Note: This post was inspired by a class called Be Playful that Sebastian Conelli pitched to teach at the improv school I co-own in a few weeks. Thank you, Sebastian!
I’m in NYC this week visiting family. I’ve been walking around neighborhoods where I used to live. It’s bringing back a lot of feelings I had when I first got here and when I first started improv. I went to the new UCB NY theater and then couldn’t stop thinking about all the theaters where the UCB has existed.
My brother and I used to do a weekly show at UCB East Village. An hour slot. Once before a show he grabbed me by the shoulders and said “Be playful!” He said it with an urgency. This wasn’t for my comfort. It was for the good of the show.
Improv can become so much about rules, notes and rejection. While there’s always a time for having a beginner’s mind, it’s also important to stay in touch with your own sense of silliness.
It’s important to be playful.
This takes practice.
It’s Easier When You’re A Veteran
Being playful is easier once your further along in your improv “career” and have some confidence that you’re going to be around. If you’re a teacher in a community, if you have a weekly show, if you’ve survived a few rounds of cuts — it’s easier to have fun.
Not that you still don’t have many crisis of confidences — you absolutely do — but in general you can get to a place of confidence easily.
But when you’re new, it’s very hard. You doubt yourself at every turn. You believe your teachers are merely tolerating your presence in class. You play simply to not screw things up. You stick to the rules.
How can you beat this mindset?
Play To Your Strengths
First thing, don’t be afraid to do what comes easily.
A lot of improv notes we teachers give ask you to work on what you’re bad at. “Play more characters” we tell the deadpan people. “Slow down” we tell someone who makes three choices in a row without waiting. “Drop those pop culture references” we say to people who love bringing up deep-cut movies.
Again: there’s always a time to have a beginner’s mind, to humble yourself, and to work on growing new habits.
But especially in a show, it is okay to enjoy your own style. Do your thing.
You like references? Okay then, make a fun one. I find just-slightly-older ones really kill. “Do you know what kind of pressure I’m under? I’m in a spin class with Jaime Pressly!”
You like object work? Then start silently. Even if it’s a premise show. Do it. Start a scene as a waiter. Thrown an improv napkin over your arm, pour some finely mimed wine.
You like high energy? Be a high energy character.
Are you verbal? Talk it up. Give yourself a funny name.
Good at character voices? Do a character voice.
Don’t ignore other’s choices, but make your personal real estate something you enjoy.
Okay But What Am I Even Doing?
Okay, but what if you don’t even know WHAT it feels like to be playful? Maybe you don’t know your voice yet.
If this describes you, know that this is part of the journey. You will get there.
But here’s tricks I used to feel playful when I was newer. You will find your own, but maybe this will inspire you.
Pretend Everyone in the Room Is A Stranger
I’m sure there’s something screwed up about this technique, but it is one I used a lot.
My biggest nightmare when I started out is when friends would come watch my shows. “Please don’t show up” I would think. “I barely know what I’m doing, please do not watch.” I found that I had to simply pretend they weren’t there.
Then I realized it also helped me if I pretended the entire team were strangers! I was just a visiting improviser from another theater and had dropped in. Pretending that no one had any pre conceived notions of me made it easier to just… be.
Pretend You Are Famous
A few times early in my training, I saw legit celebrities drop in to do improv sets. Mike Myers, Robin Williams. I noticed the audience simply loved anything they did at all. Not that these folks aren’t funny, but they also didn’t really know the house styles of where they were playing, and they didn’t know the group they were playing with. Robin started off doing what seemed like stock Robin Williams characters. Myers broke the fourth wall a lot and turned things into TV commercials.
Not that that’s SO bad, but I could imagine a “regular” player getting noted for those same moves. But the audience loved it.
So sometimes when doing shows I would simply pretend that I was a beloved TV character actor who had dropped in. I could do no wrong. Whatever I did would be adored. I could feel a relaxed confidence come over me.
Play The Long Game
Another technique: just accept that the validation you so deeply want is not coming today. You will get your accolades later.
I never felt like the teacher’s favorite in classes. In fact, I felt invisible. I rarely got notes of any kind. More than once, the teacher could not remember my name. I was not insulted, as I was a grown up and understood that the teacher had a lot of names to remember. But it certainly didn’t make me feel INTERESTING.
But something I could easily do was simply tell myself that I would get my validation later. I believed in my ability to work longer than anyone in the room. People quit improv ALL. THE. TIME. Truly, if you simply wait and keep going for like, three years, you will surpass at least 75% of the people doing it.
I would do a scene in class. I’d see the teacher bloodlessly nod. “Great. Okay, two more.” Fine, my accomplishment was just that I had gotten up and done a scene in a room that did not seem to like me that much. I assumed I was getting stronger and Just. Kept. Going.
True story: when I was first placed on a UCB house team (in November 2000, gulp), I told my practice group (which I had founded) that I had gotten placed and one of the people blurted out “YOU did?”
Pick A Simple Rule
For shows, I knew I wasn’t yet good enough to guarantee I would make an impact or get a good reaction. So I’d pick a simple rule that I thought I needed and just do that.
Here are some I picked.
Listen and react - Forget game, philosophy, pattern, second beats, even playing it real. Just LISTEN to what is happened and then REACT. This can go a LONG way to getting a flow going where good things can happen.
Say yes to the last thing said - Focus on the moment, not the show. Simply “yes” the last thing that happened. Most people in a show, especially when you’re starting are doing way too much. So if you’re just the person who confirms and agrees —- you will have plenty to do.
Initiate early - I went through a phase of never getting off the back line. For that time, my goal was simply to start a scene very early in the set, so that I wouldn’t freeze back there.
Be emotional - React bigger, react more. Force yourself to be like 20% bigger. Yes, this can come off as fake. But there’s a time when you need to stretch your performing muscles and this can do it.
Be real - Just react honestly to every single thing. Say no, ask questions, shrug your shoulders. Be shockingly, defiantly real. You will feel cool and the audience WILL like you.
Play the game - I hear lots of people say that “playing the game” puts them in their head. But there are ALSO people who LIKE playing the game! To them, it makes the scene make sense. If you are one of those people, then DO IT. Frame a game, label it, play it.
If this is true, what else is true - If you’re stuck on the back line, this rule is one that can give you good reasons to get off the back line
Join team fool - an even easier version of “if this, then what”
Mind you, these mantras would not transform me into an amazing player. They were things I focused on so that I did NOT focus on my anxiety.
After the show, I would grade myself on how well I did whatever I had picked. I rarely got notes in the early days, so I needed to measure things for myself.
There will be shows or classes where everything clicks. Those victories make you stronger. You just need more of them so that you become permanently strong.
Plugs
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 (also on my web site for more if you don’t want to buy from Amazon). 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.
Subscribe!
Paid subscribers to this Substack get their own Q&A columns where they can ask questions. Start a paid subscription to get access to these Q&As.
Everything else is free for everyone. Thank you for reading!
This blog came at just the right time for my improv journey
Will, honestly, if you drop in on an unknown team this week in NY it will be exactly like a well loved character actor homecoming and you can do whatever you want and we will love you.