Emotions make us human. And they’re something we usually want in our scenes, because emotion is what connects you to your scene partner, your character, and the audience. It gives a scene depth. It makes people pay attention. If you burst into tears or fly into a rage on stage, everyone is watching.
And if you use emotion at the top of a scene, you can achieve that connection fast.
Some of us process emotions differently
Emotions can also be complicated. Some of us don’t process them immediately. Delayed emotional processing is a real thing. Some of us have a tough time labelling an emotion accurately, or at all. We might struggle to take that label and know how to express it or what it even feels like. For information about some of those differences please see this page with two additional episodes on that topic.
This is called alexithymia, and it affects about 10% of the population. It can be situational, trauma-related, or something you’re born with. If you experience it, I do too. And I have never once had an improv teacher address it in class. I’ve taken hundreds of improv classes and done countless emotion-based exercises, and nobody has talked about this.
So if you’ve ever felt like everyone else in the room just knows how to do this thing and you don’t, please know there are workarounds. You can implement them yourself, and you don’t have to explain anything to anyone to do it. Please see those episodes where I go deeper on this.
Starting grounded vs. starting big
The most common scene starts grounded. Regular level of emotion, everyday energy. And this works well, especially if you’re newer to improv. Starting grounded is simpler and gives you room to build.
This is often taught as a rule. But you can break it. And when someone breaks it well, it’s memorable. I still remember a scene where the initiation was grabbing a chair, standing on it, and yelling at full volume. A massive emotional overreaction to something completely mundane. It was one of the best scenes I’ve seen.
If you start at an emotional level of 10, you’re already in the middle of things. You have to bring it down from there, and then you can bring it back up. That’s harder to manage, which is why it’s a more advanced move. But when it works, it really works.
You just need to practise it.
Exercise: It’s Tuesday (partner)
Two players up. This works as a warm-up or you can let the scene play out.
Player one makes a mundane statement. Something like “It’s Tuesday.” Player two reacts with an extreme emotion, a big emotional sound, no words needed at first. Then player two justifies why that mundane statement provoked that reaction. Why is Tuesday terrifying? Why is it the most thrilling thing that’s ever happened? Figure it out.
To flip this, player one initiates with the big emotional sound instead, and player two responds with a calm, level-headed justification. This version is harder because player two has to come up with an immediate explanation for something they didn’t see coming. Good level two of the exercise.
Exercise: Emotion quadrants (solo)
Divide your room into sections and assign an emotion to each one. Step into the first section and immediately start a monologue or a sentence in that emotional state at full intensity. Then move to the next section and switch right away.
This trains you to ramp up fast without needing a scene partner to bounce off of. A lot of us rely on our scene partners to get us going emotionally, which is fine during a scene. But at the top of a scene, you often don’t have anything to work with yet. This exercise gives you practise making that big emotional choice from nothing.
A note on having each other’s backs
If you have difficulty processing emotions, anything you express in a scene is valid. Whatever word or description comes to you first, go with it. If you don’t have a name for what you’re feeling, you can still use it. Heighten whatever is there. You can also try pulling from a flash memory, jumping back to a time you felt a certain way, maybe something you’ve processed since then, and using that feeling in the scene.
And for scene partners who don’t experience alexithymia: know that about 10% of improvisers do. It’s physiological for many of us. Have everyone’s back. I have a detailed (and recently updated) article about emotional processing differences here on Improv Update, and that page has two long episodes about how this can look in improv.
Assume, Don't Ask: How to Start Better Improv Scenes
Resources and downloads: https://improvupdate.com
Emotional processing in Improv (alexithymia): https://improvupdate.com/emotional-processing-acting-and-improv-part-one-and-two/ (podcast episodes and detailed overview – more on this in future episodes!)
Newsletter: https://improvupdate.com/newsletter
Top of the Scene Series
The full series is now released. Here are the articles, YouTube videos, and podcast episodes.
Articles
How to use emotions at the top of your improv scene (even if processing emotions is hard)
ADHD, Autism, Improv, improv exercises, Neurodivergent, Neurodiversity, Solo improv, Your Improv Brain Show
Emotions make us human. And they’re something we usually want in our scenes, because emotion is what connects you to your scene partner, your character, and the audience. It gives a scene depth. It makes people pay attention. If you burst into tears or fly into a rage on stage, everyone is watching. And if…
How to initiate an improv scene when your mind goes blank
ADHD, Autism, Improv, improv exercises, Neurodivergent, Neurodiversity, Solo improv, Your Improv Brain Show
Initiating a scene can be stressful. And this is true whether you’re new to improv or you’ve been doing it for years. You walk up there, you look at another person or an audience, and sometimes your brain just goes completely blank. Nothing. Or you’re worried it’s going to go blank, and then it does,…
Why questions don't work at the top of an improv scene (and what to do instead)
ADHD, Autism, Improv, improv exercises, Neurodivergent, Neurodiversity, Solo improv, Your Improv Brain Show
Asking questions at the top of an improv scene is a fairly advanced move. And if you’re newer to improv, it can slow your scene down before it even gets started. You’ve probably heard the rule: don’t ask questions. It comes up in most improv classes early on, and for good reason really. When you…
How to start an improv scene without backstory or exposition
ADHD, Autism, Improv, improv exercises, Neurodivergent, Neurodiversity, Solo improv, Your Improv Brain Show
Starting a scene with two people standing on stage asking “who are you?” or “what are we doing here?” is one of the fastest ways to lose your audience. And if you’ve done it, you already know how that feels. Backstory and long explanations make sense when you’re writing fiction. You need to get the…
Podcast series
Video series
Emotion in Improv: When to Start Big and When to Stay Grounded
Emotion in Improv: When to Start Big and When to Stay Grounded
How to Initiate an Improv Scene When Your Mind Goes Blank
Assume, Don't Ask: How to Start Better Improv Scenes
You Don't Need Backstory: Starting Improv Scenes in the Middle
