Think about the best improv team you’ve ever seen. This is the kinda team where every scene felt really easy to watch. Everyone seemed to know when to step in, or when to hold back, and what each person on that team needed. They all seemed to be in each other’s brains.
That team had something going on offstage that most improv training doesn’t get into all that often. Those teammates actually knew each other’s brains. They understood how each person’s brain worked, how each person communicates when they’re comfortable, what they look like when they’re struggling, and what kind of support actually helps versus what just adds more pressure.
They can throw a signal to their teammate to take the reins at something they are just weirdly excellent at. And they know when not to do that, too.
Most improv training focuses on what happens inside the scene. Agreement, listening, heightening, support moves. All of that matters. And all of it gets easier when you know who you’re doing it with.
This week’s special-length podcast-only episode is about that offstage part.
This is a special extended episode of Your Improv Brain on inclusion in the improv community. These episodes help neurodivergent improvisers understand themselves and help non-neurodivergent improvisers work better with their teammates and students.
Listen to the episode
Will be available as soon as episode publishes March 18th, 2026.
The burden thing
For a lot of autistic people, a specific belief gets wired in early: that your presence in any space requires extra effort from the people around you. That you’re harder to be around. That the way you communicate, the way you process, the way you exist socially costs other people something. Just for having a wiring difference.
That belief starts with real experiences. Getting signals from classrooms, friendships, and relationships that something about you is more work for everyone else. And once that pattern is established early enough, it stays. You carry it everywhere, whether you realize it or not and it’s very hard for anyone to talk you out of it because the evidence keeps showing up.
That was what a video I saw recently was all about, and that video inspired this special episode that looks at the problem through the improv lens. You can find more in the episode, such as:
- Where this shows up in improv
- The problem with evidence
- What we alternative neurotypes bring to a team
- The difficulty of the communication gap
- What you can do as a teammate
- And a couple of inclusion exercises
Resources and References
The video I watched: https://www.facebook.com/reel/2189375501869990
Newsletter: https://improvupdate.com/newsletter
