Improv Update - Your Improv Brain Podcast & Show
Articles and episodes about learning, coaching, and performing improv and comedy. Some of these articles will specifically consider the cognitive aspects of performing improv & comedy (stage or digital).
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This week's episode is about those improv habitsYou know that thing where you learn something, you fully get it, you could explain it to someone else, and then the second you're under pressure your brain does the old thing anyway? I think this is a pretty common one many of us have experienced in improv (maybe regularly!), but it's one of those patterns that shows up everywhere. You understand that you should listen more carefully, sure. You still talk over people though, brain just "does it". You know you should pause before responding, take a beat. But you're still, say, writing the scene in your head. The gap between knowing something and actually doing it automatically has an explanation... it's actually "a thing". Your brain runs on pathways, and the ones you've used the most fire the fastest. So your default move, whatever it is, will always win the race against the new thing you just learned when you're in a stressful situation. Like being on a stage, say! Your nervous system doesn't care what you understood in that game workshop last week because it cares most about what's been reinforced over years. That old thing is easy, just do it. I've been referencing Olympian Eileen Gu in a few recent episodes because she talked about this general concept so well in an interview she gave. She described how the pathways you practice get wider and faster, and the ones you stop using start to narrow. She called the process of building new defaults "tinkering like a scientist." Running the experiment over and over, adjusting, running it again, until the new behaviour becomes automatic. One round of practice teaches the concept, and you can do it say if you are really in your head and thinking hard. Twenty rounds across a month or two actually builds the pathway so you can do it without thinking. Here's where it gets complicated for neurodivergent brains. The encouraging part first: your current defaults aren't necessarily permanent (you can build new ones). The frustrating part of this thing: building new pathways takes repetition, and executive function challenges can make that deliberate, sustained practice harder to maintain. And there's a prerequisite too (oh my gawd right) your nervous system needs to feel safe enough to let you try the new pattern honestly, like truly honestly. If your body is in a stress response, it'll default to the oldest, most reinforced pathway every time. That's survival mode doing its job. Watch the episode for guidance, and also a couple exercises to practice building these new pathways effectively so the new thing you learn can become your new default. You can find the article for this episode online here, or watch or listen using the links below. Watch or ListenThe gap between understanding a skill and actually doing it has a real explanation. Check out the latest ep here:
Giving Notes or Getting Notes in ImprovI just released two guides (totalling over 50 pages!) about giving and receiving notes in improv. It'll make you a better improviser and/or improv teacher. The first one is for students. It covers why notes are so hard to process, what your brain is actually doing when you receive feedback after a scene, and what to do about it. It includes frameworks and worksheets. More information and a TOC can be found on this page. The second one is for teachers and coaches, and I think this one fills a gap that I genuinely haven't seen anyone else fill. It covers what's happening inside your students' brains during notes that you can't see from the outside. If you teach or coach improv, you have neurodivergent students. This guide gives you that context, along with direct, simple strategies that will make your notes be heard better for every student in the room. Do it for Autistic Acceptance month. If you want the discount, grab it now! I'm offering a temp discount, and you can also get 50% off a guide if you get both.
Autistic Human Acceptance Month (because some humans you improv with actually are)April is Autism Acceptance month. And my birthday, but let's not get into that because I'm skipping it this year. For the memory banks: Autism is disabling, but for reasons like environments and communication not being set up for us and only supporting allistic humans. Autism itself is not a learning disability (not part of the diagnostic criteria), but learning disabilities can be something else some autistic people have. Autistic humans have similarities and differences (like some might also have depression, ADHD, trauma, different intensities of fill in da blank, and more). There is a lot of nuance, and a lot more than I have space to say here, but that's the quick start from one human's perspective and experience. And spitting us out the second we don't magically "fit" with nary an opportunity to deal with the fact we speak different languages and all deserve to be in this community and respected as a human. Literally. Speaking the dominant language, or having the dominant human experience, does not make that right. Misunderstanding someone doesn't automatically make them an asshole. (And in case anyone is wondering, no this actually hasn't happened to me on an improv team or anything. I'm not subtweeting, at least that I'm aware of haha!) From what I keep seeing though, over and over, from the stories of autistic improv students and performers: we have a long way to go in the improv community on this. And not a lot of interest from allistics in doing the work or getting the word out, unfortunately. So, I'll keep talking about this because someone has to even if it's just me alone bleating from a basement in a forest on an island somewhere in Canada doing my atypical brand of improv. If you ever want to join in the convo, simply reply and I'll work my butt off to have your voice heard in the way that works for you. Whew. Okay. But in the mean time: Want to learn more? Make your improv BETTER and your teams and communities inclusive? Of course you do! Hopefully that's why you're here and are choosing to stay and read this far! Maybe! If any of the previous paragraphs are confusing or whatnot, please please please check out this episode today about "how well do you know your teammate? No, like, really know them." Consider it your soft intro to Autism Acceptance month. It was hard for me to make, so I hope you'll take a listen and maybe leave a comment or share it somewhere. That would mean a lot to my old butt. I got feelings even if I don't know how to label them right away. More about this general topic and all of these will apply to any brain type:
Thank you! Question for YOU!I'd love to hear some of your experiences and thoughts and include them in a future episode OR this newsletter. If you'd like me to include your name and a link, add it to your response! You can also stay anonymous if you prefer. Sign off your quote however you'd like to be referenced. This week's question: What's something you used to do in every scene that you've managed to stop doing? How did you get there? Reply to this email with your answer. By responding, you agree to have your reply published in a future Improv Update newsletter. I'll do my best to include as many responses as I can. You can also always ask a question or tell me what you'd like to hear about in a future episode. Just reply! |
Improv Update - Your Improv Brain Podcast & Show
Articles and episodes about learning, coaching, and performing improv and comedy. Some of these articles will specifically consider the cognitive aspects of performing improv & comedy (stage or digital).