Your Improv Brain

·E49

Improv Freeze Fix! Set Up In Advance as a Default Move

July 13
15 mins

Episode Description

You're in a scene, it's your turn, and your brain goes somewhere else. Going blank on stage, hitting that freeze, is near the top of most improvisers' fear lists, and I want to add something new to the pile of advice about it. I have new things to say about this thing, possibly even something that's a fix. Basically, you need to sort out your default move.

Most advice about the improv freeze(tm) tells you to say or do the next thing, anything at all, and that does work a lot of the time. It can also be the exact thing that froze you in the first place, yuck, especially if you're a neurodivergent improviser with a long history of being told you read the moment wrong or missed the subtext or that unsaid thing that we were supposed to guess or assume. Yuck.

In this episode I offer one more way to think about why the freeze happens, and one specific thing you can sort out ahead of time so you're not making a decision while you're already flooded. I also get into why the pause you're sitting in might be more useful than you think. Ooo foreshadowing and clickbait!

What you'll learn:
  • Why that blank feeling might be the opposite of blank
  • The link between a fear of being wrong and a full-body shutdown-y stall-out on stage
  • Why "just say anything" can backfire for some improvisers and isn't useful on its own without some more info, data, or nuance
  • The three modes most improvisers default to, and how to find yours! With details!
  • How to practise your emergency move in everyday life so it's ready when you need it! Planning for improv scenes! No, no, it's not like that.

Chapters:

0:00 The moment your brain leaves the scene

1:03 The classic advice, and where it can fall apart

2:08 What I'm adding this time

2:27 The reframe to try on

3:57 The fear of being wrong, and my hypothesis about it

6:05 Embracing the pause

6:47 Visual, kinesthetic, and vocal moves

8:00 Why choosing under pressure is its own problem

9:27 Sorting your default out in advance

11:41 Practising it with random triggers

13:44 Off Script workshops

14:20 The short version, the tldr; at the very damn end of the episode muahaha

Workshops:

Off Script workshops, monthly, online, small group, neuroinclusive, cameras off welcome: https://YourImprovBrain.com/offscript <-- it will be fun, please come join.

Related episodes:

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About

This podcast was created, written, and is hosted by Jen deHaan. Jen has certifications related to healthy communities (Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy), nervous system regulation and soon teacher training certification on community resilience. She has a BFA in teaching creative arts to adults. You can find her full bio here.

This podcast was written, recorded and edited in British Columbia, Canada by Jen.

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