Fail big.

RISE Comedy - Denver Improv Comedy Bar & Theater - Improv Comedy Classes

“So you think that you’re a failure, do you? Well, you probably are. What’s wrong with that? In the first place, if you’ve any sense at all you must have learned by now that we pay just as dearly for our triumphs as we do for our defeats. Go ahead and fail. But fail with wit, fail with grace, fail with style. A mediocre failure is as insufferable as a mediocre success. Embrace failure! Seek it out. Learn to love it. That may be the only way any of us will ever be free.”
– Tom Robbins (thanks to Kat for that quote)

Not knowing what to say and being afraid of saying something wrong is a roadblock to great improv. “If improvisers aren’t truly playing then they are “thinking about.” – Mick Napier, from his book.

How your character does anything is how your character does everything. So, the more you do what your character does, the more your character will grow. Just do anything, don’t concern yourself with failure. No try, only do.

Our goal is to transcend our monkey mind that focuses on good and evil. To be truly liberated performers, we have to be able to be wrong, to be the asshole, the loser, the idiot.  It’s fun.  Notice how much fun it is to watch a team that incorporates mistakes into the best stuff.  Wear that loserdom like a warm blanket.

Fail big.

[Females, for more on specific lady improv stuff, dealing with this topic, read Jessica’s most recent blog]