This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2010)

ComedySportz Austin performing a shortform game based on direction from the audience with the help of Red Dirt Improv; in this case spoofing a hard rock band performing a song made up on the stage

Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or new ways to act. This invention cycle occurs most effectively when the practitioner has a thorough intuitive and technical understanding of the necessary skills and concerns within the improvised domain. Improvisation can be thought of as an "on the spot" or "off the cuff" spontaneous activity.

The skills of improvisation can apply to many different abilities or forms of communication and expression across all artistic, scientific, physical, cognitive, academic, and non-academic disciplines. For example, improvisation can make a significant contribution in music, dance, cooking, presenting a speech, sales, personal or romantic relationships, sports, flower arranging, martial arts, psychotherapy, and much more. Techniques of improvisation are widely trained in the entertainment arts; for example, music, theatre and dance. To "extemporize" or "ad lib" is basically the same as improvising. Colloquial terms such as "let's play it by the ear", "take it as it comes", and "make it up as we go along" are all used to describe "improvisation".

The simple act of speaking requires a good deal of improvisation because the mind is addressing its own thought and creating its unrehearsed delivery in words, sounds and gestures, forming unpredictable statements that feed back into the thought process (the performer as listener), creating an enriched process that is not unlike instantaneous composition [with a given set or repertoire of elements].^[1]

Where the improvisation is intended to solve a problem on a temporary basis, the "proper" solution being unavailable at the time, it may be known as a stop-gap. This particularly applies to engineering improvisations.

Music[link]

Improvisation is usually defined as the composition of music while simultaneously singing or playing an instrument. In other words, the art of improvisation can be understood as composing music "on the fly". Improvisation can take place as a solo performance, or interdependently in ensemble with other players. When done well, it often elicits gratifying emotional responses from the audience. One notable improvisational pianist is Franz Liszt. The origins of Liszt's improvisation in an earlier tradition of playing variations on a theme were mastered and epitomized by Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Other notable improvisational musicians include: Keith Jarrett, an improvisational jazz pianist and multi-instrumentalist who has performed many completely improvised concerts all over the world; Derek Bailey, an improvisational guitarist; and Eugene Friesen, an improvisational cellist.

Improvised freestyle rap is commonly practiced as a part of rappers' creative processes, as a "finished product" for release on recordings (when the improvisation is judged good enough), as a spiritual event, as a means of verbal combat in battle rap, and, simply, for fun. It often incorporates insults similar to those in the African-American game the dozens, and complex rhythmic and sometimes melodic forms comparable to those heard in jazz improvisation.

A few pianists^[who?] have given modern recitals of improvisation in the baroque style. An example of an improvisational pianist in the style of baroque improvisation was Glenn Gould^{[citation needed]}. There have also been a few other exceptional improvised solo piano concerts^[who?] in Stuttgart, Southern Germany in the 1990s.

In the realm of silent film music, there are also a small number of musicians whose work has been recognized as exceptional by critics, scholars and audiences alike; these include Neil Brand and John Sweeney, among others who are all performers at "Le Giornate del Cinema Muto", the annual conference on silent film in Pordenone, Italy. Their performances must match the style and pacing of those films which they accompany and the knowledge of a wide range of musical styles is required, as well as the stamina to play for films which occasionally run more than three hours in length, without a pause.

Theatre[link]

The Ligue d'improvisation montréalaise (LIM) is a league of improvisational theater based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Dance[link]

Dance improvisation as a choreographic tool: Improvisation is used as a choreographic tool in dance composition. Experimenting with the concepts of shape, space, time, and energy while moving without inhibition or cognitive thinking can create unique and innovative movement designs, spatial configuration, dynamics, and unpredictable rhythms. Improvisation without inhibition allows the choreographer to connect to their deepest creative self, which in turn clears the way for pure invention.

