I tried improv comedy theatre classes for a year.
Here’s what I learned.
How did this start?
Three reasons:
1. I wanted to think even faster on my feet.
My family, friends, and co-workers have told me before that I have a quick wit, and I’m pretty good at improvising solutions.
How far I could take it?
2. I wanted to challenge myself to do scary things.
I figured making a fool of myself in front of strangers qualified as scary.
But I signed up anyways because I believed it would be rewarding.
3. I wanted to balance out my time on the crisis line.
On the topic of scary things…
I also applied to volunteer for the crisis line in the same year.
What better counterbalance to heaviness than lightness?
What was it like?
For reference, I started in January 2023 at my local community centre.
Here’s an overview of the classes and teams I was part of since then.
Beginner Class
- Simpler, more structured games.
- Focused on getting comfortable performing in front of your classmates and understanding your boundaries.
- One term-end performance.
Intermediate Class
- Games are less structured.
- Encouraged more to make creative offers and accepting what your classmates offer.
- More performances —typically one mid-term, another end-of-term.
Performance Team
- Smaller group that practiced weekly.
- Leaning into playing with the scene and trusting that your teammates will support you wherever the scene goes.
- More frequent performances. My team formed January 2024 and performed twice between then and mid-February 2024.
The general structure each week:
- Quick check-in
- Warm-up games
- Depending on class level, either run through multiple medium-length games or one long-form game for the upcoming stage performance.
I went to these classes after work.
So it wasn’t always easy for me to choose to go.
Especially when I was tired from my day job.
But I’m always glad I went, because I:
- enjoyed exploring alternate lives and being silly on stage
- gained energy afterward
- had a lot of fun!
What did I learn?
Your job is to support your teammates (not be funny)
What were my proudest moments during all the performances?
When I jumped in and tried to help.
For example:
The set for our first live performance included a game of Dinner Party.
Dinner Party requires someone to play ‘host’ and step outside.
Meanwhile, the audience gives each remaining cast member a role to play (without the host’s knowledge).
The host returns to guess what each cast member is trying to act out, all under the guise of a dinner party.
I saw that people were hesitating to play host (it’s stressful to guess everyone else and get it wrong on stage).
So I volunteered to play host to just keep things moving.
Was it my best performance?
No.
I still cringe remembering what I said during that stage.
But I was proud of myself for showing up and supporting my team.
This gave me more courage to…
Just jump in
I used to be more of the type to hang back and let things unfold first.
But then I’d wait too long and completely miss the opportunity to jump in.
So I temporarily added another challenge for myself:
Volunteer to go first.
Even if I don’t feel like it.
It paid off in unexpected ways:
- Kept energy higher (less lag time)
- Made me more comfortable with making mistakes in front of people
- Helped me be ok with taking more risks
All of which have opened up new connections, opportunities, and adventures in my life than I could have expected.
Because…
Every adventure starts with “yes”
One of the most important concepts in improv?
Accepting offers.
(Yes, and).
Refusing an offer is how a lot of stories accidentally get shut down.
So now whenever anyone makes an offer?
Unless it puts me in too much danger,
Just say yes and play along.
It’ll either be a good time or a good story.
