Character Development

Characters are an important tool for an improviser. Characters help us develop scenes and progress situations that have lost momentum. There are two types of characters, impressions and self creations. An impression is a replication of a celebrities voice and mannerisms. A self creation is a character base upon real life people or situations. For example a character named Minerva is played by WSU Improv member Devin. Minerva is an elderly woman who is not afraid to bring up old anecdotes to help an audience member in their life. Mission Improvable's member member Calvin plays a hardened convict who is working as a "scared straight" councilor and enjoys his job a little too much. Characters can come from anywhere. Inspiration can come from that guy who works at the grocery store, your friend who is always self rightous, or possibly your creepy uncle chad. Check out this impression videos for a deeper understanding.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAz1Ih2delU&feature=fvst