The SoCap Improv Comedy Podcast

In this week's episode Ralph talks about one reason everyone should take improv even if they never plan to get on a stage. In improv, you can roleplay different scenarios from your real/imagined life but also practice techniques that will make you a more effective communicator. One of those is ceasing to try to control what you can't control.

Falling in love. Hanging with good friends. Being in a moment. These are all times when we tend to lose ourselves, get over our self-consciousness, and forget about our selfish needs and serve an experience.

Whether on stage or in life real, try not to gaslights others. In improv, it often leads into the argument trap. In life, it escalates tension, shows others you're not listening, and more. Instead, treat the opinions of others as legitimately theirs and deal with it except in one situation.

Scenes in which the characters are strangers to each other come with an extra added level of difficulty. For that reason, I encourage improvisers to stay away from them. But, when they do happen to try and figure out what's at stake.

Having a process in a scene will help in a multitude of ways, however, there are also a couple major pitfalls with which to be aware.

A discussion of the third exercise I use when starting almost every class I teach. I Am A... is a game of patterns in which three people are elements within a certain pattern, category, etc. The more recognizable the pattern and elements, the better it is received.

Being process oriented, or systems based, allows one to make modifications if their goals aren't being realized. Conversely, relying on magical thinking to achieve a desired outcome can leave one at the mercy of a stochastic, unfeeling universe.

Improv has changed a lot in the 35 years since I started. One thing is that we are much more sensitive to people different than us and no longer mock people based on generalities about them. However, two areas have escaped that scrutiny and I have no idea why.

Dissonance is a powerful tool that can grab your audiences attention and make them laugh whether that's on stage or at a dinner party.

When in scenes, there is the actor and the character the actor/improviser is portraying. Sometimes, their goals are aligned but often they are not.