Improv Tips

I’m Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Be on time. Are you listening to me talk right now when you should have already left for class five minutes ago because you need to stop for gas? Do you have to cross the train tracks during rush hour to get to your rehearsal? Have you left enough cushion in case that bus you’re taking to your show is late? Believe it or not, creative people, myself included, occasionally struggle with punctuality. It may sound silly, but one of the things that will delight teachers, teammates, auditioners, casting directors, and theater owners is your ability to show up on time. It may be the bare minimum, but reliability is an invaluable asset in the improv world and consistently showing up on time is a great start. So get to class now! 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. Give yourself one hour after a show to celebrate your improv successes and mourn your improv failures. Don’t dwell on the highs and lows that come with either outcome. Congratulations on the good show, but don’t pat yourself on the back for too long. Sorry about the bad show, but don’t beat yourself up forever. Allow yourself one hour to digest, analyze, and break down your show after it’s done, but don’t obsess beyond that. Learn from your successes and/or failures, and then move on to the next one. 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 the biggest compliments I’ve ever received as an improviser is that I am good at “playing off the ball.” Since you’re an improviser, let me explain that sports reference. One of my strengths is that even when I’m not the focal point of the scene, my character is always reacting to what is happening around him or her. Remember that your character is real and is hearing things that affect him or her even when not being directly addressed. Don’t react so aggressively that you pull focus away from the crux of the scene, but make sure that you’re always reacting. 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. I’m always working on becoming a better improviser, but the thing I struggle with the most is breaking on stage. I have been fortunate to perform with some of the funniest people I’ve ever met, and they say surprising, hilarious things on stage all the time. It’s human nature to laugh at it. Isn’t that the whole point of what we’re doing? But breaking the fourth wall by laughing on stage never serves the scene you’re in. If you’re struggling to not break on stage like I am, what I’ve found helps is to invest as hard as possible in the situation and the character. You find this situation funny as an improviser, but I doubt your character finds this funny. And if they do, then it’s okay to laugh. Invest fuller in what your character is feeling, and it should help you reduce how much you’re breaking on stage. 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. You know that phrase, “Wide as an ocean, deep as a puddle”? Don’t do that. I see a lot of improvisers who find something interesting in a scene, and then instead of exploring it, they proceed to throw a dozen other ideas into the scene. Improv should be wide as a puddle, deep as an ocean. Explore the interesting thing that happens on stage until you can’t explore it any more. Save those dozen other ideas for a dozen other different scenes. Go deep, not broad. 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. I’m of the school of thinking that there are only happy mistakes in improv. Some of the most interesting scenes I’ve ever been in have come from a slip of the tongue or a misunderstanding. Remember, though, that everyone in the theater hears everything that has been said on stage just like you do. If something is ignored or brushed over, it can be very confusing for the audience. So make it your goal to address and justify anything that is said or done on stage. 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. Kids make for the best improvisers on the planet. They don’t have the horrible self-consciousness that we humans eventually develop about looking dumb. I promise that you don’t look dumb. Like your mom used to say, if anyone thinks you look dumb, they’re just jealous that you’re so confident. There’s plenty of time to be self-conscious and nervous outside of improv. But during this time, put your self-judgment away and improvise like no one is watching. Hopefully, someone is watching. 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. It’s okay to use what you already know in a scene. If you’re creating a scene in a kitchen, it’s perfectly all right to imagine it as your kitchen. You’re inventing enough already with characters and dialog and relationships. There’s no need to invent a completely made-up space. Put your fridge where your fridge would normally be, next to the stove where you’re used to seeing it. But be flexible in your mind so that when your scene partner inevitably creates something that does not fit in to your kitchen as you know it, you can incorporate that change. “Okay. Now it’s my kitchen, but the refrigerator is on the opposite wall, and it has a double door.” Keep it as simple as you can by using what you know. 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. Take classes. If you can afford the time and the money necessary to take improv classes, take as many improv classes as you can. Seek out different theaters, different teaching methods, different improv forms, and different teachers. A big part of being a great improviser is getting variety in your experiences, so the more varied classes you can take, the better. Don’t limit yourself to taking that one class with that one teacher that everyone tells you that you “just have to” take. A certain teacher may have an exercise or a way of explaining a concept that you’d initially found difficult, and they make it click right into place. Go out there and find them. 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. Write things down. Even if your primary artistic expression is improvising, throughout your journey, you’re going to have great ideas for improv forms, team names, sketches, and jokes, and you never know when you’re going to need them. You may think that you’ll remember all of these things later, and you may be right. But just in case, take a minute out of your day to write them down in a place that you’ve committed to keep all of your ideas. Download an app, carry around a notepad, or do whatever you have to do to prevent these great ideas from getting lost forever. 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.