Contact improvisation: a form developed in 1973, that is now practiced around the world. Contact improvisation originated from the movement studies of Steve Paxton in the 1970s and developed through the continued exploration of the Judson Dance Theater. It is a dance form based on sharing weight, partnering, playing with weight and unpredictable outcomes.

Comedy[link]

Improvisational comedy is a theater art performed throughout the world and has had on-again, off-again status throughout history.

Some of the more famous improv theaters and training centers in the world include: i.O. (formerly ImprovOlympic) in Chicago and Los Angeles, The Second City in Chicago and Toronto, The Players Workshop in Chicago, National Comedy Theatre in San Diego, New York and Phoenix, Upright Citizens Brigade, The Peoples Improv Theater, Eight is NEVER Enough in New York City, the Groundlings, BATS Improv in San Francisco, Wing-It Productions in Seattle, Philly Improv Theater in Philadelphia], Dudley Riggs BraveNew Workshop in Minneapolis, ComedySportz in Milwaukee, Washington Improv Theater in Washington D.C., and Theatresports in Calgary, Canada.

There are also many well known university improv teams, including Theatre Strike Force at the University of Florida.

Notable pioneers in the field of improvisation, comedic or otherwise, include Viola Spolin, Paul Sills, David Shepherd, Del Close, Josephine Forsberg, Stan Wells, Gary Austin, Martin de Maat, and Keith Johnstone. Notable performers include: Paul Merton, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Robert Townsend, Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles, Ross Noble, Wayne Brady, Jonathan Winters, Bill Chott, and Gil Christner.

Poetry[link]

Traditional epic poetry included improvisation moments where the reciter flattered the audience (especially the authorities) or to substitute a forgotten passage. There are also societies that value improvised poetry as a genre, often as a debate or "poetic joust", where improvisators compete for public approval. Some of these impromptu poems are later recorded in paper or transmitted orally.^{[citation needed]}

Some of these forms also include humour. But Michel Ducom established himself within Bordeaux poetical improvisation movement in the 1990s but has since composed and performed with a wide range of poets working in diverse poetical areas (Bernat Manciet, Serge Pey, Méryl Marchetti…). The emergence of poetical improvisation, like previous developments in French poetry, was largely tied to the free jazz experience.^{[citation needed]}

Sculpture[link]

Sculpture often relies on the enlargement of a small model or maquette to create the final work in a chosen material. Where the material is plastic such as clay, a working structure or armature often needs to be built to allow the pre-determined design to be realized. Alan Thornhill's method for working with clay abandons the maquette,^[2] seeing it as ultimately deadening to creativity.^[3] Without the restrictions of the armature, a clay matrix of elements allows that when recognisable forms start to emerge, they can be essentially disregarded by turning the work, allowing for infinite possibility and the chance for the unforeseen to emerge more powerfully at a later stage.

Moving from adding and taking away to purely reductive working, the architectural considerations of turning the work are eased considerably but continued removal of material through the rejection of forms deemed too obvious can mean one ends up with nothing. Former pupil Jon Edgar uses Thornhill's method as a creative extension to direct carving in stone and wood.

Film[link]

The director Mike Leigh uses lengthy improvisations developed over a period of weeks to build characters and story lines for his films. He starts with some sketch ideas of how he thinks things might develop but does not reveal all his intentions with the cast who discover their fate and act out their responses as their destinies are gradually revealed, including significant aspects of their lives which will not subsequently be shown onscreen. The final filming draws on dialogue and actions that have been recorded during the improvisation period.

The film company ACT 2 CAM uses improvisation to create the characters, contexts and plot for their films. Improvisation also forms a large part of the final filmed product.

Television[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Improvisation was originally rarely used on dramatic television. A major exception was the situation comedy Mork and Mindy where star Robin Williams, famed for this kind of performing, was allotted specific sections in each episode where he was allowed to perform freely.

