Everyone has aspects of improv that feel completely natural to them. Some people excel at telling a cogent story, others are talented mimics, still others can makes puns without the audience kicking off and attempting to burn down the theatre (although, like the yeti, the existence of such improvisers is still yet to be proven by peer-reviewed science).
These abilities are your improv superpowers - the things that come so naturally to you that you don’t even have to think about them. They’re probably also the things you’re most known for in your local community. Stuff like:
“Oh, Si has such amazing physicality. They fully inhabit their characters.”
or
“Anand’s brain is a thing of beauty. The story-moves he makes are always so smart and helpful.”
It’s pleasing to be good at things and lovely to be valued by your peers. But as Uncle Ben said to a young Peter Parker (just before nothing happened and everything turned out fine - spoilers)
“With great improv power there must also come great improv responsibility.”
Because superpowers can actually be a problem. You can come to rely on them too much. To keep the comic metaphor going, if you can shoot lasers from your eyes, you’ll never learn how to light a fire*.
We can’t rest on our laurels and we can’t keep whipping out the same old schtick every time we’re on stage. We have to learn and grow. Being awesome at one aspect of the craft can buy us some time, but ultimately we’re going to have to work on our weaknesses.
This is already a pretty nerdy post so I’m going to lean into it and use some TTRPG (table top role playing game) terminology.
You have to make yourself a character sheet.
Here’s mine:
A character sheet records the different attributes that your character has. In traditional games these are things like STRENGTH and DEXTERITY but for improv I’ve chosen things like ACTING ability and SPACEWORK. Be honest with yourself and assign yourself a numerical value for each (doesn’t matter what scale you use as long as you are consistent across your stats).
There’s also space on the sheet for a brief character biography, your strengths and weaknesses as an improviser and also any skills you’ve picked up.
Now that you’ve created your character sheet, you can use it to work out how to improve. Every time you take a class or workshop, every time you run drills in rehearsal - you gain experience points (XP) that can level up your character. Completed a weekend residential on Characterisation? Increase your CHARACTERS stat. Attended an online class on Intimacy? Add it as a +1 skill. In this way you can keep track of your progress, celebrate your successes and work out where to put your energy next.
It’s silly, it’s geeky but it’s also kinda addictive.
Know what your improv superpowers are, be happy you have them, but never forget there’s ALWAYS more to learn.
Download a blank copy of the improv character sheet here:
