Friends, competitive improv is my kryptonite.

I can’t do it. As soon as I’m on stage being judged by an audience of my peers then my improv muse — already a flighty thing — becomes mealy-mouthed and insipid.

I calcify and turn in on myself when placed under the spotlight of judgement - like one of those sped up videos of a woodland animal decomposing.

And it’s no good telling me that it’s not a real competition. The performers might know that, but does our audience? You know, the ones that actually do the voting?

The whole thing brings up the ghost of too many PE lessons where I was picked last. I want to run and hide in the library.

So, yeah. Competitive improv — not my scene.

Having said all that, I was just in a very high-profile improv tournament in Munich and it was an absolute dream.

Here’s how I turned my frown upside down (with a little help from my improv friends).

1. Play as one team

This was the game-changer for me. We actively sought out rehearsal time with other teams before our matches. We spent afternoons playing together. We came to know each other as players and as human beings. By the time the actual matches rolled around, we didn’t see each other as competitors - we truly felt like one team. A team whose primary goal was to make the audience laugh. Which is the actual reality of the situation if you think about it. It was such a strong bond that wherever the points were actually awarded, it felt like a shared victory. That meant we naturally celebrated with the other team even before we turned to the colleagues on our own bench.

2. Make both teams look good

Such a basic improv rule, but revelatory for me in this situation. We tried to make the other team look amazing at all times. You can do this in so many ways:

1. Come in and support their scenes with thoughtful background work or sound effects. Never get to the point where you’re taking over the scene, but be front-footed and full-throated in your support moves.
2. Be interested in your opponent’s scenes. Body double for the audience, showing them it’s alright to laugh and clap and cheer during the show. Direct their sight lines - if you’re always laser-focussed on the scene being played then you’ll automatically direct roving gazes back to the action.
3. When you’re playing a mixed scene, be interested in and elevate their ideas. Don’t come on with your own premises and force them onto the scene. What’s already there? What have they offered? Don’t negate their choices just because they don’t play to your strengths. That’s weak improv right there. Try to win them the points. Be their biggest fan.