We recently held a little contest to win a free spot in my upcoming workshop. We asked improvisers to tell us about a time that they had bombed, and what they learned from it. Like every improviser, I've had more than my share of shows where I have bombed. I have not only bombed on stage, […]
If you have been doing improv for a while you will eventually get a chance to audition for some pretty cool stuff. Stuff you will really want to get. It may be for a Harold team, or a show, or if you’re lucky, even bigger things like a role on TV or film. Some stuff you will […]
Has this ever happened to you? After a string of great shows you get tons of compliments, but instead of being happy you start to worry... will you be able to keep it up? You've raised the bar on your improvising so high that if you don't deliver you will disappoint. You're paralyzed in your fear. […]
Have you ever been sick of improv? Like, just over it? I am right now, and I hope I’m not alone with this one. I have been improvising pretty much my whole life, and right now I am sick of it. I have lost my passion. Frankly, I’m just bored with it, and when I feel like […]
I have yet to have a student in one of my improv classes or workshops come up to me and say, "Hey, can you just point out the good stuff I do today?" Nope, it’s always the opposite: "Hey, can you please tell me the things I'm doing wrong? I can take it. You can […]
Improvisers are told all the time how important is to "give gifts to your scene partners," but are rarely shown how, leaving them dazed and confused. I am no different. At times I am confused by it, too. Certainly, I been around long enough that I know a good gift on stage when I see one, […]
Growing up as a fat, awkward and insecure teenager, I had a dream of performing stand-up comedy. Over the last 33 years, I’ve gotten sidetracked from that by this thing called improvising. But recently I had been so burnt out on teaching improv that I knew I had to get back to doing something that […]
Nothing frustrates me more than watching a perfectly good scene be ambushed by an unnecessary walk-on. We are all familiar with the scene where a couple is out to dinner at a restaurant and then the zany waiter ambushes the scene and the scene ends up becoming all about the zany waiter and has nothing […]
This month, I've been really busy at Improv Nerd. So to prevent me from becoming even more overwhelmed and crabby than usual, I am turning over this week's blog to my wife, Lauren. Last week, Lauren was lucky enough to hear Judd Apatow speak at the Chicago Humanities Festival while I was busy teaching a corporate […]
Auditioning is a way of life for improvisers. You’ll never stop auditioning, so you’ll just have to get good at it! Learning to embrace the audition process, and to finally relax and have fun, will do wonders for your performance. We asked some professional improvisers -- Jay Sukow, a former teacher at Second City; Amey […]