down before reaching the Don. Our filters are those guys patting down the new thought, checking for anything dangerous. When the thought is stripped of all danger, then it's permitted to hang out with the brain.

In fact, even that simile right there...my brain was saying, "don't write that. It's ridiculous. Just stick to something safer, like 'it's so nice to be able to offer family entertainment to Roseville and Rocklin.'" And, yes, while that is true, we're glad we can offer family entertainment, I've said it before. It's familiar territory. It's a safe thought, that won't be judged. But, it doesn't have the opportunity to be memorable either. 

Watching the families laugh on Saturday night at the volunteer antics, was a great reminder. Be brave, and try something new.

It means a lot the community loves the family shows we're producing. It's fun to see parents and kids sitting together, laughing about the same ridiculous stuff happening onstage. 

We always remind the players, "improv is for us, but a performance is for the audience."