A reasonable ode to a clean start, and a rant against talking animals Here’s some advice that might make your improv less fun to do but will definitely make it more enjoyable to watch: Have a clean start to the scene. Meaning: Avoid starting at the same time. Let each…

(written in a hurry after three cups of coffee) I’m going to explain in this article how to be funny. It’s an insane goal and one I’m sure to fail at. …

This is how to do long-form improv if you’ve never studied it at all. I’m writing this because every few months someone will email me and ask “I‘m thinking about doing improv, and I’ve never done it before. Any books you recommend?” But there aren’t many books that are good…

I’m writing this for improvisers who are in trouble. You’ve had a bad show or class or practice, probably a few of them, maybe a LOT of them. You hate your own improv, and you’re not so crazy about anyone else’s. You feel you should probably quit, and are convinced…

At the top of the scene, what you say is not nearly as important as how you say it. Everyone focuses too much on the words when they’re doing improv. Everyone gets logical. That’s a trap. In real life, when we talk to each other, we are listening WAY WAY…

Here’s the idea: lots of improv notes seem to contradict each other. But I think a better way is to give them a priority. Like: you should play it real, unless someone is making a big clear choice that things are UNREAL, in which case, yeah, you should agree with…

No, this is not advice on setting boundaries with toxic friends! This is about the mundane but crucial process of “saying no” within the reality of an improvised scene. This is ultimately about feeling control over your own improv. We should teach how to “say no” right after we teach…

A sure-to-fail discussion The worst thing you can do to an improv class — and I’ve done it — is to say “can we be funnier this time?” A casting director said that to me in an audition once. “Can you try that again and, I don’t know how else…

All comedy is opposites Let’s say that all comedy in improv (or “games” — i.e. “game of the scene”) falls into one of two categories: “Heightened reality” OR “Topsy-Turvy”* Heightened Reality vs Topsy-Turvy “Heightened Reality” are games in which people are behaving as they normally do, but to an exaggerated degree. “Topsy-Turvy” are games…