In the 1990s, a TV show called Whose Line Is It Anyway? popularized shortform comedic improvisation; the original version aired on British television, but it was later revived and popularized in the United States, with Drew Carey as its host. With improvisation becoming a more common aspect of television, there have been television shows which have garnered great success by utilizing partial improvisation to create longer-form programs with more dramatic flavor while some shows are completely improvised in terms of lines, including: The Office, Parks and Recreation, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Significant Others, The Loop, Sons & Daughters, 10 Items or Less, Dog Bites Man, Halfway Home, Reno 911!,The League, Free Ride, Campus Ladies, Players, and After Lately.

In Canada, the Global Television soap opera Train 48, based on the Australian series Going Home, uses a form of structured improvisation, in which actors improvise dialog from written plot outlines. Australia's Thank God You're Here is a game show where celebrities are put into scenes they know nothing about and have to improvise.

Engineering[link]

Improvisation in engineering is to solve a problem with the tools and materials immediately at hand. A classic example of such improvisation was the re-engineering of carbon dioxide scrubbers with the materials on hand during the Apollo 13 space mission.

Engineering improvisations may be needed because of emergencies, embargo, obsolescence of a product and the loss of manufacturer support, or just a lack of funding appropriate for a better solution.

The popular television program MacGyver used as its gimmick a hero who could solve almost any problem with jury rigged devices from everyday materials, a Swiss Army knife and some duct tape.

• 

  SAGEM myX-55 mobile phone with very strong signs of use that, despite widespread use as a bottle opener, is still functional

• 

  "Improvised shield" JTF-GTMO authorities report was used to attack guards on May 18, 2006.

Improvised weapons[link]

Improvised weapons are often used by guerrillas, insurgents and criminals as conventional weapons may be unavailable. Such weapons vary in sophistication from simple sharpened sticks, to petrol bombs and homemade napalm, to IEDs and makeshift bomber aircraft.

See also[link]

• Music for People

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Abbot, John. 2009. Improvisation in Rehearsal. Nick Hern Books. ISBN 978-1-85459-523-2.
• Abbot, John. 2007. The Improvisation Book. Nick Hern Books. ISBN 978-1-85459-961-2.
• Johnston, Chris. 2006. The Improvisation Game: Discovering the Secrets of Spontaneous Performance. Nick Hern Books. ISBN 978-1-85459-668-0.
• Madson, Patricia Ryan. 2005. "Improv Wisdom: Don't Prepare, Just Show Up". Bell Tower Books. ISBN 1-4000-8188-2.
• Nachmanovitch, Stephen. 1990. Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art. Penguin/Tarcher. ISBN 0-87477-578-7 (cloth); ISBN 0-87477-631-7 (pbk).

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Improvisation

Look up improvisation or stop-gap in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Improvisation at the Open Directory Project
• Critical studies in improvisation

Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian performing in Burgas, Bulgaria in August 2010.
Background information
Native name	Սերժ Թանգեան
Birth name	Serj Tankian
Born	(1967-08-21) August 21, 1967 (age 44) Beirut, Lebanon[1]
Genres	Heavy metal, experimental, alternative metal, progressive rock, alternative rock, art rock, classical
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, poet, political activist
Instruments	Vocal, piano, keyboards, synthesizer, sampler, theremin, guitar, bass guitar, violin, harmonica, melodica, bouzouki, dulcimer[disambiguation needed ], drums
Years active	1992–present
Labels	Serjical Strike, Reprise, American, Columbia, Axis of Justice
Associated acts	System of a Down, Axis of Justice, The F.C.C.
Website	www.serjtankian.com

Serj Tankian (Western Armenian: Սերժ Թանգեան [ˈsɛɾʒ tʰɑnˈkʰjɑn]; born August 21, 1967) is a Lebanese-born Armenian-American singer–songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, playwright, record producer, poet, and political activist. He is best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, keyboardist, and occasional live rhythm guitarist of the rock band System of a Down.

