How To Not Make Mistakes In Improv

Let's use our imaginations for a moment. Imagine you are in an improv scene. We'll say the scene is going moderately well; the scene started with a strong but slightly zany answer and you and your scene partner have managed to further it a little bit, maybe you've even managed to figure out that elusive game. Things are going fairly well until suddenly someone makes a walk-on that makes makes no sense at all. The scene dies instantly and a chorus of Dr. Cox's "wrongs" erupt in your head.

A very obvious mistake has been made: you've labeled another improvisors move as wrong. 

I'm not going to feed you bullshit theory that states all offers are good and equal, and that everyone must do their part for mother Russia. There are definitely strong offers and weak offers, and I can talk for hours about the difference but this isn't about that. This blog post is about mistakes.

Once again, the only mistake is labeling another improvisors move as wrong. You've let your ego creep into your head, feed you beautiful lies about how great you are, and tell you how its the other dude's fault like a sleazy ex trying to pry you away from your current bf/gf. Now when the improvisor makes a move that is anything but spectacular, you will treat it like shit. You'll make a half-assed effort to build on it at best and very likely make snarky comments to your friends offer about how terrible that person's move was. If you can't see how and why this is bad then I never want to be in a scene with you.

This isn't any big revelation, but in this season of getting thanks I ask you to reflect on this. Just like life, scenes don't always go the way you want. Don't shut down and give up, give it your all to further the scene as best as possible. Sure, the scene might not be the greatest but at least you treated the offer as the gift that it is. You wouldn't tear up that sweater grandma knitted, would you?