Hey,

New episode of Your Improv Brain this week. This one is about what to do when you're standing at the top of a scene and your brain just empties out on you. Which, if we're being honest, happens to everyone regardless of experience level.

I reference something Will Hines teaches about scene initiations: just answer the question "where are you?" You don't have to say it out loud; in fact, you probably don't wanna do that. You can establish your location with a physical action, which buys you and your scene partner some time to figure out what's happening together. It's a simple starting point and it works.

Two exercises in this episode. The partner version has you building a shared base reality entirely through physicality and emotion before anyone says a word. The solo version has you handling imagined objects in a location and then describing the reality you just created. Both are designed to give you more options when your brain decides to check out at the worst possible moment.

Links to both the video and audio versions below, and to the text article on the website. I've included a few more episodes below if you're following the series on the top of the scene.

One more episode about initiations and base reality after this weeks, and then there will be a special extended episode coming on March 16 about improvising with all brain types better. I'll be doing extended episodes once per month on special topics like this.

Bye,

Jen

Watch, listen, or read this episode

​Here is the article for this week's episode, and the YouTube and podcast audio are below:

​

Your brain went blank? Try t... Mar 2 · Your Improv Brain 7:51   ​

More fun improv stuff

This latest episode is part of a four part series about initiations and base reality. You can find the other episodes (links to the podcast audio and YouTube video too) on these pages here:

• ​Start a scene without a backstory​
• ​Questions at the top of a scene​

Fun fact & more

It's fun to learn new facts. Here's one about wood frogs. They can survive freezing in the winter, and it's by flooding its cells with glucose and urea, which act as cryoprotectants preventing internal ice crystals from destroying tissue. Sounds useful, but now I'm thinking of frogs in parkas. More about wood frogs here.

Want music to listen to while you create? Check out Sign Me Up by j ember & Bad Summer Club and set it to single song loop. IYKYK.