Improv Tips: Recent Episodes
Bit Theater
A micro-podcast feed for The Bit Theater featuring (week)daily improv tips.
For more information on the theater, head to bitimprov.com!
We're back š²! A lot has happened since season one of Improv Tips, including a marriage and The Bit Theater's grand opening. To say that life has been a whirlwind probably isn't doing the past couple of years enough justice. Michael is thrilled to be back for season two, where he'll take an occasionally-cringey listen to old episodes with his current knowledge. He'll provide older Michael counterpoints to some of the thoughts in them, particularly from the perspective of a new theater owner. If you're interested in season two, please subscribe to the podcast here or on your favorite podcast player. We'll start season two early in 2024.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Iām somewhat blown away that Iām up to 150 of these improv tips. Itās gotten somewhat difficult to sustain due to the fact that Iāve been unable to improvise, rehearse, or teach over these past few months. So, Iām going to call this the end of the first season and take a bit of a break. Iām not sure yet how long of a break or what the next season will look like, but Iād love to hear your input on that, so please email me with your questions or thoughts at michael@bitimprov.com. In the meantime, I have a couple of plugs. If youād like to hear me mostly heed and occasionally ignore these tips, Iād love for you to check out my improvised comedy radio detective story currently in its second season at thebureauboys.com. Iām also in the process of launching some remote improv classes that you should be able to check out by the end of this week. Those can be found at bitimprov.com, where you can also find a link to this podcast. I appreciate all of the time youāve given me over these past 149 episodes, and Iām looking forward to some exciting things in the future. If youāre listening to this on an Echo device, Iām not sure how Amazon will react if I modify the format of this show, so please find me on a podcast player if I get booted from their marketplace. If youāve enjoyed this mini-podcast so far, please rate and review it wherever youāre listening, and spread the word to any fellow improvisers who might be using this time away from one another to think about the craft. I will see you soon for the next step on my improv journey. Meanwhile, stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. When youāre putting an improv team together, it may be tempting to simply cast the people you like best or are friendliest with. Thatās not always the best strategy for forming an improv team. Yes, chemistry is important, but donāt let the love of your friends cloud your judgment as to what makes a good improv team. Set up a system for how youāre going to audition new members to your team, stick to it, and donāt play favorites. Just like friends arenāt always the best roommates, theyāre not always the best improv teammates. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. The world is an absolutely wild place, and unbelievable stories happen every day in real life. So donāt be afraid of occasionally using outlandish plot lines onstage. People do find out that they have long-lost siblings. One twin sometimes is evil. People are in comas for twenty years. Maybe donāt make those stories the first tools you pull out of your box, but donāt let fear that itās too unbelievable prevent you from ever using those tools. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Early on in your improv career, you may be told that you should never argue onstage. If the alternative is that youāre always arguing onstage, thatās not a bad rule of thumb. However, arguments happen in real life, so they should inevitably happen onstage. Just be careful that youāre not defaulting to arguments or that the arguments you have arenāt going on forever. If you find yourself stuck in those situations, agree with the other side and end the argument. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. I'm the first to admit that I don't love warming up. Some improvisers do insist that they need to warm up to get into the mindset of improvising. Others are like me and could take it or leave it. However, one thing that I do find useful is to physically warm up my mouth. Tongue twisters, mouth and check stretches, and buzzing my lips help me with my annunciation and help me avoid getting a case of mushmouth onstage. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. In some circles, there is a bit of a rivalry between short-form improvisers and long-form improvisers. There shouldnāt be. Both short- and long-form improv can be brilliant, both can be terrible, and both can be anywhere in between. The best improvisers I knowāand the ones who are the most fun to play withāexcel at both short- and long-form improv. More importantly, they donāt pass judgment on anyone for not choosing to do their preferred form. Donāt shut out a particular form of improv, especially if youāve never tried it. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. When you do improv, youāre necessarily going to end up spending quite a bit of time watching improv. When Iām in the audience, I try not to give suggestions, if possible, so as to avoid the appearance of cheating. However, you might have to give a suggestion every once in a while. When youāre in the audience, remember it's not your job to be funny. The improvisers onstage would much prefer a suggestion they've never heard before than hear the same jokey suggestions they always get. Do them a favor and give them a suggestion youāve never heard before. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Find some characters you're comfortable with and confident playing that you can pull out at any time during a set. Not only will you have a safe space of characters you can use when youāre feeling lost or a set is spinning out of control, but also you can grow these characters over time. In addition, your teammates will learn to recognize these characters, and they'll know what they're getting when you break them out. Thatās not cheating any more than it is when you act like yourself, which is really just a character. At least, I donāt think so. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. There will be times in your improv career when you have to play a doctor, lawyer, scientist, or astronaut. Unless you are or have been in one of those professions, you probably aren't going to know what the heck youāre talking about. It doesn't matter. There are many ways you can still play the scene. One way is to go in with bold confidence and make up your own professional lingo and style. Remember, you're creating this world, so the way a certain job is done is entirely your creation. Another way is to play a bumbling, incompetent professional who has no idea what they're doing. Just make a choice instead of playing it in the middle. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Remember when youāre playing a character that even though youāre showing only a moment of that characterās life, they existed prior to your scene, and theyāll exist after your scene. This means that they had a backstory before the scene started, and the actions they take in the scene will have consequences for them, even if we donāt see those consequences. If you keep in mind that the characters you create exist, youāll have a much easier time remembering to give them a backstory and to make them believable, since their life has consequences. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. There's one in every class. The person who finds their way to improv because they've always been told that they're so funny. And thatās great, and they should be giving improv a shot. But they approach improv by trying to be the funniest person in the room filled with funny people. And often they try to be very jokey. But improv is not jokey, and everyone else is funny, too, so it can be exhausting when someone is trying to prove how funny they are all the time. So don't be that person in the group. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. One of the most precious commodities your audience gives you is their trust that youāre making everything up. I feel like I shouldnāt have to say this, but don't destroy that trust by planting suggestions in the audience. It can be tempting, because that certainly puts your set on easy mode, but it's not worth the loss of credibility youāll suffer for taking the improvisation out of improv. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Five seconds of silence onstage can feel like a lifetime. But a mistake that is easy to make is to feel obligated to immediately respond to a scene partnerās offer with whatever comes to mind. It's better to take a second to think about your response than it is to blurt out anything just to fill space. If you find yourself doing the latter too often, try discarding the first line you think of and say the second line instead. Not only will it slow you down, but you'll be surprised how often your second line is better than your first. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. One of the things I love most about improv is how collaborative an art form it is. Itās worth remembering that when youāre talking about your sets and shows. If Iām an improviser who is constantly referring to āmyā show that āIāmā in instead of āourā show that āweāreā in, I might be rubbing my teammates the wrong way. It might seem like in inconsequential nitpick, but itās something that people notice, and itās never a good look to appear selfish. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Once you get comfortable identifying as an improviser, it can be tempting to be āonā one hundred percent of the time, both onstage and offstage. You donāt need to always be on. Some of the most exhausting parties Iāve ever attended were filled with improvisers doing bits. As much fun as bits can be, itās okay to have fun without doing bits and constantly being on. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. It's always a good idea to watch other people improvising. It's a great way to learn new techniques, forms, and skills. But don't allow yourself to sit and critique, nitpick, or second guess every decision that's made onstage. Not only will you not fully enjoy the show yourself, but you'll be completely insufferable to be around. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Donāt feel obligated to pay off an audienceās suggestion within the first thirty seconds of your set. There are few things more satisfying than spending twenty minutes improvising your set only to call back the suggestion as your blackout line of the set. You have time. Donāt rush to the immediate gratification. The delayed payoff is almost always worth the time invested. