That voice in our heads, the inner critic, can be pretty relentless during improv scenes and sets. It might be telling you your idea was bad, or you’re not being funny enough. Maybe that you just ruined the scene or show. For a long time, I thought the only way to deal with this voice was to squash it, but that’s kinda hard. But then I wondered… can we actually use it?
Inner critics are part of our brain’s wiring that tries to keep us safe from what it perceives as social threats. And performing in front of others, perhaps feeling unprepared and vulnerable, definitely qualifies. Once we understand that the critic is trying to help, or at least just do what it’s there for (even if its methods are unhelpful for improv), we can start to work with it.
One way is to give that anxious energy a new home, such as by giving it to your character (let your character be the one who is worried or scared). The feeling is real, so the performance authentic.
You can also give that inner voice a specific, productive job to do. Before a show or class, decide on one small thing you want to work on, like making stronger physical choices. This gives that analytical part of your brain something useful to track instead of just yelling about everything at once.
But a really good way to channel this energy is to push it outward. In a specific way, not critiquing others. When you feel stuck in your head, become relentlessly curious about your scene partner. Listen with everything you have. Find an exercise I love for this in this week’s episode that makes your partner look great. They do the same for you… so the inner critic becomes useful (“adaptive”) instead of “maladaptive”.
Subscribe to “Performing and Your Brain” newsletter here on the site for how this relates to neurodivergent minds. The newsletter comes out every second week.
Listen or Watch
The podcast and the youtube episode contains exercises that might help you intentionally forget to free up space in your brain for good improv. And come ask questions or share your own tips in the Improv Update discord general improv chat channel.
This Improv Exercise Turns Your Inner Critic Into Your Best Character - Your Improv Brain
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Download the Free Post-Show Reflection Guide: https://improvupdate.com/newsletter – get Neurodivergent resources if you select “Performing and your brain” option.
Get a booklet with six exercises to help you get reps with challenging scenes “Exercises to Ruin You”: https://improvupdate.com/downloads and its YouTube companion https://youtu.be/h2_J4tLqCN0
Episode with 7 hacks to help you get out of challenging spots in a scene: https://youtu.be/RTN5KfE7GZ4
The science of adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism (related to sport, but a good jumping off point): https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11055971/
Available Now!
You can also get exercises to help with challenging scenes (and build up your trust in yourself) in a new booklet I just wrote. This PDF includes additional modifications and a bunch of examples that are not in the video and podcast episode below. You can get it here, and your support will help me with the out-of-pocket expenses and labour to create these resources!
Improv Exercise Booklet
Exercises to Ruin You. This 13 page guide provides six exercises to help practice challenges in improv scenes. Get reps in worst case scenarios! Modifications for solo improv are included for most exercises, and you’ll receive variations and examples not included in the video..
