Hi! We have a new episode of the podcast up today. It’s under 30 minutes. With thoughtful discussion on improv mixed with improvised music interstitials. Perfect for a short car ride or lunch break. :-)

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-will-never-happen-again/id1790749319?i=1000777838153

Episode 8 - The Horror of the Post-Show Circle

This conversation with John Dardenne and Lena Lamer will never happen again. Topics include the anxiety of the post-show discussion circle, why improvisers block to protect themselves, the value of leaning into negative labels, and embracing risk and flow state on stage. Featuring original, improvised music by Ericprincessdragon.

To start, I apologize if this is a vague and niche question. I'm extremely new to improv and also relatively new to living in this current iteration of my body. Frankly, it was probably audacious of me to take up improv while I'm trying to come into my "new normal," but I needed some levity and here we are.

In sort, I have a recently-diagnosed neurological condition that impacts my balance, coordination, and motor planning ability. The whole conceit of my last level 1 improv class surrounded space/object work, and to put it mildly, I got humbled.

I've disclosed a little of what's going on to my instructor, but none of my classmates know, and I'm a little fearful of boxing myself in too early if I share it with them. I don't want every scene that includes me to become limited by someone else's perception of my physical capacity. Maybe I want to portray an Olympic-level gymnast or an American Ninja Warrior at some point, you know? Plus, I'm feeling a little sensitive. I know improv will do wonders to get me over that feeling, but I just don't want the train wreck that is my inability to be cogently physically active to pull focus in a scene.

I guess I'm wondering if anyone else has dealt with this before? Are there any good resources out there that address physical work in improv when you yourself are physically disabled? Suggestions? Words of encouragement? I left class this week almost in tears from embarrassment and I know next week's focus is going to remain on this, so I'd love to enter the room in a clearer/more confident headspace.

Yeah, my local theater has gotten in on that sweet DraftKings FanDuel action. Definitely a sound financial decision. But I can't decide which bets I should go for. Any suggestions?

I just did an improv games workshop at a hypnosis conference in Vegas and it went really well. The theme was about reframing / overcoming failure with improv.

I'd love to find some improv games that are good for helping people learn how to reframe things.

Also, any games that can help with other skills in hypnosis such as mirror, pacing and leading, etc.

Thanks!

Hi Everyone,

I recently launched Improvbible.com, a fully free website, aiming to bring the community together, and including all possible resources available around improv. Everything is totally free and collaborative. In terms of key features:

An interactive map to find troupes, festivals, workshops, shows and jams

A show and class builder

A suggestion generator:

Underscore, the place to practice your improv musical skills. 30 instrumental songs, 4 difficulty levels, and a challenge mode for the bravest

125 games in the database (which I know some have to be improved, stay tune, this section is like good wine :)

And, last but not least, a wall to post your thoughts, shows, anything you want, and a message feature -> You can contact and message anyone who set his profile as public.

As mentioned at the beginning of the post, everything is totally free and collaborative, you want to add a game, suggest an improvement, amend something, you can, it's YOUR space.

I really hope that some of you will find it useful. Fully opened to comments/suggestions/ideas, or anything you may think to make Improvbible (even) better!

Want to see how they’re using the source material

I'm really experienced in Harold, but not so much in other forms. What forms should I know and be experienced in to feel better rounded as a long form improviser?

Basically the title! I feel like I have a decent understanding of game and can execute it in certain long-form styles, but it seems to fall to the wayside when I do narrative, which has led me to question what role game has in narrative improv if we are telling a linear story from beginning to end.

My team's scenes tend to be more relationship-focused and I feel like we could use more structure and game moves, but I sometimes I wonder how to play the game without disrupting the plot or destroying continuity of character.

Tonight Full of bones is taping a long form improv special at UCB! One of my favorite teams in the city and wanted to raise awareness!!

Whether you start to love or resent improv, and whether you learn and improve a lot or a little is heavily dictated by the effectiveness of the instructor.

When an instructor isn't effective, the consequences are more than a waste of money and precious time. The student is then stuck either stopping the series, -where they may have made strong bonds with other students- or living through classes which range anywhere from disappointing to making them feel bad.

