Improv Tips

I’m Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Name your characters. The sooner you get into the habit of naming your characters, the more naturally naming will fit into your scenes, and the better your memory for names will become. Naming characters not only makes them more realistic, but it also makes it easier to call back characters and to invent a backstory and a voice for them. If you have a hard time coming up with names, use people you know. It will make names even easier to remember if the character reminds you of a real person in your life. So name names. That’s your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.

I’m Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Great writers read. Great singers listen to music. Great teachers learn. Great improvisers watch improv. If you want to continue to grow as an improviser, you need to watch all sorts of improv. You would be surprised how much you can learn by watching improv during those times you’re not performing improv. If you’re currently sidelined from improvising because you’re wisely keeping your social distance, it’s a great time to explore the massive library of improv that is on the internet. And laughing is certainly not a bad way to pass the time. Stay at home and stream. That’s your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and healthy, and I will see you next time.

I’m Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Take care of yourself. It is a weird time for the country and for the species. As much as I love improv, bear in mind that your pursuit of this craft does not matter at all in comparison to your health and your safety. Human beings are such a cool species because we invented things like improv. Let’s work together to make sure that we’re around for a long time. Be careful and protect the health of yourself and the people around you. That’s your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, at least glance at the CDC recommendations to decide whether you should cancel, and I will see you next time.

I’m Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Improvisation is a communal art form, but there are ways to practice improvising all alone. I have conversations with myself all the time. When I get bored with that company, I turn on talk radio or a podcast and practice responding to what’s being said. When that gets old, I have conversations with my dogs and cat, and I give them voices and characters so that they can answer me. A big part of learning to improvise is learning how to react to different situations, and practicing conversations with yourself, your radio, or your pets is definitely not crazy. It’s art. That’s your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.

I’m Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Occasionally, it’s important to pause and give yourself kudos for doing this wacky thing that is improv. If patting yourself on the back makes you uncomfortable, allow me to do it for you right now. It takes a mountain of guts for any artist to put their creative content out into the world. For an improviser, that courage is amplified by the fact that you don’t have the chance to obsess over that content and tweak it and write it and rewrite it before it gets put out there. It’s a very exposed way of creating. That’s no small thing, and if you won’t commend yourself, I’ll commend you for being such a brave artist. Great job! That’s your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.

I’m Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Unless when you start your car in real life, you go, “RRRR RRRRR RRRRRRR,” please don’t do it in a scene. Improv is a lot like a play with no props, costumes, and special effects. Your character should not be providing the sound effects to their actions because it breaks the reality of the scene and, unless that’s the game you’re playing, usually doesn’t fit into the established “rules” of your set. That said, if you’re offstage and it makes sense to support the scene with sound effects, absolutely do that. And if you start doing it, commit to the bit, and don’t stop until it’s time to stop. You’ll know when. That’s your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.

I’m Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Be specific. Your 1988 blue Honda Accord is much funnier than your car. The more specificity you bring to a scene, the more vividly you’re painting the stage picture, and the more clearly you’re communicating your idea to your scene partners and to the audience. Clarity of communication in improv is always a good thing. As a bonus, most human beings love feeling smart, and an audience that knows a reference is going to be in a great mood to laugh, because they’re feeling good about feeling smart. So name the meal you’re eating, tell me what color suit you’re wearing, and let me know me know what song you’re dancing to. That’s your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.

I’m Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. One of my favorite sayings about improv that I annoy my students with is that creating a scene should be like building a wall. Our scene is the wall. Everyone involved in the scene is building the wall, and we want the wall to be a product of our collaboration, because building a wall alone is needlessly hard. So everyone has to bring their own bricks, which are their unique ideas. If one person supplies all the bricks, it’s going to be a pretty boring wall, and that person should go write screenplays instead of improvising. If people bring weak bricks, the wall is going to be unstable. Bring your own bricks, and help build that amazing, unique wall. That’s your improv tip for the day. If you hate metaphors, I’m sorry. And if you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.

I'm Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Leave your attitude in the green room. Improvisers are lovely people, and you’ll probably get along well with most of the ones you meet. And if you don’t, maybe you’re the problem? But you won’t always get along with the people you perform with. And guess what? You should still perform with them. Leave whatever is going on between you personally behind. You might not like your scene partner, but you might play a character who is in love with his or her character, and you owe it to yourself to not let your personal issues get in the way of a great performance. That’s your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.

I’m Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. So, you’re an improviser now. Congratulations! You’re officially a creative person. But don’t stop there. Broaden your creative horizons as much as you possibly can. The best improvisers I know are the most well-rounded improvisers I know, because they can do anything, and they seem to have a little bit of knowledge about everything. So dust off that guitar that’s been sitting in the corner. Take up painting. Journal every day. Take a dance class. Make your creative horizon stretch out so far that the sun can never set on it. That’s your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.