Minimalist Coaching
do less, impact more
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Below is a plan for a minimalist coaching session. The basic plan here is to make the practice less about the coach and more about the group being on their feet. This is a good approach if you’re new to a group or just subbing in for one session.
Qualification: As with all advice, this is my current best guess! I reserve the right to change my mind and please bear in mind I am quite often wrong.
Second qualification: I wrote too much below, ironically.
Running The Practice
If you’re hired as a coach, they want your expertise and wisdom. But they also just need someone to run the practice. Do these things so they don’t have to.
Start the practice
Don’t wait for the chat to die down to begin. I don’t even wait for everyone to get there. I get started early with warmups. Folks who arrive late (no matter what you say or do, there will be folks who arrive late) simply miss the warmups.
Have a plan for the start
You don’t need to know every exercises you’re going to run, but have a plan for the start. Have a couple of warm-ups and one exercise ready.
Warm-Ups
For warm-ups, I like “Five Things” and “Thumper” but any will do. Many veterans coaches will just say “do whatever warmup you like,” but it will be faster if you pick for them. Two is fine, three at the most.
First Exercise
For a first exercise, I like doing a set of two-person scenes. Everyone goes twice. I edit the scenes after a minute or so. You can give them a simple prompt here, like “start with object work” or “have the first line be answering a question.” But any exercise here that you like is good.
They will get better over the course of this. It’s like an engine just turned on, shuddering at first and then settling into a hum.
Keep The Check-In Brief
It’s only after the warm-ups and first exercise that I’ll ask the team what they want to work on. I do this because usually not everyone is there until 20 minutes into the practice. Maybe that’s an LA thing, but I think it’s universal.
It’s good to ask the team what they want. They often won’t know. It’s good to know if they are doing shows and if so, what form they use. If they really do have something they are looking for, they’ll be able to tell you quickly.
Basic Outline Of Practice
Here is my preferred outline of a coaching session. This is by no means standard, just how I like it.
Warm Ups (2)
A round of two person scenes with almost no notes (any exercise could go here)
Check in with team: You working on anything?
A set (their show format if they have one, else just a suggestion-and-go montage). After, I’ll give notes/observations on a macro level.
Two exercises to work on things I noticed in the set.
Another set (or two?) at the end. Notes after.
If everything worked, each person got to do 8 or 9 scenes plus warm-ups.
Check out Caroline’s improvcoach.app for a nice list of exercises and such.
Giving Notes
The notes below are things you can say quickly, that won’t promote an argument. They are focused on mechanical things rather than deeper discussions of taste. You’re going to let a lot of things go. When they do things that you’ve seen a million times like have someone interrupt a scene as a director going “cut cut cut” you’re going to let them.
You will mostly only note them on issues of listening and understanding.
Things To Look For In The First Set
First I check the communication channels. Do they listen? Do they let each other finish? Are they using each other’s choices immediately in the next line? Do they adapt and change as opposed to resisting change?
This category (communication) is more important than the next two! If someone is routinely ignoring they’re teammates, it’s WAY easier for a coach to call them out instead of their teammates needing to have an awkward team meeting.
Then I check the emotional intelligence of the scenes. Are they talking anywhere near like human beings? Do they explain the things that an audience would want them to explain? Do they “say what someone would say?”
Finally I check game and unusual things. Are people setting up unusual things, and if so, is anyone noticing? Do they accidentally solve problems or do they allow the funny things to “get worse.” Are they good at letting themselves be “fools” if gifted? Do they have a “why” for their unusual behaviors?
I’ll pick one main thing to discuss after the set.
“In that set, I felt like there was a lot of interrupting. Let’s practice slowing down and making sure we’re hearing each other.”
“I think we could gain a lot by speaking more honestly —- say what you would say. It’s okay if you temporarily ‘break’ what’s fun - it will come back stronger.”
“The scenework is good. We could do better on recognizing games. Folks are trying to set up unusual things and it’s getting ignored.”
Noting bad listening, denials, interruptions
These are the easiest things to note because folks won’t argue them. I’ll often do it right as it happens. “She called you honey, and you called her Darth Vader — did you notice that?”
Sometimes I’ll interrupt and say “did you hear what he just said?”
I won’t do it a lot. Once or twice gets the point across and folks genuinely do want to hear each other.
Exercises to help:
I Know scenes.
Any exercises that force you to do object work (always improves listening)
People can say maximum eight words, then must wait for someone else to talk
I / You / We scenes
Noting Emotional Reality
Tougher because this is subject to taste. But if all the scenes are wacky and absurd I’ll remind them after the scene “it’s good to say what the character really would say.”
Boundaries of play: Sometimes I’ll use the metaphor “emotional reality are the boundaries of the court - if you step outside the boundaries it ends the scene for the audience.”
The word gentle: Some groups are very hesitant to be “honest” in scenes - they feel like they’re saying no or being unhelpful. I say “You can GENTLY challenge” or “you can be GENTLY curious when you’re calling something out.”
Exercises to help
Can I Be Honest With You?
Park Bench of Truth
Suggest using these phrases: “I know you mean well, but…” “I’m curious why you always…”
Noting Game
Truly the hardest. I’m not even sure I’m good at this.
Avoid getting too deep. I focus on two areas
did they notice when someone set up an unusual thing
did they have a why
I worry way less about walk-ons and tag-outs if I’m doing a “minimalist” session.
Setting up unusual things
Most common problems with games are people simply not noticing an unusual thing.
Like this: someone wants to gift a game onto someone but instead just complained about them, and the person got defensive
Person 1: why do you pay so much attention to your shoes? (trying to make a game)
Person 2: response: because i’m a lawyer, my shoes are important to my job! you know that! (ruined the game)
After the scene, point it out: “They were trying to gift you unusual behavior, did you notice that?” Both people will jump all over themselves to say what they could have done better.
Your notes should be simple and non-thinky. I prefer acting notes to comedy notes.
Commit more, speak with feeling
Gift yourself next time
Be more specific
Have A Why
If they successfully agreed on an unusual thing, they next big problem is “er, how do we play this game?”
The answer is usually “have a why.”
If they have a human grounded reason/emotion motivating their behavior, they’ll know how to play it.
I use Alex Berg’s “Hand Thing” explanation. It works well!
Exercises For Game
You Wanted To See Me?
Explain To Me Why You Do X?
Hear Me Out
Other coaching notes
When in doubt, stop talking and get them up. Improv is a better coach than you are.
Take note of who hates side coaching. If someone completely shuts down after you interrupt them, don’t do it again.
If someone argues your notes, accept their argument and stop giving them notes. This is different than folks who want clarification. If someone says to you “yeah, i don’t like doing that” I just go “gotcha” and move on.
The very first time someone makes a pop culture reference, stop and ask the group who knows that reference. Point out it’s the job of the person who brought up the reference to give enough context that everyone can fake it.
Let me hear your thoughts on this!
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.
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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!