During his musical career, Tankian has released five albums with System of a Down, one with Arto Tunçboyacıyan (Serart), as well as three solo albums Elect the Dead, Imperfect Harmonies and Harakiri. A live orchestral version of Elect the Dead incorporating the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra named Elect the Dead Symphony was released. In 2002, Tankian and Rage Against the Machine/Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello co-founded a non-profit political activist organization, Axis of Justice. Tankian also founded the music label Serjical Strike Records.

Tankian is ranked 26th in the Hit Parader's Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time.

On August 12, 2011, Tankian was awarded the Armenian Prime Minister's Medal for his contributions to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the advancement of music.^[2]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Tankian was born in Beirut, Lebanon on August 21, 1967.^[3] At age seven, Serj Tankian moved with his parents to Los Angeles, California.^[3] In his youth, he attended a school for Armenian-Americans, Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School,^[4] which was also attended by Tankian's future System of a Down bandmates Daron Malakian and Shavo Odadjian.^[5] Tankian was accepted into California State University, Northridge. This is where Tankian first began to play instruments and write songs.^[3]

Soil and System of a Down (1994–2006)[link]

The early beginnings of System of a Down lie in a band named Soil (not to be confused with the Chicago-based band SOiL) with Tankian on vocals & keyboards, Daron Malakian on vocals & lead guitar, Dave Hakopyan on bass and Domingo Loranio on drums. The band hired Shavo Odadjian as their then-manager but for him to later join as rhythm guitarist. Loriano and Hakopyan later left the band feeling that it wasn't going anywhere, leading to Soil splitting up.

After Soil split up, Tankian, Odadjian and Malakian formed a new band they called System of a Down, after a poem Malakian wrote called Victims of a Down. Their original drummer was Ontronik Khachaturian, with whom they had spent time playing with in Soil, though he was later replaced by John Dolmayan after breaking his hand shortly before a gig the band had been booked to play, giving Dolmayan the last-minute call up. The band quickly began touring the Southern California rock clubs, and began to attract a strong following.

[edit] Elect the Dead (2007–2010)

Tankian's breakthrough as a solo artist came with the release of his debut record Elect the Dead. The first singles from Elect the Dead are "The Unthinking Majority" and "Empty Walls". The music video "Feed Us" was released on the Swedish^[6] and UK^[7] MTV. Tankian appeared on MTV's You Rock The Deuce to promote Elect the Dead.^{[citation needed]} A music video was directed and filmed for every song on the record, each by unique directors. Tankian explained, "I asked each of the directors for their visual interpretation of my work. They were asked not to write treatments and that they could make whatever they liked. The results have been overwhelmingly amazing!"^[8] Some music videos were initially released exclusively to those who purchased the limited edition of Elect the Dead, while all of the music videos, except "Money", have since been publicly released on Tankian's website and YouTube channel. Some videos have alternative versions which were originally released as well, but later altered.^{[citation needed]}

Three different promo versions of the album have surfaced to the public. The instrumental promotional version, issued by Serjical Strike/Reprise Records and intended for the music and movie industry, contains instrumental versions of the twelve album tracks. Another promotional version, issued by Reprise Records and made only for individual reviewers, features the album in final master form. This promotional CD-R, which was labeled "Smart Talk" as a codename for "Serj Tankian" to prevent leaking by unauthorized persons, also indicates that the album was finalized prior to August 20, 2007 (2007-08-20).^[9] Before this a similar but undated promo, also under the name 'Smart Talk', was issued featuring the final versions of the songs, albeit not yet mastered.^{[citation needed]} Whilst the printed track list on this version is identical the released album, tracks ten and eleven are in fact juxtaposed on the promo itself.

