QuoteProject
All you're trying to do in an improvisation is get as much material as possible for the editing room.
Martin Short
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Improvisation is about gathering ideas and material for later refinement.

This quote emphasizes that the essence of improvisation lies in the process of generating a wealth of ideas and content, which can then be shaped and polished during the editing phase. It suggests that spontaneity is key, and the initial bursts of creativity lead to more refined and deliberate outcomes.

Themes

ImprovisationCreativityArtEditingMaterial

In practice

Example use cases

This quote could be shared in a workshop on creative improvisation.

More from Martin Short

What's great about being a character actor is you know that you can survive forever. It's not about the gloss of your eyebrows.
Martin ShortRead
I've always thought one of the tricks of being an actor for a long time is keeping yourself interested once you've figured out how to pay the rent.
Martin ShortRead
I've chosen to treat my life more like a party than something to stress about.
Martin ShortRead
I hate to lull the audience into letting them think that something is something. It's always fun to defy expectations.
Martin ShortRead
My mother was the concert master of the symphony. Absurdity and eccentricity were not criticized.
Martin ShortRead

Similar quotes

It's possible for me to make a bad movie out of a good script, but I can't make a good movie from a bad script.
George ClooneyRead
Typography is the craft of endowing human language with a durable visual form, and thus with an independent existence. Its heartwood is calligraphy - the dance, on a tiny stage, of the living, speaking hand - and its roots reach into living soil, though its branches may be hung each year with new machines. So long as the root lives, typography remains a source of true delight, true knowledge, true surprise.
Robert BringhurstRead
It’s such a fun job, and it can be silly and light and about making people laugh. I think I was doing it a disservice by thinking it’s not something ultimately important. I always was saying, ‘I’m not saving lives; I’m not a brain surgeon.’ And that’s true—I’m not saving anyone from any life-threatening illnesses. But I get to tell stories, and that’s a pretty important task.
Emma StoneRead
I'm an actor, not a star. Stars are people who live in Hollywood and have heart-shaped swimming pools.
Al PacinoRead
In any society, the artist has a responsibility. His effectiveness is certainly limited and a painter or writer cannot change the world. But they can keep an essential margin of non-conformity alive. Thanks to them the powerful can never affirm that everyone agrees with their acts. That small difference is important.
Luis BunuelRead
A special kind of beauty exists which is born in language, of language, and for language.
Gaston BachelardRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.