Remembering names might the hardest thing an improviser has to do. Some observations about remembering names:
everyone is bad at it
everyone is embarrassed that they are bad at it
you have to do it a million times in improv — both on and off the stage
We can talk about how "saying yes” is counter-intuitive but brilliant. We can analyze how being aware of “the unusual thing” can super-charge your improv. We can laud how “grounded” acting makes a performance exponentially more powerful.
But none of those tasks happens as often as the deceptively difficult feat: remember this name.
Names Don’t Work
As a system for identifying people, names do not work.
People have a LOT of trouble remembering names. It takes many interactions, spread out over some time, for a name to stick.
Names, by themselves, do not reveal any information about people. Isn’t that strange? You can’t count on a name to reveal gender, or country of origin, or age, or spouse, or family. People with the same last name are probably not related. People go by their middle names, or nicknames, or if you’re in a fight with your record label, a symbol.
Example: what is Paul McCartney’s first name? It’s James. That’s nuts that we don’t know the actual name of one of the most famous people on Earth. Truly, what is up with names?
(Unless you’re in Iceland, where names DO tell you the parent’s name and also your gender at birth, but almost nothing else. Ah, Iceland, you whimsical place!)
I think at the age of 21, you should have to pick five people who get to pick your “real” name for you, and that name has to be one word. Who’s with me?
I’m way off topic here. Okay, whatever, so names don’t work for identifying. We’re stuck with them. How do we remember them in improv?
Coming Up With Names
By the way, COMING UP with names is ALSO incredibly hard. It’s the most mentally expensive thing I see improv students do is make up a name. I’ve seen students improvise hugely long speeches, effortlessly play game, keep track of multiple mimed objects and then stumble as they introduce a character as “my best friend…………uh………. Dave.”
My trick is using people I knew in middle school. For some reason I can come up with: Peter, Kyle, Karen, Kathy, Joanna, Richie, Andre, Derek, Brent etc. pretty fast. I don’t use them for all names, just when I’m caught by surprise and need to drum one up quick.
Be Cool That It’s Tough
First tip, be aware that it’s hard to remember them and that you are not alone. Forgive yourself and forgive others.
I think one of the most intimidating moments in an improv class is when the teacher starts with a warm-up that requires students to address each other by name. Invariably, someone is going to forget someone else. The person forgotten will somehow be someone already feeling left out, and the person who does the forgetting will be the most guilt-ridden student who instantly feels terrible. It’s an emotional minefield to watch.
Making students call each other by their real names is second only to “hot spot” for creating emotional trauma.
And in a scene, it’s 10 times as hard, since we are making up the names on the spot. How can you remember your own character’s name when you probably did not choose it, and have never said it? It’s unfair.
Yeah, names are tough. Let’s be nice to ourselves and acknowledge how tough this is.
But that does mean you have to invest more energy than you expect into doing it.
Say It Three Times Immediately
Okay, easiest strategy to implement: every time you PICK a name for someone, go out of your way to use it three times. “Hey Barb. Great to see you. Oh, Barb, could I have a drink of water? Thanks Barb.” By the way, the audience will STILL not remember this character’s name, but now the other person has a chance to.
Say It To Yourself
When you are given a name, say it silently to yourself. Some says to “Max” you go “Max” in your head. It helps.
Use Less Common (To You) Names
“Maximillian” is easier to remember than “Dave.” You don’t even have to get that unusual. I think “Madeline” is easier to remember than “Jane.”
An observation: as improv communities slowly become more diverse (meaning: different racial backgrounds, cultural backgrounds, generational, everything) the pool of names that get used is also diversifying. Just the phonetic sounds of the names is different! You REALLY notice it with online improv, which tends to be multi-national. It’s interesting and fun. Ironically, I find names that are new to me easier to remember.
Give A Gift With The Name
Use the moment when you name someone to also gift them with a little personality. “Bart, you are such a stickler.” The attached behavioral gift makes the name stickier.
Test Yourself
If you’re in a scene with more than 2 people, there will be moments that you are not talking or being talked directly to (I hope). Use that moment to go over in your head everyone else’s name. If you don’t know one, you can keep an ear out for someone else to use it.
That’s hard, right? It IS hard! But I do it a lot.
Use Warm-Ups To Remember Real Names
As a teacher I try to remember student’s names. Certainly I mess up all the time, but I try. One thing that helps is during the warm-ups, I will look around the class and check in my head whose names I know. Then I either check the attendance sheet for others, or listen to see if their names or used or, of course, politely ask the student to remind me.
The “Method Of Loci”
“Method of loci” is a technique where you use visual memory of locations to strengthen your memory. How I do it: I summon to mind a place I know well. Usually (is this embarrassing) the stage of the now demolished UCB Chelsea Theater. I “put” the students I want to remember on stage, standing next to someone I know who has the same name. So if there’s a student named Tom, I picture them standing with Tom Cruise. If there’s Kevin, I picture them standing with my brother Kevin. All on the stage of UCB Chelsea. It sounds completely insane but for me it works.
In Conclusion
There is no quick fix for this. It’s a muscle and you have to practice. If nothing else, I just want to offer sympathy that this is tough, and say everyone who does improv feels this pressure!
Plugs, Ongoing
Screw It, We’re Just Gonna Talk About Comics - Comic book podcast, hosted by my brother Kevin and I. We are almost done examining Bendis/Bagley run of Ultimate Spider-Man.
Clubhouse Fridays - WGIS’ weekly improv show. Fridays 7pm at The Clubhouse. Free!
The World’s Greatest Improv School: The improv school I run with Jim Woods and Sarah Claspell. We’ve got classes online, in LA and even a few in NYC!
How to Be The Greatest Improviser On Earth - My improv book, available at Amazon. Kindle or print. It’s a hodge-podge of advice I wrote in 2016 about doing improv. If you’re broke and want a free PDF version just email me and I’ll send it over.
When I wrote the first novel in the Mauser and Keeg series (No, I don't expect you to know it. It's just explanation) I named a character Armand. I started writing the next book and had to refer back to him. I couldn't remember if it was Armand or what. So I went back to the text of the first book and looked for it and found I had had named him Armand in some chapters and Anton in others. AND no one who read it for me (like my wife, my brother, etc) ever noticed!
Yes, remembering names is hard. Thanks for this!
Thanks, Will. Do you have tips to avoid or recover from double-naming? Where character A names character B "Dylan, and then later in the scene character B names A "Dylan", too?