The official tour for Elect the Dead commenced on October 12, 2007 with a show at Chicago's Vic theater. Roughly one thousand people attended the first concert. Although Tankian had stated he would not be performing any material by his former band, System of a Down, he performed "Charades" and "Blue", songs co-written by Daron Malakian, the guitarist of System of a Down. "Blue" had previously appeared on their Fourth Demo Tape in 1998, and Charades was attempted during the 2005 Mezmerize/Hypnotize sessions, but never released (although a short video clip of Tankian and Dolmayan playing the song in a recording studio was featured on "the Making of Mezmerize/Hypnotize"). Although it is originally a song restricted to piano and vocals, Tankian used his backing band, the Flying Cunts of Chaos (F.C.C.), to provide guitars, drums, and bass.^{[citation needed]} The songs "Beethoven's Cunt", Empty Walls, and Sky Is Over are available as downloadable content for Rock Band. A portion of the song "Lie Lie Lie" is currently featured in the opening title sequence of NBC's Fear Itself, a horror anthology show from the creators of Masters of Horror, and can be viewed on the show's main website.^{[citation needed]}

More recently, he sang with Les Rita Mitsouko on the song "Terminal Beauty". Also, he sang with the band Fair to Midland during a live improvisational version of their song "Walls of Jericho", from the album Fables from a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is True, which was a massive hit with fans. He often collaborates with his close friend, director Diran Noubar on various projects, including the voice-over of Noubar's Armenia, a Country Under Blockade. Noubar played some guitar on Tankian's Elect the Dead album on the track "Saving Us" and directed the music video for "Baby".

Serj Tankian performing in 2005

Tankian is also politically involved. Together with Tom Morello, he founded the organization Axis of Justice. Tankian is a New Zealand resident and has a secondary vacation dwelling there.^[10] There has been a misconception that he intends to stay in New Zealand until the Iraq War is over, but as stated in an interview, Tankian has no intention of doing so. He often speaks publicly against violence and injustice in the world. Tankian released a new song "Fears" in November 2008 exclusively in support of Amnesty International's Global Write-A-Thon.^[11]

On March 16, 2009, Serj performed with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in New Zealand, an orchestral version of the album Elect the Dead. The live performance was captured in a CD/DVD titled Elect the Dead Symphony which was released on March 9, 2010.

Tankian co-wrote a musical with the American playwright Steven Sater. It is based on the Ancient Greek tragedy Prometheus Bound. It will open at the American Repertory Theater on March 14, 2011.^[12][13]

In 2009, Tankian collaborated with the band Viza (previously known as Visa) for their track "Viktor".^[14] Viza is signed to Tankian's Serjical Strike label.

On February 15, 2010, Serj Tankian released a new single, "The Charade". The song is available as a digital download on iTunes.

[edit] Imperfect Harmonies (2010–2012)

Tankian's second solo album was originally due in 2009. It is said to be more of a jazz and orchestral based sound. Said Tankian of the second album, "I'm structuring the next record kind of like a jazz orchestral. I've got a full orchestra interested, so I want this giant electric guitar in the air to be played by a full orchestra. I want the orchestra to be the electric guitar. I want to make an orchestra do what it's never done before, like a GG Allin type orchestra. Think of that."^[15] The album had the working title Music Without Borders, however, the final album title is Imperfect Harmonies. On June 23, 2010, a promo single from his upcoming album Imperfect Harmonies was released called "Borders Are". The first radio single from Imperfect Harmonies, "Left Of Center", was released on July 13, 2010. A third single, "Disowned Inc." was released on August 9, 2010. Imperfect Harmonies was released on September 21, 2010. Preceding the album's release, two contests were announced (one consisting of brainteasers related to the album/song titles, the other an art contest) in which fans could win prizes such as Tankian's autograph and merchandise. On August 22, 2010, a music video for Left Of Center was released on Tankian's MySpace account.

