r/improv

Let's say you're doing a scene and it's a fine scene maybe not the best scene, but then someone else, probably out of nerves, panics and throws away the whole reality and relationship that you've established in an effort to get a laugh or "save" the scene. Things like "you've been dreaming!" or "aaaand cut!" or "I don't wanna play make believe anymore"

Had this happen the other day to a scene and it feels like the rug being pulled out from under you. I wish I had handled it more smoothly - what have you found that works and is supportive of the scene, the show, and most importantly, that newer improviser who was likely acting out of anxiety and not trying to be a jerk?

Hey everyone! Some background: I’m taking both short form and long form improv classes (currently in Level 3 of 4 at short form and in Level 3 of 5 of long form). I’m SUPER stoked to be auditioning for ComedySportz! I love doing improv and having fun on stage with others!

Just a little nervous (re: a lot nervous), so I’m looking for some last minute advice and/or support from the wonderful community here at r/improv!

TIA!

I’d like some advice on how to work with someone who often brings the scene to a sexual or raunchy place that I’m uncomfortable with. It’s hard to be creative when you’re feeling what’s happening is offensive.
Has anyone else experienced this and have found ways to work with it?

I’ve seen a lot of posts over the past several months asking for advice on how to handle other players who do X or do Y. Sometimes the poster is uncomfortable with behavior or frustrated by the other player’s moves. The implication is “how do I stop my scene partner from doing x or doing y.“

If I could give one piece of blanket advice, it’s that you will experience all kinds of players throughout a lifetime of doing improv – short attention span players, always going blue players, players who have three stock characters they always use, touchy feely players, standstill players, players who will walk through the obvious space object table that you were just setting up dinner on! – and one of the best skills you can learn is how to play with all of them and still create successful scenes.

Learning how to play with, and sometimes play around, performers who throw you curveballs is an invaluable skill. Rather than look on difficult scene partners as “ruining the scene,“ or “making it all about them,“ relish those moments and learn from them. What can you do to justify what they just said? How can you get the scene back on track? Or how can you follow the new track that this person has just laid down?

Make yourself a servant of the scene, a searcher for the unusual and the entertaining, and an advocate for the audience.

Here’s a couple strategies. I’ve used over the years to change my thinking on working with “difficult“ partners.

1. If you wanna call out behavior on stage, whether it’s nonsensical or inappropriate or something in between, make it about calling out the character that your partner is playing and not the player themselves.
2. When your partner’s offer is so out of left field that your initial reaction is to reject it, go the opposite direction and over accept it. This might get you to crazy town pretty quickly, but it’s a way to quickly heighten the scene and maybe get that scene to a fun and quick end.
3. If a scene partner contradicts you on stage, go with it, don’t ignore it. Justify it. Does your scene partner suffer from amnesia? Are they face blind? Are they living in an alternate reality or parallel universe? Justify. Justify. Justify.
4. If you have a teacher or director guiding you, talk to them about the performance. If you’re independently working with someone who you find difficult to work with, talk to them frankly, but make most of the comments about yourself rather than about them. “When you did X I was confused for a minute since I didn’t know where you were coming from so I did y.“ “ i’m not super comfortable playing Blue on stage. If you throw a suggestion that’s sexual while while performing, I might redirect that. Just so you know.“

More than anything, try to be a kind and generous performer, and a missionary of funny.

I’d love to hear what other people are doing to help them overcome performances with performers who they find difficult to work with.

Edit: I’m being mostly hyperbolic and I know what the mag 7 is

I’ve met so many improvisers who have tech jobs at major investment banks and they aren’t even your typical finance bros.

You ask your scene partner what they do for work and there’s a good chance it’s at a Mag 7 company. Why does this happen?????

Hi all! I know this is a community for actors, but I hope you'll allow this non-actor to pick your brain. I took a career development workshop this weekend, and one of my biggest blocks is personal confidence -- speaking up and taking up space. I'm good at what I do, but I undermine myself by being afraid to be seen and heard. Someone suggested improv to me and it feels like the scariest, but most right next thing for me to do.

Can anyone here suggest an improv school, class or teacher that's best suited for folks not in the comedy / acting / performance space?

This little wallflower is hoping to bloom and would appreciate any and all suggestions. Thank you so much!

I’m in an indie improv group with 7+ people, and I’ve been struggling with the group dynamic lately.

There’s one person in the group who has very big, loud, performative energy. In group conversations pre shows, a lot of the attention tends to anchor around her stories, dating life, or whatever she’s focused on. In scenes, there can also be interruptions or a lack of give-and-take. I often leave feeling like I wasn’t really listened to or seen, which is frustrating because I haven’t felt this way in other improv spaces.

To be fair, other people in the group don’t seem as bothered by it. They seem able to take space when they need it, encourage her, and keep playing. So I’m trying to figure out how much of this is a group dynamic issue vs. something I need to work on in myself.

I’m not super quiet. I can be vocal too ..but I think I sometimes don’t project my ideas with enough confidence or clarity, especially when someone else’s energy is very dominant.

Part of me wants to quit and find a group with more emotional intelligence, balance, and give-and-take. Another part of me wonders if this is actually a good opportunity to practice taking up space, trusting my impulses, and being more visibly myself even when the room is loud.

