"Why are women so bad at improv?"

[Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell]

i think Josie was my first improv crush...before i even knew what that was.

I think Mike McShane was on the American version briefly...

if he wasn't, he should have been.

[TigerStripes]

I saw Josie play Benedick in an all woman's Much Ado About Nothing at The Globe in 2004. She killed it.

And as has been insinuated on several recent threads on this forum, I generally find more women improvisers than men that I'm excited to work with because they are more inclined to be collaboration-oriented, good listeners, unafraid to do what the scene needs instead of what they want, etc. along with being intelligent, fearless, & funny.

[Alex B]

Just because you're the first one shouting out the answer in class doesn't mean your the smartest one in the room.

[jillybee72]

Kathy Greenwood is also hilarious. Part of it is she's setting other people up to be funny. No one gets credit for that, but it's absolutely essential.

[Chuy!]

Jill is absolutely right! I have told people for years that it is a rare occasion that you find a troupe with a full complement of "funny" people. I have seen these troupes and they don't always work. (it might explain some failing Maestros) If you are able to build a scene from the ground up and allow your partner(s) to get the laughs from YOUR setups, then you are truly collaborating. As a male, I have to say that I am thankful to a large group of women that have allowed me to get the laugh. In the end, it was they who made the scene. I also love being the straight person in a scene with a new imp (believe it or not). This is why I LOVE the lottery (Hideout) when there are a few people that get chosen that have never done this. I try my damndest to make them look great... Well said, Jill...

[JediImprov]

To me it shows the importance of reaching for gender equality and teaching cooperative methods of performance (keeping an open dialog about steamrolling performers and trying ways to work together instead of apart).

Amen

[Ryan Hill]

Jill is absolutely right! I have told people for years that it is a rare occasion that you find a troupe with a full complement of "funny" people. I have seen these troupes and they don't always work. (it might explain some failing Maestros) If you are able to build a scene from the ground up and allow your partner(s) to get the laughs from YOUR setups, then you are truly collaborating. As a male, I have to say that I am thankful to a large group of women that have allowed me to get the laugh. In the end, it was they who made the scene. I also love being the straight person in a scene with a new imp (believe it or not). This is why I LOVE the lottery (Hideout) when there are a few people that get chosen that have never done this. I try my damndest to make them look great... Well said, Jill...

As a recent recipient of this generosity from Chuy, I can attest that he does a great job making new imps look good.

[AllisonAsher]

I love how this thread turned into a discussion of Whose Line crushes.

My thoughts: I definitely think it's important for steamrollers not to steamroll, but I also think it's important for we girls to push aside our tendency to be "polite." There's no escaping the cultural conditioning of women to be "polite" and "considerate" (still in this day and age!), so I'm convinced no matter how enlightened our parents were, we all still suffer from it to some degree.

And it would behoove us as performers to take the responsibility to go outside that and encourage our inner steamroller. (I'm speaking hyperbolically, but still...)

There are some amazing women in this improv world who can do both, and I take them up as role models, so I don't mean to speak for the female species as a whole. I'm mostly talking about beginners like myself. There seems to be a subtle tendency when we're first starting out (or not so subtle) to sit back and let the male in a scenario make the first offer, or drive a scene. And I don't think we're doing ourselves a service by giving in to that.

Again, not looking to start a flame war. And there are certainly more examples to counter-act this that folks can bring up. Not all drivers are men, not all followers are women. There are plenty of both. I've just noticed in our culture, a lot of women still defer out of some sense of politeness being the appropriate thing to do.

I guess my point is just that Jung was right: encouraging our shadow side is a good thing. Drivers should learn to listen; listeners should learn to drive. We'll all be better improvisers for it.

[jillybee72]

Yes, Allison, being versatile is so useful.

[Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell]

indeed. as in all things, balance is crucial.