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Stop wasting time agonizing over your improv teamās name. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Just as it's important to know your weaknesses as an improviser, itās equally important to know your strengths. Know what youāre great at. That way, if you ever find yourself in a bit of a slump, you can fall back on your strengths to improvise your way out of it. Falling back on your strengths is like eating your favorite comfort food after a breakup or going to your safe space in times of turmoil. Whether it be playing a silly character, breaking into a song, or getting lost in a big physical activity, find your safe space where youāre confident that everything youāre doing is brilliant. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. As someone who doesnāt dive into playing characters as well as many other improvisers, Iāve learned a bit of a cheat. You donāt have to come out with a massive character decision like a mustache-twirling Southern gentleman or a cackling, evil witch (though, by all means, go for that). You can make a tiny change to yourself and be a new character. Change your face from your normal smile to a scowl. If you usually have a booming voice that comes from your diaphragm, come out speaking with your voice just behind your teeth. If you normally stand up very straight, come out hunched over. Trust me. Little changes like those will inform your character choices for the rest of the scene. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. As an improviser, you are almost definitely going to have a larger public persona than most people do. Be aware that as part of that public persona comes a certain amount of public scrutiny. Now, I'm not suggesting to lecture people during your improv set, but as a public personality, there are opportunities to get involved with groups or causes, particularly if there are issues you strongly believe in. Groups serving the public interest need strong voices, and there are plenty of ways to bring your skill for entertaining to assist those groups, especially on a voluntary basis. Don't hesitate to get involved. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Just like great movies and television shows have great pacing, so do great improv sets. If your set has been filled with high-energy, frenetic fast scenes, it might be in your best interest to slow down for a scene or two to give the audience a chance to regroup. Similarly, if you're following a series of slow sets, it might be wise to play with a lot of fast energy. If youāre organizing your own improv or sketch show, itās also worth considering the order of the teams or forms to pace your higher- and lower-energy moments evenly. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. A common mistake that fresh improvisers make is going blue early and often. It's not a good idea, especially early in your career. It's easy to get laughs with blue humor, but they're cheap laughs, and blue humor can more often than not derail your scene. If you get accustomed to leaning on blue humor for laughs early in your career, you may not evolve and learn how to get the āearnedā laughs. Plus, certain theater owners might forbid you from doing blue humor, and if you are used to relying on it, you might not be able to find success in those theaters, since your biggest tool will be taken away. Shy away from blue humor and get used to working harder for your laughs. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. When I teach improv, I try to create improvisers who are perfect scene partners and teammates. My vision of the Ultimate Improviser(TM) is one who can improvise with anyone, anywhere, regardless of their scene partnerās skill level, and regardless of the situation. That improviser cannot be shaken, cannot be discouraged, and can create gold in even the most difficult of situations. If for some misguided reason you ever want to impress me, be that improviser. Take on any challenge, say yes with enthusiasm, and snatch success from the jaws of any potential failure. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Musical improv is almost always a joy to watch and to perform. Consider adding song into your non-musical improv set, though, particularly if you have musical accompaniment. You get an extra layer of forgiveness from the audience when youāre singing, and theyāre even more prone to laugh than they otherwise might have been. In addition, as weāve learned from musicals, anything thatās sung onstage instantly seems much more important. Since improv is best when it examines the most important moments in peopleās lives, the occasional song is an amazing way to punctuate it. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. I recently watched a reality show called Last one Laughing in which a group of Australian comedians are locked in a room together for six hours, and the last one to break wins $100,000. Itās hosted by the always-delightful Rebel Wilson, and itās worth watching. I was struck by the amazing variety of the comedians in the room. There were absurdists, deadpan comics, shouters, and even one improviser. Not only that, but I was delighted by the different tactics the comedians employed to break one another. It reminded me to always be exploring different ways to make folks laugh. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Donāt be embarrassed about promoting your shows and appearances. Some improvisers seem to think that self-promotion is tacky or braggadocious, but if youāve created something that youāre proud of, youāre the best advocate for getting it noticed. It might surprise you how many people who you assume know about your hidden talent donāt actually know about it. So go tell them. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. One of my favorite film series is Indiana Jones. In The Last Crusade, Indy has to take a leap of faith over a seemingly-bottomless chasm. Only after he succumbs to not knowing where heāll land is he able to continue his adventure. Improvisers also need to take that leap of faith. Only by having the bravery to take that first step into the abyss will you know whether that support system will hold you up. So take the leap. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. A running joke in the improv community is how many times we've all heard the following from our friends and family members: āLet me know when you have your comedy show! I'll come see it!ā I'm sure most folks are well-intentioned, but they rarely show up. I've learned that a simpler way to handle this question is to set up a website to post all of your shows. Registering and hosting a domain isnāt terribly expensive, and itās probably a good idea to claim your name on a website before someone else does, anyhow. If you donāt want to pay for your own page, a Facebook page, a Twitter feed, a mailing list, or some other free form of social media is a simple way to let people know about your shows. If people want to come see you, direct them to those places, and they can choose to come see you on their own time. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Most improvisers have performed after having a drink or two. Iāve done it. Almost every performer I know has done it. Some improvisers think theyāre better performers onstage after having a few drinks. Almost one hundred percent of them are wrong and just donāt realize it, because theyāre tipsy. Improv scenes move quickly and require concentration. Alcohol doesnāt help either one of those skills. The only reason I could even fathom that alcohol would help an improviser perform better would be to lower their inhibitions, so theyāre not afraid to do the things their character needs to do onstage. But you can practice having the courage to do those things, and the sacrifice of dulling your wit is almost definitely not worth it. It is fun, though. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. During this patriotic time of year in America, Iām thankful that Iām lucky to live in the birthplace of improv comedy and a massive hub for the craft. But you donāt need to be in Chicago, L.A., or New York to do improv. There seem to be more and more improv communities popping up all over the country. And if youāre in a place that doesnāt have a community, there are still opportunities to take online classes and create your own community. How fresh would it be to build a community in a place where improv had never existed? Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Thereās an unfortunately vast imbalance in the number of white male improvisers versus all other represented groups. Whether youāre a part of that group or outside of it, itās always a good idea to seek out and audition teammates who donāt look and act like you. Not only does diversity strengthen the improv community and craft as a whole, but it will also help your team immensely if you add a completely new, fresh perspective to your team. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. If youāre having a difficult time investing in the emotion of a scene, pull from your own personal life. If your character is sad and youāre not into it, think about the times in your life you've been sad. If you can't get angry at your scene partner, get mad at an old enemy, and use that anger on the stage. It's certainly better to find the emotion from the scene itself, but cheat if you have to. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. In improv, the only props you have onstage are chairs. They're great for sitting on, but that's not all. They're car seats, couches, hospital beds, giant-creators, staircases, and whatever else the outer limits of your mind can make them into. Those chairs are your only props. Use the heck out of them. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Since improv requires some element of audience participation, you might find that the house occasionally has a hard time distinguishing when they should be talking and when they shouldnāt. There are plenty of great ways to deal with hecklers or disruptive audience members. My favorite, however, is to make them part of the show. With the permission of your fellow cast members, invite them up on stage. Theyāll likely either zip it, or youāll have a great time proving to them that improv isnāt as easy as it appears. