Your Improv Brain
A show about neurodiversity and improv
Your Improv Brain is a show that helps you understand your brain (and body!) to be a happier, better performer. I’ll also explore the intersection of improv comedy, neurodivergence, and the science of performance. Episodes cover how different brain types, including neurodivergent and neurotypical minds, experience comedy and performance. The show discusses creating supportive environments and understanding cognitive differences in improv practice.
For additional resources about improv and comedy, see the Improv Update archive here.
Podcast
Your Improv Brain
Focusing on ALL types of brains doing improv and comedy alone and together as a group. If you are an improviser, this show is for you.
Watch or Listen
This show is available as a video series on YouTube, or as an audio-only podcast. Each version of the show is recorded separately. Jen also offers articles in text based format (which also link to their video and audio versions). The podcast is recorded separately from the video, and sometimes has a few additional details. Find the show here:
JEN DEHAAN
PODCAST & YOUTUBE SHOW HOST
Your Improv Brain – Improv Podcast & YouTube Show
Your Improv Brain explores learning improv through the lens of neurodiversity. This show is for anyone who learns, coaches, or performs comedy. Jen deHaan discusses the intersection of neurodivergence and performance, analyzing how different brain types process improvisation.
Neuroinclusive comedy creates a supportive environment for all cognitive abilities. Whether you are neurodivergent or neurotypical, understanding cognitive diversity improves how teams write and perform together. Episodes feature voices from across the spectrum of brain wiring, offering strategies for acting, improv, and applied performance.
Topics cover executive function in improv, sensory processing, and communication styles. Understanding these mechanisms helps performers work more efficiently and function better on teams.
Neurodiversity refers to all types of brain wiring, while neurodivergent refers to less statistically common types. This show discusses these differences to improve comedy practice and reduce misunderstandings. We’re not doing therapy here. This show is a tool for technical improvement and inclusion.
Hosted by Jen deHaan, an autistic and ADHD comedy performer and writer. Produced by StereoForest.
Note: This show was formerly titled “Neurodiversity and Improv.” New name, same focus.
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Have the show’s back with one-time support using the button below! Alternatively, grab any of Jen’s Downloadable Improv Resources to do the same. Much appreciated! You rock! Backs backs!
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Jen’s Latest Video on YouTube
Go directly to the channel here.
More Videos about Performance and Improv
Listen to the Your Improv Brain podcast
Access the latest episodes of the improv podcast series. Note that the audio podcast is recorded separately from the YouTube version of the show, just for podcast listeners. That’s why it’s a bit longer! You can click a link to see the full show notes and transcripts for each episode, or click the links in the embedded podcast player box below.
Recent Episodes
Steamrolling is one of those improv topics where everyone wants to talk about the people doing it to them, and almost nobody wants to consider whether they might be doing...
OUT NOW! Get my latest guides, all about getting and giving improv notes! Find them and what’s inside the guides at https://improvupdate.com/notes. 50% discount on your second guide if you...
You know that thing where you learn a skill in class, you can explain it to someone else, and then you get into a scene and your brain does the...
“Just be confident.” “Trust yourself.” “Ya got this.” You’ve heard these things, and you might have even said them. And for a lot of brains, especially analytical or pattern-driven ones,...
This is a special extended (podcast-only) episode of Your Improv Brain on neurodivergent inclusion in the improv community. These episodes will focus on inclusion, nervous system regulation, and help neurodivergent...
“Get out of your head” is advice that sounds reasonable until you try to follow it. When you do, you end up monitoring whether you’re monitoring the scene. That’s just...
Your brain goes blank in the middle of a scene. Or the opposite happens: twelve ideas at once and you can’t pick one, so you stand there smiling while your...
Emotion connects you to your scene partner, your character, and the audience. It gives a scene depth and grabs attention fast. And if you use it at the top of a scene, it can set the whole thing up in seconds. In this episode I talk about using emotion as part of your base reality. Most scenes start grounded, and that’s usually what we’re taught. But sometimes breaking that rule and starting at a full level 10 emotional reaction to something completely mundane creates something you remember for years. I also get into alexithymia, which affects about 10% of the population, and what it means for improvisers who have difficulty processing or labelling emotions. There are workarounds for all of this, and I’ve never once had an improv teacher bring it up in class. Two exercises in this one. The partner version, It’s Tuesday, practises pairing a mundane statement with an extreme emotional reaction (and then flipping it). The solo version has you assigning emotions to sections of your room and launching into monologues at full intensity as you move between them. This is part of a series on the top of the scene, initiations, and base reality. Resources and downloads: https://improvupdate.com Article for this episode: This episode is part of a four episode series available on YouTube and audio podcast. You can find an article for this episode, and links to the full series on both platforms, here. Episodes about alexithymia and a big text-based overview here: https://improvupdate.com/emotional-processing-acting-and-improv-part-one-and-two/ YouTube version of this episode: https://youtu.be/rwgBDmUqHEo Newsletter: https://improvupdate.com/newsletter Chapters 00:00 Why emotion matters in scenes 01:29 Initiations and base reality series 01:35 Delayed emotional processing and alexithymia 03:24 Workarounds you can use yourself 03:54 Starting grounded vs. starting at a 10 04:53 The chair scene I still remember 05:22 Why big emotional starts are worth practising 05:52 Partner exercise: It’s Tuesday 07:20 Flipping the exercise 07:48 Solo exercise: Emotion quadrants 08:50 Training without a scene partner 09:20 A note on alexithymia and having each other’s backs 10:48 Wrap up Downloadable contentDownload the Free Post-Show Reflection...
Initiating a scene can be stressful at any level, and when your brain goes blank up there, it’s easy to panic. In this episode I talk about a simple approach...
Questions at the top of a scene are an advanced move, and if you’re still building your skills, they can stall your scene before it gets going. In this episode...
Check out the web articles
Own Your Weirdness: A Guide to Really Good Improv (Performances)
October 20, 2025
Believable Characters Need a Point of View… and Here’s How
September 1, 2025
The Power of Silence: Three Exercises to Improve Your Acting
August 25, 2025
3-Step System & Exercise to Manage Self-Criticism in Improv
August 18, 2025
Host
Jen deHaan
Host
Jen founded StereoForest.com in 2024 to focus on creating comedy podcasts and audio dramas and audio fiction series that blend scripted and improvised material, and also integrate solo improv. This is currently her primary improv-based activity. Jen has taught long form improv classes at/with World’s Greatest Improv School (WGIS), Compass Improv, Highwire Improv, and Queen City Comedy. She was also the WGIS Online School Director. She is not currently affiliated with any theatre or group. Jen is INDIE IMPROV!