Dr. Improv

or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love My Mistakes

Matt Powell / @fauxparse

Disclaimer

I wrote this talk in advance.

What is improv?

• Unscripted (or partially-scripted) theatre…
• …created in the moment…
• …by one or more performers…
• …over a few seconds or several days.

Some things I have improvised

• Short scenes
• Full-length musicals
• Films (not recommended)
• Ballet
• Star Trek pastiche
• TED talks
• A 13-hour continuous soap opera

“I'm not ________________ enough to do improv!”

You’re not unskilled.

You’re just scared you’ll fuck it up.

Why don’t we like making mistakes?

• Mistakes waste resources
• Mistakes damage relationships
• Mistakes are embarrassing

The story of Loserball

If we remove the fear of failure, we encourage one another to try things.

Wait, wait, wait.

Remember like three slides ago all that stuff about how mistakes have consequences?

The consequences are still there…

…but now we’re dealing with them together.

Where the analogy breaks down

The possibility of spectacular failure is a big drawcard for an improv show.

It has very little value in a business context.

Nonetheless!

There are some excellent lessons we can learn from improv.

Tina Fey, Bossypants, 2011

My top three

• Avoid pointless originality.
• Make your partner look good.
• Yes, and…

Yes, and

Did something happen you weren’t expecting?

Tough shit, it happened.

Yes! This is where we are now.

And! What can I bring to the situation to help my partner and delight the audience?

• Everyone fucks up. All the time.
• What happens next is what matters.
• Make your partner look good.

Thank you.