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Itās likely unavoidable that at some point youāre going to have to play in a scene about a sensitive subject or to play a character that you might find difficult to portray in a sensitive, respectful fashion due to your own limited experiences. Instead of advising you to avoid those situations entirelyāwhich is a perfectly valid optionāan alternative is to play the situation as though everyone in the room is currently going through the sensitive situation or is of the same race, nationality, or gender of the character you might otherwise avoid playing. If you have that in the back of your mind, youāll naturally play with the respect toward the subject or the character that you should. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Youāre bound to get tongue-tied at some point during your improv career. If you do ever mispronounce a word or misspeak an entire sentence, instead of correcting it, consider using it. This entire world youāre creating onstage is invented, so why canāt the language be, as well? What may start as a simple verbal miscue could become a hilarious running joke throughout your entire set. Embrace it, and see where it takes you. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. The improv equivalent of Malcolm Gladwellās 10,000-hour rule is that it takes about 100 sets just to get competently bad at improv. Once you have 100 sets under your belt, youāll likely either have figured outāor people will tell youāwhat youāre good at and what youāre bad at. Donāt get discouraged if youāre not knocking it out of the park, 10, 20, or even 50 sets into your improv career. You probably donāt even know what you donāt know yet. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. What sometimes gets lost in the woods for some improvisersāmyself includedāis that improv is supposed to be fun. Iād rather improvise poorly with my friends than create the perfect set with someone I donāt get along with. Donāt get so caught up in the grind and the stress of progressing and learning and judging and winning that you forget to enjoy the time spent playing. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. If you ever receive an actual gift onstage as a character, not a great offering as an actor, donāt open it. Come up with distractions, excuses, and stall tactics so that you never actually open the gift. You donāt need to. The gift to the scene is the gift, and it doesnāt really matter whatās inside it. The act of giving a gift immediately tells you something about the relationship between the characters, which is way more interesting to explore than whatās in the box. Focus on that. Besides, isnāt being mysterious fun? Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. My father can and has told me the same stories over and over in my life. Iām interested in hearing them every time because he can flat-out tell a story. Remember that as an improviser youāre also a storyteller. The more enthusiasm and heart you pour into the story youāre telling onstage, the more engaging it will be, and the less likely it will be that I roll my eyes when you tell it. Plus, you wonāt forget the details because youāre making them up, anyhow. Love you, Dad. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, happy belated Fathersā Day to you dads out there, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. A very long time ago, when I was in college, my improv and sketch comedy group operated under the assumption that louder equaled funnier. We were wrong. No matter how hilarious the things youāre saying on stage are, saying them louder doesnāt necessarily make them funnier. Thereās no need to always be the screaming character in a scene drowning out your scene partners and demanding all the attention. The role of the silent assassin who speaks softly and carries a hilarious blackout line can be just as satisfying. Pay attention to your volume, and try turning it up or down for a change of pace. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. The more direct you are onstage, the easier youāre going to make your improv life. Dancing around an issue onstage both delays the inevitable and prevents you from progressing the scene. And watching people uncomfortably avoid a topic is for family gatherings, not improv scenes. Address the elephants in the room sooner rather than later so you can move your scene to the next logical step. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Though itās not a common occurrence, thereās a chance every time you start a scene that you might be all alone onstage for a while. Donāt look offstage for help. Rather, keep the idea you had in mind, and act as your character would in the context of that idea. Do object work, move around the space, hum, whistle, talk to yourself about the idea. Until someone joins you onstage, you have free rein to make any of the scene choices you want to. Go ahead and start making the choices you can without a scene partner. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Iāve stressed time and again that improv is not a competition, and it isnāt. But if youāre one of those people who canāt help but compete, I would challenge you to compete with yourself. Each day, try to be a better improviser than you were the day before. If you make a mistake today, focus on not repeating that mistake tomorrow. Only by getting better every day will you ever be the best, you competitive nut. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.Ā
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. One of the big mistakes new improv students make is to always try to be funny and to say funny things. I get it. Youāre trying to impress your teacher and your classmates by being the funniest person in the room. But donāt do that. At best, youāre not impressing anyone. At worst, youāre a distraction to the class. Focus on playing real when youāre first learning improv. If you focus on learning how to improvise from a real place, the funny will eventually come. Iād much rather teach a student who plays real to be funny than teach a funny person how to be real. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Ultimately, most of the decisions youāll have to make onstage are binary. If someone accuses you of stealing their wallet, you did or you didnāt. If someone confesses their love for you, youāre either happy or unhappy about it. If youāre doing your job, youāre either good at it or bad at it. If you break down your scenes into a series of binary choices, you might find it easier to free up your brain to focus on reacting to those choices. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Of course the things that are said onstage are important to you as an improviser. You need to hear and be aware of all those things. In addition, if everything that happens in a scene is important to your character, that will invariably make for a more interesting scene. In and of itself, your characterās car breaking down could be interesting, but if your character needed the car to drive across the country in a race against an eccentric millionaire, thatās instantly more interesting. Everything should be important. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. One of my favorite improv teams Iāve played with is called Bad Improv Gun. Itās named after the way some rookie improvisers form a gun, by pointing their index finger in front of them and their thumb up in the air. Bad Improv Phone would be sticking your thumb in your ear and talking into your pinky finger. When youāre manipulating an improvised object, it should look just like youāre manipulating a real object, but you canāt see the object. Donāt use bad improv guns. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. When an audience comes to see an improv show, they already understand that youāre making everything up on the spot. So thereās no need to wink at the audience if you struggle to come up with an idea or stammer over a line. Itās better to attribute the flub to something thatās happening in the scene than to break the audienceās suspension of disbelief by turning a spotlight on it. We all know youāre making this up, but itās better if no one can believe youāre making it up. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. On this, the 100th episode of āImprov Tips,ā Iām reminded of the Henry Ford quote, āWhether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.ā Iām not sure that I expected to do 100 episodes, or maybe even that I should do 100 episodes, but here we are. Certainly, if I had thought that I couldnāt put together 100 episodes, I never would have. Like with any endeavor, keeping the mindset that youāll succeed in your improv is much better practice than assuming youāll fail. Believe youāll succeed. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you the next hundred more times.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. The audienceās suggestion is only meant to inspire your performance. If the suggestion is ācandy,ā and that makes me think of candy corn, which makes me think of Halloween, which makes me think of a werewolf, so I start my scene howling at the moon, even though that all happened in my head without the audienceās knowledge, thatās a fair and valid approach. If later in the scene, that werewolf learns that he only turns into the wolf when he eats candy, all the better. But donāt feel the need to explain your inspiration for a scene. If itās entertaining, that will be good enough for the audience. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.Ā
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Asking for a āword, any word,ā is fine when youāre soliciting a suggestion, but donāt be surprised if you donāt get suggestions that you like. When people are asked to give a suggestion of a word, they can be overwhelmed with all of the choices of words that they know. On the flip side, if you ask them for their favorite memory, a song lyric, or even something that would fit in a bread box, theyāll likely be quicker to come up with a response. If you direct your audience by asking for suggestions with more specificity, youāll get better suggestions in return. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Donāt betray the audienceās trust by throwing away suggestions. If you donāt get a āgoodā suggestion, part of that might be how youāre asking for suggestions, but occasionally youāre just going to get a bad suggestion. However, the good news is that you are an improviser. You can make something out of any suggestion and, yes, that includes even the ones that are racist, sexist, or childish. Making something brilliant out of a ābadā suggestion is more respectful of the audienceās trust than throwing that suggestion away or pretending you didnāt hear it. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Even though it can be a downright cringy experience, if you get a chance to watch videos of your performances, take it. While watching, donāt second-guess your moves or regret things you said or didnāt say. That will lead only to frustration. But do take the opportunity to observe whether there are any physical moves you make subconsciously that you donāt even notice. I had a physical tic that I didnāt realize I had until I saw it on video. Seeing it helped me be conscious of it so that I could learn to control it. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, love each other, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. You may dislike popular things, like unpopular things, and just not āgetā certain things. Of course you should have your own opinions, and itās great that you do. But donāt close yourself off to a certain comedian, form, TV show, film, or podcast because of your preconceived notions. Youāll miss out on a lot of great comedy. Keep an open mind to new comedy experiences, and put your pre-judgment away the best that you can. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Always keep in your mind that improv is a team game. If you want to control every single thing that happens onstage, go do standup. Your improv team is only as strong as its weakest link. Strive to put everyone onstage into the best position to succeed, and work toward making everyone around you look good. By doing so, youāll elevate the level of play of your entire team, and youāll make yourself an invaluable teammate. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.Ā
