Unscripted: Liv Long on Teaching Locals the Art of Improv Comedy
HANNAH FOULDS
Tucked away in the back room of the Horse & Groom, a small group of adults are doing something unexpected — and a bit brave. They’re trying out comedy improvisation for the first time, putting their nerves aside and taking a leap into the unknown. This new programme of classes, Improv-on-Sea, has arrived in Hastings and St Leonards-on-sea thanks to Liv Long, an experienced performer and comedy improviser.
Liv Long
“Those who say ‘I could never do that’ are usually the people who need it the most,” Liv tells me as we sip coffee on a sunny Sunday morning on the beach pebbles outside The Selkie. “I really nerd-out about this. Comedy improvisation forces you to stop judging yourself. It’s about leaning into making mistakes.”
Liv moved to St Leonards-on-Sea from London in 2020. She’s currently part of a duo-prov called We Are President and has performed with multiple troupes in both London and Hastings.
She’s a strong proponent of the holistic benefits of comedy improvisation. “It makes you a better listener, and therefore a better conversationalist. You can pretty much land in any social situation when you have the tools of improv. We enter a childlike state of play, which as adults we tend to destroy for ourselves – and that’s kind of devastating. Creativity is play – you can’t make art without making mistakes.”
Comedy improvisation (or improv comedy) is a form of unscripted performance where actors create scenes, dialogue, and comedic scenarios on the spot. The art form’s roots go way back — Commedia dell’Arte, for instance, in 16th Century Italy featured travelling troupes performing unscripted scenes based on stock characters and loose storylines.
But improvisation’s history stretches even further, with Shakespearean actors improvising during performances in the 16th and early 17th century, and some early traces were found in Ancient Greece. More recently, improv comedy has become associated with TV shows like Whose Line Is It Anyway? and live performances from The Comedy Store Players featuring veterans like Paul Merton and Josie Lawrence.
For Liv, stepping into comedy improvisation was a natural fit. “It’s an extraordinary social tool because it allows you to slow down your own processing.” She feels lucky to have first encountered improv during her drama classes in school: “I had lots of exposure to it and I always liked performing. I was part of a drama group at Hampstead Theatre called Heat and Light and performed in a show with Daniel Kaluuya, who’s phenomenally successful now. I feel sad thinking there’s so little like that for young people now, especially teenagers. Theatre and community projects like that don’t seem as available anymore.”
After completing a drama degree in Liverpool, Liv became critical of the traditional, sometimes restrictive, approach to drama training in higher education. “There’s this ‘drama school’ mentality, where you get whittled down, your character is torn apart, and then rebuilt. But that’s traumatic,” she explains. “Improv is about having fun, trying things out, and being silly. It’s about being yourself. I’m a total ‘corpser’ — I laugh during shows, and loudly. I’ll crack up mid-scene at what I’m doing, and that’s what makes it fun for the audience. I used to try to fight that, but now I’ve embraced it. When you watch established groups like the Comedy Store Players, you can tell they’re just having fun.”
While Hastings has a vibrant music and visual arts scene, Liv feels there’s a gap in the town’s access to theatre and comedy. She has big plans for the future, aiming to bring more of both to the local area. For now, she’s working with a charity to provide workshops with elderly residents in a care home, and is hoping to launch a children’s programme this summer. “I’d love to be able to offer workshops for free to locals in the future — that’s the dream.”
Liv seems to really invest in the participants of her Hastings Improv-on-Sea drop-in sessions. “A collective shift happens. People of all ages enter the space carrying their anxieties about what’s about to happen. They’re in their own heads, unsure what to expect, and not talking to the other people. Then you see the shift at the end of the class – people are interacting, chatting, and open. You can see something’s changed.”
Liv’s drop-in sessions focus on a different element of comedy improvisation each time – from listening to making mistakes. Each session is supportive, fun, and playful. “I quite often have to chuck my students out after the workshop because they’re lingering and chatting – they want to stay in that space. The impact seems small, but it really makes a difference in how someone views themselves. Just practising play, finding joy, and lifting each other up – what could be better than that?”
Hannah Foulds lives in Hastings and has written a range of features for The Londonist over the years, including live comedy and theatre reviews Follow Improv-on-Sea on Instagram to find out when the next class is taking place: instagram.com/improvonsea
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Great article!!