I was lucky enough to attend a workshop led by improv super-couple, Ali James and John Oakes recently. They are amazing and you should totally take a class with them if you get the chance.

I hear they ALSO have an interesting improvised Shakespeare show.

Anyway, they said a lot of smart, thoughtful things about improv, as you might expect, but something John said about halfway through really landed with me.

SIDE NOTE: You never know when an improv note is going to land. This is a great thought both as a teacher and a student. As a teacher, don’t be afraid to throw out a note if it occurs to you, as long as it’s concise and doesn’t derail the momentum of the class. My experience is, if it occurred to you, then there’s a good chance someone else in your class needs to hear it.

And then as a student, write stuff down, even if it you can’t quite parse it in the moment, and get in the habit of looking back at your notes. Sometimes you’re not ready to hear the note yet. I’ve definitely looked back on things a past teacher has said and in the process of re-reading it, suddenly understood what they were trying to convey all along. It’s like noticing something new and inspiring along a route you travel every day.

Anyway, back to John’s note.

He said that all your good ideas are hidden under a pile of your bad ideas. And you have to get through all your bad ideas before you can access the good stuff.

John’s point is that you just need to get in there and play. If you judge each idea on its individual merit then you’ll never get off the backline and onto the stage. Playing in a trio with John, I’m in constant awe of his ability to make magical things happen. This one improv note has given me a real insight into how he manages that so consistently.

It’s because he doesn’t spend any time worrying that it’s a bad idea. That’s not his job in that moment. His job is to get on stage and make things happen. To create. To play. To support his scene partner. He’s just trying to whip through the bad ideas as quickly as possible so he can get to the gold.

An improviser must be their own writer, performer, director, dramaturg, intimacy co-ordinator and editor - all in the instant of performance - there’s no time to be their own critic too.

And the best part is - what I just said isn’t even the end of the note. The end of the note is …

What seems like a bad idea to you is often an amazing idea to your scene partner or to the audience.

Which is genius. All those bad ideas you were trying to get through quickly? They’re not bad ideas in the first place.

Because it’s not about making good or bad choices, it’s about making ANY choice, instantly and without judgement. That’s what 95% of all improv is.

I’m going to remember that the next time I’m performing. And I’m going to remember it as I write these articles every week. Because too often I fail to write anything at all, for the simple reason that I don’t think I have anything valuable to say.

I need to judge less and create more. Put ideas out into the world and let them find the people who need to hear them.

Because you never know when an improv note is going to land.

<aside> 💡 Hey, my name’s Chris Mead. I write an article about improv almost every week. You can get the latest in your inbox by subscribing to my newsletter. Or check out the archive.

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