Organic opening

An organic opening is a way of taking a suggestion from the audience to begin a performance. It is often more abstract and physical than simply soliciting a verbal suggestion from the audience and using it as inspiration.

Frequent incarnations

Although an organic opening can take many forms, it is often when an improv team takes an audience suggestion uses it to start moving and creating sounds related. The performers follow each other's lead and attempt to create ideas for scenes and characters. It's very similar to Follow the Follower.

Typically during this opening a team will go through two loops or bunny ears, going away from the suggestion and then back twice.

The goal is to move from more abstract movements to concrete clear movements. This is often aided by members of the team shouting out what they're doing or labeling the action.

It's common to see teams breaking out into tableaus where everyone on the team becomes part of a setting, being a character, an inanimate object, or whatever is appropriate in the setting. During these tableaus people can and often do speak lines of dialogue, although not many so that they don't use up potential game beats.

Popular uses

• The PIT's Friday night house team Borealis makes use of music-based organic opening.

See also

• Follow the Follower
• List of Openings
• List of Warm Ups

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