For improvisers who have been in groups like this: how do you handle it? How do you know when to leave a group versus when to use the discomfort as growth? And how do you take space without feeling like you have to become loud or pushy yourself?

Hello all! Curious on what you all use to ask for suggestions from the audience beyond just "shout something out!" I feel like i used to always hear "something that fits in a breadbox" but who uses a breadbox any more. Curious to hear what you all use to get good suggestions from the audience for line games or sets etc

So, the town I live in really doesn't have a lot of opportunity to get stage time as an improviser. There is a little community class that runs every week, but no actual venue where we can gig.

This town does have a comedy club, and they get pretty sizeable crowds for their open mic. I'll be real, though, it's kind of a tough crowd. A lot of people who just view it as a free night out. They talk over the comedians, they can be a little hard to reach.

All the same, having no other obvious options, I was thinking about taking a friend and doing a twoprov scene there for like 4 or 5 minutes. I was wondering if anyone here has ever tried anything like that?

I can already predict the advice, "you won't know until you try" and there is obvious wisdom in that. But, if anyone had any thoughts on how to approach something like that, I'd appreciate it! Thanks

hi, ive recently started getting involved with the improv scene in my community and i love musical improv especially! i’ve been a “make up a song about what im doing”guy since as long as i can remember, so improv - and the sub genre of singing improvisation - has a huge draw to me. i certainly like to sing, but im not very good at it. im ok with singing like shit if it’s just for myself, it just might not lend itself well on stage alongside better singers 😞 anyone who got into musical improv not knowing how to sing have any tips or advice for someone like me? or advice from anyone with experience on this lol

Hey Everyone! I love performing improv a lot. It's such an exhilarating art form. I've noticed something though that I'm a little worried about and want to make sure I manage in a healthy way. I'm flying HIGH after a show. I have so much energy and I'm bouncing off the walls. Then sometimes by later that night, definitely by the next day, I experience almost a depressive low. This low is the reason why I think so many performers & artists end up developing unhealthy habits. I find playing the piano helps me, but I'm curious what some of the rest of you do to reset in a healthy way?

Hi everyone!

I'm part of a short form improv team that puts on "family friendly" shows, which basically means regular improv but PG.

Kids are welcome to the shows. But the shows are not "made" for kids. It's made for adults and a kid could enjoy it.

On Saturday we had one of these shows and there was a 5 year old in the front row giggling at all the goofy stuff we did and it made me think, how cute it would be to put on a show for an elementary school?

I'm working on pitching to the team that we put on some shows specifically geared towards children's enjoyment.

I've never heard of a team doing this and googling isn't bringing much up.

We would need to decide what would make the show more entertaining for kids. Maybe I just need to find some reading on children's entertainment. But it would also be cool if I could study a team that's already done this and has videos posted!

Anything helps!

Thank you.

Curious how much detailed, direct feedback people get on their improv skills. I find in most classes and workshops where I am at most feedback is generalized, directed to the group, and makes it hard to know where you stand. Even when there is side coaching on the scene, it usually is coached in a way that is more generic than this is what you specifically need to work on or are specifically good at. Will get some feedback after a run or show that X or Y was funny or good but again, done so that is done for everyone to an equal degree.

I love that my theater wants every one to feel safe and accepted, but its also hard for me to know if I am any good, what my particular strengths are, and targeted areas to develop.

But when at festivals, I find the workshops are similar. Is this just how improv feedback is?

This has been one of the games that we do almost every show on our team. We usually divide it into three segments: starting off normally, then adding a genre, and then adding an accent (but not one that would be problematic for white people).

Lately, people have voiced feeling uneasy about doing accents so they've been trying to find a substitute but are having trouble staying on one. One person tried an animal, but it didn't really stick. We used to do singing but after introducing 'Sing It' into the lineup, it feels redundant. Others have tried asking the audience what happens next in the story, like introducing another character. None of these feel as strong as the accent.

So I'm curious as to what you guys usually do with conducted story if you're not doing accents for your third chapter.

Hiiii.

I am a couple of years into improv, and I am terrible at monologues. Maybe not "terrible" but definitely out of practice. My team has moved to a Pretty Flower format and begins with just a single word suggestion, but I have begun coaching a student team that takes a word and does a living room open with a sort of mutant Harold format.

All that to say! Going to be vulnerable here! I used a word generator and "voice to text" a monologue into my notes app as quickly and thoughtfully as I could. I feel that to help them I need to rebuild that monologue muscle. I learn best by watching others. So I present you with a challenge!

I'm going to drop a word, and share my quick notes app rant, and would love for you to do the same! Any association, A-B, A-C, whatever! Up to 60-90 seconds or shorter.

Suggestion is: seasickness

The thought of being trapped on a cruise ship terrifies me. So many people I know, like my teammate James, go on a cruise like every year. Not only am I certain that I would be insanely ill, but also probably highly anxious and paranoid. Like many other people who are now in their 40’s, as a fresh-faced teen, I must have watched Titanic like twenty times. Definitely at least twice in the theater.  I read an article that every cruise ship has a morgue on it. Let that sink in.

Doing improv this summer with 3-4 total people in the group. usually we are a college team of roughly 10, but with many gone for the summer we decided to do a small group and try to perform in the city (LA). Any tips for montages or long form type improv with a very small group?

TLDR: Any tips for montages or long form type improv with a very small (3-4 people) group?