I want to know from other students who are the best instructors in SD. (I get how one might want to know the least effective also, but I can't think of a way to do that respectfully without an unacceptable level of public shaming, so only positive comments here)

I've never met an instructor that was a bad person or not trying. And many of us are good at doing something but not at teaching that thing.

So in this post, I'm asking for who has taught you most effectively?

Indicators can be:

-presented material in a logical order

-described things clearly and efficiently

-managed the classroom well

-gave an appropriate amount of coaching, at the right time to each student (can be different)

-made students feel welcome and comfortable and also challenged

-nice balance of explaining vs doing

-you felt like you were getting better

-you knew what your personal hurdles were and had a chance to work on them

-all classmates got somewhat even amount of time to do different things

-had a chance to practice before adding more material

etc....

What would be your preference of performance - Harold? Armando? Short form games? Personally, I love the monologue aspect of the Armando but so many classes focus (fixate?) on troupes doing a Harold as a precursor to jam shows. I don’t mind performing in a Harold but one coach said “the Armando isn’t as popular amongst actors or schools”. I’m in Toronto if that matters.

Hi all! I’m having my 27th birthday party next weekend. My guests and I will be doing a “read-through” of the entire Hamilton musical. Everyone has been cast and has their scripts and it’s gonna be a hell of a time.

Roughly 60% of my guests are theatre kids (some even studied it in college or do it professionally) but 40% are not.

Before we do the read through, we’re going to eat and drink and play games to loosen up. I’d LOVE to have a few theatre-based games to choose from that we could turn into drinking games.

Currently the best idea I have is Zip Zap Zop, but if you get out you have to take a drink.

Funny story I’m actually an elementary theatre teacher so I do have a plethora of games in my repertoire, but I want to know if anyone has any games that they’ve already played as a drinking game that they know will work! Thank you!

I've been a huge fan of improv for a long time and dipped my toes in a workshop last week. I knew it would be a bit hard with my anxiety. I'm looking for advice/tesources for how I can grow in the below areas and if possible, any reassurance that these issues are tied to skills I can learn!

My biggest issues are as follows:

-freezing and mind going blank for any sort of idea

-stage fright/social anxiety (I'm pretty over the looking stupid part, but just vulnerability making me freeze in general)

-how to be aware of ideas AND what my body/voice are doing (Like if I'm focusing on improving lines I forget to make my voice loud or not be a robot with my body)

Etc.

Hi! I hope this is okay to post here please feel free to delete if not. For some context I’m 23 and took improv classes for 3 years as an elective in highschool and absolutely fell in love. I had so much fun I loved making people laugh and learning how to work with a partner to bounce off each other and create something. Unfortunately when covid hit I had to stop taking them and pretty soon after got diagnosed with some health issues and my entire life became simply trying to survive and manage my health while juggling adjusting to working full time trying to support myself financially. I lost all of my hobbies and most of my friends because of these health issues. Luckily i’m in a really great place right now. My health is stable, I make a comfortable income, have gained some new hobbies, and started putting myself out there to make friends.

I’ve been YEARNING to do improv again but have been hesitant to actually sign up for a class because it’s been years and would probably have to drive 45-1h into nova for them since I live in a pretty small town and based on my research we have no classes or improv groups here. I want to so bad though and have been watching improv and reading improv books pretty much nonstop the past few months. Would you say improv classes are a good way to make friends? Do you have any tips for finding good beginner classes with a welcoming environment and what to avoid when looking for a class? I’m not looking to start doing it professionally or anything I just want to do it as a hobby, have fun, learn it, and meet people who also enjoy it. Thank you in advance!

Hello everyone!

I'm a master's student at the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design. For my final project I'm designing a short break-time activity for people working from home, a way to refresh the mind by reimagining the everyday objects already around you: giving a stapler a backstory, finding a new use for a mug, building a tiny world on your desk. It's an inquiry into whether shifting perspective can become a simple daily practice, and whether we can rediscover a bit of joy in otherwise mundane environments.