The premiere date for Tankian and Sater's Prometheus Bound at the American Repertory Theater is February 25, 2011. The singer has said that collaborating on the show has been a great learning experience for him. "I’ve been using a lot of my archives, a lot of different types of music that I had already put together for underscoring and what not," he said. "It’s quite diverse, from noise to jazz to electronic stuff to hip-hop songs to rock songs to cool, piano dark underscores, and that’s a whole different bag of tricks there because it’s always evolving. Unlike a film score that’s very linear and you get a scene to score for, this is something where you do another workshop and one song is gone, that underscore changes to 20 seconds and they need something else on the spot. Everything’s always changing until the show comes, so it’s quite interesting."^[16]

In January 2011 Tankian released a music video for his song Reconstructive Demonstrations from his album Imperfect Harmonies. Tankian also announced on his Facebook page, during the video's release, that a new EP entitled Imperfect Remixes would be released sometime within 2011. On February 3, Serj uploaded a photo of him singing into a microphone onto his Facebook fan page, accompanied with the description "New music video coming soon..." On March 1, Serj released Imperfect Remixes and the music video for Goodbye, a remix of Gate 21 from Imperfect Harmonies.

[edit] System of a Down reunion and Harakiri (2011-Future)

On November 29, 2010, following several weeks of internet rumors, System of a Down officially announced that they will play shows in Europe during Festivals and in North America, mostly in US. Dates are between May and July 2011.^[17] Among the announced tour dates included UK's Download Festival, Switzerland's Greenfield Festival, Germany's Rock am Ring/Rock im Park, Sweden's Metaltown, Austria's Nova Rock Festival and Finland's Provinssirock. The band gave a single concert in Olympic Sports Complex of Moscow in June 2011.^[18] In their reunion statement posted on their website, the band was unclear as to the extent of their reformation. It read, "We have no master plan of sorts—we are playing these shows simply because we want to play together again as a band and for you, our amazing fans."^[19] Dates have been announced in the official System of a Down website.

In early July 2011, Serj posted a video on YouTube showing two samples of new songs. During the video he said "next year". In multiple interviews he has stated that he has been working on a Rock record that will be released in 2011, and some side projects including jazz, electronic, and symphonic records. John Dolmayan has also confirmed the solo album, as well as confirmed that a new System album will be made^{[citation needed]}, but not for at least a year. This is due to Serj being in New Zealand as well as touring for his new album in 2012. It has been confirmed that his newest album is named Harakiri and will be released on July 10, 2012. This will be the first of 4 new albums to be released in the near future.^[20] The first single from this album is called "Figure It Out" and was released on May 1st. ^[21] Song has later appeared on Serj Tankian official YouTube channel. On May 30th, 2012, is announced that "Cornucopia" will be the second single taken from Harakiri and it will be released on June 12th.

Animal rights[link]

Tankian has taken a stance supporting animal rights. He also has become a vegetarian who has strong feelings against the establishment of industrial slaughterhouses. In an interview with PETA, he claimed his change was due to "touring and its variety of edible crap," and also he felt it was "instinctive somewhat." Furthermore, he also feels the need for respect towards 'mother earth'.^[22]

In July 2009, Serj signed a PETA petition against the slaughtering methods of chickens in KFC slaughterhouses.^[23]

The F.C.C.[link]

The F.C.C. (Flying Cunts of Chaos) was Serj's backing band when he played live up until 2009.^[24]

Final line-up

• Mario Pagliarulo  – bass, vocals
• Erwin Khachikian  – keyboards, piano, synthesizers, vocals
• Troy Zeigler  – drums, vocals
• Dan Monti  – guitar, vocals
• Jeff Mallow  – guitar, vocals (2008–present)

Past members

• Larry "Ler" LaLonde  – guitar, vocals (2007–2008)

Discography[link]

Solo

• Elect the Dead (2007)
• Imperfect Harmonies (2010)
• Harakiri (2012)
• Orca

With System of a Down

• System of a Down (1998)
• Toxicity (2001)
• Steal This Album! (2002)
• Mezmerize (2005)
• Hypnotize (2005)

