Should We Let Students Edit Uncomfortable Scenes?
Yes, but let's teach alternatives too
In the last few years, improv schools have taught their students to edit scenes when they feel uncomfortable because of the subject matter. So if someone in a scene says something offensive, distasteful or emotionally sensitive — someone else in the scene can edit. Many schools guarantee this as a right in their codes of conduct.
I think this is a necessary tool, and helps newer students feel confident they’re not gonna get stuck in scene where they have to say or do anything they don’t want to!
(Of course they NEVER have to do that, but knowing they can pull the rip cord and just edit gives people a comfort level that is important.)
However, sometimes people use this tool TOO MUCH. People will edit a scene as soon as someone even mentions a topic that COULD lead to an uncomfortable scene. They are signaling to the audience “whoops, no, we’re not going there.”
That’s not good!
We don’t want to erase the ability to address difficult topics or, yes, even sometimes find humor there. For example, to completely remove even the acknowledgment that racism exists could be insulting to people who actually experience racism.
This doesn’t meant that we should be making cavalier jokes about dire news stories. What I’m looking to avoid is people ending a scene at the mere mention of sensitive topics.
We need to teach students how to handle difficult material. Yes, there are boundaries. But there’s more things to do than just editing.
Qualification
Everything I write in this Substack is “just my opinion” but this one in particular is really not carved in stone. I do not think I am the BEST at handling difficult scenes, neither as a teacher or a performer. But I think it’s really worth discussing, so I’m taking a swing at it. I’d love to hear others thoughts / corrections / suggestions/ rebuttals. Please know that *I* know I do not have everything figured out. Sometimes my writing may seem overly direct, but that’s just so I don’t have to put “well, in my opinion, based on what I’ve experiences, with many exceptions, here are my thoughts….” But now that this is all just “in my experience, with many exceptions.”
To Edit Or Not To Edit?
So when is it advisable to edit a scene because of its content?
The student is overwhelmed. If the material is personal, if the student doesn’t yet feel trust with the class or their own ability, or if they’re truly paralyzed, then yes: edit. You can discuss it after if the student is comfortable to, or not. This is the situation for which this solution was devised and it’s a fine reason to edit. The teacher can call edit if they think the scene has gone in a bad direction and needs a discussion.
The sensitive topic is being brought up in a jokey way. Using tough topics as a joke is a bad habit, turns off the audience and makes the scene unrealistic. This is most common in a tag-out run. Something starts off as a grounded “everything is going wrong for this person” scene and then someone tags in and brings up sexual assault, or extreme violence. The teacher should call edit. Another player could edit. Discuss immediately why it’s a bad move. Note that in this case it’s not the topic - it’s the jokey, uncommitted, uninvested play that’s hurting the scene.
Someone is forcing a difficult topic that is unrelated to anything happening because they think it’s funny. This is the same as point two. If it’s not authentic, if it’s not coming from a place of truth, then it’s a joke, and not in a good way.
When is editing a scene NOT necessary?
The sensitive matter was brought up because it feels truthful. Meaning: it made emotional sense to talk about. It’s difficult to give examples in a written medium but I’ll try. Let’s say two friends are giving each other advice on the dating scene, and someone says “Don’t leave your drink unattended —- someone will rufie it.” A harsh topic, but also that is a thing I’ve heard people say to each other. It makes sense. It might raise eyebrows, but it’s not being done for a joke. This scene does not need to be edited.
Someone is playing a distasteful character, not for a joke, but because it fits the scene. If you’re doing a scene that takes place on the Wall Street trading floor of the 1970s, it makes emotional sense for there to be misogyny. A bully might express homophobia. That was a remarkably common thing when I was in school. We don’t need to end those scenes, not yet.
How Should We React To Uncomfortable Topics?
The key is to stay truthful, and don’t make jokes. Speak honestly through your character about how you feel. Even just saying “That makes me feel really uncomfortable, I wish you wouldn’t talk like that” is a strong, honest move.
Speak through the character. Your characters can have as much of a modern, progressive sensibility as you have. Even if you are playing a, say 1970s Wall Street stock trader and the others in the scenes and making mean jokes about women, you are allowed to go “I think those jokes are kinda stupid, I don’t like when we do it.” It’s real, it’s you and therefore it will work in the scene. This is a good place to use the phrase “Hey, can I be honest with you?”
Go slow. Take a breath and don’t rush. Don’t get angry. Get honest. A difficult topic coming up in a scene is like hitting an icy patch when you’re driving. You don’t want to start flailing the steering wheel every which way and you sure don’t want to hit the gas. Just stay calm, answer simply and honestly. Yes, it takes practice. But it’s not THAT hard once you recognize the moments.
Be willing to move on. Sensitive topics tend to take over scenes. They don’t have to. If a distasteful character has been responded to honestly, you can move on to other things.
And yes, if after trying a few of these things, the scene feels terrible, you can edit and end the scene.
How Do We Teach This?
