More Improv Advice in Translation
June 3, 2021 | By Stacey Mason
I have found that most advice is worthy of thorough examination. Often advice pertaining to one discipline – with just a bit of translation – has meaning in other disciplines. This translation process allows for more perspective and greater insight.
As a case in point: the more I study improvisation, the more parallels I see to other areas of my life. And while I originally wrote about this practice in 2015, I’ve gone on to discover even more similarities in the subsequent years. So what follows is more improv advice in translation.
Improv advice:
Play the scene you’re in not the scene you want to be in.
Business advice:
Sometimes your agenda is just that – your agenda. And sometimes you have to let it
go.
Improv advice:
The gears in your brain start turning when you’re looking for the perfect line. And
because there is no perfect line, the gears just grind harder and harder.
Business advice:
Perfect is the enemy of good.
Improv advice:
Don’t take any shortcuts on energy or polish. You may have done the show a thousand
times, but some people are seeing it for the first time.
Business advice:
It’s show time…every time.
Improv advice:
The audience is looking for a connection to you. Be weird, be zany, be uniquely you.
Yet still have humanity for them to latch on to.
Business advice:
Being human is essential. Being uniquely human is a force multiplier.
Improv advice:
Think of every choice on stage as a conduit of connectivity – speaking, not speaking,
walking, picking up something, looking at someone.
Business advice:
Every form of communication is a conduit of connectivity. Everything that you do
or say (or don’t do and don’t say) sends a message.
Improv advice:
Words come from your head. Connectivity comes from your heart.
Business advice:
You need both your head and your heart to be an effective leader.
Improv advice:
Never let failure go to your heart.
Business advice:
Never let success go to you head.
Improv advice:
You don't have to spend every waking minute with your cast, but you should know what
interests them artistically and who they are as people.
Business advice:
You likely won’t spend every waking minute with your peers, but you should know what
motivates them professionally and who they are as people.
Improv advice:
Always thank the tech booth.
Business advice:
Always thank your people. Do it more often than you think is necessary and do it
with gusto.
Improv advice:
If you have a choice between reacting at a 4 and reacting at a 10, react at a 10.
Business advice:
When it counts, show up and give it everything you’ve got.
Improv advice:
You don't need to give your character ten things right away. Give your character one
important, memorable thing instead.
Business advice:
Not everything can be a priority. Pick one audacious goal and really nail it.
Improv advice:
Be in love instead of in like. Be furious instead of angry. Be married instead of
just roommates. Have a belief instead of an opinion.
Business advice:
Have a passion for what you’re doing.
Improv advice:
There is room for your comedy.
Business advice:
There is room for your voice.
Improv advice:
Find the overlap between “audience favorites” and “untested forms”. Spend time in
that overlap.
Life advice:
Find the overlap between “tried and true” and “embracing the crazy”. Spend time in
that overlap.
Improv advice:
The learning is in the mistakes.
Business advice:
The learning is in the mistakes.
Here’s the funny thing I’ve noticed: the more parallels I see to other areas of my life, the more I want to study improv. And I can’t want to see what the next many years teach me!
Ancora Imparo… (Still, I am learning)