Myth One: Improvisation Is Comedy --誤區一：即興創作就是喜劇
Improvisation is in fact not comedy. Nor is it simply an approach to acting. Those are two specific types of improvisation, unique to the context in which the improvisation is taking place. There are many more contexts for improvisation, though. Improvisation is a key element of busy emergency rooms; it takes place on NBA basketball courts; it’s a part of the skill set for every policeman cruising the streets—all contexts in which comedy is certainly not intended to be part of the picture. The context dictates the style of improvisation required. The improvisation an emergency room doctor uses in performing a lifesaving operation is unique to that situation, and the kind of improvisation a starting point guard employs in facing an unexpected defensive strategy only makes sense on the basketball court.
即興表演實際上不是喜劇。這也不只是一種行動的方法。這是即興創作所處的環境所特有的兩種即興即興類型。但是，還有更多的即興創作環境。即興創作是繁忙急診室的關鍵要素。它發生在NBA籃球場上；對于每個在街上巡邏的警察來說，這都是技巧的一部分-當然，在所有情況下，喜劇都不是要成為畫面的一部分。上下文指示所需的即興創作風格。急診室醫生在執行救生操作時所使用的即興創作是這種情況所特有的，而控球后衛在面對意外防御策略時所采用的即興創作僅在籃球場上才有意義。
A fantastic example of high-level improvisation took place in 2011 when a team of highly trained U.S. Navy SEALs undertook Operation Neptune Spear—the deadly raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan. This mission had been meticulously planned; the SEALs trained for it over months and several contingency plans were developed and put into place. Still, when one of the navy’s Black Hawk helicopters crashed within the compound, a very specific kind of improvisation was required if the mission was to succeed under shifting circumstances.In this case improvisation had everything to do with adapting to changes within a strategy to achieve real, tangible outcomes.
高水平即興表演的一個絕佳例子發生在2011年，當時一支訓練有素的美國海豹突擊隊進行了海王星矛行動，這是對本·拉登在巴基斯坦大院的致命襲擊。這個任務是經過精心計劃的；海豹突擊隊接受了為期數月的培訓，并制定了若干應急計劃并付諸實施。但是，當海軍的一架“黑鷹”直升機墜毀時，要想在不斷變化的情況下成功完成任務，就需要一種非常特殊的即興創作。在這種情況下，即興創作與適應戰略變化的一切有關。實現真實，切實的成果。
I certainly concede that the most common understanding of improvisation is as a form of comedy. Curb Your Enthusiasm, the aforementioned Whose Line Is It Anyway? and the films by Christopher Guest all showcase amazing comedic work that is based on improv. On a personal level I’ve been incredibly fortunate to spend an enormous part of my professional life on the great Chicago stages of The Second City, the Annoyance Theatre, and iO (where I was coached by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler and performed alongside such notable folks as Jack McBrayer, Ike Barinholtz, Thomas Middleditch, Jordan Klepper,Jason Sudeikis, and Seth Meyers along with many other famous and less famous, equally brilliant comedic improvisers). In that context we were performing with the focused purpose of delivering comedy. The payoff we were after was audience laughter and a great show.
我當然承認，即興創作最常見的理解是作為一種喜劇形式。遏制您的熱情，前面提到的是誰的臺詞？Christopher Guest的電影都展示了基于即興創作的驚人喜劇作品。就個人而言，我非常幸運地將自己的職業生涯中的很大一部分花在了第二城市，煩人的劇院和iO的出色芝加哥舞臺上（在那里，我由Tina Fey和Amy Poehler指導，杰克·麥克布雷（Jack McBrayer），艾克·巴林霍爾茨（Ike Barinholtz），托馬斯·米德迪奇（Thomas Middleditch），喬丹·克萊珀（Jordan Klepper），杰森·蘇迪基斯（Jason Sudeikis）和塞思·邁耶斯（Seth Meyers），以及其他許多著名但同樣不那么出色的喜劇即興創作者。在這種情況下，我們的表演目的是提供喜劇。我們所追求的回報是觀眾的笑聲和精彩的表演。
Laughter is not the payoff a surgeon, a jazz musician, or a SEAL team is after, though, and it’s certainly not the payoff a businessperson is looking for either. If you’re in front of the board of directors after a dip in fourth-quarter sales and you get thrown a hardball question, the challenge is not to quickly come up with a way you can use your necktie as a comedic prop to make the board laugh (lest that necktie become a noose with which you strangle your career). Instead you must react and adapt to the circumstances and communicate in an engaging and inspiring way.
不過，笑聲并不是外科醫生，爵士樂手或海豹突擊隊所追求的回報，當然也不是商人要尋找的回報。如果您在第四季度的銷售額下降后在董事會中排行榜，并且遇到了一個強硬的問題，那么挑戰就在于不要迅速想出一種可以將領帶用作喜劇道具的方法，板笑（讓那條領帶成為絞盡腦汁的職業）。取而代之的是，您必須做出反應并適應環境，并以一種富有啟發性的方式進行交流。
The takeaway here: improvisation as it applies to the business world is a specific type that works in the business context. The heart of this book is to explicitly demonstrate how the art of improvisation can be used as a serious means of getting serious results.(To be continued~)
這里的要點：即興創作適用于商業世界是一種在商業環境中起作用的特定類型。本書的核心是明確展示即興創作的技巧如何用作獲得嚴肅結果的嚴肅手段。（未完待續~）