For level 1 and maybe level 2 classes, I think it’s okay to take these topics totally off the table. “We’re not going there — we’re still learning how to do the basics” is fair to say.
But starting with level 3 at the latest, we need to start teaching how to handle these scenes.
Here’s some fair boundaries:
Do not initiate a scene in the middle of a sensitive or uncomfortable topic. Just like it’s not practical to start a scene having a high energy angry argument while doing complicated object work —- you shouldn’t start in a murky area before we even know what’s going on. Using my earlier example, I would not want a student of any level to start a scene with “Don’t leave your drink unattended —- someone will rufie it.”
Don’t endow someone else with distasteful behavior. If you want to play a misogynist and you think it’s truthful, I think it can work. But to ask a fellow student to do it is bad form. Not fully against the rules, just bad form.
Don’t do a shocking thing just to be interesting. This isn’t truthful, this is forcing the scene to a weird place for no good reason.
And yes, some topics are truly off the table. Accept that in every time period and region, certain things are truly off limits. Moreso than just general ‘isms.’ (racism, sexism). You can’t say the n-word on stage in America if you are a white person or you have torpedoed the show. Period. That wasn’t true in the 90s, but it’s true now. It might NOT be true some point in the future! But living in the world means adapting. Certain —- not many, but some —- words and topics truly do end the scene.
Advice For Teachers
As a teacher I have some extra advice.
YOU edit the scene if it looks like people are uncomfortable. That’s way better than them editing.
Ask the class after a weird scene “is it okay if we discuss this?” If you’re going to examime a student’s particular move, ask them “Would you mind if we talked about that move? It’s an interesting example which does come up and would be helpful to talk about?” If they look completely freaked out, try to spare them the attention and wait for another chance to discuss.
Don’t lecture, but instead discuss. Really nice people who mean well will do offensive things in scenes and not understand that it was offensive. I find it helpful to evaluate everything with “is that move truthful?” If it is, then you would do well to let it stand.
Be aware of generational differences. What is offensive in 2024 is very different from what was offensive in 1990. Students will want to hold each other to the standards they grew up in, which is not totally fair either way. Going back to “is this truthful for the scene” is a good gauge to teach people to use. The best possible scenario is people learn from each other. This is all REALLY true online, where you frequently have a class with folks from different generations, countries, classes and improv backgrounds!
Maybe just skip it. Truly. Some classes are not ready for a discussion. Maybe there’s bad chemistry. Maybe there’s weird particular circumstances and specific personalities making it hard to have a talk. In those cases, you go back to Level 1 rules. “We’re just not going there. You’ll have to learn how to someday, but today is not that day.”
Dealing With The Stand-Up Who Loves Controversial Topics
A remarkably common thing that comes up when a scene broaches something sensitive, is a student who will introduce themselves as having done some stand-up will talk about really really WANTING to get into difficult topics because they are interesting.
My advice is to point out that stand-up is a solo medium, and if they want to do material on a tough topic, they can try it. But in improv, when you bring something up in a scene, you’re asking everyone in your group to deal with it. It’s good teamwork to make sure you’re coming from a truthful place and not just because you have a hunch it might be interesting, maybe.
In Conclusion
This is a topic that is always in discussion and we’ll never totally figure out. But we have to do our best so that our scenes can both be safe for new people and also daring for those ready to tackle things.
Plugs, Ongoing
High Functioning - Ian Roberts and I do an hour of improv EVERY SATURDAY 7pm at the UCB Annex. See this video for Ian and I showing you where the UCB Annex is.
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.
Screw It, We’re Just Gonna Talk About Comics - Comic book podcast, hosted by my brother Kevin and I. We are about to start coverage of the little-known 1985 comic Watchmen (yes, THAT Watchmen). Subscribe for bonus episodes!
Screw It, We’re Just Gonna Talk About The Beatles - monthly deep dive on a little known indie band from Liverpool called The Beatles. Subscribe for access to back episodes!
A very insightful post – thank you for writing it.
From my experience improv generally lacked safety tools, which are commonly used in larps, freeforms, and story games. Adapting and integrating them into improv practice can be extremely helpful in the situations you've described.
"Can I Be Honest With You" practically sounds like a meta-technique from larp. As an actor, I can communicate to another actor, for instance, that I don’t want to explore a particular topic, without breaking character or interrupting the scene.
Simple meta-techniques can be regulatory cues, like using the word "rotten" in the scene (let’s escalate even more!) or "pure" (this is too intense! let’s de-escalate!) – an example from the larp Inside Hamlet. Or "this is not the way to heaven" as a light way to indicate that we’re not comfortable with the direction the scene is going.
You can also establish Lines & Veins for a specific improv group or performance – Lines are things we absolutely don’t want in the scene, and Veins are things we can mention or refer to but won’t focus on or act out.
I also highly recommend Meg Baker’s old publication "I Will Not Abandon You vs. Nobody Gets Hurt" as two approaches to safety tools in role-playing games.
This was fantastic to read, Will!