Interrupting Instead Of Deciding

an epidemic of avoiding choices

A trend is evolving where improvisers avoid choices and instead interrupt someone else. This prevents anyone from making a deliberate move.

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This year, I’ve taught improv in Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Ohio, Toronto and Vermont. Online, I’ve taught folks from the UK, Washington DC, Nashville, Atlanta, Austin, Singapore, Central America and other places. This past week, my theater hosted it’s fourth week-long intensive for out-of-town students, with students from all over America and Europe.

Two improvisers waiting for the other one to make a choice | Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

It dawned on me that all of these places feature an initiation style I rarely see in Los Angeles. It’s so subtle I did not notice it at first! It goes like this:

One person steps out and does object work.
A second person steps out right behind them and comments.
The scene begins.

Sounds innocuous, right? But there’s a problem there and I think it’s hurting improv worldwide!

Becuase what’s really happening is this:

One person steps out and does object work.
BEFORE THAT PERSON HAS SOLIDIFIED ANY CHOICE AT ALL, a second person steps out right behind them and comments.
THE FIRST PERSON DODGES ANYTHING INTERESTING. The scene begins.

I’ll cut to the chase: people are not making choices. They instead wait for someone else to move and then simply comment on it.

QUALIFICATION: I saw TONS of great improv and great players at every place I listed above. But the problem I’m citing here was also present in every community.

Quick: Interrupt at all costs!

It’s not just the initiation. It’s throughout the scene. Folks only walk on while someone else is talking.

They make a “tag out wave” and start talking before anyone has even seen them leave the side lines.

They edit right before someone reacts.

They hug the backline until someone else steps out, then they rush out and start talking.

For newer students, I forgive this. They’re getting over their fear of performing. It’s extremely common in early levels for everyone to interrupt each other. You note the most egregious cases and move on. Folks get better.

What I’m seeing instead is a deliberate style evolving from folks who are not nervous. It’s this:

• Don’t move until someone else has.

• Cut them off and tell them what’s weird.

• If nothing’s weird, make an accusation or create a problem.

It’s a distorted version of “framing” where you call out something strange. The framing is CREATING the weird thing, which wasn’t even there.

Shallow Agreement

Truthfully, this style can sort of work, for a short bit, if you make every scene a weird world and repeat. Something like this:

• Person 1: (vaguely chops)

• Person 2: Making dinner, Dad?

• Person 1: Yeah, I thought I’d give your Mom a break. You know…(about to use the suggestion, but we’ll never know)

• Person 2: But you’re a terrible cook!

• Person 1: No I’m not (denial), I’m following your mother’s recipe that I got from…. (interrupted)

• Person 3 walks on (who are they? we’ll never know): Dad, I ate your snack (falls over and dies)

• Person 4 walks on (maybe the spouse?): Sweetheart, I’m divorcing you. You’re cooking is just too bad.

• Person 1 (Dad): But I… (edit)

I made this up, but it is not far off! Even in this terrible example, I can feel a degree of fun and joy with the big heighening. There’s a KIND OF agreement. And there’s a pattern.

But it’s very shallow. Impatient. There’s no one that feels like a real person. It’s cutting off the possibility of any true surprises. And it can’t last more than, say, 90 seconds.

In video game terms, this is “button mashing.” You’re just reacting early, without precision, and jumping on the first thing that moves.

Here in LA, in the UCB and UCB-adjacent universe, we’re fighting a totally different problem. There’s no collaboration, but it’s because people make too MANY choices. They overly steer the whole scene. They prevent any surprising reactions.

My Prescription: Initiation Etiquette

The problem is that people do not have confidence they will find a center (a game, an unusual thing, a turn, a surprise) so they kinda pretend they have something when they don’t.

The real, deep solution is: make interesting, grounded choices. Have better judgment as to what counts as “unusual.”

(Just like the solution to “button mashing” is to “git gud.”)

But a more mechanical prescription is this: Whoever initiates gets to finish their move.

I call it initiation etiquette.

The initiation does NOT need to be a full premise (though it could be). But it should have some choice in it - who you are, where you are, what’s happening. A tone. A vibe.

The initiator has a responsibility to make SOME choice. And the responder has a respnosibility to fully hear it and use it.

Establish a good connection right away.

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! You can join our mailing list if you want our weekly announcement of shows.

• World’s Greatest Improv (YouTube channel): My improv theater is beginning to stream shows. Subscribe to watch! It’s all free!

• How to Be The Greatest Improviser On Earth - My improv book, available at Amazon. Kindle or print. It’s also on my web site for more if you don’t want to buy from Amazon) - US and UK buyers only.
  
  It’s a hodge-podge of advice I wrote in 2016 about doing improv. If you’re short of funds and want a free PDF version just email me and I’ll send it over.
  
  US and UK: The non-Amazon option for my book is available for UK buyers now! That’s new!