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Itās important to listen to notes that you get from your fellow improvisers, coaches, and teachers. You may, however, occasionally get notes that directly conflict with other notes youāve gotten. When that happens, itās important to remember that notes arenāt necessarily gospel. Improv is very fluid and transitory, and what works well in one set might not work well in the next one. So, listen to notes, but donāt listen blindly. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Whenever you have to open a cabinet, write on a chalkboard, or paint a wall, put it downstage. The nice part about imagining everything onstage is that there is no actual cabinet, chalkboard, or wall blocking the audienceās view, so you can face them when youāre interacting with those things. Put them downstage, and the audience will be able to see your beautiful face. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Itās a good idea in improv, like in anything requiring practice, to form good habits early. From day one, be consistently on time, make strong decisions, make your fellow improvisers look good, and do all of the other things that make for a good improviser. If you do those things consistently, theyāll become habits. When the fundamentals of improv become second nature, itāll be much easier to learn and to expand your improv skills to include all of the additional nuances of improv. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. I canāt count how many times Iāve performed, and I still get a little nervous every time I take the stage. Itās okay to be nervous, no matter how much experience you have. In fact, it might be beneficial. That nervous energy can give you an edge and make you more alert than you otherwise might be onstage. If you find yourself getting nervous prior to a show, donāt double down on it by panicking. Accept the nervousness and make it work for you. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. No matter how good you are at taking or giving focus in a scene, there will be at least a time or two when you find yourself talking at the same time as a fellow performer. More than one person talking at once, is not likely to be coherent to the audience. Unless thatās an intentional choice in service of the scene, itās going to have to get fixed. Your safest bet to unclutter the conversation is to make like youāre back in driversā ed and yield focus. Youāll get your chance to speak later. When in doubt, yield. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Of course you strive to create the best possible creations that you can. But donāt let your desire to make everything absolutely perfect interfere with your production of content. The beauty of improv is that itās perfectly imperfect. You donāt get second takes, and you canāt obsess over the smallest details of each scene. Bear that in mind when youāre working on any project. Itās never going to be absolutely perfect, and if you hide it from the world because of that, youāve made perfection the enemy of creation. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. You will most likely have a stage or some sort of designated performance area for most of your performances. But unless thereās some sort of rule against it, donāt shy away from using the entire space. Few things bring me greater joy than seeing a performer going into the audience or creatively using the entire space in some way. As Shakespeare wrote, all the worldās a stage. So why not use all of it? Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Itāll probably never be the perfect time to take that first improv class, to go out for that first audition, or to write that first page. But if not now, when youāre stuck at home, when? I understand the fear of failure and rejection as much as anyone, but if you wait forever for the perfect time to come along to put yourself out there, trust me, itāll never come. So as soon as youāre done listening to this, take that first step. Now. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. As tough as social distancing has been, there is a way to take advantage of your current situation. You might live in an improv desert, where there is not a readily-available place to take classes or see shows. If there is a silver lining to the shelter-at-home, itās that many reputable theaters are offering a much wider variety of online classes and shows. If you havenāt had a chance to take advantage in the past, now might be the time to do so. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.Ā
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. I was recently reminded that everyone is on their own improv journey and comes to the craft for their own unique reasons. I didnāt do a particularly good job remembering that myself, so I want to take this opportunity to remind all of you of that fact. Everyoneās path to and through improv is different, and each individual journey should be respected and appreciated for what it is. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Everyone is getting a little stir crazy during this time of sheltering at home. Most of the improvisers Iāve met are very social people. If youāre one of those social people sheltering at home, and youāre alone, make it a point to regularly communicate with other people instead of whiling away the hours on social media. Call, donāt text, and make sure that the social interactions that have necessarily changed over the course of the last couple of months arenāt forgotten. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. I believe that there is such a thing as making too many connections in an improv scene. Connections and callbacks are fantastic and gratifying and should definitely be used. However, donāt lose the forest through the trees. If you are throwing out dozens of connections and callbacks, you might lose the interesting thread of the scene in all the chaos. Donāt let making connections cause you to lose focus on the scene. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Even when youāre not on stage, youāre always part of an improv performance. Whether youāre waiting for an edit, providing a sound effect, or committing a character name to memory that you can call back later, you never know when your offstage contributions will be called upon. Youāre just as much a part of the performance off the stage as you are onstage. So stay off your heels and always be ready to contribute to a set. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Keep your mind off your appearance. Face it. Youāre a grown person creating a world of make-believe on stage. If youāre doing it right, at some point, youāre bound to look silly. Own it. Be proud of your choices, and donāt preoccupy your mind worrying about how you look onstage. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Youāre going to have ample opportunities to rib, kid, tease, and josh your fellow improvisers. Itās often a way improvisers express affection for their fellow performers. Many improvisers Iāve met can take and dish out the teasing with the best of them, but be aware that not all can. So until you get to know someone, be sensitive to the fact that not everyone takes teasing as a form of affection, and it can occasionally come off as just mean. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.Ā
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. You can always find relatable moments in improv. Even when your scene has been sent to space, and youāre playing a ten-armed alien bent on colonizing Earth, find the relatable moment. Maybe your alien is just doing this to impress a girl or please his dad. Maybe he wants to colonize Earth because itās the place he used to go on vacation growing up until his family moved him across the galaxy. The more you can find relatable moments and emotions in the craziest of scenes, the better. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Every time you wink at the audience by breaking the fourth wall and acknowledging that youāre doing this crazy improv scene, youāre undercutting the reality of the scene youāre creating. If executed well, it can certainly be very funny, but donāt let the reward of audience laughter get you in the habit of using it as a crutch. Not all of your scene partners will appreciate what they may rightfully see as a denial of the reality that theyāve done the work to create. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. The more detail you can use in your scenes, the better, and donāt be afraid to be wrong about those details. Remember that youāre inventing this improvised world, so a technically incorrect, but specific reference to your Chevy F-150 or Toyota Ram could lead you to a much more interesting place than a reference to your generic, boring truck. Donāt worry so much about being accurate about everything that it stops you from filling your scene with interesting details. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. On Star Wars day, Iām reminded of something that Harrison Ford once said to George Lucas when they were shooting A New Hope. That George could write thisāletās just sayādialogue, but Harrison couldnāt say it. Donāt worry about your improv dialogue being as formal as stage dialogue or any written dialogue. Your dialogue should flow naturally and shouldnāt sound like youāre from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe, stay healthy, may the force be with you, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. You might be a guest in a show with a format youāve never worked in. āYes, andā the format the same way you would a scene. Itās okay that you donāt know the format as well as your hosts do. You likely wouldnāt have been invited to guest if they didnāt think you were capable of rolling with their format. But continually commenting or joking around about how you donāt know what youāre doing with the format is a subtle denial of your hostās concept, which is not likely to get you invited back. āYes, andā the concept. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.Ā
