Austin Improv

Hello,
I'm a first time poster!

So like my title says-I'm randomly good at improv.
during rehearsal for a troupe of ours, I get a lot of "good job, nice work" type stuff and its great to hear.
so I go to our jams thinking "oh cool, I can do good work" and then I do awful work.
However, there was one time where this dude I have a lot of respect for was in the same jam i was in.
so I see him destroy a scene and it was amazing.
so i go up and miraculously start a scene crazy strong, then dig myself a huge hole, then dig myself out completely then bring the house down, then put myself back in the hole then get saved.
I did another scene later when I did something completely crazy and there was this hush, but you could tell everyone there loved it.
when it was over, there was this rush from everyone-and it was so refreshing.
but honestly, and i feel bad for saying this but here goes-I felt too good. like i was the best one there.
thats my ego obviously but that was then.

well tonight i went to our jam-
and nothing.
its been a few weeks and maybe thats it.
also i had been freaking out if i could do that kind of stuff again- and that guy wasn't there and it was smaller too.

so i guess my question is-why am i so on and off?

thanks!

Answer: Because that's how it is for everyone. I've seen all of the best improvisers in town stink up the joint upon occasion. But, paradoxically, one way to become more consistently good is to steer yourself away from thinking in terms of good and bad. Set specific goals for yourself like "I'm going to listen to everything," or "I'm going to endow people with strong characters" rather than a general "I want to do a good job" and you'll be surprised how far that takes you.

Heed Brad's advice.


One reason why "finding the game" is so important is that it takes the pressure off yourself.


I find that when I focus on the game I have more consistently "good" scenes because I'm not concerned with myself or how I'm coming across. I'm fulfilling a role in the scene or coming up with things I think my scene partner will have fun with!

Another great thing to do is to say to yourself, "How can I make this person on stage with me look really amazing?" Love everything they do, treat every offer like it's the best offer ever.

Also, you can take that strong player that really inspired you, put a little mental version of him on your shoulder, and when you go into a scene, there he is right with you saying "Hell Yes!" to every move you make.

valetoile wrote:Another great thing to do is to say to yourself, "How can I make this person on stage with me look really amazing?" Love everything they do, treat every offer like it's the best offer ever.

This has always seemed really difficult to me, and I've also felt (in my first couple of years) that I'm too busy just trying to get my own shit together.

However, I would like to report success in this area just this weekend, at both a workshop and in a class showcase. It was barely conscious, but in two different circumstances I was with newer people who were visibly nervous and I thought, "I bet he'd like to do this," or "she's really good at this, I'll give her a situation where she can do that." Both worked really well.

Yay!