Improv Tips

I’m Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Dress for success. In my career on stage I’ve been picked up, I’ve picked up others, I’ve given and received piggyback rides, I’ve stood on my head, I’ve done a full cardio workout, I’ve crawled around on all fours, and I’ve lain on all sorts of floors, chairs, and tables. Improv can take you to some strange places. Make sure that you’re dressed appropriately for the trip. Only your imagination should limit what you’re able to do on stage. You certainly don’t want your clothing to do that. Take that into consideration when you’re getting ready for a class or 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. Use. Periods. At. The. Ends. Of. Your. Sentences. A lot of improvisers are uncomfortable with silence, so they tend to ramble on in their sentences and just when you think the sentence is going to end, there’s more sentence to that sentence, and it can be very difficult to figure out where the thought or the sentence ends so you just sit there in a scene listening to this sentence that just keeps going on and on and on and you don’t know when to respond to the sentence, so you don’t even bother. Polite improvisers are loathe to interrupt a rambling sentence, so it’s your responsibility to end your sentences. I promise you another sentence will come along. 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. No matter how much you love improv, there are likely going to be times that it’s going to feel like a bit of a chore. Whether it’s the thousandth time that you’ve warmed up with “Big Booty,” whether you always hit traffic coming home from your Friday afternoon class, or whether you feel like you’re spending more time managing personalities than you are improvising, it’s possible for improv to feel like a grind. When you find yourself in one of those times, focus your thoughts and energy on the things you love about improv, and see the improv chores as exactly what they are. Chores that need to be done. 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. A student recently asked me how to handle a fellow improviser who is railroading him onstage. My strategy on those types of improvisers has been to kill them with “Yes, and.” If an improviser denies or ignores my reality, it’s no sweat. I’ll go with their reality. And if they change that up on me again, I’ll roll with whatever they throw at me. You can only be tripped up onstage if you allow yourself to be tripped up onstage. Keep your mind limber, and go with the flow of the scene, and it won’t matter how much anyone else on stage tries to railroad you. Also, please try not to railroad each other. 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. A very wise improviser once told me, “If you satisfy an audience’s expectations, you’ve failed as an improviser.” As an improviser, it’s not your job to satisfy an audience’s expectations. It’s your job to subvert your audience’s expectations. Improvising is all about creating something new. Predictability can be the bane of an improviser’s existence. If you’re onstage merely satisfying the audience’s expectations, why are you up there, and why are they down in the house? Make it your goal to subvert your audience’s expectations. 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 cry on stage. Improv is usually looked on as a funny, lighthearted performance art. But it doesn’t have to be. For a lot of improvisers, it’s not terribly hard to make an audience laugh. The real challenge comes in making the audience feel something. I remember scenes more when I get an “aww” from the audience than when I get a “guffaw.” If you’ve never tried it before, see if you can get an emotional reaction out of your audience instead of a laugh. 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. Stop waiting for your opportunity to come to you. The beautiful thing about improvising is that you’re creating something that didn’t exist until you made it exist. So do the same thing when it comes to creating opportunities for yourself. If you didn’t make a team, go make a team yourself. If you didn’t book a role, go write your own role. There is no sense in sitting on the sidelines hoping that an opportunity will fall into your lap. Go out and create your own opportunities. 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. We should be supporting one another at all times, but we can also use it as a trick. I know it can be easy to get lost in worrying about what you should or should not be doing onstage at any time. But if you find yourself lost in a scene, a simple way to get back on track is to take a breath and lean hard into supporting the ideas of the other players around you. Once you’re out of your own head, you can get back to contributing to the great thing that they’re creating onstage. It’s just an added bonus that you’re being so supportive at the same time. 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. There’s a part of you in every character that you play. Even as you’re onstage playing an alien from another world or a character with a completely different background than yours, you’re playing that character through the lens of your experiences with characters like that. And that’s okay. Because that means that you’re never going to do the exact same character as someone else, even if you’re specifically trying to do so. And that’s a good thing. Don’t worry about making your alien unique from everyone else’s. It will be because it’s played by you. 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. This may be a little hard for some of you to hear, but being an improviser is not a personality trait, and improv shouldn’t be a cult. Improv is a fun, challenging, great thing that you do, and you should applaud yourself for having the courage to do it. But you don’t have to talk about it all the time. Believe me, your fellow improvisers may be interested in that great scene you did during class, but it might not translate as well to the general public. Know your audience when you’re talking about improv outside of the theater, and you’ll avoid some of the eyerolling that you might otherwise get. 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.