I keep coming back to improv because you already do, instinctively and brilliantly, the exact thing I'm trying to help ordinary people access: transforming an object into something it isn't, building a scene from nothing, and playing without needing a reason to. You've spent years developing what I'm trying to distil into a two-minute break.

A few things I'd genuinely love to learn from you:

• what pulls you into a playful state when you're not feeling it? That cold start is exactly the problem someone faces on a work break.
• Which warm-ups or object/transformation games do you find actually work, and why? (Things in the family of "object work," "what else could this be," "party quirks," etc.)
• How do you lower the fear of looking silly, for yourself, and when you're bringing in total beginners?
• What makes an object good to play with? Is it ambiguity, familiarity, uselessness, something else?

I'd love to talk to anyone up for a short chat, and I'm just as happy to hear scattered thoughts in the comments. Any books, exercises, teachers, or resources you'd point me toward would be hugely appreciated too.

TIA!

I was reading through some improv substacks and I came across a term Edward Choi, an improv teacher from Toronto, coins called the "Toronto yes-and death spiral."

Suggestion: Coffee

A: I want a medium coffee, double-double.

B: Sure! But we ran out of milk so I’m going to milk the cow in the back.

A: I don’t drink cow’s milk. I only drink goat milk.

B: My boss has a pet goat and he’d be pissed at me if I used its milk.

A: I need milk soon because my doctor said my bones will turn into dust.

Boss walks on

Boss: Bahhh!

Source

Will Hines makes a similar observation when he spent a week in Toronto a few months ago.

Say the suggestion is “pocket.”

Dad: “Honey, I got new blue jeans today.”

Mom: “Oh dear, I’m so happy for you! Let me see!”

Dad: (spins around) “And that’s not all. I got you a pair too.”

Mom: “For me? Why, I’m the happiest girl in all of Jeansville.”

Dad: “That’s my girl!” (hug)

(improviser enters) Kid: “Daddy! Are we all getting jeans?”

Dad: “You betcha!” (throws a pair)

(improviser enters) Dog: “Woof!”

Dad: “Roscoe, I couldn’t forget you! Here’s some doggy jeans!” (throws a pair, dog improviser dances)

Source

Just thought it was interesting.

I have a student who is pretty self deprecating in all his scenes. Usually casts himself as a lower status/loser at life. It's a beginner class in a non competitive market, so it's very much just for recreation. Class is software engineers, nurses, etc...not the performance mind set of LA or New York.

Normally I wouldn't care, and would just challenge students to break the habit and play outside their comfort zones a little more each time. However, a lot of time his jokes are directly about his physical size. He is a big guy. He jokes about squishing the horse, toppling the boat, and so on. He is the one making the jokes and the rest of the class never says anything, but I can see their faces flash with dread of "how do I respond to that?" Aside from trying to prevent new improvisers from having navigating a tricky situation, I don't want him to rely on that, I don't think it's funny personally. He's funny and comes us with great ideas, but then BAM! Fat joke. I want him to break away and trust himself to be funny without out it also, I don't want him to fall into the "fat guy falls down" trap.

Any advice on how to tell him to stop without sounding like a jerk?

I remember when I was first learning, one of my first teachers shared a clip about what it would be like if people behaved like they didn’t understand spacework in a real world. (E.g. tripping over couches, just dropping glassware, walking into closed doors…)

I thought it was from Cracked’s comedy, but could be wrong. If anyone knows what I’m talking about and could find it. I’m teaching spacework this week and would love to share it.

Hi -- A while back I asked about improv theaters / training centers in Los Angeles and I learned that there are many!

Now I want to ask some more details about the opportunities in the area.

When I look around at improv theaters around the countries, I see that theaters seem to have one of two focuses:

- some lean towards group focus -- so, lots of improv teams get to perform, and most of the shows are composed of 'team slots'.

- others lean towards show production -- so players might be invited to be part of an ensamble for a premise-based show (so many different types of these I've seen over the last decade that I could describe more of in the comments)

I know we are really getting into the weeds here, because there are SO many gray areas in the definitions of what I'm describing. But how would you describe the landscape throughout Los Angeles with all the different theaters?