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. A show for children in the middle of the day at a Catholic school could and should feel different than a midnight show at a dive bar in Chicago. Similarly, you may find yourself in a show with set after set of frenetic energy, and you might want to either play opposite that energy or to play with that energy. I donāt ordinarily encourage folks to change their play style, but I do encourage you to adapt to put on good shows, so that you can get the opportunity to put on more good shows in the future. So, read your room. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Improv rules were written to be broken. Theater rules were not. Respect the rules of the place where youāre performing. That goes the same for the rules of show producers, teams you might join, teachers, coaches, and shoots. Learn the rules in advance, and obey those rules. If you think the rules are silly, donāt perform there. Go somewhere else where you can agree with the rules. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Itās really hard to hear improvisers when they donāt project their voices, because most stages youāll perform on donāt have microphones. You need to project your voice. It may be a boring skill to practice, but itāsĀ one that is essential to your improvisation. You may never be known as the improviser with the great voice projection, but you might become known as the improviser who no one can hear. If no one can hear you, youāre not going to last as an improviser. So, scope out any venue where youāre going to perform, find the most-distant seat in the house, and improvise like youāre talking to the person in that seat. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. You donāt need to have all of the answers in improv. Youāll face far too many situations to expect yourself to be prepared to respond to all of them. Not just challenges with the art of improv, but things like figuring out how to promote a show or knowing how and when to talk to your teammates about inter-team issues. So donāt worry about knowing everything. There are improv veterans out there who have knowledge and experience and are willing to help you. If you canāt find someone, donāt hesitate to ask meĀ if you have questions. However you seek it, donāt be afraid to ask for help. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. One of the wonderful things about improv is that you never know when a scene is going to end. But what that means is that you canāt improvise toward an ending. The scene youāre in is going to last as long as it lasts. The problem with improvising to an ending is that if you reach the ending during the scene, where do you go from there? Improvise as though the scene youāre in will never end. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. There is, indeed, truth in comedy and comedy in truth. But there is also plenty of comedy to be plumbed in crazy. Audiences laugh at the relatable instances of comedic truth. But donāt forget that crazy can also be very funny. Put your judgments away, and donāt be afraid to take your scenes to new, strange, crazy, unexplored places. And donāt apologize for doing so. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.Ā
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Someday, youāll find yourself in a scene in which you donāt know a pop culture reference. Donāt panic. Remember that the improv world youāre living in doesnāt actually exist, even if that world seems a lot like our world. That means that the pop culture reference that everyone knows in this world means whatever you decide it means in your improv world. So, go ahead and decide what that pop culture reference is, and make it your own. Youāll probably find your way to a much more interesting scene than you would have if youād played into the pop culture references that the audience is expecting. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. It never hurts your improv to be up on your pop culture references. When Hamilton was first ascending to the wild popularity that itās reached but before Iād ever even heard of it, I was lost in an improv scene that was absolutely filthy with Hamilton references. I have also been in Pokemon scenes and Last Airbender scenes. At least I think thatās what they were, because I had absolutely no clue what references were swirling around my head. It is helpful to your improv to have at least a passing knowledge of the pop culture, memes, and news of the day. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.Ā
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Donāt stop for coffee after you just found out your house is on fire. If someone pulls a gun in a scene or slaps someone or gets elected governor, thatās not the best time to address the fact that they forgot to take out the garbage last night. Make sure you focus on the most important thing thatās happening in a scene, and donāt waste time on the side stories until you address that important thing. If the thing eventually leads you back to those side stories, all the better. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.Ā
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Make sure that you improvise to the suggestion, not to the ask-for. Let me explain. If you ask the audience for the topic of their most-recent nightmare, and your first scene is about a nightmare, guess what? Youāre cheating. The audience didnāt suggest a nightmare, you created that suggestion for yourself in your ask-for. As best as you can, eject the ask-for from your mind right after itās said, and only improvise to the suggestion. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Itās up to you and only you to improvise your way out of bad situations. If you find yourself in an uncomfortable scene with a scene partner with whom you donāt have chemistry, you must not bail on that scene. You cannot rely on anyone else to save you from your situation. Go back to the basics. Focus on whatās happening in the scene, the relationship you have with the other characters in the scene, and where the scene is taking place. Grab onto something that you can play with from those fundamentals, and strap yourself into the scene for a wild ride. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Improvising is acting. If you get a chance to take acting classes, you absolutely should. The art of improvisation evolved from actors trying to improve their abilities on stage in all sorts of scenarios. If you have a chance to take traditional acting classes outside of your improv classes, do it. Improvisers are actors, and any additional acting know-how will help your improv skills. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.Ā
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Itās occasionally tempting to prove how smart you are onstage. Or to take advantage of that bachelor of science youāre not using in your level three improv class. But just because you know how to speak a foreign language or diagram a sentence or sequence a DNA molecule doesnāt mean you need to prove that you do on stage. Donāt worry about spending brain energy on remembering how to conjugate a verb in Spanish when that energy could be better spent contributing creative ideas to your improv set. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.Ā
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. One of the worst habits you can get into as an improviser is trying to finish other peopleās sentences. If youāre constantly trying to finish your fellow performersā sentences you run the risk of denying them their idea, because you might take the sentence in a whole new direction that they werenāt intending. You donāt know for sure what your fellow improviser is going to say, so just let them say it. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.Ā
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. The more tools that you have in your improv toolkit, the better-prepared youāll be for any scene. If you know youāre not a strong character player, spend time working on your character work. If you generally play with low energy, try playing with high energy for a while. If you never initiate scenes, try initiating as much as you can for a while. Always seek to expand your cache of improv tools. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. It shouldn't be hard to do object work. If you've moved around in life and interacted with things, you know how to do object work. If you find yourself struggling with convincing object work, start paying attention to the little things you do every day. Pay attention to how you type, notice how you drive, swing a softball bat, and cook dinner. Being mindful of how you interact with objects will help your object work more than any exercise can do. Notice the weight and volume of objects you interact with in real life, and carry those exact same motions onto the stage. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Randomness can be the enemy of improv. The best improv sets Iāve seen and performed are when the performers are on the same page as one another creating something brilliant together. Randomness is the opposite of this cohesion. You may--and probably even WILL--get plenty of laughs by shouting out random things in the middle of an improv scene, but itās almost always better to work together than to go off on random tangents. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.Ā
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. One sentiment that I keep hearing repeated as everyone is hopefully sheltering at home is folksā appreciation of the creative arts. Letās face it, everyone would have snapped by now if they didnāt have reruns of Whose Line is It Anyway? or The Office to stream. If people werenāt creating funny statuses and games on Facebook. If we werenāt making each other laugh, think, and cry while safely away from one another. Entertainment is important, and your creative energy is valuable. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. One silver lining to the frightening state of the world has been the response by many of my favorite podcasts and improvisers to the pandemic. Podcasters have conducted remote shows, improvisers have hosted fun virtual events, and all sorts of folks used to normally entertaining in person or in a group with people have adapted to the changing conditions of the world. Adapting and overcoming is what being a great improviser is all about, and the best ones arenāt held down by anything happening around them. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.Ā