With Serart

• Serart (2003)

With Buckethead and various artists

• Enter The Chicken (2005)
• Profanation (Preparation for a Coming Darkness) (2008)

With Tony Iommi

• Iommi (2000)

With Wyclef Jean

• Carnival Vol. II: Memoirs of an Immigrant (2007)

Bibliography[link]

• Cool Gardens, 2001, MTV Books
• Glaring Through Oblivion, 2011, It Books ^[25]

Awards and nominations[link]

System of a Down has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, of which has won one in 2006 for Best Hard Rock Performance for the song B.Y.O.B.. The band has also been nominated for several Kerrang! and MTV awards.

Grammy Awards

General

• In 2005, System of a Down won for Best Alternative Act in the Europe Music Awards
• In 2006, System of a Down won the "MTV Good Woodie Award" for their song "Question!"
• In 2006, System of a Down's song "Toxicity" was #14 on the VH1 Top 40 Metal Songs List

References[link]

External links[link]

• Serj Tankian's official website
• Serjical Strike official website
• Brazilian Fan Site
• System of a Down's official website
• Serj Tankian at the Internet Movie Database

Roman Danylo (born Calgary, Alberta) is a Canadian comedian, improviser and actor based out of Vancouver, British Columbia. He currently stars in the CTV television network show Comedy Inc.

Career[link]

As a teen, Danylo ran a weekly sketch review show as a student at Sir Winston Churchill High School in Calgary. Among the skits he performed was the recurring Studs are us! which he created with his friend Peter Oldring.

Roman then went on to study with Keith Johnstone at the Loose Moose Theatre in Calgary (Loose Moose is where Theatresports originated and is often credited as being one of the founding institutions of humorous improvisational theatre). He also worked in several local comedy clubs with friends Oldring, Albert Howell and Graeme Davies and performed with Theatre Calgary. He participated in various CBC Radio dramas as well.

He has performed at the HBO Comedy Festival in Aspen, Colorado and Montreal's Just for Laughs Festival and also starred in the UPN series Off Limits with Aisha Tyler. Danylo has been featured on NBC's Late Friday, Jeremiah, The Outer Limits and Sliders.

However, Roman is best known in Canada and has appeared in several Canadian series, including CBC's Comics, These Arms of Mine, Made in Canada with Rick Mercer, the Just For Laughs Improv Championships, Slightly Bent on The Comedy Network and Corner Gas on CTV with Brent Butt.

In 2002, Danylo joined fellow comedians Jessica Holmes and Kurt Smeaton as a writer and cast member on The Holmes Show. Following the show's cancellation, he was offered a starring role in Comedy Inc. while he was in Los Angeles during pilot season.

Some of his recurring characters include "Vlad, the Russian Romantic", "Tantric Sex Master" and "Ken Shawn of WFTO-TV News" (usually paired with Nikki Payne as WFTO's long-suffering weathergirl).

Co-stars on Comedy Inc. include Aurora Browne, Jen Goodhue, Terry McGurrin, Winston Spear, Jenn Robertson, Gavin Stephens, Ian Sirota and Albert Howell. The series recently won the Gold Medal Award for "Best TV Variety Program" at the New York Festivals for the second year in a row and was picked up by the U.S. cable network Spike TV in April 2005. Comedy Inc. was also nominated for a 2006 Canadian Comedy Award for best writing in a television series.

For his performance in CBC's Western Alienation Comedy Hour, Roman won a Leo Award in 2004 for excellence in British Columbia film and television. That same year, he was nominated for a Gemini for his work on Comedy Inc..

Danylo also performs with the Canadian improv troupe Urban Improv in Vancouver.

Selected filmography[link]

External links[link]

• Official web site
• Roman Danylo at the Internet Movie Database
• Roman Danylo on ComedyNightLife.com
• Comedy Inc. on The Comedy Network
• Canoe JAM - Article about Roman Danylo.