The Indirect History of Improvised Poetry

(10 min read)

 Introduction 

The Indirect History of Improv Poetry 

What is An Improv Poet? 

“For a living?” says the customer. 

“Yeah, I perform here in the park, and sometimes at events.” I say. 

“Ah, interesting,” she says. 

After we chat some more on the park floor, we rise up. 

I hand her custom poem, and she Venmo’s $20.  

As she walks away, I look out around the park and wonder, do I need a typewriter? 

Obviously, no.  

I could handwrite it like Peter,  

recite it like the 60-second poet,  

or DM it to her when I’m done. 

With the water fountain shooting behind me, 

a question hits—how did improv poetry happen? 

Waves in the Ocean 

Go ask a street poet who inspired them. 

The guy on TikTok. A guy in New Orleans. 

For me, it was a thumbnail in a Google search. 

Now, ask the poet who started it... 

Luckily, AI and Google found a few tsunamis.  

Ten tsunamis. 

Starting with prehistoric tribes,  

ending with poetry groups. 

During this blog, you may ask, how does the Epic of Gilgamesh  

directly influence The Illad? Two stories—3000 years apart. 

They don’t. They sorta flirted. 

Give an art form 3000 years to spread 

its waves across new land, the epic will spritz new cities. 

With that said, what could have been the first wave that started the magic of poetry?

Before Writing (2.5 mil - 3000 BCE) 

A starry night around a cave fire. 

Last week, it was a river. 

The other time, Stonehenge—  

An animal-furred man tells a story 

with rhyme, repetition, rhythm—magic. 

No words are left behind.  

Your children will hear the story.  

Your grandchildren will hear the story. 

Thousands of stories will spread beyond the horizon 

where your son points towards. 

Once deceased, now reincarnated  

with a seed plow to sow seeds. 

In the evening, before dinner,  

you pray at the ziggurat. 

You sit with the village on the floor. 

The priest opens with an excerpt from “The Epic of Gilgamesh”. 

Lyres and harps grace the background 

as you lean back. 

The mystical practice of story-audience spreads from Mesopotamia to 17th century England.  

Check it out: 

Egyptian Scribes recite the Book of the Dead (2055 - 1650 BCE) 

Grecian rhapsodists recite the Iliad and the Odessey (8th century BCE) 

Indian Sages recite the Mahabharata and Ramayana (5th – 1st BCE) 

Then, the long story was replaced by the short poem: 

Psalm singers recite the Bible’s psalms (1st century CE) 

Scandinavian Skalds recite poems honoring their lords and war heroes (9th – 12th CE) 

Japanese Court Poets perform and compete in waka poetry (10th – 12th century CE) 

French Troubadours recite poetry on chivalry and courtly love (11th – 13th CE) 

German Minnesingers also recite love poems (12th – 14th CE) 

Finally, a mix of mysticism, story, poetry, & love: 

Elizabethan Poets create plays and poems about the human condition (16th – 17th CE) 

You return from the Ziggurat ready for bed, 

thinking about Gilgamesh’s journey to become immortal. 

Tell Me a Topic (1450-1750) 

Poetry is immortal. 

Poetry wants people. 

Rumors of Tommaso Sgricci 

And Corilla Olimpica stirs excitement in the crowd. 

Both improvisatori’s step on stage 

and request a topic--from the audience? 

One boy shouts, “Amore.” 

The adults laugh. 

Tommaso and Corilla look at each other 

and improvise a poem. 

A marble-shaped rose  

cracks and releases  

its renaissance. 

The crowd cheers. The boy leaves a tip. 

After the show, the event patrons patronize them. 

The next day, the improvisatori horseback ride to their next event 

in Rome. The next day and month? Across the country. 

Break Free (1855) 

Lightweight (1912) 

Written and Recited  

On The Road (1957) 

Before Sunrise (1995)

Winter buries Chicago. 

Let’s fly to Vienna, shall we? 

(Yes, you are alive, and you have a lover) 

On your first night in the old city, you stroll the city’s rim along the river. 

Someone calls you from behind. 

A lanky man in a disheveled suit offers to write you a poem. 

He requests a topic and a tip,  

only if you like the poem. 

You and your lover agree and provide the prompt 

“Milkshake.” 

He returns to his journal on the ledge 

and begins. 

A minute later, he rips the paper from the journal, 

and walks towards you to hand you the paper. 

Your lover hands the poem back and says, 

“Will you read it to us?” 

The poet obliges. 

You smile. You tip him. He returns to the ledge, 

cigarette in hand. 

That was a scene from the film “Before Sunrise.” 

You need to watch it 

in heaven. I tricked you.  

Today’s World  

World Wide Web (2000’s) 

It is 2014. I finish my fall semester at Hunter College  

with my writing teacher cheerleading me to read and write poetry. 

Throughout the winter break, I google: 

“Career in poetry” 

“How do poets make money?” 

“Rich poets” 

No poet has become rich from writing poetry. 

So, I refine my prompt: 

“Contemporary poetry” 

“2014 poetry” 

“Street poetry” 

I find a photo of a man, his typewriter, and his sign that reads “Free Poetry”. 

Summer of 2015, I buy a typewriter and set up a table by a bus stop outside the Ancient Playground around Central Park.  

Within a month, someone asks me, 

“This reminds me of a scene in Before Sunrise. Have you seen it?” 

Event Poets (2010’s) 

One December afternoon, I walk through a subway tunnel 

and see an older man typing poems by the tiled wall. 

I approach him for a poem. 

“One second,” he says. 

He gets up, and walks toward a woman playing a flute  

and soccer kicks her tip box. 

“I told you to stop playing near me,” he says to the woman. 

As subway goers help the women collect her loose change, 

he returns to his table, and says, 

“I can’t write poems right now. Sorry.” 

As I walk away stunned, my gut tells me he won’t be back. 

So, a week later, I return to the tunnel 

with my typewriter set up. 

I get there and no one is typing. 

Within a few weeks of poeming, a customer invites me to type poetry for their gallery. 

Over the years, I meet other poets who perform at events. 

A few of them hired through poetry groups. 

Curious, I google “new york typewriter poetry group”. There was one in New York. 

As of 2024, three.  

Regardless, this is good for typewriter poets. 

Just imagine, if you can work in New York, 

then there is work everywhere for a poet.