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Now that weāre a couple of weeks into our world getting flipped upside-down, you might have had at least one show, audition, class, or rehearsal cancelled. Just last week, the class I had been having a blast teaching was officially cancelled. As trying as this time is right now, try to focus on how great itās going to be when this is all behind us and you once again get to rehearse with your team, or move on to your level three class, or test out that new form that youāve been putting together in your head for the past few weeks. We will get through this. Donāt get discouraged. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Warm up the same way that you want to play. If you have a team that plays in a very high-energy style, make your warmups reflect that style by picking warmups with a high energy. If you have a team that plays with a slower, lower energy, let your warmups reflect that playstyle. If your team is all over the board, pick a range of warmups that similarly run the range of energy. It doesnāt make sense to warm up at a frenetic energy level if you want to play slowly, and vice-versa. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. It would be very handy in improv if you knew exactly what your scene partner was thinking and if they knew what you were thinking. Unfortunately, youāre not mind readers. The more clearly that you can communicate your premise to your scene partner, the better. So let your character speak their mind and state things as plainly as possible. Saying whatās on your characterās mind is a great way to avoid unnecessary confusion in your scenes. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. The last thing a drunk person wants to do is to appear drunk. The same goes for drunk characters. So while the staggering, stammering, falling-down drunk character you play might get you some laughs on the stage, you might not be playing at the height of your intelligence unless you play that character realistically. Even your most stereotypical characters should have some grounding in reality. Make sure that they do. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.Ā
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. You are, occasionally, going to have to play characters who you donāt like. Donāt write off that character as ābad.ā Find something or several things to like about your character. Not only will that give your character more depth, but it will make it much more palatable to play that character. There is always something to like about even the most loathsome character. Find it. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.Ā
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Just like the best villains have many layers, so do the best heroes. Perfect heroes who the audience knows are always going do the right thing no matter the circumstance are boring and unrealistic. Even Superman has been tempted and corrupted. When youāre playing the ultimate hero, that character will be much more interesting if theyāre relatable because they have flaws. Give your heroes depth. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. The best villains have many layers. Theyāre not the melodramatic one-dimensional Snidely Whiplash character tying a victim to the train tracks. They have feelings. They have mothers. They have love interests. Even if they are doing evil things, theyāre doing them for reasons that they believe are good and justified. And theyāre much more fun to play with, as, and against if they have motivations for their villainy, even if theyāre unreasonable. Give your villains depth. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Thereās nothing wrong with choosing to play an inanimate object, an animal, a baby, or something else that under ordinary circumstances doesnāt speak. But remember if you make that choice that you might be limiting your contributions to the scene, at least your verbal contributions. By all means, play those parts, but be aware before you make that decision that your communication and contributions to the scene are going to be affected by that choice. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Keep your head on a swivel. Itās important in improv to know as much as you can whatās happening in the scene youāre in. One of the ways to do that is by constantly checking your surroundings, just like you learned to do in driversā education. The more people that are in your scene, the more important it is that you pay as much attention as possible to who they are, where they are, what environments theyāre creating, and what theyāre doing. So, look around and check your mirrors. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Thereās a classic scene in the NBC version of The Office that finds Michael Scott taking an improv class. At one point, he pulls out his improv gun and shoots all of the characters in the scene with him. Itās almost never a good idea to do that. If you delete someone elseās character or your own character from a scene by killing them off or sending them away, thatās one fewer collaborator helping you to build the scene together. And itās just not good improv etiquette. Stay in your scenes. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. If I had a roll of toilet paper for every time Iāve seen an improviser reveal that theyāre pregnant, get fired from their job, or propose onstage, Iād be in good shape for the next few months. Yes, you want your scenes to be interesting, but there are plenty of other interesting things that happen to ordinary people every day that arenāt life-changing experiences. And those things are often much more relatable to your audience specifically because they are the types of things that happen every day. Go out and find those things so you keep the variety in your scenes. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Oh, what the effing aech is this one all about? Occasionally, your character will need to swear in a scene because itās what the scene needs at that time. If thatās the case, eff yeah. Do it. But be careful not to dilute the impact of a well-placed swear word by swearing constantly on the stage. Your !@#s, !@#s, !@% !@#$@s, and !^#@-!@$^$#^ !@%#-^!@#%$^ !#@#^# &#$%^s will have much more impact if you use them sparingly and in an appropriate context. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Improvisation is not a competition. Donāt waste your time comparing yourself to the improvisers around you. Improv is a collaborative process, and your improv set or scene is only as good as your worst performer. Instead of trying to be the ābestā improviser in the world, strive to raise the level of the performers around you. I would like nothing more than to be the worst improviser on every team Iāve ever been on, because that should mean that the team is pretty darn good. Donāt compete. Collaborate. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Name your characters. The sooner you get into the habit of naming your characters, the more naturally naming will fit into your scenes, and the better your memory for names will become. Naming characters not only makes them more realistic, but it also makes it easier to call back characters and to invent a backstory and a voice for them. If you have a hard time coming up with names, use people you know. It will make names even easier to remember if the character reminds you of a real person in your life. So name names. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Great writers read. Great singers listen to music. Great teachers learn. Great improvisers watch improv. If you want to continue to grow as an improviser, you need to watch all sorts of improv. You would be surprised how much you can learn by watching improv during those times youāre not performing improv. If youāre currently sidelined from improvising because youāre wisely keeping your social distance, itās a great time to explore the massive library of improv that is on the internet. And laughing is certainly not a bad way to pass the time. Stay at home and stream. Thatās your improv tip for the day. Stay safe and healthy, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Take care of yourself. It is a weird time for the country and for the species. As much as I love improv, bear in mind that your pursuit of this craft does not matter at all in comparison to your health and your safety. Human beings are such a cool species because we invented things like improv. Letās work together to make sure that weāre around for a long time. Be careful and protect the health of yourself and the people around you. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, at least glance at the CDC recommendations to decide whether you should cancel, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Improvisation is a communal art form, but there are ways to practice improvising all alone. I have conversations with myself all the time. When I get bored with that company, I turn on talk radio or a podcast and practice responding to whatās being said. When that gets old, I have conversations with my dogs and cat, and I give them voices and characters so that they can answer me. A big part of learning to improvise is learning how to react to different situations, and practicing conversations with yourself, your radio, or your pets is definitely not crazy. Itās art. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Occasionally, itās important to pause and give yourself kudos for doing this wacky thing that is improv. If patting yourself on the back makes you uncomfortable, allow me to do it for you right now. It takes a mountain of guts for any artist to put their creative content out into the world. For an improviser, that courage is amplified by the fact that you donāt have the chance to obsess over that content and tweak it and write it and rewrite it before it gets put out there. Itās a very exposed way of creating. Thatās no small thing, and if you wonāt commend yourself, Iāll commend you for being such a brave artist. Great job! Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Unless when you start your car in real life, you go, āRRRR RRRRR RRRRRRR,ā please donāt do it in a scene. Improv is a lot like a play with no props, costumes, and special effects. Your character should not be providing the sound effects to their actions because it breaks the reality of the scene and, unless thatās the game youāre playing, usually doesnāt fit into the established ārulesā of your set. That said, if youāre offstage and it makes sense to support the scene with sound effects, absolutely do that. And if you start doing it, commit to the bit, and donāt stop until itās time to stop. Youāll know when. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Be specific. Your 1988 blue Honda Accord is much funnier than your car. The more specificity you bring to a scene, the more vividly youāre painting the stage picture, and the more clearly youāre communicating your idea to your scene partners and to the audience. Clarity of communication in improv is always a good thing. As a bonus, most human beings love feeling smart, and an audience that knows a reference is going to be in a great mood to laugh, because theyāre feeling good about feeling smart. So name the meal youāre eating, tell me what color suit youāre wearing, and let me know me know what song youāre dancing to. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. One of my favorite sayings about improv that I annoy my students with is that creating a scene should be like building a wall. Our scene is the wall. Everyone involved in the scene is building the wall, and we want the wall to be a product of our collaboration, because building a wall alone is needlessly hard. So everyone has to bring their own bricks, which are their unique ideas. If one person supplies all the bricks, itās going to be a pretty boring wall, and that person should go write screenplays instead of improvising. If people bring weak bricks, the wall is going to be unstable. Bring your own bricks, and help build that amazing, unique wall. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you hate metaphors, Iām sorry. And if you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Leave your attitude in the green room. Improvisers are lovely people, and youāll probably get along well with most of the ones you meet. And if you donāt, maybe youāre the problem? But you wonāt always get along with the people you perform with. And guess what? You should still perform with them. Leave whatever is going on between you personally behind. You might not like your scene partner, but you might play a character who is in love with his or her character, and you owe it to yourself to not let your personal issues get in the way of a great performance. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. So, youāre an improviser now. Congratulations! Youāre officially a creative person. But donāt stop there. Broaden your creative horizons as much as you possibly can. The best improvisers I know are the most well-rounded improvisers I know, because they can do anything, and they seem to have a little bit of knowledge about everything. So dust off that guitar thatās been sitting in the corner. Take up painting. Journal every day. Take a dance class. Make your creative horizon stretch out so far that the sun can never set on it. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Be on time. Are you listening to me talk right now when you should have already left for class five minutes ago because you need to stop for gas? Do you have to cross the train tracks during rush hour to get to your rehearsal? Have you left enough cushion in case that bus youāre taking to your show is late? Believe it or not, creative people, myself included, occasionally struggle with punctuality. It may sound silly, but one of the things that will delight teachers, teammates, auditioners, casting directors, and theater owners is your ability to show up on time. It may be the bare minimum, but reliability is an invaluable asset in the improv world and consistently showing up on time is a great start. So get to class now! Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Give yourself one hour after a show to celebrate your improv successes and mourn your improv failures. Donāt dwell on the highs and lows that come with either outcome. Congratulations on the good show, but donāt pat yourself on the back for too long. Sorry about the bad show, but donāt beat yourself up forever. Allow yourself one hour to digest, analyze, and break down your show after itās done, but donāt obsess beyond that. Learn from your successes and/or failures, and then move on to the next one. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. One of the biggest compliments Iāve ever received as an improviser is that I am good at āplaying off the ball.ā Since youāre an improviser, let me explain that sports reference. One of my strengths is that even when Iām not the focal point of the scene, my character is always reacting to what is happening around him or her. Remember that your character is real and is hearing things that affect him or her even when not being directly addressed. Donāt react so aggressively that you pull focus away from the crux of the scene, but make sure that youāre always reacting. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Iām always working on becoming a better improviser, but the thing I struggle with the most is breaking on stage. I have been fortunate to perform with some of the funniest people Iāve ever met, and they say surprising, hilarious things on stage all the time. Itās human nature to laugh at it. Isnāt that the whole point of what weāre doing? But breaking the fourth wall by laughing on stage never serves the scene youāre in. If youāre struggling to not break on stage like I am, what Iāve found helps is to invest as hard as possible in the situation and the character. You find this situation funny as an improviser, but I doubt your character finds this funny. And if they do, then itās okay to laugh. Invest fuller in what your character is feeling, and it should help you reduce how much youāre breaking on stage. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. You know that phrase, āWide as an ocean, deep as a puddleā? Donāt do that. I see a lot of improvisers who find something interesting in a scene, and then instead of exploring it, they proceed to throw a dozen other ideas into the scene. Improv should be wide as a puddle, deep as an ocean. Explore the interesting thing that happens on stage until you canāt explore it any more. Save those dozen other ideas for a dozen other different scenes. Go deep, not broad. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Iām of the school of thinking that there are only happy mistakes in improv. Some of the most interesting scenes Iāve ever been in have come from a slip of the tongue or a misunderstanding. Remember, though, that everyone in the theater hears everything that has been said on stage just like you do. If something is ignored or brushed over, it can be very confusing for the audience. So make it your goal to address and justify anything that is said or done on stage. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Kids make for the best improvisers on the planet. They donāt have the horrible self-consciousness that we humans eventually develop about looking dumb. I promise that you donāt look dumb. Like your mom used to say, if anyone thinks you look dumb, theyāre just jealous that youāre so confident. Thereās plenty of time to be self-conscious and nervous outside of improv. But during this time, put your self-judgment away and improvise like no one is watching. Hopefully, someone is watching. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Itās okay to use what you already know in a scene. If youāre creating a scene in a kitchen, itās perfectly all right to imagine it as your kitchen. Youāre inventing enough already with characters and dialog and relationships. Thereās no need to invent a completely made-up space. Put your fridge where your fridge would normally be, next to the stove where youāre used to seeing it. But be flexible in your mind so that when your scene partner inevitably creates something that does not fit in to your kitchen as you know it, you can incorporate that change. āOkay. Now itās my kitchen, but the refrigerator is on the opposite wall, and it has a double door.ā Keep it as simple as you can by using what you know. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Take classes. If you can afford the time and the money necessary to take improv classes, take as many improv classes as you can. Seek out different theaters, different teaching methods, different improv forms, and different teachers. A big part of being a great improviser is getting variety in your experiences, so the more varied classes you can take, the better. Donāt limit yourself to taking that one class with that one teacher that everyone tells you that you ājust have toā take. A certain teacher may have an exercise or a way of explaining a concept that youād initially found difficult, and they make it click right into place. Go out there and find them. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Write things down. Even if your primary artistic expression is improvising, throughout your journey, youāre going to have great ideas for improv forms, team names, sketches, and jokes, and you never know when youāre going to need them. You may think that youāll remember all of these things later, and you may be right. But just in case, take a minute out of your day to write them down in a place that youāve committed to keep all of your ideas. Download an app, carry around a notepad, or do whatever you have to do to prevent these great ideas from getting lost forever. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Dress for success. In my career on stage Iāve been picked up, Iāve picked up others, Iāve given and received piggyback rides, Iāve stood on my head, Iāve done a full cardio workout, Iāve crawled around on all fours, and Iāve lain on all sorts of floors, chairs, and tables. Improv can take you to some strange places. Make sure that youāre dressed appropriately for the trip. Only your imagination should limit what youāre able to do on stage. You certainly donāt want your clothing to do that. Take that into consideration when youāre getting ready for a class or performance. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Use. Periods. At. The. Ends. Of. Your. Sentences. A lot of improvisers are uncomfortable with silence, so they tend to ramble on in their sentences and just when you think the sentence is going to end, thereās more sentence to that sentence, and it can be very difficult to figure out where the thought or the sentence ends so you just sit there in a scene listening to this sentence that just keeps going on and on and on and you donāt know when to respond to the sentence, so you donāt even bother. Polite improvisers are loathe to interrupt a rambling sentence, so itās your responsibility to end your sentences. I promise you another sentence will come along. