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April 25, 2024
How to Deal With Your Inner Critic

The inner critic is that part of your brain that, when your improv show is over, finds all of the things you did wrong. It is ruthless. It is rooted in fear and wants to convince you that you are worthless. Its voice is so loud, you believe every word it says. The Inner Critic is a big […]

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December 12, 2018
5 Tools for Dealing with Shame

As you know, shame is one of my favorite things to write about, since I have so much of it on daily basis. I’m pretty sure I’ve had shame all of my life, but it wasn't until I started to taking improv classes in my late teens that I started to really start to feel it. […]

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August 16, 2018
I need your help with my shame

As you know, one of my favorite topics to talk about is shame, especially how it affects improvising and performing. Nobody has done more research on the topic or is filled with more of it than I am. That make me an expert on the subject. In all seriousness, it is killing me. Shame is the […]

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July 11, 2018
What a Toddler Taught Me About Rejection

As actors and improvisers, we deal with rejection on a regular basis. And even though I’ve been improvising and auditioning for a really long time, it’s still hard to not to take rejection personally, because I am still looking for outside things to put a big stamp of approval on my forehead. When I audition […]

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November 9, 2016
What the Cubs Taught Me About Improv

If you haven’t heard by now, last week, after 108 years, the Chicago Cubs finally won a World Series title. Pretty incredible, especially for me who has been a Cubs fan my whole life. But if you have been reading this blog with any sort of regularity, you know that a celebration of any kind […]

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November 21, 2013
The risk of taking risks

You hear this all the time in your improv classes – you need to take more risks on stage. But what improv teachers forget to tell you is that when you take risks, you’re going to feel feelings: anger, sadness, anxiety, fear, shame and, in rare cases, joy. This is a by-product of taking risks, and […]

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February 22, 2013
Acting as if I'm a success

Acting As If I'm A Success I am leaving this Sunday to go to LA with my wife. I’m going to be doing three live Improv Nerd shows with three amazing guests: Andy Richter, Matt Besser and Beer Shark Mice. I am also teaching a workshop next Saturday, which shockingly sold out in about 24 […]

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February 6, 2013
Bad shows still suck

Bad Shows Still Suck After more than 25 years of doing improv shows, the one thing I can tell you is a bad show still sucks, almost as bad as when I first started. Oh boy, I had one on Sunday, working with two really talented improvisers I respect, John Hildreth and Rachael Mason, which […]

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November 14, 2012
Go ahead, promote yourself

Go Ahead, Promote Yourself One of the hardest things for me to do is to ask people to come to my improv shows. I have been performing on a regular basis for more than 20 years and it’s still difficult. I tell myself “Oh, they don’t really care,” or “Why would they come see me?” […]

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May 23, 2012
Overcoming performance shame

One of the best acting tips I ever got was from Del Close, one of my early improv teachers, who used to say "follow the fear." How I interpret that when I am on stage improvising is if you’re standing in the back line doing a Harold, Montage or an Armando and you feel afraid […]

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