The Danger zone: new UMN class hopes to spark creativity with improv
In a new class, comedian Tane Danger uses improv principles to help design students think creatively.
Published January 23, 2019 in The Minnesota Daily
Design students are often put into the unenviable position of being asked, “Hey, I need you to be creative right now.”
Tane Danger, a University of Minnesota alumni and local improv comedian, promises to arm these students with the tools for spontaneous creativity by applying the principles of improvisational comedy. His new class, Improvisation for Design, includes exercises that improv comedians use to practice creative thinking.
“Creativity is not an on-off switch. It’s a muscle,” Danger said. “The more you practice being creative, the more you are able to then be creative.”
The key, Danger said, is discovering patterns that allow you to make non-obvious connections.
“[Practicing] these exercises allows your brain to start to build different pathways where your brain gets more used to going and finding that different kind of information,” he said.
A growing body of research links improvisation and creativity. A 2008 study by researchers at John Hopkins University looked at MRI brain scans of improvising jazz pianists. They found decreased activity in areas of the brain associated with self-censorship and increased activity in areas associated with daydreaming and self-reflection.
Barry Kudrowitz, director of the University’s product design program, has studied the association between improv comedy and creativity. In one study, he found improv comedians came up with 20 percent more product ideas than professional product designers.
“The skills that you need to come up with ideas in an improvised show are the same skills that you need to come up with new design ideas,” said Kudrowitz. “Innovation starts out as a silly concept and eventually becomes the norm.”
Kudrowitz said he thinks of improv as a skill set. It also improves important interpersonal skills that designers need when collaborating with others.
“We have to be able to listen, to pay attention to what they’re saying and respond accordingly,” he said. “Improv helps with listening and talking to people and feeling comfortable in new situations.”