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. No matter how much you love improv, there are likely going to be times that itās going to feel like a bit of a chore. Whether itās the thousandth time that youāve warmed up with āBig Booty,ā whether you always hit traffic coming home from your Friday afternoon class, or whether you feel like youāre spending more time managing personalities than you are improvising, itās possible for improv to feel like a grind. When you find yourself in one of those times, focus your thoughts and energy on the things you love about improv, and see the improv chores as exactly what they are. Chores that need to be done. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. A student recently asked me how to handle a fellow improviser who is railroading him onstage. My strategy on those types of improvisers has been to kill them with āYes, and.ā If an improviser denies or ignores my reality, itās no sweat. Iāll go with their reality. And if they change that up on me again, Iāll roll with whatever they throw at me. You can only be tripped up onstage if you allow yourself to be tripped up onstage. Keep your mind limber, and go with the flow of the scene, and it wonāt matter how much anyone else on stage tries to railroad you. Also, please try not to railroad each other. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. A very wise improviser once told me, āIf you satisfy an audienceās expectations, youāve failed as an improviser.ā As an improviser, itās not your job to satisfy an audienceās expectations. Itās your job to subvert your audienceās expectations. Improvising is all about creating something new. Predictability can be the bane of an improviserās existence. If youāre onstage merely satisfying the audienceās expectations, why are you up there, and why are they down in the house? Make it your goal to subvert your audienceās expectations. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Itās okay to cry on stage. Improv is usually looked on as a funny, lighthearted performance art. But it doesnāt have to be. For a lot of improvisers, itās not terribly hard to make an audience laugh. The real challenge comes in making the audience feel something. I remember scenes more when I get an āawwā from the audience than when I get a āguffaw.ā If youāve never tried it before, see if you can get an emotional reaction out of your audience instead of a laugh. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Stop waiting for your opportunity to come to you. The beautiful thing about improvising is that youāre creating something that didnāt exist until you made it exist. So do the same thing when it comes to creating opportunities for yourself. If you didnāt make a team, go make a team yourself. If you didnāt book a role, go write your own role. There is no sense in sitting on the sidelines hoping that an opportunity will fall into your lap. Go out and create your own opportunities. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. We should be supporting one another at all times, but we can also use it as a trick. I know it can be easy to get lost in worrying about what you should or should not be doing onstage at any time. But if you find yourself lost in a scene, a simple way to get back on track is to take a breath and lean hard into supporting the ideas of the other players around you. Once youāre out of your own head, you can get back to contributing to the great thing that theyāre creating onstage. Itās just an added bonus that youāre being so supportive at the same time. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Thereās a part of you in every character that you play. Even as youāre onstage playing an alien from another world or a character with a completely different background than yours, youāre playing that character through the lens of your experiences with characters like that. And thatās okay. Because that means that youāre never going to do the exact same character as someone else, even if youāre specifically trying to do so. And thatās a good thing. Donāt worry about making your alien unique from everyone elseās. It will be because itās played by you. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. This may be a little hard for some of you to hear, but being an improviser is not a personality trait, and improv shouldnāt be a cult. Improv is a fun, challenging, great thing that you do, and you should applaud yourself for having the courage to do it. But you donāt have to talk about it all the time. Believe me, your fellow improvisers may be interested in that great scene you did during class, but it might not translate as well to the general public. Know your audience when youāre talking about improv outside of the theater, and youāll avoid some of the eyerolling that you might otherwise get. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Itās great to have friends. You are a wonderful person who probably has many friends. Youāre going to make more friends during your improv journey, and thatās great. But remember not to have onlyimprov friends. One of the things that makes for a great improviser is to have a wide breadth of experiences and perspectives, and youāre not going to get that if you hang out with only one type of person. Also, get to know the improv friends that you do have. I know itās tempting to always be doing bits with these hilarious people, but they have a lot more going on than simply āyes, andāingā over a beer. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Youāre never too old to be an improviser. Youāre not trying to be a professional athlete, here. Thereās nothing limiting you from going out there and doing it starting today. The improvisers I know are some of the most accepting, friendly, welcoming people in my life, and I bet youāll be pleasantly surprised how accepting your classmates and teachers are. Iāve been on stage with all ages, and improv is all about variety, so get out there no matter how old you are (or how old you feelyou are) and add your voice to the craft. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Itās so important that you know what you want to get from improv. Some people want fame, some want to make a living from it, some want to develop social and career skills, and some just want a fun hobby. All of those things are okay to want. But take a moment today to define what you want your improv career to be, and to set a goal for your improv career. Then set reasonable expectations for reaching that goal. Go so far as to write this down somewhere so you can pull it out every once in a while and remind yourself. Believe me. It will help you avoid the potential frustrations than can come with doing improv. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. You donāt have to be polite or sneaky in improv. If a character asks if you stole that money and you did, your human instinct is probably to deny it. In improv, it moves the scene along a lot more quickly if youāre brutally honest. āYes, I stole the money, and Iām using it to start a thievesā guild.ā The more clear you are in a scene, the more helpful youāre being to your scene partner, and brutal honesty is about as clear as communication comes. Itās also an awful lot of fun to be unapologetically honest. Try it! Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. You are the all-powerful god of your improv world. You can create and destroy whatever your imagination can concoct, and so can your scene partner. Honor their choices as much as your own. Donāt fall back on the improv clichĆ©s of making it āall a dreamā or waking up from a coma at the end of your scene. Give your world and your choices the permanence that they deserve, no matter how wacky that world and those choices have been. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. There arenāt many bad choices in improv, but thereās one thatās universally bad, and thatās the choice to not make a choice. Only by making choices do you, your scene partner, and the audience learn more about these characters and this world that youāre creating before their very eyes. Donāt let yourself off the hook by not making choices. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Remember that you are not the character that youāre playing on stage. Just because you might be playing a villain and saying mean things up there, the audience understands thatās not you. Youāre not saying those things to your scene partner, youāre saying them to their character. Donāt hesitate to say things that you, the person are too polite to say. Your character might need to say them, and youāre doing that character a disservice if you donāt. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. You are enough. There is only one of you on this planet, and you are the only person who has ever lived that has your unique perspective, experiences, thoughts, and emotions. Itās impossible for you not to bring something new or unique to that scene you find yourself in today. Embrace that, and leave that stamp that only you can provide on that scene. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. Itās okay to be silly. Today, give yourself permission to be silly. Some of the happiest people Iāve ever met are the ones who arenāt afraid of looking dumb, and that goes double on stage. Do that silly voice you only do around your dog. Make up a silly name for your character. Tell a silly joke to a friend. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater.Ā Do you see what I just did there? I kept my mouth shut. Today, I want to encourage you to listen more than you speak. We humans have a tendency to spend a lot of our time thinking about the next thing we want to say instead of listening to whatās being said to us. Today, take your time, take a moment, and really and truly listen. Thatās your improv tip for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.
Iām Michael Bradt for The Bit Theater. I know itās a bad word, but today, I want you to give yourself permission to fail. Every improviser youāve ever aspired to be has failed over and over again throughout their career. Itās okay to fail. Do something different, and youāre doing something brave. Figuring out what doesnāt work on stage can be just as important as figuring out what does, and nothing new or fresh was ever created without courage in the face of failure. Thatās your improv affirmation for the day. If you have a rehearsal, class, audition, or show tonight, break a leg, and I will see you next time.