So You're Getting Steamrolled!
by Sarah Claspell
This is a guest column by Sarah Claspell. She is a co-owner with me of The World’s Greatest Improv School, a longtime teacher and performer at the UCB Theatre (on both coasts), a member of Asian AF, Voltron, Cardinal Rebird and frankly a million other improv teams.
I’ve recently been talking to some female improvisers about what to do when they’re being talked over in their scenes. I also recently saw a couple shows where the women on the teams were being tagged out and talked over regularly. In one show it became the game of the scene; “Don’t let that woman talk!” How fun. These were all house teams full of people that I’ve seen do great work before. Bummer. So let’s talk about what to do when you’re being steamrolled.
I’ll start with this: men are not the only steamrollers, and non-men are not the only ones being steamrolled. Hey, I’ve been a steamroller myself, at times! These are just the recent conversations and observations I’ve had, and this essay is based on my experience as a mixed race, female improviser and teacher who started doing improv at a time when there were not a ton of women or POC doing improv.
Let’s assume this is a team you want to stay on, either because you otherwise like playing with these people, or because you were placed on this team (i.e. a house team with a regular slot) and you should not have to leave because of someone else improvising poorly. If this is an indie team full of people who won’t listen to you and who you don’t get much out of playing with other than stage time, get the hell out of there and form a team with people who listen and are fun.
So you want to stay with the team. What do you do?
Tell your coach it’s a problem. It’s their job to see the work of the individual and the whole team, and to note appropriately. And remember, you give power to the person you ask to coach you. Don’t ask the most popular coach to give you notes if they don’t vibe with your team. If you ask a woman of color to coach your team you are giving her confidence and power, and maybe she becomes the most popular coach. No shade to white guys who are fantastic coaches, but they got that way because someone asked them to coach.
Bring it up to the team in rehearsals and post show if it’s happening a lot - don’t give your teammate notes, but let the team know that you couldn’t get out your idea, again.
Assert yourself onstage. This can take a few different forms, some of which being:
Call out your teammate in the moment, onstage. "Hold on, I’m not done." If the person won't change because of notes offstage, maybe they will be shamed into it by being called out onstage. Sometimes a note doesn't sink in unless they feel that they are being seen negatively by an audience - it sucks, but sometimes people don't take the note "you're talking over your teammates and making them feel bad," as well as they take the note "you're talking over your teammates and the audience thinks you're an asshole for doing so." This is often the way I give this note when I’m coaching.
Get your idea out. Sometimes a teammate will start talking and filling in the empty space if they think you don’t have an idea. If you don’t have a long relationship with this teammate, they won’t know when to give you space and when you are stepping out with a half idea or less. If you are a person who likes to slow play a scene, you have to make sure you’re playing with people who know that and can play that way. If you’re not, you both may have to meet in the middle a bit. I play a bit differently with the different teams I’m on - it’s helpful to be flexible when you’re asking someone else to do the same.
Play an aggressive, bold character in the face of their aggressiveness. This is not a thing you should have to lean on (when it’s forced - I love playing a bold idiot when it’s my choice), but sometimes matching someone’s energy is a way to get them to face what they’re dishing out, or a way to take a scene in a new direction neither of you may have thought of.
If YOU are given this note (and I’ve been given this note) - even if you’re getting consistent laughs, you have to learn to be a good teammate while you are still playing as yourself. The scene is not about one hilarious person and the person who receives their hilarity. Even if you’re the funniest person, no one wants to play with someone who shuts down their teammates. Save it for your one person show.
A thing to remember is that you cannot control your teammates. Do everything in your power to have a fun scene together, but also realize that the other person is also trying to do good improv. My favorite, or at least most consistent adage is: We’re all doing our best. Your scene partner has a different brain than you, and that is both the best and most challenging part of improv. There is room on the improv stage for people who play big, bold and fast, and for people who play thoughtfully, slowly and emotionally. We are all allowed to be the World’s Greatest Improviser (™).
This is Will again — I do not endorse that last sentence, which feels like a shot at the admittedly ridiculous name I gave our improv school.
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 late 1990s iteration of Human Target by Peter Milligan. 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. We’re doing Mind Games re-release. Subscribe for access to back episodes!