Collective Superstition

A look at the ways we nourish and maintain group mind in the face of superstition

Improv is like playing sports in that we can’t plan what will happen. We have to react in the moment and perform as who we are. We also assess our performance and the performance of our team. We don’t win or lose, but we have standards by which we evaluate our performance.

I hear the phrase “I had a bad show” or “you had a good show” (we should praise ourselves, not just others, but these are really the most common combinations of these words that I hear.) said a lot in improv conversations. So clearly, we do have a gauge.

Athletes are notorious for being superstitious; Not shaving, wearing the same socks, tapping a sign with a motto above the door. Athletes will play amazing, career-defining games, then try and recapture the energy they had the day of that performance by repeating the routine; Some call this superstition.

No matter what you call it, the idea behind it is the same; maintaining small acts, behavior, or rituals to create a mindset that will affect your overall performance.

I think improvisers do this too, but we do this work collectively. Improvisers do this work not to create a mindset for themselves to have a dynamite performance, but for the group to feel connected and, for lack of a better word, jazzed.

Jazz is the improv of music, after all. Wink.

I’ve seen improvisers get frustrated chasing the right mindset for group-mind. I’ve been on teams that have ruined the pre-show vibe just by trying to maintain it.

So, What is group mind?

Ironically enough, I’ve never actually encountered a group of people who all had the same succinct definition for group mind. I guess I don’t really go around asking people about group mind, but still, a succinct definition hasn't come up.

Though, aptly, I think we all know exactly what it is.

To me, there are two ways to approach group mind, clinically and sentimentally. You can see this as classical vs. romantic or square vs. groovy if you want; you know what I’m getting at.

Clinically, I like to think that group mind comes about in its most potent form when the group or team has a common goal in mind and a common structure of tactics for accomplishing that goal. A lot of times, this comes from practicing together a lot. Sometimes a team will even start to develop their own language for the tactics used to accomplish the goal. In improv, the goal is “be funny” or “find and play the game of the scene together” or “have fun.”

Some teams or theaters end up using the language of game and will say some something like “frame the unusual thing.” While other groups will use the language of character and say something like “react honestly.”

Sentimentally, I see group mind as this unexplainable connection; some force that makes two or more people think of the same word, song, or dance move simultaneously. Most magically, without the presence of a shared stimulus that points us toward that reaction. I think of it as this social-mycelium traveling energy that we can tap into if we are intuitive enough. You might see it as our improv Alethiometer that we can choose to be open to reading, or maybe you see it as a connection with the force or the spirits around us.

Whichever way you prefer to understand group mind, most improvisers have felt it. It’s a delicate and intuitive balance.

Naturally, when we feel we achieve that balance with our team, and the result is an excellent show with lots of energy and a rioting audience, we think, “Well, that was easy and fun! We’ll just do that again next time!” We did it! We made group mind happen, and it felt great. Now we just need to maintain it. Yikes.

We start to think about what we did backstage to warm up, what song we came out to, or the fact that the first scene of the show was slow and grounded. We wonder what created the energy for that great show.

“What did we do last time?” Over time leads to, “What generally works best for us?” We start to create rituals among the team. A vibe backstage before a show becomes something to be protected and created; behaviors start to form that indicate to our teammates we are ready to get into the headspace for the show. And when we deviate from those rituals, we can start to worry we’ve ruined the vibe.

The world of improv has thousands of warm-up games, and most groups of improvisers can make a new one up on the spot if they want to. Put five improvisers in a bar, and a new warm-up game will arise on accident most of the time. So why do our teams choose to do the same ones again and again? Why choose ritual when we have variety.

I think it’s because that’s our way of being superstitious collectively. We know what we did when we performed well and what the vibe was like, and we want to do all the little things we did just the same, so we might affect the overall performance.

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This collective superstition is a lot more challenging to maintain than the superstition of just one person. This ideal communal vibe includes the subjective perspectives of each individual on the team. It includes their moods and the way they perceive shared looks, or how involved they felt in the process of starting the rituals backstage.

Maybe it’s actually an impossible thing to maintain reliably. Maybe the only way to maintain it is to approach each new pre-show warm-up or practice anew and organically find the groove. Maybe what’s most important is reliably communicating to your team that you’re ready to support and play.

So what do we do when we can’t find our group mind vibe?

It’s not our job to ensure everyone on our team is in the mood to improv or that they are engaged with the team’s rituals. But, it is our job not to get in everyone else’s way of getting in the zone and achieving group mind.

Do whatever it is that helps you get in the right mindset for group mind first. If that’s listing to pearl jam alone, dope. If it’s dancing with your teammates, great.

The best thing you can do if you’re not feeling it is to check your self-talk. Are you being nice to yourself? Try and remember that you’re a funny person who has done a bunch of great scenes. You’ve made people laugh at parties and on stage before. You got this.

The best-case scenario is finding that groove together if we can. This collective effort to reach group mind can be tough, but the people around you will usually make it easier.

With that in mind, sometimes, a team will find a pre-show ritual that can throw one of the players out of whack. Sometimes the whole team can seem really into one particular warm-up, ritual, or chant; and you don’t want to rain on everyone’s parade by saying, “Hey, it puts me in my head when we all rip huge farts backstage because I got little toots and I feel inadequate.”

The act of talking about maintaining the right mindset can completely ruin the process, so it can be hard to know when or how to talk about it. But, you should let your team know if something is throwing you off.

The fart example is silly and ridiculous. But, You may actually find yourself on a team that loves doing rhymes backstage, and you feel like you are bad at rhymes and end up befuddled. Or maybe your team is doing “5 things” a lot before shows, and pulling random specifics puts you in your head. That’s all fine. You should tell your team if you hope to have good energy.

Chances are your teammates like you more than they like any particular warm-up. They all want you to get on a stage in a good headspace, so they’ll probably be glad you said something. Saying something is also a great alternative to making people guess why you don’t seem to be having fun.

Do the same when your teammates tell you what they prefer. If we all do that, we have the best chance of the whole team ending up in the right headspace for the show. Think of it as “yes, and.” Wow, that rule is so simple and pervasive that it applies even before we step on stage.

If you find yourself in a lousy headspace before a show, and you feel like your routine, warm-ups or rituals have been ruined, try to remember that improv is really just listening and reacting. There is a saying basketball players say when they are not shooting well, “Shoot through the slump.” Meaning, keep shooting till you get your stroke back. I think it applies to improv. Get out on stage and commit, even if you don’t feel the vibe backstage. You might just find a laugh and turn things around.

Remember that improv can’t be planned, and no matter what we do, we’re just going to have to go out there and do your best. So if you find yourself getting in your head about ritual, remember that maybe today is the day you find a new tradition.

I don’t have any answers to this, just some advice to help folks feel better; because ultimately, the only way to fix this is to feel better, which is always impossible to do when you’re focused on feeling better. It’s a vicious thing, superstition.

Some days it’s ok to say, “I don’t feel up to performing right now.” Go sit in the audience; before you know it, you’ll probably wish you were up there on stage goofing around with your friends. If you don’t want to sit in the audience, that’s great too. Either way, take the pressure off yourself. Improv is fun, remember?

Ultimately, I think that is exactly what important to remember.

We all do improv because we like to, and the rituals and warm-ups that will make us the best improvisers are the ones where we have the most fun. Try not to plan or assess or recreate something from another show. Just go have fun. “Group mind,” and all the other words we use to describe the connection and being in a good mood will come more naturally once we’re having a good time.